Martial Arts in Anime

by Tony Chen and Geoffrey Hartung

Martial Aura- Through great concentration and channeling of anger, the master of this art can cause a lighted border to appear around them. Most often used to display EXTREME displeasure, and a warning to the object of this displeasure that serious bodily harm is about to come to them. This aura appears around the character and can be seen by anyone else in the area, regardless of the lighting (in cases of extreme "cool", other light sources actually dim to make this appear brighter). This immediately warns the object of the practitioner's displeasure is in deep trouble (it also warns innocent bystanders that the furniture is about to fly, but most do not escape). Noted masters of this art are Kenshiro( (Hokuto no Ken) and Akane (Ranma 1/2). 

Martial Bleed- Seen mostly in Hokuto-no-Ken, martial bleed (from the original latin "bleedus heroicus" allows one to bleed up to eleven times as much blood as is contained in the normal human body and yet remain conscious! Coherent enough, usually, to bestow his/her everlasting curse on the enemy. This is used to good effect in most of your more violent anime, such as Akira. 

Martial Big Head- From the latin "Cranius Gigantus". The average human's skull is composed of tightly adjoined bone plates which ARE NOT voluntarily expandable, but this can be overcome by the application of ancient big-head techniques. This unique trick allows the practitioners head to grow several times bigger. By channeling hot air (chi) into the head, characters can intimidate and weaken their opponent's will to fight. The manuever must also be accompanied by loud shouting to be fully effective (see "martial spotlight"). Soun Tendo uses this against Ranma. Megane uses it against Chibi and the rest of Lum's Stormtroopers. 

WARNING: Repeated usage leads to "soft" heads, the loss of valuable brain tissue, and consequent loopiness on the part of the practitioners. (for most of the masters, it's too late) 

Martial Cling- A must for the anime-babe martial artist! This special discipline allows one to keep tight-fitting, or normally loose garments (Towels, skirts, armor, rags, what's left of a uniform) to stay attached to vital body parts. This is irregardless of speed of movement, amount of air rushing by, the orientation of gravity, or lack thereof. 

Martial Drive- This is a *MUST* for pilots of mechs! This lets him or her pilot the mech with far fewer controls than would actually be needed. Seen in almost every piece of animation with mechs in it. The most skilled with this were the early masters in the field, piloting the Go Nagi robots with steering wheels. 

Martial Dodge- Dodging laser beams, 100 ton boulders, unseen falling spikes, even point blank machine-gun fire is a breeze once you have mastered this maneuver! from the original latin "wecan't killum the main characterus" this maneuver is used to good effect in almost all anime, listing examples would be hard, as it shows up so much, but as some generalities: 

Kei, Yuri, Priss (see also "martial soak"),
Linna, A-ko, Jingoro ;) , Gally (or Alita), the list goes on..

Martial Flex- This maneuver allows the otherwise rigid mech to flex just like a human body. Even the hardest of re-enforced armor can be bent with ease! (from the root "artisticus liscensus"). Very good for simple things, like crossing mech arms, or the more useful stop-drop-and-roll. 

Martial Glare- Whenever a character looks at another one with the intention of killing him. This only works with a serious enemy and can go on for hours sometime (like in Kozure Ookami {Lone Wolf and Cub}). Sometimes, only the eyes of the characters appear on the screen, and the background suddenly darkens. It happened in Toppu o nerae {Gunbuster} when Kasumi met Jung-Freud for the first time. If used in conjunction with psychic powers, the figuration of this maneuver becomes literal, like in Akira. As one becomes a master in the art of "martial glare" it can develop into a tool of great presence, some of the masters of this can actually execute a martial spotlight at the same time! this causes an overload of awesomeness; the target usually just implodes. see also: "Martial Pose" 

Martial Haymaker- This move is usually found in the last 8 to 12 minutes of a given show.  From the latin "do itus three timus". This allows an attack (that has previously, in full strength, had no effect at all on the enemy) to "work". e.g., usually when a shot is a direct hit on the most "vulnerable" part of an enemy, that's as good as it gets.. but no more! With this special manuever, that ineffectual attack becomes a devastating barrage of death! example: 

Anything Priss fires/does in the first round of combat (see also "time delay buma armor: easier to destroy the longer it is in front of the camera") 

Martial Pose - This maneuver comes in two styles, each developed by two different schools. 

Leon Style: - Founded by the great master Leon McNichol, this technique allows the user to appear incredibly, inhumanly cool, even in the worst of situations. At its lowest levels, items must be used to focus the coolness, such as Coolshadez (tm), motorcycles, leather jackets, or large-caliber handguns. As study progresses, however, the coolness becomes inherent, radiating out from the user with no conscious control. Used to best effectiveness by ruggedly handsome men (though certain women, such as 3WA Trouble Consultant Kei, have achieved great success with it as well). 

It is implemented by standing heroically, posing with the focus, and uttering anything, which invariably comes out as cool. Opponents are stunned by the awe of the user, allowing the student of this technique to then drop them with a well-aimed shot. 

C-ko Style: - Similar to the Leon style, except usable only by terminally cute girls. The user blushes, smiles, and says something adorable, beaming with wholesome radiance. 

This has one of two effects: nurturing-type characters drop everything to help them, hug them, kiss their boo-boos, etc. Violent-type characters, such as demons, devils, Priss, etc., simply puke. 

Martial Robustness - From the root "willus not dieus until finish speaking." When "real" people are mortally wounded, they sometimes go into shock, die quickly, etc. Not in Anime! This special skill (aquireable only by main characters, heros, or any peeyon with vital knowledge) allows one to "hang around" and make a final speech. This final exit can be anything from a simple heartfelt soliloquy to long, drawn out speeches. 

True masters of this can actually live for days after being "killed". This is to set up the appropriate dramatic setting for their grand exit. 

Martial Slap - Almost always used by a female against a male. This special manuever has the following effect: it NEVER misses, even against someone she has been previously unable to TOUCH with that sword/gun/fist. It does no appreciable damage, but leaves a red mark for as many more scenes as is dramatically appropriate. This manuever has two other effects: The sound of the impact drowns out all other sounds; background music, incidental artillery fire, etc. The sound carries, allowing EVERYONE in the vicinity to hear...even those separated by brick walls. 

The second effect is dramatic lighting and music appears as the slap reaches its apex before the downswing. The best example of this is from Kyoko (Maison Ikkoku): lightning striking behind her up swept hand. 

The "martial slap" can also be used with a focus; usually a multi-ton wooden mallet. Masters of this manuever have been able to stop crazed perverted males in their tracks, and also to stun even the largest of creature. The size of the hammer is directly proportional to the anger of the person wielding it, and is weight/massless when wielded. 

This maneuver can be linked to Martial Haymaker, allowing for three repetitions of ego-busting slaps. This has twice the normal effect to all horny males. 

Martial Slice - Usually used with the aid of a sword, but not always. This is the maneuver that allows splitting down the middle any opponent with any depth weapon. NOTE: This move can only be executed after ALL other possibilities have been exhausted, or after you have already won. (e.g. "*sigh* the anti-matter destructo-planetmasher beam didn't work.. guess we break out the sword") see also: martial haymaker. 

Robo version: Giant Robot version of the martial slice. This allows the robots mighty sword to slice through the enemy (sometimes a monster, sometimes a ship). It is used in the same situations as the human version. Its most noticeable application is slicing something in half whose diameter is longer than the length of the sword. It appears this maneuver warps space and the sword is always as long as necessary. The two halves remain together for a moment, glowing energy between them, then there is an awesome explosion, starting from the cut. 

Martial Spotlight - indispensable to your more dramatic scenes, this special maneuver instantly dims the lights, usually highlighting one or more characters eyes. This is usually held for an appropriate moment or two, before the scene changes. 

Martial Soak - Damage is relative! After all, if a character was only MOSTLY decapitated, that doesn't count if he is a hero, right? By using "martial soak" or from the Greek "ifnotdeadicus, canhealicus off camera" This allows a character to absorb Rambo-like amounts of damage, only to come back at full strength after hearing that their mother has been murdered. All broken bones, blood that accidentally leaked out, lacerations, and even some amounts of brain damage can be healed by this maneuver, but only when dramatically appropriate. 

Martial Strength - from the Latin "ignorum mass'n'gravity" When a normally weak character lifts some large heavy object (such as a desk, file cabinet, tank, etc...) to throw at another character.  While this usually has the effect of knocking characters unconscious, or at least stunning them, the effects are generally temporary. see: Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2. 

Martial Swat - This specialized move is usually used by large, imposing characters, or diminutive ones with tables. It permits casually knocking aside lesser characters (the stupid ones that get a line or two, like "lets get him!"), or characters the hero (or villain) is just "too cool" to bother with. This maneuver is also used to good effect to hurl characters hundreds of feet through the air, usually after some grievous insult. Masters of this art include Akane (Ranma 1/2) and Shinobu (Urusei Yatsura) 

Martial Teleport - This skill has been well-mastered by many animation characters. As the name suggests, MT trains one in the fine art of instant transportation from one pose to the next.  From the original Latin "notenough money to drawicus all the panels", this technique is used to great effects mostly in T.V. series, such as Dirty Pair, and less often in movies or Original Animation. 

Easy to spot, it can be identified by a character going from one section of the screen to another, without passing through the space in between, and usually landing in a completely different pose. 

Martial Transport - This art allows the user to move great distances on foot in less time than it would take a normal person to make the same trip using a car, boat, plane, matter transporter, etc. It comes in two varieties: 

The "Hokuto Walk" is executed by slowly, determinedly, walking across great tracts of land. The arms swing perceptibly, and the eyes are kept at exactly the right angle as the practitioner summons up his "cool". When ready for release, awesome music suddenly starts playing (the universe must do this to satisfy the laws of "cool"), then the background begins to move and twist behind the person. Though the "walk" is never hurried, and stride is never broken, through the raw power of this maneuver, even continents can be crossed in only a matter of minutes. This is used to best effect by Kenshiro to get to the next mutant infested town or reach friends in danger,
in time to take out any threat. 

Ranma Run: Not quite as casual as above but effective none the less. Allows one to run long distances in a short amount of time, Ignoring such petty obstacles as mountains, oceans, and actual distance. Ranma and Ryouga to cross Japan and even travel to China on foot.