Tigers Of Wulin (a Trilogy within a Series)

The Tigers of Wulin is the name of the Series, yes, but it also would be a fitting name encompassing the first three books as it is within these three that the two main characters Shi/Chen Zhen Di and Iron Wu begin their journey from birth and evolve into the Tigers of Wulin, legendary Martial Arts of skills unparalleled.
Book 1, the Mark of the Shaolin, starts the journey with Shi Zhen Di, a Shaolin Warrior Monk in training. After completing his training at the famed Shaolin Temple, he returns the wider world for the first time in many years. Readers of the first book will know, his journey is one of choice. Zhen Di must decide whether to uphold his religious vows and maintain the path of peacefulness or avenge his family against his vicious brother, Chen Dao, a highly skilled Huquan Tiger Fist fighter.
If Book 1 is an introduction to the world of Wuxia Kung Fu fiction, Book 2 Swords of Wudang would be a look at the universe. We quickly see our two heroes are not alone in the Jianghu world of mystical arts. Many other Sects and organizations have their own marvelous methods of Kung Fu and there are countless heroes and villains surpassing them in power. It is within Book 2 that we learn Iron Wu's story. While he may be the secondary character in Book 1, the second half of the Tigers of Wulin is actually the main character of the series and their roles reverse. Yes, we still see Zhen Di's evolution as it is an important part of the larger story but Iron Wu is front and center, he's the man! We learn where he came from and see the journey a Wudang warrior goes through upon the most sacred of mountains in all of China, Wudangshan.
Onto Book 3. Without giving away too much of the story we see the destiny the heroes were born into, the very reason the Orders of Shaolin and Wudang were created in the first place. It is in Book 3, Scroll of the Drunken Fist, that we explore a side of the story that has before hand been a background element, that of religion. The villain of Book 3, a demonic force from Buddhist religion......hold on, that's a bit too much. What I can say, later books explore this theme (Christianity was outlawed during the time the story is set) but the Tigers of Wulin series will always be, first and foremost, a story of family and personal growth.