Although time has passed, the legacy of the author Kim Dung remains eternal in the hearts of fans through his works, which have become legendary in the genre of martial arts novels.
His invaluable literary legacy includes 15 outstanding martial arts novels. Many of his works are not only known for their captivating stories but have also been adapted into films multiple times.
The distinctive feature of Kim Dung’s novels is not only the intriguing plots or the beloved characters but also the profound martial arts philosophies embedded within. Many fans note that every aspect of martial arts in Kim Dung’s stories reflects a strong essence and its own unique philosophy.
When referring to martial arts, one must mention “The Dark Shadow of the Heavenly Sword” created by Duong Qua. This martial art style was developed from the essence of martial arts, elevating one’s strength to its peak and is considered one of the top martial arts in ‘Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber’. Regarding the techniques, the ‘Cô Cửu Kiếm’ of Lệnh Hồ Xung is legendary, and this martial art, created by ‘Cô Cửu Bái’, is capable of offering a unique application of martial arts on a higher level, being one of the foremost techniques in Kim Dung’s works.
As for agility techniques, ‘Cửu Dương Thần Công’ is recognized as the foundation, this is the only martial art that combines Buddhist martial arts into the works of Kim Dung. Ultimately, lightness skills, Kim Dung has depicted many types of lightness skills, such as the ‘Thượng thiên thế’ of Quách Tĩnh, and the ‘Thê vân tung’ of Trương Tam Phong, all of which are lightness skills that dominate martial arts.
However, among many unique techniques, this lightness skill does not equate to a single technique of Đao Đàn Dự, which is notably the ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’. The ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’ in ‘Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber’ is considered by many to be the ultimate divine skill, helping to evade all attacks and increase internal strength.
The unique value of lightness skills
Firstly, according to Kim Dung’s perspective, ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’ can evade most martial arts attacks successfully. This technique is arranged according to the positions of 64 squares in the ‘Dịch Kinh’, while traditional martial arts in China do not fall outside the scope of this book. Therefore, after learning ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’, no martial arts can be used effectively. Đao Đàn Dự often experienced great difficulties because of this reason.
Notably, despite knowing ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’ but still not understanding how to use martial arts effectively, Đao Đàn Dự still achieved results and was favored by Nam Hải Ngọc Thần, a character in the Third Volume of the ‘Đại Ác Nhân’ series, and became the antagonist’s assistant.
In a moment of danger, when Đao Đàn Dự was in Vương Ngữ Yên’s territory to escape from the pursuit of the Tây Hạ army, he had to confront Mộ Dung Phục – a top martial artist from Giang Nam. Although Mộ Dung Phục was indeed a high-ranking martial artist compared to Đao Đàn Dự, the unique ability of ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’ helped Đao Đàn Dự to evade Mộ Dung Phục’s attacks. Ultimately, Mộ Dung Phục had to use a powerful move, risking his life to defeat Vương Ngữ Yên in order to eliminate Đao Đàn Dự’s escape route.
Secondly, ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’ can enhance internal strength. The book states that after practicing a complete set of ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’, internal strength will increase, and with long-term practice, one can reach the top level in martial arts. These two characteristics are why ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’ is regarded as the ultimate divine skill in the eyes of many martial arts enthusiasts.
Is the martial art technique rated too highly?
However, according to Sohu news, when analyzing the content of the story, this martial art technique may have been rated too highly and essentially serves as a specific application of martial arts.
This is evident through two distinct points.
Firstly, it is true that ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’ can evade a significant portion of attacks in martial arts, but it cannot evade the ‘Giáng Long Thập Bát Chưởng’, ‘Nhật Dương Chỉ’, and ‘Lục Mạch Thần Kiếm’ which are also martial arts techniques of Thiếu Lâm. Because the Tiêu Dao sect does not gather the ultimate martial arts essence.
Furthermore, ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’ was created based on the squares in ‘Dịch Kinh’, while martial arts from the Buddhist sect do not originate from ‘Dịch Kinh’. This indicates that when faced with other martial arts techniques, ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’ can become ineffective. This also explains why Lý Thu Thủy did not use ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’ when confronting Thiên Sơn Động because the martial arts of Thiên Sơn Động Lão are indeed the ultimate in martial arts.
Secondly, the movement speed of ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’ is not as quick. The author has defined it as a slow-moving technique compared to Kiều Phong and Đao Đàn Dự. Kiều Phong has acknowledged that “in a brief confrontation, if Đao Đàn Dự does not use any techniques, then it is not difficult; but if he uses a few techniques, then the effectiveness of the approach will be significantly reduced.”
However, in reality, Đao Đàn Dự has much higher internal strength than Kiều Phong, making it certain that he will not lose. Yet, if facing a person with high internal strength like Trương Vô Kỵ, it is uncertain whether he can win. Additionally, while using ‘Lãng ba vi bộ’, Đao Đàn Dự cannot surpass Kiều Phong in a brief confrontation, highlighting that this unique technique does not move as quickly as previously thought.
Summary
