Awesome find as usual Lan ^^
The "Lan Di knows all these moves." comment is interesting. I guess Ryo recognised them as being the moves Lan Di used against Iwao.
Peter wrote:Damn, it was hard to find information on the Emperor at all, but i did get a snippet of information on the tiger swallow style....
"The Small Tiger Swallow form is very famous in Mantis circles. It is important in the Seven Star and the Mei Hua (Plum Flower) branches in particular. The history of the form states that Wang Lang, Mantis' creator, saw a painting of a saint riding a tiger. The idea of a form with the strength of a tiger and the agility of a swallow inspired the creation of HsiaoHuYuen. This form is particularly important in teaching Mantis style to children. It trains agility and strength while promoting the skill of quick changes"
Now its not much, but there is a relation to Shenmue here. Firstly we have he reference to Seven Stars, which as we all know in Shenmue 2, became the name of the Hua family emblem, the sowrd of seven stars. What it says above is that the Tiger Swallw Style is important to the Seven Stars branch, so the two are definately connected. I know in Shenmue 2, the seven star reference isnt to a style of martial art, but perhaps the sword bears some significance to the martial art, not in a combat way, but in a spiritual way that Shen Hua does not yet know about. Of course one must take into account the "powers" that have been debated that Shen Hua has to discover later on in the series. Perhaps the Tiger Swallow style is the power of the spiritual/mental martial art, harnessed into the attacking combat manovure, thus suggesting that there could be a fight between Lan Di, who uses his poweruf fists to attack, against Shen Hua's magical/spiritual attaks (as seen in the Beta Shenmue video)
Next we move on to possibly a confirmation of the above, in names, with the Tiger Swallow style being connected to the name Hua. Again, there is a connection between the two, that i think is becoming clear.
The finalthought that comes to mind, is the notion of the painting of the "saint riding a tiger".... Could thid perhaps be Ryo? Ive always thought that Shenmue had little quirks that have hidden meanings,and the tiger on Ryos jacket falls under this category.It states above that the creator of the mantis style,created the style after looking at a painting of "a saint riding a tiger".... well could Lan Di have set about learning the Tiger Swallow Style, fr the sole use to kill the Hazukis? First with Iwao, and now onto Ryo? Also could Ryo now represent the "saint" who "rides" the dragon, and is the only one who can defeat the one who carries the Tiger Swallow style? (Lan Di) Also this point ties in with the whole Shenmue prologue, that Ryo must find the power within him, that will destroy him, releasehis will etc.
Theres just some points to think about folks, but it just goes to show how Shenmue is just much more than a game, dosent it. Ive NEVER experienced a story or a game with such research and depth that Shenmue has. I wish LanDC could keepte info coming so i could look into more research. Theres nothing more thrilling than looking into material that could bear a relation to the overall Shenmue story.
Shenmue is more than just a game.........
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