Though some see through his act at first, when he pretends to be a god and jumps into a canal it coincidentally suddenly begins raining, causing many to believe that he is truly a spiritual boxer with magic powers.

Reviewer David Brook of blueprintreview.co.uk called the film "an episodic affair that feels like a series of skits more than a fleshed out story" yet "an important and groundbreaking title in the genre and deserves better recognition.

"[3] The review concludes, "Overall then, being one of the earliest successful true fusions of kung-fu and comedy, it's an important and influential entry into the martial arts movie genre.

"[3] A review by Sean Gilman of The Chinese Cinema reads, "One can see here the imperative of the 36th Chamber: to go out into the world and do good for the people as the highest spiritual virtue, not bells and whistles, temples and sacraments, mythology and dogma.

"[4] The review of the film on sogoodreviews.com reads, "Lau's action is rather sparse and there in sporadic bursts but before the finale, enough glimpses of entertaining and intricate martial arts are on display to breathe life into the picture.

"[5] Reviewer Scott Clark of starburstmagazine.com wrote, "A film like The Spiritual Boxer, though not as instantly recognisable as Five Deadly Venoms or Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, is still well worth checking out.

The story offers a blend of martial arts and comedy previously unseen in the genre, and it introduces ghost and spiritual elements that would soon permeate the Hong Kong industry throughout the late '70s and '80s.

"[10] Reviewer Daniel Auty of thespinningimage.co.uk gave the film a rating of 6 out of 10 stars, writing, "Hardcore kung fu fans may be disappointed by the lack of action – there are a few fight scenes but these tend to be brief and largely played for laughs.

But there's sense of gentle fun about it all – and not a single death in the entire film – while the production values and cinematography are well up to the high standard set by the studio during this period.