Fellow beards, I want to get my friends interested in a Legend

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Bumping with a story.

>Once upon a time there was an American named Mr. Bay, who was obsessed with eastern Asian culture. He had spent two years in college studying Chinese and even took a semester abroad to tour around the various Buddhist monasteries and Shaolin temples of China. When he came back, he felt so enlightened by his experience, that he decided to incorporate many Chinese customs into his life. Mr. Bay grew out his hair and styled it like the gentlemen of the Tang Dynasty, he drank tea every morning and every evening. He learned to cook using bitter roots and dandelion leaves. He even devoted his life to the teaching of Lao Zi and decide to be trained in the secret art of Kung Fu.

>There was a dojo nearby to where he lived in the city, so he brought a gift for his soon to be master, as appropriate per tradition and went to ask for a master. It was a beautiful porcelain teapot he obtained during his travels, and had once belonged to a traveling poet who loved his tea as much as he loved his swordplay - a fitting gift for a Kung Fu master. He waited a whole day before the dojo's thick, oaken gates opened to let him in, Mr. Bay inquired about a Kung Fu Master, but the dojo, as it turned out, only accepted students of Chinese descent, so he was swiftly rejected and sent home.

>However, Mr. Bay did not plan to give up. A week later, he fashioned another gift for his soon to be master - a gold bound scroll he had won in an auction, worth thirty thousand yuan, and said to contain the original manuscript of a decree written by a WuLin master of the Ming Dynasty - a fitting gift for display at an authentic dojo. He waited outside the door for three days and three night, until a senior disciple of the dojo took pity on Mr. Bay and took him to his master. The master heard Mr. Bay's tale but insisted that tradition must be followed, and the dojo will not take in a foreigner. Mr. Bay was taken to be cleaned up and sent home.

[1/?]

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>>50214690

>Yet the determined Mr. Bay swore not to give up until he learns at least one move from the master, so he took out his most precious treasure, a sword that once belonged to a legendary swordsman, rumored to have trapped one thousand demons within his blade and casted a powerful seal upon it, so his desendents would not be so foolish and release the vile host by drawing the vicious edge. He wrapped it in his finest silk, careful as not to damage the scabbard nor accidentally draw the blade, and walked to the dojo barefoot to express his humility. He waited seven days, through strange glares and pouring rain, before finally, the master himself opened the gates and invited him inside.

>At first the dojo only took him in so he would not starve and die, but the masters soon saw that Mr. Bay had more conviction than many of their students. He was allowed then to practice with the rest, temporarily at first, but eventually became a full fledged student and many of the masters' favorite. His progress was fast, eventually he became decent at the kicks and punches, and within a few years he had surpassed even the most senior student at the dojo. The masters no longer regarded him as a stubborn outsider, but as their equal. In fact, the dojo where he was taught had no more to teach, so they gave him the most honorable title a dojo was capable of giving - the title of Kung Fu Master itself.

>Mr. Bay, with his certificate in hand and a sense of accomplishment in his chest, headed to the DMV. He had done it. He had been fully accepted into the culture he admired so much and worked so hard for it. Now there is only one thing left on his mind that he wanted to do. He was going to change his name.

>When he reached the end of the DMV line, the clerk asked what he want to do.

>"I'd like to change my name legally please."

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>>50214761


>The clerk handed him a form to fill out. At the top of the form, a box asked Mr. Bay to indicate the preferred title he would like on record: Mister, Miss, Missus, or Doctor. He went up to the clerk.

>"Hi, the title I would like is not written here."

>"Well what title did you want?" The clerk asked.

>"I'd like to be addressed as Master. You see I recently became a master of Kung Fu, and I was even certified." Mr. Bay said, waving his newly earned certificate.

>"All right, just jot it down in that empty space there." said the clerk, clearly rolling her eyes.

>Mr. Bay did not care, a core virtue of Kung Fu is the willingness to forgive others, however insolent they may be. He smiled at the clerk and went back to his seat. A million names now raced through his head, what kind of Chinese name did he want to take? There are so many choices, so many characters each with so many powerful meanings. Eventually he decided. "Shen, I'm going to be called Shen." He went to fill out the rest of the form, then stood up, and went to the clerk.

>"Excuse me, I'd like to make one final request on this form." Said Mr. Bay.

>The clerk saw it was him, and asked, clearly agitated, "Why, what kind of change do you want now?"

>Mr. Bay said delightedly, " Well you see, the good people of China are a noble and selfless bunch. For them, it is an unspoken honor to bear the name of the clan, and to put the family before themselves."

>"What's your point?" asked the clerk, confused.
[3/4]

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>>50214818


>"What I mean is, as a great admirer of the Chinese culture, I'd like to put my surname BEFORE my new given name - Shen" Mr. Bay said, happily handing over the paperwork.

>The clerk took the form and read it over.

>"That can be arranged, sir. Why don't you sit down there and somebody will call you." the clerk told Mr. Bay.

>Mr. Bay walked back to his seat.

>A few minutes later, a man opened a side door and inquired the room.

>"Shen? Shen Bay? do we have a 'Master' Shen, Bay?"

>Mr. Bay stood up and smiled. He walked towards the man and said, politely, "My good sir, as per Chinese custom, I would really like to be addressed, surname before my given name."

>The man by the door looked at the form in his hand, and spoke the name correctly thus.

>Mr. Bay, having embarrassed himself, stormed out of the DMV.

[4/4]

>>50214834
Bay Shen?

>>50214915
Master Bay Shen. And here I was somehow expecting a Fresh Prince out of all that.

>>50214551
As for novels? Can't say I have a huge list of recommendations. I can say that movies are probably better suited towards reeling in new players. To that end, you have the modern Wulin trifecta: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Hero; and House of Flying Daggers. If you need to dig deeper, most old Jackie Chan flicks or literally the Wu-Tang Kung Fu collection (I'm not even joking, it's a simply stellar collection of old kung fu movies.)

Alternately one of my personal favorites is the Once Upon A Time In China trilogy. It's not only perfect Wulin, but the story follows a very fantastic version of Wong Fei Hung and also well displays the transition in power level between many classic "low-fantasy" kung fu films and the much more high-powered skills shown of the Xiang Hu in Crouching Tiger.

Also note: never played a game of this variety. I'm just a kung-fu weeb that's often dreamed of playing or creating such a game.

>>50215028

Much appreciated, there's a list of movies I have for this purpose and I shall add your recommendations to it. Unfortunately my group goes to uni in different towns so it's not often we get together and watch movies. Books would be somewhat more to each of their own pace but if there are no valid candidates, oh well.

I am also a kung-fu/wuxia 'enthusiast' (curious: can one weeb about their own culture?) but most of the good stuff I enjoy aren't translated into english so it's hard to find people who are in the same powerlevel.

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>>50214551
>What's a good INTRODUCTORY book (talking novels not rulebooks) to suggest to them to get them hooked on the beautiful world of flying wizards with swords and shit?

Just go watch Thunderbolt Fantasy with them, or watch Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

>>50215114
Actually, a lot of Jin Yong's work are already translated, you can find them on Amazon

>>50215141
Thunderbolt Fantasy is not really classic Wu xia , its another genre of its own.

>>50215445
>Thunderbolt Fantasy is not really classic Wu xia

In what meaningful sense is it different?

>>50216860
Thunderbolt fantasy is part of the Pili franchise's effort to expand.
Pili is more of the Shen xia (仙俠) instead of Wu Xia.

Its basically how a medieval novel compares to a fantasy novel based on medieval background..

A few notable difference between the 2 genres
1. People can come back to life. In a Wu Xia story, once someone dies, he is dead.
In Shen xia , there are usually means available to bring someone back to life.
2: Magic exists, there are actual spells to cast in Shen xia instead of pure Kung Fu.
3. God/ Demon exists, appears and influence the story.
Also there's usually a few extra dimensions to travel to.
4. Monsters exists. In Wu Xia the best you get are smart animals. in Shen Xia you have talking gorilla.

>>50217371

So Wuxia is what we'd probably call Low Fantasy, and Shen Xia is what we'd call Medium Fantasy?

What's High Fantasy, Xianxia?

>>50217628
>Shen Xia is what we'd call Medium Fantasy?
>What's High Fantasy, Xianxia?
Pretty sure Shen Xia and Xian Xia are one and the same.

>>50217628
Shen Xia is medium to high fantasy, depends on the author.
Investiture of the Gods is a classic medium fantasy novel
(The story is set near the end of Shang dynasty with actual historical events re-written.)
But Pili and Thunderbolt are definitely high fantasy.

There's another popular genre in China right now called 玄幻.
Which is Shen Xia combined with Manga or western fantasy elements..
While most of them are just Mary Sue stories, a tiny amount of them is readable.

>>50217698
True, I didn't know the translation and just made the sound up myself.

Xian Xia is probably what other people calls 仙俠

>>50214551
>they know absolutely nothing about this genre
Get non-shit friends, m8.