Martial Arts Discussion - Defining Your Characters Through Action

Long, long ago, in the hoary, misty past of the Internet (back in the days when people actually capitalized the "I"), and I sometimes took part in Live Action Roleplaying (much to my shame), there was a website called "Tastes Like Phoenix."

Taken from the Mythic Scribes website

The website was one of the earliest that I had ever encountered that dealt explicitly with subjects of interest to tabletop roleplaying gamers. Sadly, the site is now gone, so I cannot share any links to it. However, I can discuss a topic from that site which I remember to this day, namely an article explaining the differences between the three major types of martial arts, as part of understanding them from the perspective of an author and a gamer as well as a beginner martial artist.

First, I want to point out that this sort of discussion of a fundamentally physical activity, the arts of fighting, also contains a fundamentally psychological and cerebral element. For me, this is very literal, because I rely on physical training as a way to control my tendency towards anxiety; if I don't hit the gym and engage in a variety of other exercises every day, then my emotions start to build up and I start getting steadily less able to handle the world.

Besides development of mind and body together, however, there is also a height of development in the martial arts that quite literally demands intellectual achievement. This was recognized by the samurai as they moved beyond being simple blood-and-guts warriors and had to transfer their abilities into the equally fraught realm of courtly grace and political intrigue.

From Wikimedia Commons, though this is what the cover of my personal copy looks like as well

In Europe, this was recognized in the novel Scaramouche, by Rafael Sabatini, based around the adventures of a lawyer forced to go on the run and learn swordfighting, during which period he takes on the false identity of an actor in a commedia dell’arte troupe, specializing in the character Scaramouche, hence the book title. What set this lawyer-turned-swordfighter apart from all the other fencers he encountered was that, while he took lessons from a master of fencing, he also read the books on the master's shelves; the fencing master himself never bothered to do so, just using them as decoration. From this simple expedient, followed by putting what he read into practice until he could get them right, Scaramouche became an unstoppable fighter.

Here's a breakdown of the climactic fight from Scaramouche, shared for the fun of it.

As a related side note, there are a wide variety of martial arts styles from all over the world, with varying degrees of formality in their study and transmission. Karate, for instance, came into its modern shape because of the efforts of one man, Gishin Funakoshi, through his personal efforts and his publication of the book Karate-Do Kyohan, which is a big part of why it's one of the most commonly known martial arts styles in the world, along with judo, which made its way into the United States Military around the Pacific-focused part of World War II.

Knowing the fighting style in use by your characters is a vitally important element, an extension of their personalities, a clear way of portraying to audiences what sort of person they are, as well as to help you center yourself within the character and understand their motivations. One example of this is the Spencer Tracy film Bad Day at Blackrock, which is a combination of Western, mystery, corporate espionage and conspiracy, and low-key martial arts film genres. Tracy's character is set apart by only having use of one of his arms, the other having been rendered useless, though still attached, from a war injury. He's also generally shorter and less prepossessing than pretty much all of the other characters in the film, especially the bad guys. But he's trained in U. S. Army judo, while none of the people he fights have any formal training (it was honestly thought of as a secret weapon back in those days, something only special members of the military should even know about, let alone use), so even with just one arm, he's still pretty much unstoppable, sticking to quick, powerful, efficient movements, nothing flashy, nothing really cinematic, just the practical nuts and bolts of taking an opponent apart.

One of my personal favorite low-key and realistic martial arts fights - it's quick, simple, practical, and keeps Spencer Tracy alive and healthy: what else could you want?

Similarly, the film Brotherhood of the Wolf, besides being one of the major "look-feel" inspirations for the game Bloodborne, in the director's commentary section, explained in detail how the weapons used by each of the characters in that film was how the director conveyed the personality of the characters. The Iriquois, Mani, for instance, makes use of twin tomahawks, which initially makes him seem like a stereotypical wild man, until you watch his movements: they're extensions of his body, carefully deployed to turn Mani into a point of calm in a storm of battle. de Fronsac, meanwhile, does the same with twin short swords, creating a spiritual link between the pair, because of how similar their fighting styles are in spite of making use of very different sorts of weapons. The villain of the piece makes use of a brutal, barbed sword made of bone, which he can extend into a nasty chain-sword, demonstrating at once his hidden savagery and the derangements of his mind - seriously, nobody in their right mind uses flail weapons!

Unless you're this guy, of course

All of which means: your martial arts are how you define your characters, whether armed or unarmed (a choice which in itself says an awful lot about the character). But what if you don't actually know much about martial arts?

For Heaven's sake, take some classes! What style doesn't actually matter much - as Bruce Lee said, "I don't believe in styles" because style-based thinking leads to crystallization of thought. Ultimately, if you study much in the martial arts, you'll start somewhere, then eventually end up on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. Start out learning hard-style punches and kicks, then at the master level you'll begin learning throws and locks. Begin soft-style, you'll be throwing, locking, and mat-fighting from day one, but only start entertaining the concept of throwing the occasional opportunistic punch or kick after you've demonstrated years of skill in the main arts. Like any skill worthy of knowing, you'll need between two to four years to develop proper "mastery," by which I mean you'll know enough to actually use the skills involved with reasonable competence, and then start really learning.

Wait a moment, though: I just started using words like "hard" and "soft" - what the heck? This is what the next post on the blog will be about. Stay tuned!