Hell, no, those wacky unorthodox schools are probably LESS interesting in many senses. They don't, after all, have the full support of a multi-faceted complex state religion, tradition of mysticism going back thousands of years, and so forth behind them.
But I don't want all the Kralorelan martial arts battles to be between orthodox Darudists on both sides.
>the Chinese kung fu styles are, as a generality
>(and perhaps an over-wooly one, as I'm not intimately familiar with them,
>perhaps I should stick to 'in several cases') about emulating _one_
>animal, but merrily mix in references to (ignoring for the moment
>what it is the references means...) to numerous animals.
Most Chinese Kung Fu styles aren't particularly concerned with animal analogies at all - or at least, none of the major modern ones.
I admit that my modest abilities at Chinese Kung Fu (I don't study a well known style, but I think its relatively typical) include a 'Tigers Claw Strike', but many other interestingly named things as well (eg 'Lady looks in mirror') - which I think is typical of modern styles, a couple of moves that retain an animal related name but no explicit reference to animal styles.
But there do exist lots of odd styles with unusual moves, and unusual justifications for those moves, in Chinese Martial Arts. The various animal styles (particularly the very distinct ones like Monkey or Mantis), things like Drunken Boxing, various bizarre weapon styles (Justice Brush, which uses writing brushes). And thats not even getting into the completely mythical ones, which get even stranger. My basic point it that Kralorelan martial arts, like Chinese, should be a bewildering plurality of odd abilities - and their martial arts derived magical abilities likewise.
While I think a panoply of animal styles probably exist, there are probably many styles that are quite unrelated to animals. These may be even more dodgy in the eyes of the Darudists (ie Ferocious Burning Flames style), or even more conservative mystically (the Almost No Movement style). In true wuxia style, there are inevitably many small martial arts traditions that specialise in outrageously weird practices, frequently headed by degenerate villains who use the school as a private army - generally to be soundly defeated by the heroes whose martial arts are far more grounded in wisdom. And a few even smaller traditions taught only by snowy headed masters in remote mountain huts to heroes in waiting.
>I agree with your presumption that anything with the word 'Tiger'
>in it is suspect on a mystical, if not to say a cultural, level.
Indeed. Various other wacky animal styles may be less tainted (both mystically and culturally), though - I think the connection between, say, yak style and anything directly connected with yaks might be a bit less suspect. The Tiger people being classic villains of Kralorela and all that.
>I'm tempted to conclude that 'more wuxia' is as objectively useful
>a standard as 'MGF'.
Consider that my guiding direction from now on. Or at least, more wire fu (a distinction probably only meaningful to those as obsessed with Hong Kong cinema as I am).
Cheers David ------------------------------
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