Just for the sake of argument, let’s all assume that there is a form of – ahem – one-armed boxing or – as it’s known in the feature somewhat of the same name – the ‘Crippled Hand Technique.’ Also, let’s assume that it’s medically possible to remove all nerve-endings from your hand by subjecting it to a soul-crushing dip into a burning fire. “After his schoolmate and master is killed and he loses an arm, student Tien Lung has to learn the art of one-armed boxing.” If, however, you’re accepting of a few modest hints at ‘things to come,’ then read on …) If you’re the type of reader who prefers a review entirely spoiler-free, then I’d encourage you to skip down to the last few paragraphs for the final assessment. (NOTE: The following review will contain minor spoilers necessary solely for the discussion of plot and/or characters. Our lead rises and falls and rises with the best of them, only this time the gimmick ended up being attached (erm … or is that unattached?) to him: when he comes to that midpoint narrative crossroads when failure is required, he ends up losing an arm. Like the films of my younger days, it fit easily into the methodology. Thankfully, I don’t have to stretch my imagination all that far to enjoy a little something something like One-Armed Boxer (1972). But before all was said and done, the hero recovered his place in the community by rising up, kicking butt, and never thinking twice about taking names. Honestly, most of the divergences from what I recall involved the villains more than they did the lead – occasionally, even the baddies were tragically flawed, or they were sometimes ‘blessed’ with super-special almost superhero-like strength or gadgets that became their lethal gimmick. Of course, there were any number of minor variations to this framework.
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