While most modern or futuristic games allow characters to learn martial arts, these mostly remain unexplained abstractions to a non-practitioner GM. Over and over, gaming rulebooks exhort GMs to "Describe! Show me what's happening!" For some scenes, this is easy. To build suspense during a horror game, you describe skittering noises just out of sight, charnel smells, gloomy, rain-sodden nights, or footprints of something inhuman in the muck. But to keep that level of description and tension during a fight scene, you have to know what the characters can do. A creative player in a flexible system can still balk if they don't know how fights work.

And even RPG rulebooks which provide martial arts systems may not help much. Reading about yet another style that uses "fast strikes and powerful kicks" may leave readers wondering if any systems offer slow strikes and weak kicks, and why anybody would learn them.

"Fighting With Style" provides players and GMs with the basic building blocks of fighting arts, from the difference between "hard" and "soft" styles, to kicks and punches, advanced techniques like blood chokes, and rules for integrating these maneuvers into Star Wars (the D6 System), Shadowrun, and Legend of the Five Rings.

ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS

Popular wisdom classifies modern martial arts as "hard" and "soft," and "linear" and "circular." The hard/soft dichotomy primarily revolves around whether the style prefers to use forceful punches and kicks rather than grabs, chokes and throws, and whether it blocks attacks with opposing force or deflects them with smaller movements.

For example, Shotokan karate is a hard, linear, long-range style because it moves fairly straight back and forth while fighting, and focuses on punching and kicking more than throwing and trapping. Aikido is a soft, circular, short-range style that gets behind the opponent when possible, may not teach punching or kicking at all, and prefers to wrestle and choke. At the highest levels of hard styles, they teach soft style movements (such as pressure points and flowing drills). At the highest levels of soft styles, they teach hard style movements (such as "You'd better hit me as a distraction while wrestling my sword away").

Some styles specifically blend hard and soft by teaching a variety of techniques very early. These styles are extremely rude: they grab you and trap your arms while hitting, move sideways and in triangles, fight in medium ranges using both hands equally, kick at the knees and groin to prevent their feet from being caught, and usually teach weapons. Often they have flowing drills that teach multiple attacks while moving. Wing chun kung fu, arnis de mano, jeet kune do, and some systems of karate with a heavy Chinese influence (Ed Parker's kenpo, goju-ryu, isshin-ryu) are hard-soft.

From the above descriptions, it may sound like hard-soft martial arts have the best of both worlds (they sure claim they do), but when put to the test, the only conclusion many people draw is that it depends on the individuals. Hard techniques are best countered with soft (taking their momentum and balance), soft with hard-soft (escaping and striking) and hard-soft with hard (hurting them and keeping them off you), like rock, paper, and scissors. If your martial art omits any one of these three, you aren't actually learning a complete martial art as far as self-defense goes.

While gamemasters may not care if one technique works better or worse against another, remembering if a style or particular attack is hard or soft can create vivid descriptions which keep each combatant's movements distinct. A successful attack by a wing chun practitioner trying to gouge out someone's eyes while sweeping them to the ground looks pretty different than a professional wrestler grabbing someone's knees and yanking, although both are technically "throws."

DEVELOPING STYLE

Below, we look at some of the basics -- how you stand, move, punch and hit -- which make up a fight scene.

Stances

How you stand determines your center of gravity and balance. The longer and deeper the stance (how far your legs are spread and bent, respectively), the better braced you are, making you harder to knock over and reinforcing your strikes so that energy does not bleed off. With a center of gravity lower than the opponent's, you can throw them without using much strength. If your feet never leave the ground, it's harder to sweep you. This is why Japanese grappling arts and karate styles typically slide the feet rather than step. The tradeoff is, you move slower and cannot change direction as quickly; you don't "dance" or "stay on your toes" like a boxer who darts in, hits, and gets out...or gets swept.

Movement is extremely important in hand-to-hand fights, because it's how you switch ranges and stances. And though someone may start off a fight with a strange- looking hand or foot position (such as a samurai with a sword raised over his head, leaving his stomach "open"), the instant the opponent gets in range, he moves. An on-guard, or "non-contact" position is just a way to sucker the opponent into making a predictable move, leaving the martial artist open to flow into his practiced techniques.

Most styles end up with a compromise across several stances. One option is to train in low stances so often they seem natural, but this is tiring. Boxers who usually stay high will suddenly drop down low and shove off the ground to add power in an uppercut. Goju-ryu karate sinks low, but keeps short stances for quick dodging and changes to longer ones only while yanking opponents off balance. Capoeria literally dances, getting around sweeps and throws through incredibly athletic moves, such as dropping into a handstand or roll and still fighting. Wing chun stays just below natural height with weight even on both legs to move quickly in any direction...as does aikido, which, though it grapples, avoids low stances, relying on positioning, blending, and turning when force comes at them.

As one gets into more internal systems (hsing-i, ba gua, tai chi) the quality of one's stance also delves into the realm of standing precisely in such a way as to generate a clean line of force from the artist's contact with the opponent straight down to the ground while remaining relaxed. This is referred to as a "ground path," and while it rarely uses a deep stance, or even a tense one, the technique is quite capable of maintaining balance under pressure.

Hand Strikes

Unarmed combatants usually attack in one of three ways: stabbing power (such as fingertip strikes to the throat), blunt power (such as a punch), or constriction and disruption (chokes, breaks, throws). The first is the fastest and requires the least strength. The second is the most intuitive, but works best if you're strong and conditioned. The third works even on armored opponents and has less chance of self-injury, but may take longer, and is covered under Takedowns.

Strikes can also be either straight (jabbing, thrusting) or round (hooks, backfists, chops, ridge hands). Straight strikes are faster, don't telegraph the intent as much, and are more reinforced, a better knock-out technique. But at short range, round strikes can be snuck in out of sight and generate a lot of momentum, especially if the attacker twists or steps with the strike.

The other important variable is the striking surface. When attacking a very soft target (eyes, throat), fingertip strikes, fists with a protruding thumb joint (as in isshin-ryu), half-fists ("leopard paws"), or one-knuckle ("phoenix eye") fists concentrate force in a tiny surface area and can do tremendous damage -- but you can break your hands if you hit metal or bone, especially at the wrong angle. Most punches use either the first two knuckles of a fist (as in most hard styles) or the last three (as in wing chun). The edges of the hand (in a chop or ridge-hand) or the bony back of the wrist can soak even more impact, and the base of the palm is extremely durable. The elbow can generate a lot of force, but can also break if used on armored targets, and a slight change in ancle can bang the "funny bone."

Long-range styles draw the hand back to the hip or armpit to build momentum and power when punching, and some, like goju-ryu, grab first, and use the draw-back to yank the opponent off-balance while the opposite hand strikes. Short-range styles usually draw the hand to the chest (boxing) or the elbow of the opposite arm (chyu ga, wing chun), allowing for faster strikes and blocks, since there is less distance to travel. On the down side, extended hands can be grabbed.

Kicks

Legs are stronger than arms, and kicks can deliver significantly more force than punches. Like strikes, they come straight (front, side, back) and round (round, axe, crescent, hook, shovel). Long-range kicks usually twist the hip to drive farther into the opponent, and strike with the ball of the foot, outer edge, or heel. Lowering the upper body for counterbalance allows long-range stylists to kick very high and hard.

Short-range styles often hit with the entire foot or heel (like kicking down a door) and use the shin for round kicks (aiming at the thigh or knees). The kicks don't penetrate as far, but the foot can take more impact, can be turned into a block for other low kicks, and leave the upper body balanced and able to block and strike while kicking. Knee jabs work great against the groin or stomach, but usually require the attacker to grab the opponent first, as in Thai boxing, or use knees to counter someone who is charging from closer than kicking range.

Takedowns

The three basic ways to get someone on the ground are locks, sweeps, and throws.

Locks hyper-extend a joint such as the wrist, elbow, or shoulder, pushing the sides of the arm in opposite directions. Done quickly, they cause a lot of pain, and can turn into a joint break, but if the victim isn't off-balance first, locks can easily become a contest of strength. The isolated body part is then moved down to the ground in a manner that brings the opponent's center down as well.

Throws move the upper body away from the center of gravity, either in simple moves like grabbing the head and walking with it (silat, aikido), or by hauling them over your hip or shoulder, then rolling them across your back to the floor. Again, if they aren't off-balance already, this can become a struggle.

Sweeps move the leg and knee out so far they can no longer support the body's weight. One useful trick is to take the opponent's heel in the direction their foot is already pointing. This can be countered by lifting the foot, which can be countered by sweeping at the opponent's other knee. Since many sweeps can be avoided by standing still, most styles pull the upper body in the opposite direction to unbalance the opponent, or apply the sweep when the target is already off-balance from stepping or kicking and their foot is coming down.

Throws also vary in intent. In sport-oriented arts like judo and Greco-Roman wrestling, throws are generally meant to get an opponent on the ground, and they teach ways to let the target land on his back and roll with the blow. Self-defense classes based on soft arts suggest throws and shoves to buy the victim time to flee. In combat-oriented styles, throwers often use the eye sockets or neck as a handhold, slam the opponent's head into the ground, follow them down and keep striking or, if dragged down during the throw, interpose an elbow or knee during the fall with painful results.

Acrobatics

Kyokushinkai karate, capoeira, guoshu (wu t'shu), tae kwon do and a few others train to jump, spin, flip, kick high, roll, and even kick from handstands. Some use these moves to build cardiovascular endurance, agility, and familiarity with fighting from odd angles or switching directions quickly. Others encourage fighting this way to be unpredictable and generate a lot of force (especially useful for medieval soldiers trying to kick an attacker off his horse). Most of these schools fight "side-on," as one does in fencing, protecting the groin with the front leg, and making a smaller target. This shortens the reach of the back hand and foot, which spinning can compensate for.

However, acrobatics require expert precision and coordination, and opponents who aren't surprised can send jumping combatants sprawling with a grab and pull, or hit/stab a spinning opponent in the back (spine, kidneys, base of the skull) before the attack connects. Styles that fight with the shoulders square (allowing equal reach with both hands) usually don't advocate spinning; if the opponent gets too far to one side, they twist or step back. (Note to those with GURPS Martial Arts: non-cinematic wing chun doesn't teach the spin kick.)

Weapons

Musashi Miyamoto, the legendary "sword saint" of Japan, fought sixty duels undefeated, mostly by using two swords. So why would anyone fight with anything else? Because every style evolved under particular circumstances for a particular purpose, and choosing weapons was a trade-off between range, versatility, power and speed, selected for what worked best in the fighters' environment. In Japan, where armored samurai commonly fought one-on-one, a two-handed katana was superior to two smaller weapons, as it provided reach and enough power to drive through one-handed swords' weaker blocks. For wing chun practitioners fighting on boats, however, two short butterfly swords were ideal for use below decks or up close to jam and trap the opponent's blades; if confronted with a two-handed weapon, they blocked with both weapons at once and then moved in. Musashi extended this principle to be used at longer ranges.

Other arts were constrained by cost (Filipinos developed balisong knives out of the suspension springs of discarded U.S. army jeeps), law (Chinese monks who weren't permitted to use weapons developed self-defense techniques used bare-handed or with a walking stick) or religion (Catholic priests were forbidden to use the sword, so a number of them carried maces).

And just because a style uses a weapon doesn't mean every practitioner knows how. In most martial arts, weapons are taught last, after the student has mastered control and proven dedicated and trustworthy. Even so, most Okinawan styles teach the relatively defensive staff first, and kama (paired, sharp sickles) last. Unfortunately, this means even good students are vulnerable to weapon attacks for several years into training. While this is fine when you're starting young in the monastery or dojo, arts like arnis de mano, which are intended to be used from day one, begin with weapons, figuring once you've got that down, hands are easy.

STORMTROOPER FOOT STOMPS AND CYBER-ORK BLOOD CHOKES

All styles have more than just punches and kicks; even boxers in a ring need to close in on each other before they strike. The maneuvers below are a sampling of the techniques used in many styles. Let your players look at these, and check the chart at the end of the article to find out which their preferred style uses. Each has a rating of Easy, Moderate or Difficult, representing how long the technique takes to learn, approximately when it is taught (easier moves come earlier in training) and how hard it is to pull off. Though these can be applied to any system, we have included specifics on using these techniques and martial arts in Shadowrun, Star Wars and Legend of the Five Rings.

These maneuvers can be done in a number of different ways depending on the art used -- wing chun breaks the balance with a quick jerk of the arm, while t'ai chi uses the whole body in a shoulder-shove -- but the end result is the same. Naturally, there are innumerable variations possible in each combat, but these should be enough to get your descriptions rolling.

Ultimate Fighting Championship To Be Held In Tir Na Nog

The Shadowrun second edition rule book lists "martial art style" as a Concentration of Unarmed Combat, with specific techniques as Specializations, but the differences between styles are purely cosmetic so far, with no change in game effects from one art to another.

Under this system, each style has three to six specializations based on what they commonly study; the concentration rating is only used when a character is doing one of the specialty maneuvers. For example, a jujutsu-ka with Unarmed Combat (Jujutsu) 4(6), has 6 dice for putting someone in a joint lock, but only four for a kick, something the style doesn't use as much. (Yes, jujutsu has a specific kata where they kick and punch, but that's not the majority of the art, thus the lower rating.)

The specializations are Close, Defense (using Unarmed Combat to dodge and block without doing damage), Disarm, Grappling, Kick (kicks have a Power Level of +1 more than normal unarmed attacks), Vital Shot (doing Physical Damage by hitting sensitive areas), Takedown (throws and sweeps, -1 to Target Number if Counterattacking a kicking opponent) and Strike. Naturally, weapon techniques use Armed Combat, though an optional rule may allow characters to choose a martial arts weapon style as a concentration of Armed Combat instead of the listed concentrations (i.e. a character concentrating in kendo could hit equally well with a katana, shinai, or bokken, while not receiving the concentration rating for a rapier). Alternately, weapon concentrations may be broken down according to how the weapon is used. I would recommend the following.

Strike Enhancers [e.g. nightstick] (SW)

One-Handed, Short [knife] (SW)

One-Handed, Balanced [rapier] (SW)

One-Handed, Flexible [nunchaku] (SW)

One-Handed, Shafted [short spear] (SW)

One-Handed, Top-Heavy [tomahawk] (SW)

Two-Handed, Flexible [three-sectional staff] (SW)

Two-Handed, Shafted [spear] (SW)

Two-Handed, Balanced [greatsword] (SW)

Two-Handed, Top-Heavy [sledgehammer] (SW)

For the maneuvers below, an Easy move gets no penalty to the target number, Moderate is +1 and Difficult is +2. Called Shots in melee combat have no penalty when trying to hit something large, like an arm, and even small areas like eyes receive only a +1 Target Number penalty since the combatants are so close to each other. With the counterattacking rules, even these differences will mean a lot.

So Where's the Double Lightsaber Action?

The Star Wars rules mention that Brawling can be specialized as a specific style such as boxing or martial arts, however, like Shadowrun, there are no listed differences to what each art allows a practitioner to do.

As above, when a character chooses a particular style, they can use the specialty rating only for techniques their art teaches. For movements the system rarely teaches, use the general Brawling skill. Characters who know a martial art may want to use their Melee Combat specialization for a weapon from that style (such as the staff a Tusken raider used to club Luke). Alternately, as above in the Shadowrun description, the usual concentrations can be replaced by categories based on the weapon's technique.

Since Star Wars takes place "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away," martial arts may have very different names than those on Earth, but still work the same way. Using the rules and descriptions provided for wing chun, and calling it tat'derondo preserves the atmosphere of both the world and the fight scene. As an interesting note, the choreography of the light saber duels in the movies was based on kendo, as are most movie scenes which use two-handed swords. Of course, no one says there can't be one based on Musashi's two-sword style...

For the maneuvers below, Easy moves give +5 to the Difficulty Number, Moderate moves give +10 and Difficult +15. For Called Shots in melee combat, add +2 to the Difficulty Numbers for targets 3-10 centimeters, and +5 for targets less than 3 centimeters.

Who Are You Calling A Barbarian?

Legend of the Five Rings assumes that most samurai are familiar with the basics of kenjutsu, the common sword style in Rokugan, and Way of the Lion has refined the various weapon skills much in the manner we have in our own campaigns (peasant weapons are almost all one skill, heavy weapons all fall under subojutsu, et cetera). The publication of mizu-do and kobo-ichi-kai rules in Way of the Crane and Bearers of Jade introduce the ideas of multiple bare-handed styles that have specific movements. Having written the kobo rules based on this list, we think they bring the mizu-do rules a little back in line without making kobo overly powerful.

Adapting these maneuvers to L5R's flexible system is simple. Consider each difficulty level of the maneuvers below a single raise, i.e. an Easy maneuver is one raise, Moderate is two, and Difficult is three. To improvise and use a technique that is not taught in the school (for example, eye gouging in Mizu-do) add another Raise.

There is only one other Great Clan bushi school that teaches jujitsu in its core curriculum that has yet to be detailed, and that is the Matsu Bushi school. If you want to see what we have in mind for it, the Dragon's kaze-do, the Shiba's yadome-jutsu trick (cutting arrows out of the air), Scorpion bath-house assassination techniques, Daidoji and Seppun bodyguarding philosophy, sample maneuvers to perform with Raises (such as breaking weapons and stapling feet to floors with a sai), prominent schools and sensei of Rokugan, and notes on living the martial lifestyle, we would appreciate your requesting Alderac to assign us to write a Big Book of Bushi as a counterpart to Walking the Way.

TECHNIQUES

1. Balance-Breaking (Easy)

Most martial arts have small movements done to drag the opponent off balance for a quarter second or more. An off-balance opponent hesitates, becoming easier to trap, throw, or hit. White crane gung fu and goju-ryu karate do this in one motion; they yank the opponent's hand while striking simultaneously. In Japanese grappling arts, this is called kuzushi, and is done by grabbing the opponent's uniform, shoving or pulling them or half-sweeping, half-kicking their legs. The basic judo philosophy is "When pulled, push. When pushed, pull." This is how one executes a throw against a strong opponent; get them struggling to go one way, and then let them with a little added force. Aikido's maxim is similar, but it advocates, "when pushed, turn."

Pentjak silat practitioners step on the opponent's foot, holding the opponent in place while hitting them. To cause more pain, the stomp can start at the knee and scrape down the length of the shin before hitting the foot. A little-publicized wing chun exercise is chi gurk ("sticky legs") which practices jamming kicks at the knee, maintaining balance so you can sweep or counter-sweep while standing on one leg, and sticking shin to shin to hold the opponent in place, as well as an arm jerk called a lop sao (or larp sao).

Balance-breaking attacks do no damage, instead setting the opponent up, decreasing the Difficulty of striking him in the following attack (either by the character or a teammate).

2. Blood Chokes (Moderate)

By wrapping an arm firmly around the opponent's neck, an attacker shoves aside the tendon and puts direct pressure on the carotid artery, cutting off the blood flow to the brain. This knocks an opponent out in a few seconds, far faster than compressing the windpipe. (Professional wrestling stole this jujitsu/judo/aikijutsu/aikido/dumog/chin na move, among many others, and calls it the "sleeper hold"). If the opponent is wearing tough clothing such as a judo gi, the collar can be used in lieu of an arm, letting the choke be done one-handed. Characters can also use sticks, short staves, or nunchaku to do this, levering the weapon against the opponent's neck like a nutcracker.

Blood chokes can only be applied after an opponent has been successfully grappled. It knocks the target out in 2D6 seconds, though no permanent damage is done.

3. Closing (Moderate/Easy)

Combatants use footwork to stay at ranges they like -- long-range kickers hang back and use their legs to keep an opponent far away, while short-range boxers step close and hit. When a short-range stylist comes up against a long-range one, he's in trouble unless he can get past the longer attacks and into a comfortable range. Such maneuvers are known as 'closing' and also allow an unarmed or knife-wielding opponent to get inside the range of a sword. At very short ranges, like a fencer against a knife fighter or boxer against a wrestler, the long-range stylist is at a disadvantage; they can only use the butt end of the weapon, or elbows instead of fists. And if it's a race, the person backing up is going to lose against the one running forward.

The simplest and quickest way to close is to charge, but that only works if the opponent doesn't snap out a kick, strike, or sword stroke as you're doing it. In linear styles, practitioners move forward and back until the opponent misjudges their timing and then strike as he comes in. In both wing chun and Gracie (Brazilian or "sport") jiu-jutsu, the "entry" flicks a hand at the eyes, covers the body with the limbs, and skips in; wing chun stays level to handle retaliatory strikes, while jiu-jutsu stays low, takes the balance, and goes to the ground. Arnis de mano moves in triangles, getting to one side of the opponent and hopefully behind them.

In game, closing can either be kept descriptive, assuming a fighter naturally gravitates to their preferred range, or, in systems that give a bonus for weapons with reach, use the maneuver to turn the weapon's bonus into an equivalent penalty. In this case, apply the Moderate penalty if the long-range stylist has space to back up or get to the side and back up from there. If they can't retreat or the closer has a higher movement rate than the defender, lower it to Easy.

4. Disarms (Moderate)

Most role-playing games visualize disarms as cinematically knocking the opponent's weapon into the air, possibly with an artful catch of the weapon as it sails earthward. In reality, however, the fastest disarm is attacking the hand directly. A hit means the opponent drops the weapon, is in pain, and without the use of their dominant hand. Arnis uses this a great deal, especially since the sticks they use in training lack the hand guard found on most swords (a guard or hilt is not failsafe protection, but it helps).

This hand attack can be performed with foot, hand, or other weapon, but you'd best be quick or they can twist the targeted weapon and strike your outstretched limb. On the bright side, with two hands, you can immobilize the weapon and even cut, shoot, or strike the other person as you twist it away...hopefully fast enough not to be hit by the opponent's other hand.

Most disarms can simply be represented by a Called Shot to the hand; if the strike does damage, the weapon drops. For fancier disarms such as wrestling the weapon away or throwing the weapon-wielder in the process, use the Moderate modifier. Turning the weapon on its wielder in the same movement is possible at a Difficult modifier.

A Bit About Combat Movement
Firearm courses urge students to never underestimate a good knife fighter; a gun is only useful if you can draw it in time, and the time may be shorter than you expect. There is an apocryphal tale of Dan Inosanto, a friend of Bruce Lee's and practitioner/ master of several styles of kali, checking into a hotel. It seems a bellhop noticed the number of knives he carried in his luggage, and alerted a cop. When the cop came to investigate, he saw a man with knives laid out on the bed and reached for his gun before identifying himself. Inosanto, startled, charged the cop, covering twenty-one feet and checking the cop's hand before he could get the gun aimed. Many cops now consider this the minimum distance to maintain between them and a knife-wielding suspect.

weapon into the air, and possibly catching it on the way down. In a real fight, however, the fastest disarm is attacking the hand. A hit means the opponent drops the weapon, is in pain and without the use of their dominant hand. Arnis uses this a great deal, especially since sticks lack the hand guard on most swords (a guard or hilt is not failsafe protection, but it helps).

This hand attack can be done with foot or hand (or, less dangerously, with another weapon), but you'd better be quick or they can twist the weapon to strike your outstretched limb. On the bright side, with two hands, you can immobilize the weapon and even cut, shoot, or strike the other person as you twist it away...hopefully fast enough not to get hit with their other hand.

Most disarms can simply be represented as a Called Shot to the hand; if the strike does damage, the weapon drops. For fancier disarms (like trying to grab the weapon or hit with the other hand at the same time) use the Moderate modifier.

5. Eye Gouges (Easy)

Most serious empty-hand arts have eye gouges in them somewhere; styles that frequently use them include any snake, mantis, tiger or crane styles of kung fu, baguazhang ("pa kwa"), jeet kune do, arnis, the Israeli martial art of krav maga, and pentjak silat. Silat fighters sometimes grow out their thumbnails specifically to scoop out eyes while wrestling. Gouges can be done with weapons, too, particularly the tines of a sai.

Wing chun teaches eye strikes in the last classical form, as they are the most dangerous empty-hand technique. Biu jee ("shooting fingers") attacks flick the fingertips at the eyes, throat or upper body pressure points; they are extremely fast, give more reach than a fist, and can be used after an open-handed chop or block instantly. (This also keeps the good wing chun practitioners out of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which disallows eye strikes and biting.)

On a successful Called Shot to the eyes, the opponent is blinded in one eye in addition to normal damage. On a minimal damage roll, the blinding is temporary; if severely damaged, the eyeball is burst or permanently scarred.

6. Fighting While Seated (Moderate)

While it's easy to attempt to kick someone who is sitting or lying on the floor, it puts your own balance (and knees) in danger if they expect it. Their center of gravity is already below yours; if you lean over to hit them, you're asking for a throw. Aikido, aikijutsu, judo and jujitsu teach idori, throws from a kneeling or seiza position (seated, with legs folded under you), and walking on the knees to counter this. Iaijutsu, the art of drawing the sword quickly, also practices while seated.

Similarly, Model Mugging courses teach people to lie down when kicking so they don't lose their balance or get swept. This limits maneuverability, but usually confuses the assailant as the victim pivots to face them, protecting the body with scissoring legs. It also helps more in rape-defense simulations (which are not done standing up).

In RPGs, styles which teach seated fighting have half the normal penalty for fighting from the ground (round down). In all other respects, treat as a normal attack.

7. Ground Grappling: The Mount and Guard (Easy)

Often, when you try a throw, the opponent doesn't go flying as planned. Instead, if you don't cleanly get out of the way, they glom on and take you down with them. Gracie jiu-jutsu practitioners try to go to the ground where their techniques are most effective, as happens in almost every round of the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The mount position is what you see on playgrounds -- one combatant sitting on the other's chest and pummeling his face or slamming his head into the ground. The guard happens when the mounter is rolled over: he is now beneath the opponent, wrapping his legs around their waist. (If you can't imagine this, the mount looks a lot like a female-superior sexual position and the guard like the missionary sexual position. And while that may seem humorous, it sure isn't when someone is trying to beat you.) From either position, the combatants can apply chokes, eye gouges and arm breaks.

The mount is usually what RPG basic books mean when giving rules for "grappling." The mounter gets pretty free strikes at the victim while he struggles to escape. It's not that you can't hit someone mounting you -- it's that the mounter can bring all their body weight behind any trap or strike and slam your head into the ground. This makes future hits less difficult (lowering the Target/Difficulty number by 1 in Shadowrun and 5 in the other game systems) and brings more power to strikes (add 1 to the Power Level in Shadowrun and roll an extra die in Star Wars and L5R). In the guard, neither combatant has a technical advantage, but the guarder can cling close to frustrate any movement. This is an excellent position for maintaining a stalemate: the guarder is latched on with his thighs, the biggest muscles in the body, and needs to do no more than hang there with all their body weight. As such, decrease the chances of the opponent escaping by raising the Difficulty Number (+1/+5/+5).

8. One-Inch Punches (Difficult)

Martial arts demonstrations of chyu ga (southern praying mantis), jeet kune do, and wing chun often show this technique, holding a vertical fist one inch away from a volunteer holding a telephone book out, then sending him sprawling without drawing back the hand. When not padded, it's possible to kill someone this way, but quivering your palm has little to do with it; you hit them so hard the heart or lung tissue gets bruised, or a rib fractures in two places, leading to a "flail chest" and internal bleeding.

This is half "internal energy" and half physics. The one-inch or three-inch punch jerks to hit with only the last (pinky finger) knuckle, creating torque and keeping the surface area of the strike as small as possible. Since the elbow is nearly locked and the feet firmly planted, the rest of the striker's body gives very little, though the hand must stay relaxed enough to accelerate quickly in a very short distance. The "internal energy" is not mystical, but to the uninitiated, it looks and feels like it. The force is generated by lining up the structure of the body from the ground through the leg up the torso and out the hand. When the push or strike comes, no energy can bleed off, or it doesn't work. This is no more powerful or "advanced" than external energy, but learning it is very counter- intuitive. Thus, while we list it as "difficult," this is primarily descriptive; characters from these styles may choose this technique to show off or strike someone without penalty in a very confined space, such as a phone booth. However, most systems already have a mechanic for attack and damage being determined by skill level, which should be used.

9. Limb Attacks(Easy or Moderate)

Many long-range stylists stay back from hand-to-face ranges and attack any punch or kick that comes toward them, commonly by blocking very, very hard with the edge of the hand or forearm. Half-hearted opponents become frightened, vicious ones over-commit in response, and even calm ones may be slowed down from pain.

Kicks or weapon strikes to the knee are great for keeping the opponent stationary, knocking them down, or keeping them from running after you. Few people practice such strikes with hard contact since they can easily maim their partner, so few people know how to defend against them adequately.

A tougher trick is to catch and break an incoming arm in one smooth motion, which pretty much ends the fight. Arm breaks in wrestling are simply extensions of a lock, but doing them at speed is tougher.

Called Shots to limbs may, if they do significant damage, cripple that limb, making it impossible to use (i.e. weapons drop when arms are hit, they can't punch any more, or they collapse from a broken knee). Trying for an arm break ups the Difficulty still further, since the character is trying to catch and strike at the same time before the opponent can retract the limb.

10. Maiming, Pinching, and Crushing (Easy-Moderate)

Monkey and shaolin gung fu stylists as well as taijutsu and pentjak silat practitioners train to grab and tear off opponents' ears, lips or groins, a painful end to a wrestling match. None of these are attached with a great deal of flesh, and can be jerked about painfully in order to control the opponent. Ed Parker, who founded his own system of kenpo karate and worked as Elvis Presley's bodyguard, used to control troublemakers by grabbing their nipple and pinching. Once he'd gotten behind them and had them in pain, he'd escort them out...with no marks, no damage, looking like he was just helping along someone who had too much to drink. A more final version of pinching is grabbing the opponent's windpipe and crushing it, crab-like.

It takes a Called Shot to initially grab the target area. If the attacker wants to do damage, a good shot may stretch the organ or rip it off completely. If trying to subdue an opponent, add the character's martial art skill (in Shadowrun) or their martial arts skill x 5 (in the other games) to the opponent's target number for trying to do anything except flail and gibber for as long as the character is holding on.

11. Pressure Points and Delayed Death Strikes (Difficult)

The study of pressure points is incorporated into the higher levels of many martial arts; in Japanese, this practice is called atemi- or kyusho-waza. Arnis de mano and jeet kune do teach these early on, hitting upper-arm pressure points with gunting (scissor-strike) blocks.

Chinese folklore associates pressure point strikes with acupressure and acupuncture, saying there are five systems of meridians in the body through which chi flows, corresponding with five elements of wood, water, fire, earth, and metal. Each of these is associated with the health of a pair of organs connected on yin/yang meridians (liver/gall bladder, kidney/bladder, heart/small intestine, spleen/stomach, lung/large intestine). To cause the legendary "delayed death" strikes (dim mak in Chinese, san nen goroshi in Japanese), you supposedly must disrupt the opponent's chi flow in a certain way according to factors like the season, time of day and weather.

Delayed death strikes are theoretically possible; Western scientists are beginning to accept that acupressure works, but nobody really knows how without using terms like "chi flow" because there has been little scientific research on it. You can massage pressure points to relieve cramps, and working jujutsu locks can give you headaches. If a vengeful masseuse worked over a victim, they might cause some diarrhea or worsen an inflamed liver, but causing a stroke in a young, healthy person isn't likely. Most likely, such stories have more to do with concussions, internal bleeding, and long-term damage than sympathetic magic.

The pressure points used in fighting are fairly prosaic nerve clusters. You've probably banged one by accident; we call it the funny bone. There are similar spots all over the body, usually where muscles end over a bone without much padding. The larger a person's muscles are, the more their nerves stretch and the more pressure point strikes hurt. There is one on the radius bone four fingers above the wrist; another behind the tricep muscle, one behind the jaw hinge, and several on the back of the neck. Pressure point shots can also be delivered with blunt weapons -- a folded-up butterfly knife, or an innocuous six-inch stick called a yawara, sometimes sold as a keychain.

These strikes add the character's martial art skill (or martial arts skill x 5) to the opponent's Target Number for all actions for a number of rounds equal to the character's skill. Trying to kill someone with a single strike is generally represented in game systems by lucky rolls and spending Void/karma/character points. This is basically descriptive -- there is no martial art concentration that will automatically allow a character to kill in one blow without spending effort on it, and delayed death touches are usually magical or Force effects.

12. Screams/Auditory Intimidation(Easy)

Remember those funny noises Bruce Lee made? That wasn't just because they didn't have the budget for better sound effects. Lee used them to distract and startle opponents. Most hard Japanese, Okinawan, Korean, or Chinese styles use a "kiai" or "kiap," a short, loud, yell which expels air from the attacker's lungs and tightens the trapezius muscles, making the body rigid and the technique stronger. While fighting, a shout, a hand-clap, "wooah" noise, or stomp can also make the opponent freeze and prepare to block, while the attacker simply goes around them.

In Model Mugging courses, students are taught to yell back at their opponent, either screaming "no," or saying something bizarre ("Where are the ten thousand elephants?") to buy the moment of confusion which allows them to strike or run. In addition, when an opponent has fallen, they stomp the ground next to his head; if the "unconscious" attacker twitches, he's still awake and still a threat.

Even innocuous, non-intimidating words can distract. When someone sticks out an object and says, "here, hold this," most people are conditioned to accept it or at least look at the hand...tying up their brain while they get smacked in the face.

Before an attack, a character can try to distract his opponent, making a separate martial arts skill roll against the opponent's Willpower/Perception. Whether or not this test succeeds, the character's attack has the Easy maneuver penalty, but a successful distraction puts the opponent at Moderate penalties (+2 or +10) to dodge or counter the incoming technique. (Note that in L5R, the Matsu bushi already teach this technique and no further rules are required. If you want every samurai to be able to kiai, simply make the above test and if successful, drop the TN to hit the target by 3. This can be used in conjunction with the Matsu technique, which frightens opponent on a supernatural level, preventing them from spending Void).

13. Spiritual/Internal Energy Cultivation (Special)

Many martial arts have a philosophical or spiritual component influenced by the religious system where they originated. While this can certainly affect roleplaying, even in combat (a character whose art stresses honor may allow a fallen foe to get up before continuing the fight), a character's spiritual beliefs are up to the player.

On the other hand, chi kung (chi gung, qigong) practitioners claim to use meditative techniques to build internal energy, toughen their bodies to the point where they can absorb bullets or damage an opponent without touching them. While the last two have been proven false, they may still be possible as magical/Jedi powers or when using cinematic physics.

The idea of using internal energy to toughen the body is shared by numerous arts such as t'ai chi, hsin-yi ("hsing-i"), and goju-ryu and kyokushinkai karate. By using a technique they call "grounding" -- sitting in low stances and practicing deep breathing and isometric exercises (such as the goju-ryu form sanchin) to develop tough abdominal muscles -- they can take pretty hard shots unfazed. Similar body-toughening techniques such as pounding on makiwara boards (karate) other people's forearms (shaolin gung fu), or wooden dummies (wing chun) let a martial arts practitioner deliver blocks and take shots that impress the untrained...generally because they're taking it on muscle and/or bone and deflecting the force, though your game may prefer the mystical explanation.

This ability is a separate skill in all games, allowing characters to increase their Body/Toughness/Strength at one less karma/experience point/character point cost per rank in the skill (to a minimum of 1). In addition, in most games, it allows characters to improve their toughness-type attribute to greater than their racial maximum. Details are up to the gamemaster.

14. Trapping (Moderate)

Trapping is used in martial arts that blend hard and soft. The basic idea is to get to one side of the opponent, where you can use two arms and they can use only one. You then check or pin that arm with your own and beat them with your free hand. Sometimes this is done by pushing the opponent's elbow into their chest, sometimes by shoving the arms down, sometimes just by grabbing.

Trapping is one of the identifying features of wing chun (and still used, though less often, in the related jeet kune do). Their well-known chi sao, or "sticky hands" techniques teach practitioners contact reflexes to trap an opponent's arm and immediately attack any open area of the body without looking (at the upper levels, chi sao is often done blindfolded.) A longer-arm version of chi sao is practiced by goju-ryu (kakie) and t'ai chi (pushing hands, toy sao), trying to take the opponent's balance and mix strikes with wrestling. Arnis trapping drills focus more on strikes to the arm (hublud).

Characters using trapping attack normally (at the penalty for the Moderate maneuver), but if successful, the opponent is at a penalty (+2 in Shadowrun, two higher Difficulty levels in Star Wars. L5R details trapping in the kobo rules in Bearers of Jade.) for their next attack (including counterattacking). Up to three traps can be run in succession on humanoid opponents (arm, arm, leg).

 

Style	Similar Styles	Hard/Soft	Footwork	Strikes	Kicks	Grappling	Weapons	Special Techniques	Distinguishing Notes
Aikido	Aikijutsu.	Soft	Short range, circles/triangles.	Few. Chops, vital shots with fingers.	None. Barefoot.	Lots. Emphasis on control, safety, "flow."	Jo staff, sword at high levels.	1, 2, 3, some 4, 6, 9, 11, some 13.	"Way of energy and harmony," peaceful, very cooperative drills.
Arnis de Mano (Kali, Escrima)	Pentjak silat, Florentine rapier fencing, jeet kune do weapons.	Hard/Soft	All ranges, high- low, triangular.	Lots. Open-handed chops and palms preferred.	Some. Low, stomping on knees. Shoes.	Some. Disruptive, destructive.	Thirteen or more, sticks, knives, short staves, nunchaku, etc.	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 14.	Teaches weapons before empty hands. 2-weapon fighting. 7,000+ family variants.
Boxing	Untrained Westerners who watch movies.	Hard	Close. Keeps moving on toes. Rotates.	Lots. Closed fist. Uppercuts, hooks, jabs, crosses.	None. Shoes.	None.	None.	3, 9.	Mostly a sport. Knows how to get hit and "shed," i.e. roll with strikes.
Capoeira	None.	Hard	Acrobatic. Tumbles, rolls. Barefoot/shoed.	Head butts, ear pops, elbows.	Tons. Long-range, all heights/angles, barefoot or shoed.	Sweeps, yanks and heaves.	Straight razors, clubs, switchblades.	1, 3, 5, 6.	Cartwheels. Mostly taught as game or dance since early 20th century.
Ed Parker's Kenpo Karate	Kyusho-jutsu, Isshin-ryu.	Hard/Soft	All ranges. Practices moving in 8 directions.	Lots. All types. Bounces hands off own torso.	Lots. All types. Usually low. Barefoot.	Some. Self-defense oriented.	None (though black belts often cross-train).	1 some 2, 3, 4, some 5, some 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14.	Created with American urban self-defense in mind. Gun disarms.
Goju-Ryu Karate	Bai he, Uechi-ryu, (unrelated but same philosophy: kuk sool won).	Hard/Soft	In close. Low stances grounded to avoid sweeps.	Lots. Open or closed hand. Many grab/strike combos.	Lots. Low, barefoot, long and short range.	Some. Used to create opening for strikes.	Sai, kama, nunchaku, bo, kama.	1, some 2, 3, some 4, some 7, 9, 10, some 11, 12, 13, 14.	Pigeon-toed stances, pounds on floating ribs, wrist strikes.
Jujitsu	Judo, chin na, hyun kyuhn, dumog, hapkido, jeet kune do grappling.	Soft	Short-range. Circular and triangular.	Few. Slaps, chops, vital shots.	Few to none. Barefoot.	Tons. Wrestling, locks, breaks, takedowns, groundwork.	Not technically; cross-training in kendo/kenjutsu or tanto-jutsu.	1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14.	Gracie/sport jujitsu emphasizes ground fighting. Other variants include danzan-ryu, kodokan.
Kyokushinkai Karate	Savate, kickboxing karate styles.	Hard	Long-range. Linear and triangular.	Lots. All types. Meant to break bones/knockout.	Lots. High and low, meant to break bones. Barefoot.	Little.	Rare. Sword, kusari-gama (sickle/chain).	Some 1, 9, 12, 13.	Uses elbows and knees more than most karate. As hard-style as it gets.
Muay Thai	Pretty unique.	Hard	Short or long range. Triangular, keeps moving.	Lots. Punches less important than elbows.	Lots. Round done with shin. Lots of knees, leg-to-leg attacks.	No throws. Grabs before repeated knee strikes.	None.	1, 3, 9, 13 (physical toughening), 14.	Cracks shins as a matter of course. Also as hard-style as it gets, but no classical forms.
Shotokan Karate	Shorin-ryu, Shorei-ryu.	Hard	Long-range. Linear.	Lots. Closed and open hand. Draws back far.	Lots. Long-range, high, straight and round. Barefoot.	Little to some. Mostly sweeps, spinning sweep.	None.	Some 1, 9, 12, 13 (physical toughening).	Common all over world. Popular tournament style.
Tae kwon do	Tang soo do, jeet kune do kicks.	Hard	Long-range. Linear.	Some. Open and closed hands.	Tons. Flexible. Spins, jumps, kicks to head.	Little to some. Mostly spinning sweeps.	Not emphasized.	9, 12, 13 (physical toughening).	Very common in U.S. as tournament art. More applications taught in Korea.
T'ai Chi	Chi gung, ba gua zhang.	Soft	All ranges. Linear-circular.	Mostly shoves and shoulder slams. Palm strikes, a few punches/pokes.	Few. Low, disruptive. Shoes or barefoot.	Lots. Dragging, sweeps, shoves, arm breaks.	T'ai chi sword (rapier-like).	1, 2, 3, some 4, some 5, some 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14.	Taught in slow motion. Applications don't come for many years in Yang (common) variant.
Tibetan White Crane	Lama paai (martial art of Qing Imperial Guards)	Hard	Long-range. Circular.	Lots. Windmills arms. Closed-fist "knocking" strike.	Lots. High, hard kicks even in combat situations. Shoes.	Few.	None.	1, 5, 9, some 12, 13, 14.	Uses crane-beak strikes to eyes. Popular in China for tournaments.
Wing Chun	Chyu ga, snake gung fu, jeet kune do's hand techniques.	Hard/Soft	Short range: takes shortest distance between points. Sidesteps.	Lots. Machine-gun chain punches. Prefers straight strikes.	Some. Low. Knees and ankles. Close, disruptive. Shoes.	Incidental. Uses locks and breaks.	Butterfly short swords, paired. 8-foot staff.	1, 3, some 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, some 13, 14.	Designed for quick learning. Conserves energy. Faces point of contact. Hands stick to/ punish opponent's arms.
Wrestling, Greco-Roman	Some Native American wrestling.	Soft	Short range. Goes low, shoots in.	None.	None. Shoes.	Lots, but limited. No holds below the waist. Meant to pin, not hurt.	None.	1, 3, 6, 7, some 9.	Basically a sport. Characters in modern America can learn it in high school.
Wu T'shu (or "Kuoshu")	Hung gar, hung fut, choi li fut, chang chuan, Shaolin animal styles.	Hard	All ranges. Athletic, long steps.	Lots. Everything, including swats, claws, chops, phoenix eyes, leopard paws, etc.	Lots. All types. High, spinning, jumping. Shoes.	Some locking, sweeps and spinning sweep.	"18 weapons of Kung Fu," i.e. tridents, spears, swords, chain whips, etc.	1, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, some 14.	Umbrella term for Chinese martial arts. Usually associated with dance-like classical forms. Choi li fut teaches lion dancing.