The 21st World Martial Arts Tournament was the first tournament to be depicted in detail in Dragon Ball. It was the tournament where Master Roshi, Son Goku, Krillin, and Yamcha first participated.
The standard of this Martial Arts Tournament was much lower than the next one and the one Son Goku later won. Of course, it was still far stronger than the one Hercule eventually won.
The only truly outstanding fighters were these familiar faces. Aside from them, Nam was fairly capable, while everyone else was just there to fill the numbers.
From the manga's perspective, Dragon Ball was still a gag manga with some hot-blooded fighting elements during this tournament arc. All sorts of absurd things happened in the ring, and Yinsen watched from the sidelines as if he were watching a comedy. He found it quite entertaining.
Yoruichi also put aside her frustration at encountering a strong opponent in the Preliminary Round. She laughed loudly and repeatedly slapped Yinsen on the back, making his entire back go numb—he seriously suspected she was deliberately getting back at him.
As for the matches, Yamcha performed better than he had in the original story. Having trained alongside Yinsen, he had improved considerably and gave Master Roshi, who was using the alias Jackie Chun, plenty of trouble. This made Master Roshi's path to victory much harder.
By the time he reached the finals and faced Son Goku, Master Roshi had expended much more stamina. If Son Goku's combat experience had not still been lacking, he might have won the tournament outright.
In addition, the accident of Son Goku transforming into a Great Ape still occurred during the finals. Goku's tail had regrown during the earlier matches, and upon seeing the Full Moon again, he transformed into a Great Ape, causing "a little