The young swordsman who would be the king of swords is defeated before the fight begins because he has emotional baggage that cannot be set aside. This theme has appeared in many martial arts movies but where did it come from?
In reality fighters never have this problem. There is no such thing as distraction, learning martial arts is dependent on concentration and focus. The brain actually becomes disengaged during a fight as it is mostly muscle memory. Bruce Lee said in one of his movies while making a fist, "I don't hit, it hits all by itself!" I doubt other viewers would be annoyed by that plot point.
The movie is engaging from start to finish and the fights are excellent. The fight director put character and story into all the fights and they all seemed unique.
Lead actor Ti Lung was a martial artist who worked as a tailor before he got into the movies but he was not a sword fighter. I felt his fights without the sword were much better but still his sword fights were above average. Shaw Brothers movies are known for abrupt endings and anyone can die. This one takes that style to the limit.
In reality fighters never have this problem. There is no such thing as distraction, learning martial arts is dependent on concentration and focus. The brain actually becomes disengaged during a fight as it is mostly muscle memory. Bruce Lee said in one of his movies while making a fist, "I don't hit, it hits all by itself!" I doubt other viewers would be annoyed by that plot point.
The movie is engaging from start to finish and the fights are excellent. The fight director put character and story into all the fights and they all seemed unique.
Lead actor Ti Lung was a martial artist who worked as a tailor before he got into the movies but he was not a sword fighter. I felt his fights without the sword were much better but still his sword fights were above average. Shaw Brothers movies are known for abrupt endings and anyone can die. This one takes that style to the limit.