What is the best fictional martial arts? [Archive] - RPGnet Forums Jackob 07-09-2007, 01:26 PM Assuming the "two men (women/animals/aliens/whatever) enter, one ... leaves", featureless arena scenario, what do you think would be the best fictional martial arts ( I think we might want to split it up in armed and unarmed. My votes: Unarmed: Sinanju or Deja Fu Armed: Lightsaber Combat David Goodner 07-09-2007, 01:34 PM Does the Weirding Way from Dune count as a martial art? If so, the ability to blow stuff up by talking to it is a pretty impressive martial art. I will, at the moment, bow to lightsabre combat as opposed to the suggestion I was thinking of - the Gun Kata. Lightsabres can deflect bullets, QED. David G. Jackob 07-09-2007, 01:39 PM Does the Weirding Way from Dune count as a martial art?

If so, the ability to blow stuff up by talking to it is a pretty impressive martial art. It's mentioned on the page I link to, so I'd say yeah. I will, at the moment, bow to lightsabre combat as opposed to the suggestion I was thinking of - the Gun Kata. Lightsabres can deflect bullets, QED. David G. Are you sure lightsabers can deflect bullets? I'd think they'd just vaporize them, which would mean you can't deflect 'em back at your oppoenent... ParadoxBoy I'll go ahead and bring up Gymkata, so no one else can. :D Jackob I'll go ahead and bring up Gymkata, so no one else can. :D I said "featureless arena", not "parallel bars". :P David Goodner 07-09-2007, 01:44 PM Are you sure lightsabers can deflect bullets? I'd think they'd just vaporize them, which would mean you can't deflect 'em back at your oppoenent... Vaporize, deflect, either way, the Jedi's not getting hit.

They can certainly deflect blaster bolts, and I'm sure if a sufficiently bloodymidned Jedi wanted to deflect bullets with his lightsabre, he could find a way. :) All I really meant was "block" though. David G. Walker 07-09-2007, 01:47 PM Mkunga lalem it includes the move "make the zombie takes his own head off" it may not be ultimate martial art but is very cool Coyote's Own 07-09-2007, 01:47 PM Akashic Brotherhoods Do, which encompasses all the martial arts? Kalindo was lso a fun concept, but it reacquires the martial artist to posses shapeshifting abilities. Jackob Akashic Brotherhoods Do, which encompasses all the martial arts? And gets you eaten by Paradox... :D MoltenPlastic 07-09-2007, 01:53 PM All of the styles used by Inigo Montoya; Agrippa, Capo Ferro, Thibault, Bonetti, and McBone.

(Of these, I think only Capo Ferro has any historical basis, but I might be under-informed.) Lee Casebolt 07-09-2007, 01:53 PM Whatever it is Douglas Hill's Moros Legionaries ( use. Lee Casebolt 07-09-2007, 01:55 PM All of the styles used by Inigo Montoya; Agrippa, Capo Ferro, Thibault, Bonetti, and McBone. (Of these, I think only Capo Ferro has any historical basis, but I might be under-informed.) Agrippa, Thibault, and Bonetti I also know to be legitimate fencing instructors. Coyote's Own 07-09-2007, 01:56 PM And gets you eaten by Paradox... :D Not Do itself. But if start flinging vulgar magic while doing it, well that your problem. Also Mo Chi (Devil Judgment) Kung Fu used by the Shih. oWoD had a a hell lot of fictional Martial Arts.

Hell the Big Book of Ass Whooping (aka WoD: Combat) had one made for the kindred. Save-vs-DM 07-09-2007, 01:58 PM I have to go with Gnome-Fu - it is unbeatable (and also only exists in our home games, but oh well). Save vs DM I've never beaten someone who used Violet Bier of Sorrows. Buddha's Palm is another good one. A Kao-Ken master probably wouldn't win, but they'd place for sure. Of course, there's also the super secret martial art that I created long ago, practiced only by myself and three students. It is known as Splitjitsu, and it is the art of doing the splits in a manner so painful that it causes your enemy to die from empathy. Jackob 07-09-2007, 02:04 PM Not Do itself. But if start flinging vulgar magic while doing it, well that your problem. oWoD had a a hell lot of fictional Martial Arts. Hell the Big Book of Ass Whooping (aka WoD: Combat) had one made for the kindred.

Oh, yeah, I'd completely managed to forget that Do didn't give you Paradox... ahhh, ignorance is bliss. :p And Kibatsumejutsu was... interesting. There was also Kailindo, which was more fun IMO. I have to go with Gnome-Fu - it is unbeatable (and also only exists in our home games, but oh well). Save vs DM Brian888 07-09-2007, 02:40 PM North Star has to be WAY the hell near the top of the list. If Kenshiro touches you, you're dead. Mark Krawec My money's on kabumei ( Kaemaril If it's good enough for Hugo Rune it's gotta be pretty good. daHob 07-09-2007, 02:52 PM The temporal fugue fighting style used in Zelazny's Creatures of Light and Darkness (I think that was the one). "I snap kick you four years ago!" Arnino Storm 07-09-2007, 02:54 PM Kaleidoscopic Border of Logic?

There was also that Sidereal Martial Arts I want to create (but I suck at making powers up) that is based around the concept of, not manipulating time but rather making your opponent believe you can. Brad Ellison 07-09-2007, 02:57 PM North Star has to be WAY the hell near the top of the list. If Kenshiro touches you, you're dead. It's the only martial art I've ever heard of that teaches how to punch a man in the chest in a way that makes his head explode. OldKentuckyShark 07-09-2007, 03:06 PM I gotta go with Deja Fu. In the highest parts of the Ramtop mountains lies the valley of Oi-Dong, where it is always perpetually a nice day in spring. Here dwell the History Monks, the Men in Saffron, who make sure that the world moves foreward along its pre-ordained path. When people say "It is Written...", it is written here.

The Monks of Time practice numerous martial arts, including Okidoki, Tung-pi, and No Kando; they supplement their deadly prowess with an ability called time-slicing. A History Monk can manipulate their own personal time, stretching a second long enough to last for hours or slicing a moment so closely that they can stab you with it. One of their elite History Ninjas can strike an opponent seven thousand times before they hit the ground. Even the History Monks are afraid of Deja Fu. Deja Fu (lit. "The feeling that you have been kicked in the head this way before") possesses the ability to fight retroactively. At the beginning of a fight, a Deja Fu master simply arranges things so that his opponent has already been beaten, and, indeed, onlookers will retroactively wonder how the opponent even managed to climb inside the ring with two broken legs and a fractured clavicle. The only known counters to Deja Fu are Rule One ("don't act incautiously around people who know Deja Fu") and the Vimes Elbow, which is widely agreed to be pretty formiddable.

Random Nerd 07-09-2007, 03:19 PM The temporal fugue fighting style used in Zelazny's Creatures of Light and Darkness (I think that was the one). "I snap kick you four years ago!" Oh, yes. Not just attacking them in the past, but building up a collection of carefully placed time-shifted slices of yourself around the past and future of the moment of confrontation. Aaron Peori 07-09-2007, 03:22 PM I guess I'll have to be the token "Whatever the hell it is Son Goku uses" person. Because while blowing up your opponents head by touching him is nice. Blowing up your opponents solar system by waving in his general direction is probably better. ---------------- Random Nerd 07-09-2007, 03:32 PM I guess I'll have to be the token "Whatever the hell it is Son Goku uses" person. Because while blowing up your opponents head by touching him is nice. Blowing up your opponents solar system by waving in his general direction is probably better. ---------------- Epsilon Eh.

That's in the same category as Airstrike-Fu, the art of having your planes or artillery bombard your enemy's location. Varyar I've always been partial to bladesong from the Forgotten Realms. Swords, elves and magic? Boo-ya! Frank Sronce 07-09-2007, 03:33 PM Oh, yes. Not just attacking them in the past, but building up a collection of carefully placed time-shifted slices of yourself around the past and future of the moment of confrontation. I'm reminded of the combat system in Continuum, where rival time travellers would use maneuvers like "The Gemini Gambit" (arrange for your future self to be waiting to aid you in the fight) to try and paradox each other out of existence by changing the timeline back and forth. Arnino Storm 07-09-2007, 04:09 PM Eh. That's in the same category as Airstrike-Fu, the art of having your planes or artillery bombard your enemy's location. Oh! Airstrike-Fu could be cool.

Developed by a family who had a sizeable airship fleet for a long time, the art of airstrike-fu is that of fighting against your enemy while your ships are bombarding the area, evading the attacks and kicking your enemy into them. Student: Bullet-Dodger You can fight pretty well even if machine-gun barrages and the like are thrown around you. Accomplished: Missile Jumper You can effortlessly evade missile attacks, even redirecting them for massive damage. Master: Explosion Dancer Even the worst aerial bombardments wont' fze you. Random Nerd 07-09-2007, 04:15 PM Oh! Airstrike-Fu could be cool. Developed by a family who had a sizeable airship fleet for a long time, the art of airstrike-fu is that of fighting against your enemy while your ships are bombarding the area, evading the attacks and kicking your enemy into them. Student: Bullet-Dodger You can fight pretty well even if machine-gun barrages and the like are thrown around you. Accomplished: Missile Jumper You can effortlessly evade missile attacks, even redirecting them for massive damage.

Master: Explosion Dancer Even the worst aerial bombardments wont' fze you. No, no. The trick is when you arrange, in advance, precisely where and when every bullet and bomb will be deployed. Then you work out a series of movements that will convey you safely through it, while turning anyone else standing anywhere in the area into a bullet-and-shrapnel pincushion. Crimsondude 07-09-2007, 04:15 PM A friend made a martial art for Shadowrun that is really only to be used by people with cyberlimbs, called the Hard Way. I like that one. I guess it's close to Cyberninjutsu in GURPS from what I can tell reading that page. Arnino Storm 07-09-2007, 04:35 PM No, no. The trick is when you arrange, in advance, precisely where and when every bullet and bomb will be deployed. Then you work out a series of movements that will convey you safely through it, while turning anyone else standing anywhere in the area into a bullet-and-shrapnel pincushion. Well, that really depends on the setting.

Or there could be variations within the Airstrike-Fu schools. Jade Bells Ringing 07-09-2007, 04:38 PM well, basically, a little google-fu turns up Martian Commando (from the Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester). "...transformed by surgeons of the Mars Commando Brigade into the solar systems most formidable fighting machine. This operation normally reserved for the top of the top military special services rewires every nerve plexus, microscopic transistors and transformers are buried in muscle and bone. A minute platinum outlet connects his web of fighting equipment to a powerpack. He has control switches embedded in his teeth to help control his emotions, to control his time sense and his bodies response time and strength. He is able to speed up time to the degree that he can waltz around foes as if they are statues." This makes a Commando so fast that two Commandos accidentally touching each other will kill both. Aaron Peori 07-09-2007, 04:44 PM Eh. That's in the same category as Airstrike-Fu, the art of having your planes or artillery bombard your enemy's location.

(shrug) Yes, but is Goku's ability to project energy blasts that can blow up planets any less ridiculous and stupid then a martial art that allows you to control time? Seriously? Personally I'm a fan of ICMB-fu. ----------------- Q99 07-09-2007, 04:54 PM Panzer Kunst from Battle Angel Alita is a really good one, as are some of the other space martial arts seen in the series. JELEINEN Sexy Commando is easily the best. #Techniques 07-09-2007, 05:06 PM ICBM-fu I'd say its greatest weakness is AFAIK it's impossible to kill named martial artists via big explosions - it falls under the 'there's no body' clause of Action genre. Nobody vulnerable to being nuked from orbit (it's the only way to be sure) is important enough to justify the nuking from orbit (it's the only way to be sure). Isurugi's guardian in Arm of Kannon/Birth has a sword style that I think is a worthy competitor.

There's a sequence where someone is joking with him while he trains, saying that he's trying to cut uncuttable stuff. Each time he mentions something, it's something the guardian can already cut. "You have a very unique sword. I bet it could cut the water." "I learned to cut water ten years ago." "So then what are you trying to cut, the air? *laughing*" "I learned to cut the air. That was five years ago." You eventually find out that he's learning to cut space open. He gets it down, too. Qusoor 07-09-2007, 05:27 PM All of the styles used by Inigo Montoya; Agrippa, Capo Ferro, Thibault, Bonetti, and McBone. (Of these, I think only Capo Ferro has any historical basis, but I might be under-informed.) There is not a single person mentioned in that speech that was not a famous fencer, although I don't recognize McBone from the speech. Steven Barnes' zero G fighting styl;e,. whatever he called in it Streetlethal.

Since all collisions are elastic in zero0 G, you had to his the other guy with tremendous force very very fast so that the majority of the momentum of the blow went into damaging the other guy, rather then knocking him away Mantisking 07-09-2007, 05:31 PM Steven Barnes' zero G fighting styl;e,. whatever he called in it Streetlethal. Since all collisions are elastic in zero0 G, you had to his the other guy with tremendous force very very fast so that the majority of the momentum of the blow went into damaging the other guy, rather then knocking him awayNull Boxing. Erik Sieurin 07-09-2007, 05:33 PM The Kung Fu of the School of Indiscriminate Grappling, partially because it is based on the theory of doing whatever it takes to take down the enemy, partially because appearently its students are adept at incorporating other schools' moves in it fighting, and partially because it great Secret Blow Technique is simply tossing huge bombs at the enemy.

One of my favorite crossover theories is that one of the people young Bruce Wayne trained with to become the goddamn Batman was Master Happosai...:D Erik, it would explain a lot Caias Ward Agrippa, Thibault, and Bonetti I also know to be legitimate fencing instructors. McBane, if that's who he's referring to, is/was also legit. D S A 07-09-2007, 08:07 PM Ecky Thump, ( cockney martial art featured on The Goodies (it involved assaulting people with black pudding sausages), maybe the only fictional martial art to actually kill someone. When the episode in question was first broadcast on British tv it caused a viewer to laugh so hard and so long he had a heart attack and died! Snopes reference. ( Brad Ellison 07-09-2007, 08:21 PM "You know, Scotland has its own martial art. Yeah, it's called Fuck-Yu. It's mostly just head butting and then kicking people when they're on the ground." ( Jackob Google-Fu (mentioned earlier in this thread) sounds pretty good. ;) dr.

strangemonkey 07-10-2007, 01:54 AM Does the Weirding Way from Dune count as a martial art? If so, the ability to blow stuff up by talking to it is a pretty impressive martial art. I will, at the moment, bow to lightsabre combat as opposed to the suggestion I was thinking of - the Gun Kata. Lightsabres can deflect bullets, QED. David G. I'll second the Weirding Way with the following variations getting extra points: 1.) Book Weirding Way vs. Movie. Voice powered psychological manipulation combined with a heightened perception and reflexes and loads of logic tricks. Also loads of weird joint and movement exercises. 2.) Later Books vs. Earlier: In the early books everyone is such an amazing bad ass that you barely need to focus on the details. Conversely in the later books certain people are such amazing badasses that you have to describe so that everyone else's minds can be properly. A.) Leto's Nuclear Powered Worm Suit Fu. "You know what might make my weirding way Kung Fu strong enough to defeat my 'demon' posessed abomination aunt? Tailoring an eco suit for myself.

By which I specifically do not mean a suit so that is good for the ecosystem so much as a suit that is a miniaturized and contained ecosystem anchored on myself." Phenomenal probably better than starship power at the cost of becoming a sand worm. B.) Later Bene Gesserit Commando teams. I think at one point they end up in a duel with a mono-filament missile. C.) Miles Teg Bashar fu. It's like the above save that you are a human super computer who has managed to transcend time as a result fo bizarre trauma. You move at speeds you can only manage by shifting in a relativistic cognitive perception state, also you are forced to eat whole restaurants out of their pasta supply in order to maintain your slim figure. kinnygraham 07-10-2007, 02:05 AM "You know, Scotland has its own martial art. Yeah, it's called Fuck-Yu. It's mostly just head butting and then kicking people when they're on the ground." ( Ahermm - the thread was looking for 'fictional' martial arts. That isn't.

Take it from someone who knows :) kinnygraham 07-10-2007, 02:12 AM Ecky Thump, ( cockney martial art featured on The Goodies (it involved assaulting people with black pudding sausages), maybe the only fictional martial art to actually kill someone. When the episode in question was first broadcast on British tv it caused a viewer to laugh so hard and so long he had a heart attack and died! Snopes reference. ( I think you may just have incurred the wrath of the Secret Masters of Ecky-Thump. This discipline originated in the North, and more specifically I think Lancashire. Calling it a 'cockney' martial art is a grave insult and you had better beware of sausages of varying flavour and consistency attempting to achieve an 'interface situation' with your cranium.... ;) Egyptian 07-10-2007, 02:57 AM I'll put in my vote for the Honored Matre's fighting art, Hormu. Most martial artists had to flip out to kill you, an Honored Matre would kill you as a reflex if you moved wrong or said something that made them twitchy.

Otherwise I choose Llap Goch. :D Argent 07-10-2007, 03:17 AM Panzer Kunst from Battle Angel Alita is a really good one, as are some of the other space martial arts seen in the series. Fuck yeah. The martial arts in Alita/Gunm (and many of the more plausible ones from Last Order) have the advantage of being beautifully realized. For sheer over-the-top killage, though, Sinanju has it down. martikhoras 07-10-2007, 03:24 AM Kumagoro-fu Ahem, porn writer with a sumo wrestling motiff. His guys will after wrestling oxen, carrying two boulders up a mountainside and crushing their legs with granite slabs reliably just POUND through castle walls and take no less than a dozen arrows to slow them down, not kill, slow down. In addition to the obvious virile benefits (porn writer)there is the simple fact you survive everything with a few additional scars and some water (even voluntarily taking a poison blade to the gut) plus easily carry treetrunks and other stuff.

Any martial art that incorporates the nonsensical but still awesome skill of making umbrellas a lethal instrument. Saotome's school weeps at the power of Crying Freeman's unnamed style. Allows you to eat with chopsticks with your goddamn TOES. Teaches you to use everything as a weapon as well. From tires to tongues, plus you become an expert at IDing and antidoting any poison EVER. Whatever that stuff is all the Ryu clones in SF are practicing. ITs the happy medium between Goku and uhm well DB Goku. Yomiko Readman's papermastering Daisuke Jigen's gunfu. shoot out the pilot of a plane in a moving car on the mountainside. Airbending. You have a 24-hour wirefu crew, with a little mechanical assistance you can fly swiftly for short distances and run like crazy. I love the air scooter and genie tail maneuvers. Toph-style earthbending with vibro sense, the ability to control dust and just do alot of different things at once. Waterbending its so goddamn versatile. The number one problem being that it has so many nuances. The cool thing is though that you will never have spilled drink/stained blouse or carpet again.

Plus the freezing and body puppetry tricks are something else. The Quincy powers. Yashimaru, the wire dude from Basilisk. Keyblade-fu Tuxedo Mask, its been.. well forever but this man made a rose the best thing to bring to battle along with a staff and cape too. Inuyasha's natural combat abilities. I just like his beastial movements and savage but awesome grace. Ninjutsu (just to thread crap) it can, depending on what, allow you to do anything so long as you can flip out and kill anything in a way everyone else must stand and bask in. Coyote's Own 07-10-2007, 03:33 AM Whatever that stuff is all the Ryu clones in SF are practicing. ITs the happy medium between Goku and uhm well DB Goku. I think you mean Gouki (known as Akuma in the American version). It described as "Ansatsuken" (a killing style) of Karate but was never given a name. In th early translation of SF it was reffered as Shatokan Karate.

Monkey to the Fleet Savant 07-10-2007, 03:36 AM Deja Fu for the win. Nightward 07-10-2007, 04:00 AM Whatever unarmed art Keil Randor used to do in those old YAF novels seemed pretty good to me. For armed, I suggest it's hard to go past Dante, Son of Sparda. His form is based on two things; not giving a crap about training or actual effort, and looking awesome. Any style that allows you to turn a demon into an electric guitar which you then jam on SO HARD YOUR OPPONENT'S HEADS EXPLODE has got to be pretty good. Gaffa 07-10-2007, 04:55 AM I said "featureless arena", not "parallel bars". :P Er...but part of the power of Gymkata is that parallel bars magically appear anytime you need them. I say let it roll! Wraithstrike 07-10-2007, 05:45 AM yeah Keyblade-Fu.

I love how anyone who picks up a keyblade instinctively knows the correct defensive posture. Plus at the higher levels, there's the experts only move of Trinity Limit. drnuncheon 07-10-2007, 06:40 AM Nobody's yet mentioned Sumito/the 97 Steps from Steve Perry's Matador series, so I will. Maybe there should be different categories for martial arts that do & don't break the laws of physics... Mantisking 07-10-2007, 06:46 AM Nobody's yet mentioned Sumito/the 97 Steps from Steve Perry's Matador series, so I will.That one's my personal favorite. :) Jackob 07-10-2007, 06:51 AM Er...but part of the power of Gymkata is that parallel bars magically appear anytime you need them. I say let it roll! Ahhh, hadn't thought about that!

Count_Zero 07-10-2007, 06:57 AM Any of the martial arts from the Guilty Gear series, or, for that matter, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (*ahem* Wrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy) Oh, and Hakkiokosaiken (sp) style (from the Fatal Fury series). WorldSaverInc 07-10-2007, 07:26 AM I give the nod to "Hero-Fu" hero-fu is one of the more common "fu"s in the universe. It is used by people like John McClaine to Optimus Prime. It can be grafted on to other forms of martial arts such as the Wierding Way or Lightsaber Combat or even Deju Fu. It is the ability of the hero to kick ass and take names by being heroic, the hero, the protagonist of the story. It has amazing power to manipulate/create the narritive casuality in order to win/succeed in the objective necessary usually involving kicking the bad guys ass with kicking.

Also this style lends itself to those who care about something outside themselves as those who care "gain more power" more commonly scene in the medium of anime, though it applies to alot of other things as well. This style is superb against mooks and does not do so well against bosses unless already received a hurtin and especially if threatening somebody they care about. This style even has the power to turn in the most evil of villians to aid them in facing a higher evil ie. Darth Vader and many others. This is the hidden style behind all heroes and some of the best martial arts. (though if you want a consolation prize. Lion's Roar Blast (or known as the depression wave) only known practioner is ryoga hibiki.) Jonas Albrecht Bending. Bending by far. Especially airbending. Though Tophstyle is good too. Jason D McBane, if that's who he's referring to, is/was also legit. Morganstern has it as "McBone", but that may be a mistake introduced in Goldman's abridgement. Yo! Master And, yeah, Toph's unique Earthbending style, based on Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu.

Ashikaider 07-10-2007, 08:56 AM I came up with an unnamed form inspired by the pressure point techniques in Ranma and Hokuto Shinken. It involved high-speed strikes to various pressure points so as to cause the opponent to act in unusual ways. This would be a style that would be rarely taught, as most Master of the Martial Arts would find it to be very silly. A practitioner could strike, walk away from a confrontation, pause for a moment, and say "You have already been humiliated." The opponent would then react in unpredictable ways. Mantisking 07-10-2007, 08:57 AM Lady Shiva's Leopard Blow.I'd say that's a single technique more than a style. And, yeah, Toph's unique Earthbending style, based on Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu.Oooh, I didn't know that. Cool. Yo! Master I'd say that's a single technique more than a style. And whatever else Shiva uses with it then. :p Oooh, I didn't know that. Cool. The thanks go to Wikipedia.

All the bending styles are based on actual Real Life (tm) MAs. Coyote's Own Lady Shiva's Leopard Blow. And, yeah, Toph's unique Earthbending style, based on Chu Gar Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu. I sort of think that Firebending is the superior of the bending styles since it can actually summon it element, not relaying on it presence. Though Airbending doesn't require you to summon it's element, since it everywhere (with the exclusion of underwater locations) Mantisking 07-10-2007, 09:40 AM The thanks go to Wikipedia. All the bending styles are based on actual Real Life (tm) MAs.I knew they were based on real life arts, I just didn't know that specific one. I sort of think that Firebending is the superior of the bending styles since it can actually summon it element, not relaying on it presence. Though Airbending doesn't require you to summon it's element, since it everywhere (with the exclusion of underwater locations)I'd say Waterbending, at some point you must learn how to control the water in an opponent's body.

Coyote's Own 07-10-2007, 09:43 AM I knew they were based on real life arts, I just didn't know that specific one. I'd say Waterbending, at some point you must learn how to control the water in an opponent's body. Well that sort of what the Swampbenderes were doing (Bedning the Water in the Vines to move them). !Bob Ansatsuken (specially with Shinku No Hadou) Quendalon 07-10-2007, 11:33 AM The temporal fugue fighting style used in Zelazny's Creatures of Light and Darkness (I think that was the one). "I snap kick you four years ago!" Oh, yes. There aren't many other styles in which a duel between two practitioners inevitably results in a localized disintegration of the space-time continuum.

(And by "localized" I mean "across the entire planet".) The Kricket Kid 07-10-2007, 11:45 AM Sword Saint's Sword SKill 23 from Stormriders it was supposed to be unbeatable, and Sword Saint hadn't even mastered it and he was almost able to kill Conquer while he was dying if i remember correctly (which i probably don't). Juriel 07-10-2007, 12:24 PM Equilibrium's gun-kata. It MUST make you invulnerable to everything, seeing how people with it can stand still in coverless terrain and not get hit by people autofiring on them from all sides! Coyote's Own 07-10-2007, 12:41 PM Equilibrium's gun-kata. It MUST make you invulnerable to everything, seeing how people with it can stand still in coverless terrain and not get hit by people autofiring on them from all sides! I think your still quite vulnerable to area of effect weapons like grenades or missiles. dddawson Another vote for Zelazny's temporal fugue here.

Oddsod Blok'ed 07-10-2007, 07:56 PM Equilibrium's gun-kata. It MUST make you invulnerable to everything, seeing how people with it can stand still in coverless terrain and not get hit by people autofiring on them from all sides! Plus it includes mighty Pistol Whippin' Fu. Clerics with enough knowledge of gun kata could probably shoot the projectiles out of the air if the attacker somehow got a shot off before getting a round between the eyes. After all, statistically probable locations for fire would most likely include locations for rocket and grenade attacks. Plus the weapons are rather obvious - if you see a guy with a round object in his hands or a big tube on his shoulder, you should probably plug him one. Juriel I think your still quite vulnerable to area of effect weapons like grenades or missiles. Like wise Oddsod above states, not if you shoot them. Out of the air at the latest. With just your aura of AWESOME. Rick Damn it, I saw the title and that popped up into my head... Damn you. Coyote's Own Like wise Oddsod above states, not if you shoot them.

Out of the air at the latest. With just your aura of AWESOME. So you just lure the Grammaton Cleric in to a building full of explosives. Also I didn't see the the Gun Kata training incorporate any training of avoiding mines. And shooting grenades our of the air might not accomplish much. Those thing still fall to ground and explode, and that when area of effect comes in to play. The cleric is quite lily to still be in the explosion area. Also since nobody mentioned it: The Twelve Swords Kenjustu, practiced my Manji from the Mugen no Junin manga series. Juriel 07-11-2007, 09:43 AM So you just lure the Grammaton Cleric in to a building full of explosives. Also I didn't see the the Gun Kata training incorporate any training of avoiding mines. I repeat, AURA OF AWESOME. And shooting grenades our of the air might not accomplish much. Those thing still fall to ground and explode That's why when you shoot them in the air, they get flung far away, likely back to the people who tried to use them on you.

I mean, Dante from Devil May Cry is no Grammaton Cleric, but he did that to a MOTORCYCLE. :p Kirayoshi 07-11-2007, 11:49 AM I'd say Waterbending, at some point you must learn how to control the water in an opponent's body.That could explain how some water-benders(Kitara, for example) have developed healing abilities. Admittedly that initially sound like a deus ex machina for Kitara to heal herself when Aang accidently burnt her in his first firebending attempt, but it does make sense. Mantisking 07-11-2007, 11:55 AM That could explain how some water-benders(Kitara, for example) have developed healing abilities. Admittedly that initially sound like a deus ex machina for Kitara to heal herself when Aang accidently burnt her in his first firebending attempt, but it does make sense.It could also be turned into a devastating attack. Just suck all the water out of their body and watch them become a dessicated husk.

Coyote's Own 07-11-2007, 12:07 PM It could also be turned into a devastating attack. Just suck all the water out of their body and watch them become a dessicated husk. Drawing all of somebodies Calsium form they're body with earthbending would probably just as if not more fatal. (I'm imagening it would look similar to Magneto drawing the adamatium form Logans body) Drawing the air from somebodies lungs and surrounding them with with bubble vacuum would be a hellish way do die (via Aribending). And if techniques combining two bending styles are possible (Iroh created his lighting redirecting technique by blending Water and Firebending techniques after all)., the how about boiling someone inside out, heating up the liquids in someones body? Cenobite I'm not sure what its called, but that stuff M. Bison uses seems pretty effective. Oddsod Blok'ed 07-11-2007, 02:00 PM So you just lure the Grammaton Cleric in to a building full of explosives.

Also I didn't see the the Gun Kata training incorporate any training of avoiding mines. Yeah, because that will be really efficient. You might as well send an exploding clown car after him on an otherwise abandoned road. And Clerics don't avoid mines. That's why they send in the sweeper teams and police first. Let the expendable muscle take the casualties. Tardigrade 07-11-2007, 02:02 PM For armed, I'd go with the mightblade from Mielville's The Scar. If you can be hit, you will be. Kaemaril Rachel Cartacos 07-11-2007, 03:04 PM That's why when you shoot them in the air, they get flung far away, likely back to the people who tried to use them on you. I mean, Dante from Devil May Cry is no Grammaton Cleric, but he did that to a MOTORCYCLE. :p Shoot them so that the bullet goes into the hole where the pin used to be!

;) Frederic Christie 11-01-2007, 04:08 AM I won't mention the DBZ martial arts for unarmed - planet incineration is just too far out of bounds for me. Instead, pretty much darn near anything from Rifts/Palladium is crushingly good. Gun Masters who can create explosive kicks with the power of a plasma missile and fire bullets that a Jedi's lightsaber could not destroy (and would in any respect be armed with Chi weapons, including a CHI MINIGUN). Ba Gua masters who can trap you inside of an illusory world that they control to near-godlike proportions. Mantis practitioners who create their own supernaturally powerful power armor animus. Cyber-Knights who make even the ATTEMPT to use technology an actual disadvantage with their Zen Combat. It's not even Rifts, either. Mystic China features the ability to move your internal organs out of the way (Elder Toguro had that ability and it made him nearly indestructible).

And don't even get into the Taoist Immortal, whose "martial arts" let them have 81 permanent clones at full power, turn invisible to such a degree that almost nothing can detect them thanks to negative ki, fill anyone with negative ki and control it (and simultaneously use both negative and positive energies), fly at hundreds of miles an hour, reincarnate perpetually, summon cranes and ki-lin, dine with the Jade Emperor, control undead (by the rules, this would include even ancient vampires, Undead Immortals, liches, etc.), breathe dragon's breath that allows them to completely control chi flows or dissolve all the chi in the area down to nothing (and that's just two of the breaths), be immune to electricity or immune to all projectile attacks. Simultaneously. Other than that, Genkai's/Yusuke's style is unstoppably good. Even against the powerhouses of ki like DBZ characters, Spirit Reflection Wave crushes. And just for the sake of it: Lightning's style from Big Trouble in Little China. (Yes, that included magic, of course). Armed combat?

That's difficult, but Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is definitely a contender, since it includes more than a few ways to defeat even other superhuman styles (say, if you have any enhanced hearing, Ryuumeisen causes you to want to tear your own ears off). Champuru Kendo isn't superhuman, but in terms of how awesome it is to watch it wins. Zen Combat gets another shoutout because Cyber-Knights get to use psi-swords, and that owns (how awesome it is when you make your OWN swords?) Zorro's Santoryu is also very high on the list, given that he can cut through almost any material as long as he knows its breath and can use weaponless combat (though it's still not enough against Hawkeye, who might eclipse him by sheer power alone). But I'm afraid that I might have to go with Bleach's shinigami (or maybe arrancar, depending on what Tite Kubo's current mood is).

The fact that their weapons can be viable both against physical and spiritual targets, that the training in their style means that one develops two releases of a powerful spirit with possibly unlimited ultimate strength (including effects such as enabling omnidirectional attack and defense, doubling the weight of a target one strikes repeatedly - keep hitting and the laws of exponentiation defeat even the strongest foe, etc.), that their style also provides them with powerful magic and abilities to outpace their opponents using movement techniques, and even in some cases give them healing, is pretty compelling. But I only say this because Kuwabara's Jigen Tou is not a style :D . Max 11-01-2007, 06:10 AM Fuck yeah. The martial arts in Alita/Gunm (and many of the more plausible ones from Last Order) have the advantage of being beautifully realized. For sheer over-the-top killage, though, Sinanju has it down. I dunno. Just the "Hertza Haeon" technique causes vibration to cook you explosively from inside out, and it's not even one of the most powerful of Alita's techniques.

Reeze 11-01-2007, 06:23 AM *snip* Deja Fu (lit. "The feeling that you have been kicked in the head this way before") possesses the ability to fight retroactively. At the beginning of a fight, a Deja Fu master simply arranges things so that his opponent has already been beaten, and, indeed, onlookers will retroactively wonder how the opponent even managed to climb inside the ring with two broken legs and a fractured clavicle. The only known counters to Deja Fu are Rule One ("don't act incautiously around people who know Deja Fu") and the Vimes Elbow, which is widely agreed to be pretty formiddable. QFT for unarmed martial arts. For armed... anything involving yelling "My name is Indigo Montoya,you killed my father, prepare to die!" Mainly because the over ideal can be apllied to any melee weapon, and after that it's really just a matter of waiting for your oppent to stop feeling in terror so you can run them through (Or crush, annihlate, rend - whatever it is your melee weapon actually does) Jim Lee Solar Hero Style.

( vitus979 11-01-2007, 07:31 AM Deja Fu (lit. "The feeling that you have been kicked in the head this way before") possesses the ability to fight retroactively. At the beginning of a fight, a Deja Fu master simply arranges things so that his opponent has already been beaten, and, indeed, onlookers will retroactively wonder how the opponent even managed to climb inside the ring with two broken legs and a fractured clavicle. The only known counters to Deja Fu are Rule One ("don't act incautiously around people who know Deja Fu") and the Vimes Elbow, which is widely agreed to be pretty formiddable. Since Heroes came out I've been wanting to see Hiro and another time-manipulator get into a Deja-Fu fight. It'd have to look something like the trailer for Jumper, but through time and space instead of just space. CasperLions 11-01-2007, 07:36 AM Assuming that the body of a demon to stand over would be provided, I'd have to go with tandava.

Mark Berryman 11-01-2007, 07:46 AM Wiki-fu with the abilty to rewrite the whole of reailty by mouse-click;) and vast info dumping abilty to stun anyone NinjaE8825 11-01-2007, 08:00 AM Solar Hero Style. Aside from the fact that it is, by definition, the ultimate expression of beating people up barehanded... It has other people as a form weapon. Seriously, you can kill a guy, then use him as a baseball bat to knock another guy through a rock wall and killing whoever's on the other side. Markning 11-01-2007, 11:18 AM When Karate Kid in the Legion of Superheroes beat up on Superboy in the 60ies, he used "super karate". They've retconned it so he's a "master of all martial arts" or something equally boring. But I try to ignore that. Could you wrestle silver age Superboy with sinanju? With SUPER KARATE you CAN! Bramha_Bull Anyone mention Tae Kwon Leap yet?

:D Frederic Christie 11-01-2007, 12:51 PM Fuck yeah. The martial arts in Alita/Gunm (and many of the more plausible ones from Last Order) have the advantage of being beautifully realized. For sheer over-the-top killage, though, Sinanju has it down. I dunno. Just the "Hertza Haeon" technique causes vibration to cook you explosively from inside out, and it's not even one of the most powerful of Alita's techniques. The nice advantage that a Cyber-Knight would have over Alita is that she would attack less often with less precision and less ability to dodge and he could passively with only his martial arts disable her targeting computers and modern optics and sensors. He can then fight her with Psi-Swords that can chop through modern tanks like butter, any number of ranged energy weapons, and possibly master level psionic abilities. And the attempt to use vibration attacks would fall upon the living cyber-armor they possess. VRex I'll go ahead and bring up Gymkata, so no one else can. :D Dang, that was fast!

11-01-2007, 04:51 PM And the attempt to use vibration attacks would fall upon the living cyber-armor they possess. As I said, that was just one of her techniques. "Einstung Rustungen", for example, is an attack method specifically designed to penetrate armor. :) Of course, it sounds like the Cyber-Knight might as well just shut her body down (like all the 'borgs in Gunnm, she's a full conversion job, basically a brain in a very, very strong, sleek and sexy jar). Ornithopter 11-02-2007, 12:03 AM Another vote here for Temporal Fugue. The scene where Wakim battles the Steel General, with, eventually, hundreds of copies of each of them popping in and out of existence every moment... I've never seen or read of anything of similar power. Although, it was about par for the course in that book. GestaltBennie Ding! We have a winner! vitus979 11-02-2007, 07:34 AM Another vote here for Temporal Fugue.

The scene where Wakim battles the Steel General, with, eventually, hundreds of copies of each of them popping in and out of existence every moment... I've never seen or read of anything of similar power. Although, it was about par for the course in that book. Pratchett's book Thief of Time has a rather interesting look at time manipulation and martial arts*. It's the source of all the Deja Fu comments. * and one of the protagonist's disdain for linking them ;) Inglorious Coyote 11-02-2007, 07:59 AM When Karate Kid in the Legion of Superheroes beat up on Superboy in the 60ies, he used "super karate". They've retconned it so he's a "master of all martial arts" or something equally boring. But I try to ignore that. Could you wrestle silver age Superboy with sinanju? With SUPER KARATE you CAN!Verily. Val Armor's Super Karate can beat anything. Need to shatter a room sized diamond? Super Karate.

Need to stop an earthquake by kicking the ground and sending out seismic waves to cancel it out, destroying the earthquake machine that made it in the process? Super Karate. Need to hurt a guy (Mon El) who can throw planets and fly through suns without mussing his hair? Super Karate. Frederic Christie 11-11-2007, 04:38 PM As I said, that was just one of her techniques. "Einstung Rustungen", for example, is an attack method specifically designed to penetrate armor. :) Of course, it sounds like the Cyber-Knight might as well just shut her body down (like all the 'borgs in Gunnm, she's a full conversion job, basically a brain in a very, very strong, sleek and sexy jar). Well, to be totally fair, even the highest levels of Zen Combat can't actually SHUT DOWN technology, they can just make it really, really disadvantaged.

Alita obviously wouldn't count as an inexperienced sensor operator, so she wouldn't lose actions just for using her sensors, and while the data she'd be getting would be off pretty substantially, it may not be enough for massive plasma attacks not to do at least some area of effect damage. The real difficulty, of course, is that the average Cyber-Knight also is wearing external heavy armor. I doubt Alita's attacks would pierce both the external knight armor and the internal armor, and even if it did, were the Cyber-Knight an M.D.C. species he still would be fine. And psychic Cyber-Knights can do fun stuff like accelerate paper clips to railgun velocities... As far as Silver Age Karate Kid: I'd argue that insane SCALE of power does not mean the ability to beat another practitioner. An archetypal example is Yusuke vs. Sensui: Yusuke's (at that time unconscious) demon blood and ludicrous strength is insane, but Sensui took almost no damage from even utterly brutal hits. The right Ninjas and Superspies practitioner could mind control, paralyze, or kill him with just a few blows using negative ki manipulation. Another vote here for Temporal Fugue.

The scene where Wakim battles the Steel General, with, eventually, hundreds of copies of each of them popping in and out of existence every moment... I've never seen or read of anything of similar power. Although, it was about par for the course in that book. The Ti Hsien have 81 selves out, plus their Immortal Child. Constantly. Not disappearing. All of which can completely control their body, making their skin anything from stone to adamantium. And each of those selves have all of the powers that such an Immortal usually has, which can be temporal magic (including turning into a 4-Dimensional Being), ki magic with literally apocalyptic power (summoning the True Yin-Yang contains enough energy to make or destroy the universe), complete ki control of their opponents, penultimate invisibility, astral or ki planes where one controls all time and space, etc. And, of course, tricks like going back in time and kicking them before they become Immortal don't work because their soul has ascended to an enlightened, post-temporal state - even if one kills them, they just get reincarnated somewhere else at some other time and place and within a few decades are even stronger than when they died.

Max 11-11-2007, 08:44 PM Well, to be totally fair, even the highest levels of Zen Combat can't actually SHUT DOWN technology, they can just make it really, really disadvantaged. Alita obviously wouldn't count as an inexperienced sensor operator, so she wouldn't lose actions just for using her sensors, and while the data she'd be getting would be off pretty substantially, it may not be enough for massive plasma attacks not to do at least some area of effect damage. The real difficulty, of course, is that the average Cyber-Knight also is wearing external heavy armor. I doubt Alita's attacks would pierce both the external knight armor and the internal armor, and even if it did, were the Cyber-Knight an M.D.C. species he still would be fine. And psychic Cyber-Knights can do fun stuff like accelerate paper clips to railgun velocities... Actually, Gally/Alita's "plasma attack" doesn't have any area-of-effect: to quote the manga, she "blasts the inhaled air through her body and out her finger, having heated it to a high temperature using an electrical arc discharge.

This creates a fifteen thousand degree centigrade plasma jet. In addition, she places a powerful magnetic field on the plasma and, by controlling the air current that is produced, propels her hand at high speeds in accordance with the principles of magnetohydrodynamic propulsion." It's not a ranged attack, more like a superhot welding torch, allowing her to cut basically anything with her hand like a hot knife through butter. She also does all kinds of creative tricks with that electromagnetic field and other advanced features of the Berserker body (when she's in it; her other bodies had other tricks). And then, there's her Panzer Kunst ( on top of everything her current body can do. Frederic Christie 11-11-2007, 09:11 PM Maybe I'm confusing Alita with Zapan, but looking at the Wiki about her bodies and abilities it seems she has some skills that have some kind of explosive or area of effect damage. Her Imaginos body, for example, seemed to be able to create large plasma claws that she could make wide sweeps with. If not, then I think the Cyber-Knight's chance just went up.

Max 11-11-2007, 09:35 PM Been a long while since I read Last Order, but yeah - IIRC, the "claws" were basically like having lightsabers for fingernails. PS. And, of course, she can move (run, jump, kick, whatever) at supersonic speeds... Xenu's Paradox 11-11-2007, 11:44 PM I'm not sure what its called, but that stuff M. Bison uses seems pretty effective. Psycho power! He draws energy from the pure, unrelenting evil in his own soul. The more evil Bison becomes, the more powerful. Ryu, Ken, Akuma, etc martial art is referred to as Ansatsuken. It has your useful fireballs, and dragon punches, and spinning kicks. It's ultimate technique is translated as Killing Blow or Killing Intent, something like that. It makes you a heartless monster to use it, but makes you a super powerful martial artist as well. My vote: Dante, circa DMC3. If I only get one of his styles, probably Royal Guard.

He can parry anything to build up power and hit you back with it. Xenu's Paradox 11-12-2007, 01:12 PM Ryu, Ken, Akuma, etc martial art is referred to as Ansatsuken. It has your useful fireballs, and dragon punches, and spinning kicks. It's ultimate technique is translated as Killing Blow or Killing Intent, something like that. It makes you a heartless monster to use it, but makes you a super powerful martial artist as well. Shun Goku Satsu ( AKA "Instant Hell Murder", AKA "The Raging Demon." CodexArcanum 11-12-2007, 01:51 PM Shun Goku Satsu ( AKA "Instant Hell Murder", AKA "The Raging Demon." Pulls your soul down to hell where demons beat the crap out of you. Pretty rough attack. SunnyD

Question: In The Goodies TV series a martial art form known as 'Eckythump' was practised using which foodstuff as a weapon?
Answer: BLACK PUDDING