[3] Its fame and popularity began to decline in the Yuan dynasty due to ill discipline among its members and incompetent leadership.
Each chief is selected from a pool of nominees based on his/her prowess in martial arts, contributions to the gang, personal conduct and popularity, among other factors.
[2] The most notable martial arts of the Beggars' Gang are the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms and the Dog Beating Staff Technique.
For example, Wu Changfeng in Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils uses a customised saber movement while Chen Guyan carries a sack filled with poisonous creatures for use against enemies.
After Qiao Feng's death at the end of the novel, Xuzhu passed the knowledge of the skill to the next chief of the Beggars' Gang.
[3] In The Legend of the Condor Heroes, the protagonist Guo Jing learns the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms from Hong Qigong, the chief of the Beggars' Gang, and uses it as his primary skill against opponents such as Ouyang Feng, Mei Chaofeng, Huang Yaoshi and Qiu Qianren.
[2] In the sequel The Return of the Condor Heroes, Guo Jing, now a supporting character, uses the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms on multiple occasions in combat, while Hong Qigong uses it in his final battle against Ouyang Feng.
[1] In The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, Shi Huolong, the chief of the Beggars' Gang, had mastered only 12 of the 18 stances and had used it to defend himself when he was ambushed by Cheng Kun, the main antagonist.