Historical and Modern Martial Arts

Below is a selection of historical and modern martial arts. It’s only a small sampling, highlighting widely known or interesting styles. There are hundreds if not thousands of styles – and many have numerous sub-schools or regional or ethnic variants, or looked quite different at various points during their history.

Traditional Japanese martial arts have names ending in either -do, meaning “way,” or -jutsu, meaning “art.” In theory, a style with a -do name is artistic, and emphasizes self-development or physical exercise under controlled conditions. A -jutsu ending denotes a style that focuses on techniques with practical applications in lethal combat, practiced under rigorous circumstances. Thus, “Aikijutsu” is a variety of combat grappling while “Aikido” is a form of spiritual enlightenment through martial training. Most modern schools follow this naming practice.

The distinction isn’t rigid, though. Some schools that offer -do forms teach skills intended for combat, while certain schools of -jutsu forms instruct students in sportive or artistic styles. For example, Yoshinkan Aikido teaches the Tokyo Metropolitan Riot Police course – a one-year black-belt program of harsh training and grueling practice under realistic conditions – alongside its regular curriculum. On the other hand, modern Naginatajutsu schools restrict targets, and use wooden naginata for kata, bamboo-tipped naginata for competition, and kendo armor… all despite the -jutsu suffix.

Confusing matters further is the fact that some non-Japanese schools have adopted these suffixes, teaching Muay Thai Do or even T’ai Chi Jutsu. Not all instances of “do” refer to the Japanese word, either. The Korean art of Tae Kwon Do is a sport but isn’t a “do” form, and Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do most definitely isn’t an art or sport form!

This section takes the stance that, in general, -do forms teach Combat Art or Sport skills while -jutsu forms offer combat skills. If there’s any doubt, it assumes the combat form simply because GURPS is an adventure game and Art/Sport skills aren’t very useful in the deadly situations that adventurers get into!

Every style has an “origin story.” For recent styles, this is mundane historical record. For traditional styles, it’s often mythical and unverifiable, laced with tales of mystical or divine influence. For instance, many Japanese ryuha claim as their origin an enlightening vision that inspired the founder to develop new tactics. Dozens of kung fu styles trace their genesis to the Shaolin Temple; others supposedly mimic the movements of animals. Ancient cultures often held that the gods themselves taught mortals the first fighting arts!

The truth is usually more pedestrian. Many styles emerged from much earlier ones whose origins are lost to history. Modern styles that trace their lineage to ancient times often derive more from other modern styles than from their supposed ancient heritage. For instance, modern Pankration styles are based largely on Jujutsu and Wrestling, and have no direct connection to ancient Greece. Similarly, Tae Kwon Do claims to be an amalgamation of multiple Korean styles but owes a lot to modern Karate, from which it borrowed its ranking system and kata.

For each style, Martial Arts gives the most common origin story and the historically verifiable facts, where these differ. In a cinematic campaign, legendary origins might be true. Such a game is also likely to have “ultimate styles” that spawned all other styles (see Ultimate Styles, above).

When creating a new style, the GM should consider fabricating an origin story. This can be prosaic (like the origin of Jeet Kune Do) or seated in myth and legend (like the tales of the Shaolin Temple). In settings with strong fantastic or supernatural elements, many styles might truly be wisdom from the gods! Cultists trained in the sanity-blasting art of Cthulhu Ryu would be frightening indeed.

These style write-ups are merely guidelines. Not every school adheres rigidly to its style’s traditional teachings or to a curriculum sanctioned by widely recognized masters. Some offer heavily modified styles. Others just borrow a name; for instance, a “karate” academy might teach a Korean striking art and a “jujutsu” instructor might give lessons in some style of Judo or Wrestling.

Sport Forms: Where a style has both combat and sport forms, the sport form appears in a nearby box unless it’s the style’s main version.

Aikijutsu (also called Aikijujutsu) was the grappling art of the Japanese bushi. Samurai used its techniques when disarmed, and to subdue foes in situations where using weapons was forbidden – such as in the presence of one’s lord. Famous schools include Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu and Ueshiba Morihei’s Aikijutsu. At least one school claiming to date from the 11th century still exists today.

Aikijutsu assumes that the enemy will resist, and doesn’t wait for him to take the initiative. Stylists use few All-Out or Committed Attacks, and prefer to avoid directly confronting force with force. A typical move is to grapple the opponent, throw him, and then place him in a painful or crippling lock. Some schools teach fighters to attack or feint to provoke a reaction, and then take advantage of the foe’s movement to grapple or throw him. These schools would add the Karate skill and Feint (Karate) technique, or teach Jujutsu alongside Aikijutsu.

Historical Aikijutsu schools, especially prior to the Tokugawa era, assumed that both attacker and defender would be armored. They taught techniques for grappling, locking, and disarming an armored opponent on uneven ground. Even modern schools routinely teach how to defend against swords, staves, and knives. Faced with an armed adversary, a stylist would let him attack, then use Disarming or Arm Lock to take away his weapon or cripple his limb.

Japanese culture regarded rising to one’s feet in the presence of one’s lord as rude, so a samurai would learn to grapple with and disarm an assailant attempting to harm his lord without rising from his knees. For this reason, Aikijutsu teaches techniques for use while kneeling.

Skills: Judo.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Breakfall; Disarming (Judo); Ground Fighting (Judo); Low Fighting (Judo); Trip.

Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Mental Strength; Pressure Points; Push.

Cinematic Techniques: Hand-Clap Parry; Roll with Blow.

Perks: Armor Familiarity; Power Grappling; Sure-Footed (Uneven).

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Forceful Chi; Language (Japanese).

Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Bushido); Duty (To lord).

Skills: Broadsword; Karate; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Shortsword; Staff; Theology (Shinto).

Techniques: Finger Lock.

Ueshiba Morihei founded Aikido in 1920s Japan as a more peaceful, artistic version of Aikijutsu. Its goals are spiritual development and finding inner harmony, but it has also become popular for self-defense. While OSensei (as Ueshiba is known) emphasized the development of the spirit and ki, some schools focus on the mechanics of locks and throws.

Aikido’s main technique is the throw. Aikido throws describe a circular motion. The attacker (called the uke in training) flows with the defender’s movement, assisting the throw and using Breakfall to land safely. Needless to say, this makes Aikido’s throws less useful in a real fight than those of a style that trains against resisting opponents. Stylists don’t regard this as an obstacle to the art’s development, but it does limit Aikido’s self-defense value.

Some Aikido schools don’t assume an unresisting foe. A notable example is the Tokyo Metropolitan Riot Police course taught by the Yoshinkan Aikido school in Tokyo, Japan. Such teachings are sometimes termed “hard” Aikido. Even these schools teach artistic techniques and expect cooperation between uke and defender, though. To represent “hard” Aikido, add the Judo skill.

A few Aikido schools add strikes (atemi) to distract or “soften” the foe – and often to finish him once he’s down! Use the style under Aikijutsu (see left) for this, with the addition of Karate.

Ueshiba was said to be capable of almost superhuman feats of skill, including the ability to dodge bullets with ease. In a cinematic game, these might be a set of secret techniques passed on to exceptional students.

Skills: Judo Art; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Techniques: Acrobatic Stand; Arm Lock; Breakfall; Finger Lock; Ground Fighting (Judo Art); Low Fighting (Judo Art).

Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Invisibility Art; Mental Strength; Pressure Points; Push.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Judo Art); Roll with Blow.

Perks: Power Grappling; Skill Adaptation (Acrobatic Stand defaults to Judo Art).

Advantages: Cultural Familiarity (Japan); Enhanced Dodge; Inner Balance; Language (Japanese).

Disadvantages: Delusions.

Skills: Breath Control; Judo; Knife Art; Staff Art; Theology (Omoto); Two-Handed Sword Art.

Armatura was the fighting style of the Roman legions during the 1st through 3rd centuries A.D., when they were a professional army. The legions’ armament dates to the 4th century B.C., however, and this style might have its roots in that period. The basic forms taught to legionaries, auxiliaries, and marines were similar – although the various arms emphasized different weapons. In many cities, young men of the upper and middle classes took instruction in military combat as a matter of pride. They, too, learned Armatura – but from professional instructors, sometimes brought in from gladiatorial schools.

Legionaries carried two pila (throwable spears). They would hurl one or both while the enemy was at a distance, and then engage with shield and pilum if holding ground, shield and gladius (sword) if assaulting. They trained to lead with their shield and use it offensively to shield bash or shove the enemy; Beats with the shield were common. They also learned to minimize the disadvantages of their large shield, stabbing around it while using it for cover. Defensive Attacks (jabbing thrusts) were routine. More aggressive attacks – but only rarely Committed Attacks – generally followed up a successful shove or Beat. Parries were less common than blocks.

Auxiliary infantry learned a similar style but carried different equipment. Replace Shortsword with Broadsword and make Thrown Weapon (Spear) optional. All Roman troops prided themselves on their knowledge of dirty tricks. It would be reasonable to add a variety of unsporting techniques to any version of the style.

The Roman legions were a prosaic bunch; there are few tales of legendary feats of arms. However, given the great store Roman writers put by the stamina and bravery of their troops, cinematic legionaries might merit high FP, several levels of Fearlessness, and the Immovable Stance skill. Enhanced Block, and the skills Kiai (for the barritus battle cry) and Power Blow, also fit.

All Roman soldiers of the mid-to-late Empire probably learned Armatura. It became less common toward the end of the Empire – as auxiliaries became an increasingly large part of the Roman forces, it grew harder to find the necessary training. Armatura is also useful as the basis for styles for troops armed like Roman legionaries in fantasy worlds.

Skills: Hiking; Shield; Shortsword; Spear; Thrown Weapon (Spear).

Techniques: Feint (Shield or Shortsword); Retain Weapon (Shortsword or Spear); Targeted Attack (Shortsword Thrust/Vitals).

Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Kiai; Power Blow.

Perks: Naval Training, for marines; Shield-Wall Training; Teamwork (Armatura).

Secondary Characteristics: Improved FP.

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Enhanced Block; Fearlessness; Fit.

Disadvantages: Duty; Stubbornness.

Skills: Axe/Mace; Brawling; Riding (Horse); Swimming; Wrestling. Auxiliaries might have Bow or Sling. All but the greenest of legionaries should know Soldier/TL2, which includes training at building forts quickly. Their supervisors would have Engineer/TL2 (Combat).

The cavalrymen of the Roman Empire combined the military traditions of various subject peoples into a highly effective martial art. Their composite style blended standoff tactics (every soldier had to be proficient with either the javelin or the bow) with hand-to-hand techniques. Training included horsemanship. Some troops even learned how to cross bodies of water with their mounts while still in formation.

Roman horsemen wielded a medium shield of light construction in a mobile blocking style, and strove to keep the enemy on their shield side. The majority relied on the spear and the javelin as weapons, but riders often had training with the thrusting broadsword (similar to that of auxiliary infantry) and some troops were mounted archers.

Cavalrymen thrust the spear downward rather than couching it like a lance. When tossing the javelin, they sometimes hurled it end-over-end instead of in a flat trajectory, to better slip around a defender’s shield – a kind of Deceptive Attack (see Tricky Shooting).

Armatura Equestris survived through much of the Dark Ages. Other European cavalry of the period used a similar style with heavier armor and longer spears, as did Byzantine horsemen. The latter favored the bow while Western forces preferred the javelin.

There are few legends of amazing abilities among the Roman cavalry. However, they sometimes claimed incredible skill both as riders and with their weapons. One left an epitaph commemorating how he shot an arrow into the air and then split it in two with a second arrow before it hit the ground… while on horseback… while his mount was swimming the Danube! Heroic Archer and the Zen Archery skill would fit heroes of this caliber.

The traits below assume a bow-armed cavalryman. For a javelin-equipped horseman, replace Bow with Thrown Weapon (Spear) and Horse Archery with Mounted Shooting (Thrown Spear/Horse). Some cavalrymen were recruited from the infantry; these should have the training under Armatura (see above), too. Armatura Equestris suits realistic “Knights of King Arthur.” For the abilities of legendary Arthurian knights, see Knightly Mounted Combat.

Skills: Bow; Broadsword; Riding (Horse); Shield; Spear.

Techniques: Cavalry Training (Broadsword or Spear); Combat Riding; Hands-Free Riding; Horse Archery; Quick Mount.

Cinematic Skills: Zen Archery.

Perks: Strongbow; Sure-Footed (Water).

Advantages: Animal Empathy; Combat Reflexes; Heroic Archer.

Disadvantages: Duty; Overconfidence; Stubbornness.

Skills: Axe/Mace; Brawling; Fast-Draw (Arrow); Knife; Swimming; Wrestling.

Bajutsu was the traditional Japanese art of horsemanship. It taught the horseman how to control his mount. He had to study fighting from his mount separately. Other cultures that employed cavalry took a similar approach and had identical styles. Riders trained in Bajutsu or its equivalent should study an armed style separately or merge its techniques with those of Bajutsu via the Style Adaptation perk. For candidate styles, see Armatura Equestris, Furusiyya, Knightly Mounted Combat, and Yabusame.

Cinematic Bajutsu masters often have fantastic mounts and/or high levels of Animal Friend. They can also learn unique specialties of certain cinematic skills that enable them to augment their mount’s abilities. These skills can’t exceed the horseman’s Riding skill, and work on the horse – not the rider.

Skills: Animal Handling (Equines); Riding (Horse).

Techniques: Combat Riding; Hands-Free Riding; Quick Mount; Staying Seated.

Cinematic Skills: Flying Leap (Horse); Immovable Stance (Horse); Light Walk (Horse).

Perks: Style Adaptation (Any mounted style).

Advantages: Ally (Mount); Animal Empathy; Animal Friend; Signature Gear (Mount); Speak With Animals (Horses, -80%).

Disadvantages: Sense of Duty (Animals).

Skills: Acrobatics; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Techniques: Cavalry Training; Horse Archery; Mounted Shooting.

Bando is one of a range of Burmese martial arts that fall under the umbrella term Thaing. Prior to World War II, there were nine regional Bando styles. After WWII, most of these merged into ABA Bando, which is now common worldwide. This style appears below, along with the rarer Kachin Bando.

Bando is famous for its many animal forms, each of which represents an aspect of the style. Only the master’s family learns the full style. This helps keep the style “pure” and prevents outsiders from learning all of the master’s tricks.

All Bando styles practice physical toughening techniques such as striking tree trunks, heavy bags, or other hard objects. Physical fitness is emphasized – as is heedlessness of death.

Dr. Maung Gyi – son of one of the men who developed Bando after World War II – introduced Bando to the U.S. in 1959, formed the American Bando Association (ABA), and founded its namesake style. ABA Bando is a powerful style meant for self-defense and combat situations. The ABA describes it as the “Jeep of martial arts”: practical and reliable, but free of frills.

Stylists are known for their aggressiveness. Attacks are fast and continuous, aimed at overwhelming and defeating the foe. Rapid Strike and All-Out Attack (Double) are very common as the practitioner rains down blows on his adversary. He’ll attack the legs in order to disable his opponent, and then switch his attention to the skull, face, and body to finish him. The goal is a rapid and decisive victory. The precise methodology depends on the fighter’s animal form.

Deer emphasizes flight and escape, snake focuses more on grapples and chokes, boar prefers a full-bore, head-on attack heedless of injury, and so on; see Bando Animal Forms (see above).

ABA Bando has a belt system like that of the Japanese martial arts, and students also wear the gi. Many techniques are adaptations from non-Burmese systems. This makes the system more eclectic and flexible but subjects it to claims that it’s “watered down.” Instruction in ABA Bando is available worldwide.

Bando contains various animal forms, the exact number of which depends on the specific school. There are typically 12 in ABA Bando (boar, bull, cobra, deer, eagle, monkey, paddy bird, panther, python, scorpion, tiger, and viper) and 16 in Kachin Bando (barking deer, boar, bull, cobra, crocodile, eagle, monkey, paddy bird, panther, python, scorpion, sun bear, tiger, viper, white elephant, and white rhino). These forms aren’t sub-styles! They describe the personality, tactics, and favored techniques of the fighter – not of Bando itself. They also differ from kung fu animal forms, which aim to replicate the animal’s tactics.

The lineage holder and his immediate family train in all of Bando’s techniques and skills. Outsiders, even trusted students, learn only the small subset of moves appropriate to their animal form. This makes them effective fighters… but they lack the gamut of skills necessary to defeat the lineage holder and his family. A student who wishes to learn the full style must persuade his master to part with a family secret – or to let him join the family.

The GM may wish to treat each animal form as a separate Style Familiarity – e.g., Style Familiarity (Kachin Bando, Bull Form) – and reserve the full version – e.g., Style Familiarity (Kachin Bando) – for the lineage holder and his family.

Skills: Judo; Karate; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Techniques: Aggressive Parry (Karate); Arm Lock; Counterattack (Karate); Elbow Strike; Hammer Fist; Head Butt; Head Lock; Knee Strike; Stamp Kick.

Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow; Mental Strength; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Roll with Blow.

Perks: Iron Legs; Power Grappling; Special Exercises (Striker, Crushing with Limb, Shin); Style Adaptation (Any modern style).

Advantages: Fearlessness; Fit; High Pain Threshold.

Disadvantages: Bloodlust.

Skills: Knife; Philosophy (Buddhism); Smallsword; Whip; Wrestling.

Kachin Bando is a fighting style of the Jingpaw, or “men of the hills” – a northern Burmese people famous for their guerrilla campaigns against the Japanese in World War II. History credits them with killing more than 10,000 Japanese soldiers while losing only a few hundred men. “Kachin” is a Burmese term meaning “savage,” sometimes used by outsiders to describe the Jingpaw. Strong animists, their Bando has 16 animal forms.

Kachin Bando incorporates many Naban (wrestling) moves. These include “bottom riding” techniques very similar to the guard of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. The style respects no rules in true combat; it uses biting, eye-gouging, raking with the fingernails, and other “dirty” techniques. Advanced students may learn Banshay or just a few weapons, such as the knife and kukri.

Kachin Bando is an aggressive style aimed at quickly disabling or killing the enemy. Stylists throw shin kicks to the legs to cripple the foe, or to the head to knock him out, and often aim vicious hand strikes at the head and neck. If the fight goes to the ground, the fighter is likely to apply a Choke Hold, Leg Lock, or Arm Lock – using his hands or legs – to kill or incapacitate his opponent. Feints aren’t common, while full-bore attacks are; a Committed Attack (Strong) or even All-Out Attack (Strong) with a punch, kick, or Knee Strike is a favorite way to knock out the enemy. Defenses are similarly hard: the Bando man likes to use Jam against kicks and Aggressive Parry (often with the elbow) to stop punches.

Students usually start by learning Lethwei. Once they have a firm grounding in that art – and possibly after proving themselves in a few fights – they graduate to Bando lessons. Schools outside of Burma sometimes teach the full style from the outset, since Lethwei contests are less common than mixed martial arts fights and self-defense applications.

Cinematic Kachin Bando stylists should focus on brutal “hard” techniques rather than on chi abilities. As the Jingpaw are animists, spirit magic might suit a cinematic master – but the optional advantages below are more fitting than chi powers or magic.

Kachin Bando remains obscure today. Northern Myanmar is difficult to access and in a constant state of low-level rebellion, while there are few instructors outside the region. The style is taught in the Eastern U.S., however. Kachin Bando has no ranking system, uniform, or association.

Skills: Karate; Wrestling.

Techniques: Aggressive Parry; Arm Lock; Choke Hold; Elbow Strike; Eye-Gouging; Eye-Rake; Ground Fighting (Karate or Wrestling); Hammer Fist; Head Butt; Jam; Kicking; Knee Strike; Leg Lock; Low Fighting (Karate or Wrestling); Lower-Body Arm Lock; Lower-Body Leg Lock; Push Kick; Triangle Choke.

Cinematic Skills: Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Roll with Blow; Timed Defense.

Perks: Biting Mastery; Iron Legs; Neck Control (Karate); Power Grappling; Special Exercises (Striker, Crushing with Limb, Shin); Style Adaptation (Lethwei).

Secondary Characteristics: Improved FP and HP.

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Damage Resistance (Tough Skin, -40%); Fearlessness; Fit or Very Fit; Hard to Subdue; High Pain Threshold; Striking ST.

Disadvantages: Bloodlust; Overconfidence.

Skills: Axe/Mace; Judo; Knife; Shortsword.

This is the modern sport of boxing. It developed out of bare-knuckle and no-holds-barred matches in the 19th century, but it has deeper roots: the ancient Greeks boxed in the Olympics and the Romans featured boxing in their arenas. Historically, most matches were bare-knuckle – although the ancient Greeks and Romans wore the myrmex or cestus to inflict more damage! Before modern times, matches weren’t timed; victory was by either submission or incapacitation.

Modern boxing stresses footwork, hand speed, and striking power. Permissible targets are the front of the torso above the waist, the head, and the arms – but only the head and torso count for scoring. It’s illegal to grapple, kick, or indeed strike with anything but the knuckles of the hand. Boxers wear padded gloves to protect their hands. Because gloved hands rarely get hurt punching the skull, there’s a heavy emphasis on head blows. Severe head trauma can occur from prolonged bouts (or prolonged careers!) and deaths in the ring occur every year. Today’s matches typically have 10 to 12 three-minute rounds, but 15 rounds or even unlimited rounds were common in the past.

Boxing rewards defensive tactics and guarded movement. In game terms, boxers stick to Defensive Attack (the jab), Feint, Wait, and Evaluate until an opening presents itself for an Attack. This goes on until one contender is worn down, stunned, or otherwise vulnerable – then his opponent delivers a Committed Attack or even an All-Out Attack to finish the bout. Move and Attack is deprecated in favor of more cautious movement, and All-Out Attack is rare except to finish a beaten adversary.

Special tricks and techniques are common. Combinations are a favorite, the classic “one-two” being a straight left-hand punch followed instantly by a straight right-hand punch. Boxers learn to lean into the ropes that border the ring to absorb some of the force of punches (cinematic boxers might be able to roll with a punch anywhere, not just in the ring). Dirty tricks – blows to the vitals or groin, “accidental” head butts, and even gouging the eyes with the thumb – can cost you points or get you disqualified, but sneaky (or desperate!) boxers employ them nonetheless.

Boxing is a sport, but boxers hit hard and practice with full contact. All should learn the Boxing skill – although Boxing Sport is appropriate for amateur bouts, exhibitions, and purely point-based tournaments. Boxers who crosstrain to become kickboxers or train to fight outside the ring commonly learn Low-Line Defense.

“Roadwork” – jogging and running – has been part of boxers’ training since at least the time of ancient Greece. The Running skill isn’t mandatory, but a PC boxer would need a good explanation for a trainer or gym that didn’t expect him to run! Roadwork is the standard way to build up the stamina and overall fitness that are crucial for boxers. Improving endurance, strength, and staying power is at least as important as developing technique. The GM should let boxers who do train like this increase ST, DX, and HT, provided they have the points.

Boxers are legendary for their agility and ability to take punishment without serious harm – perhaps because they’re so fit and train in conditions that match their competitive arena. The optional traits below reflect this. Higher-than-usual HP and Basic Speed, and even low levels of Striking Strength, might be realistic. The GMs should certainly permit cinematic boxers to possess such traits, as well as DR (Ablative, -80%) so they can take shots without feeling it.

Skills: Boxing; Boxing Sport; Games (Boxing).

Techniques: Counterattack (Boxing); Feint (Boxing); Targeted Attack (Boxing Punch/Face); Targeted Attack (Boxing Uppercut/Face); Uppercut.

Cinematic Skills: Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Roll with Blow.

Perks: Clinch (Boxing); Neck Control (Boxing); Special Exercises (DR with Ablative); Special Exercises (Striking ST +1); Unusual Training (Roll with Blow, Only against the ropes).

Attributes: Reduced IQ (too many head blows!).

Secondary Characteristics: Improved Basic Speed and HP.

Advantages: Fit or Very Fit; Hard to Subdue; High Pain Threshold; Striking ST.

Disadvantages: Reduced Appearance.

Skills: Running; Savoir-Faire (Gym).

Techniques: Low-Line Defense (Boxing).

In ancient Greece, boxing was a brutal Olympic sport. Fighters wore little or no hand protection, but sometimes donned the myrmex or cestus to dish out more punishment. Only the head and torso were legal targets. Bouts could result in serious injury or maiming. All of this (along with the style traits below) applies equally to Roman boxers. Many Greek boxers trained in Pankration, too. Such athletes should learn that style instead but add Style Familiarity (Boxing) and Games (Boxing) to reflect participation in both sports.

Skills: Boxing; Games (Boxing).

Techniques: Counterattack (Boxing); Feint (Boxing); Targeted Attack (Boxing Punch/Face); Targeted Attack (Boxing Uppercut/Face); Uppercut; Exotic Hand Strike (Boxing).

Perks: Skill Adaptation (Exotic Hand Strike defaults to Boxing); Special Exercises (DR with Ablative); Special Exercises (Striking ST +1).

Before being codified as a sport, boxing was an often-illegal contest with few rules. Ground techniques were forbidden, but fighters used standing grapples, chokes, and all manner of blows prohibited in modern matches. Many cultures have some form of stand-up, bare-knuckle contest. This style with the “Street” lens can represent the techniques used in underground “boxing clubs” and back-alley brawling.

Skills: Boxing; Wrestling.

Techniques: Counterattack (Boxing); Feint (Boxing); Targeted Attack (Boxing Punch/Face); Targeted Attack (Boxing Uppercut/Face); Uppercut; Head Butt.

Perks: Skill Adaptation (Head Butt defaults to Boxing); Neck Control (Boxing); Special Exercises (DR with Ablative); Special Exercises (Striking ST +1); Unusual Training (Roll with Blow, Only against the ropes).

Secondary Characteristics: Improved FP, as matches have no time limit and frequently go on for hours.

Capoeira is an acrobatic martial art developed in Brazil by African slaves imported by the Portuguese. Its exact origins are unclear, but it seems to have grown out of a fusion of fighting arts from several parts of Africa. Savate might have influenced it as well. In any event, Capoeira has existed in some form since the 16th century, although it has become more organized and visible in recent times.

Dance is a traditional form of practice and demonstration in African martial arts. Capoeira inherited this trait. Tradition claims that its dances enabled slaves to practice their art under the nose of unwitting overseers. Whatever the truth, dance and Capoeira are closely linked. Musical instruments – notably the berimbau (a bow-like stringed instrument) and drums – are a fixture at the Capoeira jogo (match), and strikes occur within the context of the rhythm and beat.

Capoeira fighters claim that slaves could do the style’s athletic kicks – especially its signature handstand kicks – while chained at both wrists and ankles. This might be optimistic but it’s in-genre for a cinematic game. A trained mestre (master or teacher) could certainly defend himself once freed! Thus, Capoeira let escaped slaves protect themselves from recapture.

Capoeira stylists are in constant motion, mixing high-line strikes with low-line sweeps in a flowing series of attacks. Kicks make frequent use of Deceptive Attack, for kicks coming out of acrobatic moves, and Telegraphic Attack, for showy, easily spotted kicks. Fighters commonly alternate between Committed Attack and All-Out Defense (Increased Dodge). A handstand kick – executed by standing on one or both hands and then kicking out with the feet – is an All-Out Attack (Strong) with one foot or an All-Out Attack (Double) with two. Because acrobatic moves are so fundamental to the style, practitioners may learn the Acrobatic Kicks perk as soon as they have a point in Acrobatics (instead of the usual 10 points in skills and techniques).

Groundwork and defense are also important. Stylists use Sweep to take a foe to the floor and Scissors Hold to grapple a vulnerable adversary. They dodge more often than they parry, making frequent use of retreats and Acrobatic Dodge.

Early forms of Capoeira were taught informally, without an established curriculum or ranks. Fighters typically learned it from fellow slaves – or later, on the street – and honed their skills by putting the lessons to practical use. These “schools” also trained with such easily found weapons as knives, machetes, razors, and sticks. Dirty fighting tactics were common, especially holding razors between the toes (requires the style’s unique Razor Kicks perk and inflicts thrust-1 cutting) and throwing dirt in the eyes. This variety of Capoeira still exists on the streets in certain places.

Modern schools often mix Capoeira with Karate, Jujutsu, and other Asian martial arts. Some have ranking systems with colored cordões (cords, worn as belts), fairly uniform clothing, and kata-like drills. An academia of this kind might place more emphasis on jogo and sportive play, and teach Karate Art and Wrestling Sport instead of combat skills – although this isn’t universally true. Students rarely get training in weapons other than sticks, which are used in a dancelike drill to make music (add Smallsword Art).

Cinematic mestres should definitely have actual combat skills and weapons training! Any cinematic ability that improves leaping and dodging is suitable, as is the Springing Attack technique.

Skills: Acrobatics; Karate; Wrestling.

Techniques: Acrobatic Stand; Axe Kick; Back Kick; Ear Clap; Feint (Karate); Hammer Fist; Head Butt; Jump Kick; Kicking; Scissors Hold; Spinning Kick; Sweep (Karate).

Cinematic Skills: Flying Leap; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Roll with Blow; Springing Attack.

Perks: Acrobatic Feints; Acrobatic Kicks; Razor Kicks; Technique Mastery (Kicking).

Advantages: Enhanced Dodge; High Pain Threshold; Language (Portuguese); Musical Ability, especially in sport and art forms.

Disadvantages: Bloodlust; Overconfidence; Reputation (Uses dirty tricks).

Skills: Dancing; Knife; Musical Instrument (Berimbau and others); Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Shortsword; Singing; Smallsword.

Traditional Chinese kung fu has four parts: kicking, punching, grappling, and seizing vital points. Chin Na (roughly, “seize and control”) – also called “Chin Na Kung Fu” – is a term for the last two aspects. It’s a truly ancient art. Grappling has been part of China’s martial tradition since before written record, and joint manipulation and locking techniques are equally old.

Martial artists typically learn Chin Na as part of one or more other Chinese styles, most of which describe their joint-locking methods as “Chin Na.” Chin Na is also the subject of many texts on its own, however, and remains remarkably consistent across styles that teach it. It’s sometimes taught independently, to students from many arts. For game purposes, it qualifies as its own style.

Chin Na aims to control and defeat the opponent by manipulating joints and activating pressure points. It regards painful locks that force the victim to submit without permanent injury as merciful, as its methods can cripple or kill! The Chin Na practitioner attempts to get a hold on his adversary – usually by making a parry that sets up an Arm Lock or Finger Lock. In a life-or-death struggle, he’ll use more harmful techniques. He might even act offensively, grappling his enemy in order to use locks and throws. Fully offensive postures such as All-Out and Committed Attack are uncommon, though.

Chin Na is often taught alongside traditional healing and first aid. Students are expected to be able to use their knowledge to heal as well as to harm. Cinematic practitioners can utilize their extensive knowledge of pressure points to kill or to heal, and might become inured to pain thanks to endless practice with their sifu.

Skills: Judo.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Choke Hold; Finger Lock; Head Lock; Leg Grapple; Trip.

Cinematic Skills: Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques: Pressure-Point Strike.

Perks: Technique Mastery (Arm Lock); Technique Mastery (Finger Lock); Unusual Training (Pressure Points).

Advantages: High Pain Threshold; Language (Chinese).

Disadvantages: Pacifism (Cannot Kill).

Skills: Esoteric Medicine; First Aid; Philosophy (Buddhism or Taoism); Physiology; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

This knife-fighting style is based on medieval and Renaissance European martial arts but differs little from Asian, African, and ancient Roman arts. It would fit into almost any setting “as is.” Likewise, while “dagger” historically described a fairly specific weapon, Dagger Fighting works with any of the fighting knives used worldwide for streetfighting and personal defense, and as auxiliary weapons in dueling and warfare – singly or in pairs. Practitioners typically favor larger blades, however.

Most schools taught both the “sword” grip (the normal grip) and the “ice pick” grip (see Reversed Grip). Dagger fighters learned to switch rapidly between grips to take full advantage of the fluid mix of knife work and grappling that characterizes a knife fight. Tactics emphasized feints, disarms (barehanded and by slashing hands and arms), and direct attacks. “Spinning” techniques – for instance, turning one’s back on an advancing enemy in order to drive one’s knife backward and into him – weren’t unknown.

The dagger fighter prefers to circle his foe, feinting, jabbing, and watching for any weakness or opportunity. This is a series of Wait, Evaluate, Feint, and Defensive Attack maneuvers. He’ll move in for the kill only when his adversary is vulnerable – injured, feinted, etc. Multiple, darting attacks are more likely than a single powerful blow, and the fighter might deliver several potentially lethal blows to ensure that his enemy dies quickly enough to be unable to return the favor.

Most attacks target the arm or hand to disarm, or the neck or vitals to kill. Stylists do stab but often prefer the cut, simply because a slash at arm’s length offers superior reach. Singleknife schools also grapple using the empty hand (often known as the “live hand”). Moves include grabbing the opponent’s weapon and grappling his weapon arm in order to break it or render his weapon harmless, usually after a parry.

As martial arts go, Dagger Fighting comes with few improbable claims. A couple of cinematic skills fit the style, though. Hypnotic Hands suits the complex rhythms of knife work, while Power Blow would let low-damage knives deal powerful blows that could instantly cripple limbs or kill.

Modern knife-fighting schools are remarkably similar to historical ones but tend to replace the emphasis on parrying larger weapons (such as swords) with gun-disarming techniques. It’s difficult to find training in serious knife-fighting in realistic conditions outside of military and covert-ops circles. Moreover, it’s often illegal to carry a weapon-length knife, and using even a legal one can mean trouble with the law! This last matter isn’t a modern phenomenon. Even in historical settings where everyone carried and used knives as tools, ordinary citizens often regarded skilled knife-fighters as desperados or criminals.

In any era, many knife-fighters learn another style as well – either armed or unarmed.

Skills: Knife; Wrestling.

Techniques: Arm Lock (Knife or Wrestling); Armed Grapple (Knife); Back Strike (Knife); Choke Hold (Knife); Feint (Knife); Retain Weapon (Knife); Reverse Grip (Knife); Spinning Strike (Knife).

Cinematic Skills: Hypnotic Hands; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Knife or Wrestling); Fighting While Seated (Knife).

Perks: Off-Hand Weapon Training (Knife); Quick-Swap (Knife).

Advantages: Ambidexterity.

Disadvantages: Reputation (Thug).

Skills: Brawling; Fast-Draw (Knife); Main-Gauche; Thrown Weapon (Knife).

Techniques: Disarming.

Escrima is likely the best-known martial art of the Philippines. Famous as a stick- and knife-fighting style, it includes unarmed techniques as well. The notes below apply not only to Escrima but also to the related styles Kali and Arnis, and to the numerous variations on all three arts.

“Escrima” and “Arnis” are bastardizations of the Spanish terms esgrima (fencing) and arnes (harness, short for “harness of the hand”), but the styles don’t derive from Spanish fencing. The true origin of Escrima is unclear, but some sources date it to at least 1521, when natives armed with sticks and bows fought with Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition and slew Magellan. Local folklore – and the simple nature of the style’s weapons – point to an even longer history.

Escrima training starts with sticks made of fire-hardened rattan, palm, or ebony. Later training adds knives (used in both normal and “ice pick” grips) and – in some schools – machetes. Empty-hand movements are based on stick and knife techniques, and every unarmed motion is amplified when a weapon is in hand. The guro (master) decides when the student is ready to graduate from sticks, to blades, and finally to empty hands. Escrimadors (as Escrima stylists are known) also learn a number of locks and holds, using the stick as a lever to disarm, immobilize, or choke the opponent.

Escrimadors prefer the Defensive Attack and Attack maneuvers to Committed Attack and All-Out Attack. They’ll often attack the enemy several times in rapid succession – the style accepts that a foe rarely falls to a single technique – and skilled fighters will employ Rapid Strikes. Kicks tend to be low-line Defensive Attacks. Movement is “triangular,” with the fighter moving between the points of an imaginary triangle rather than straight forward or back. This is true both on the offensive (attacks tend to be indirect) and on the defensive (the Sideslip retreat option is more common than the Slip or simple retreat).

Escrima is aggressive. It always assumes that the foe is armed, and escrimadors learn to parry an opponent’s weapons and counterattack swiftly. Emphasis is on attacks to the arms, hands, and legs rather than to the body, the goal being to disarm or cripple the foe before he can injure the escrimador – a strategy sometimes called “defanging the snake.” The stylist finishes disarmed or weakened adversaries with attacks to the vitals, neck, and skull, or using a lock or choke. Even the style’s defenses work toward these goals, with Aggressive Parry being typical. Traditional parrying surfaces are the elbows, knees, and shins – not the forearms and legs.

In addition to the above, early escrimadors learned to use bows and shields, throw knives, and render first aid. They often studied tactics for fighting in small groups or against multiple foes. These skills are optional, but a historically accurate escrimador would know them all!

Modern Escrima schools sometimes limit training to stickfighting in light-contact, heavy-padding bouts. Students of such schools wouldn’t learn Karate or Main-Gauche, and should replace Smallsword with Smallsword Sport, making style cost 2 points. This isn’t universal – plenty of schools emphasize real contact, minimal protection, and harsh training. A few also add the balisong and techniques to draw it quickly.

Breakaway schools – famously, Dog Brothers Martial Arts in the U.S. – add ground techniques from Brazilian Jiujitsu, as well as additional locks and holds. Such schools teach attacks off standing grapples. One such tactic is to parry and Slip to close with the opponent, and then grapple him and seek a stick-assisted Choke Hold. Schools like this add Wrestling, Ground Fighting (Wrestling), and Ground Fighting (Smallsword). Style cost becomes 5 points.

Escrima incorporates several subsystems for using two weapons at once, including sinawali (two sticks), espada y daga (sword/stick and knife), and daga y daga (knife and knife). Even in a realistic game, escrimadors may learn an Unusual Training perk that lets them improve Dual-Weapon Attack. Both attacks must be directed at a single foe.

Skills: Karate; Main-Gauche; Smallsword.

Techniques: Aggressive Parry (Karate); Arm Lock (Smallsword); Armed Grapple (Smallsword); Choke Hold (Smallsword); Disarming (Smallsword); Elbow Strike; Feint (Main-Gauche or Smallsword); Knee Strike; Targeted Attack (Main-Gauche Swing/Arm); Targeted Attack (Main-Gauche Swing/Hand); Targeted Attack (Smallsword Swing/Arm); Targeted Attack (Smallsword Swing/Hand).

Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure Points.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Main-Gauche or Smallsword); Dual-Weapon Defense (Smallsword).

Perks: Off-Hand Weapon Training (Main-Gauche or Smallsword); Unusual Training (Dual-Weapon Attack, Both attacks must target the same foe); Weapon Adaptation (Shortsword to Smallsword).

Advantages: Ambidexterity; Combat Reflexes.

Disadvantages: Berserk (see Berserk and the Martial Arts); Bloodlust.

Skills: Bow; Boxing; Fast-Draw (Balisong, Knife, or Sword); First Aid; Judo; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Shield; Staff; Tactics; Thrown Weapon (Knife); Wrestling.

Like “kung fu” and “karate,” “fencing” describes an entire spectrum of martial arts. In GURPS, it refers to any of the many sword styles built around the fencing skills: Rapier, Saber, and Smallsword – and sometimes Main-Gauche. Some historical masters were willing to mix and match weapons, unarmed techniques, and tactics to suit their personal taste. Others dedicated themselves to a single weapon.

Below is a sampling of some major schools of fencing. In each case, there were many minor variations. In a campaign set in an appropriate era, the GM may require a separate Style Familiarity for each master’s teachings!

Italian fencing originated in the 16th and 17th centuries, and revolved around the teachings of such masters as Camillo Agrippa, Ridolfo Capo Ferro, and Girard Thibault. The main weapon was the rapier, with a knife, a cloak, or occasionally a second rapier (the two constituting “a case of rapiers”) held in the off hand. The Italian School emphasized counterattacks in “one time,” meaning a combination defense/riposte instead of a parry-and-counterattack rhythm. This strategy sacrificed some defensive surety for a chance to strike back.

Fighters of this school make extensive use of the Riposte, and follow up this gambit with an Attack or even a Committed Attack, but only rarely with a Defensive Attack. Italian stylists seek to counter the foe quickly, forgoing some defense for a good offense. Defensively, Italian School fencers are more likely to dodge, or to parry with a secondary weapon, than to parry with their main blade while pressing the attack. This aggressive counterattacking can get a fencer in trouble; the Overconfidence disadvantage definitely fits!

Grappling was very much a part of the style. Some schools taught throws in addition to grapples and locks, and even instructed students in catching an incoming blade with the off hand. Such schools would substitute Judo for Wrestling. Cinematic fencers frequently augment this style with Acrobatics and Jumping to gain additional mobility. They often have access to a body of amazing techniques with which to defeat lesser foes, including the legendary flying lunge and mastery of two-weapon fighting. Weapon Master (Rapier and Main-Gauche) is indispensable!

Italian masters often trained students in weapons of war as well. The broadsword, longsword, two-handed sword, and pike were standard military weapons of the age, and more useful than a rapier against armor or when fighting in formation.

Skills: Main-Gauche; Rapier; Shield (Buckler); Wrestling.

Techniques: Bind Weapon (Main-Gauche or Rapier); Counterattack (Rapier); Disarming (Main-Gauche or Rapier); Feint (Main-Gauche or Rapier); Targeted Attack (Main-Gauche Thrust/Vitals); Targeted Attack (Rapier Thrust/Face); Targeted Attack (Rapier Thrust/Neck); Targeted Attack (Rapier Thrust/Vitals).

Cinematic Skills: Flying Leap.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Main-Gauche or Rapier); Dual-Weapon Defense (Main-Gauche or Rapier); Flying Lunge (Rapier); Grand Disarm (Rapier); Hand Catch; Initial Carving (Rapier).

Perks: Off-Hand Weapon Training (Rapier); Technique Adaptation (Counterattack).

Advantages: Ambidexterity; Combat Reflexes; Enhanced Dodge.

Disadvantages: Overconfidence.

Skills: Acrobatics; Broadsword; Cloak; Jumping; Rapier Art; Savoir-Faire; Spear; Two-Handed Sword.

La Verdadera Destreza (“The True Skill”) was the Spanish school of swordsmanship. It was a civilian art. In fact, the Spanish were among the first to recognize that military and civilian swordfighting were distinctly different. It developed as a method of dueling and satisfying the demands of honor – a testament to the Spanish sensitivity to honor.

The stances and techniques of La Verdadera Destreza drew heavily from mathematics and science, and stylists – diestro – studied Classical geometry and natural philosophy in addition to the sword. The ideal diestro remained cool and detached, projecting dignity and grace. He avoided excessive motion and “vulgarity” in form or technique in favor of efficient, geometry-based movements. He learned to watch his opponent and “read” his stance in order to respond at the best moment. The diestro also maintained blade-to-blade contact as much as possible in order to sense his adversary’s intent from his blade. Masters were said to be able to use these methods to fight effectively even in the dark!

La Verdadera Destreza emphasizes reaction to the opponent’s opening. The diestro stands erect, point toward the enemy, awaiting the perfect moment to strike. He attacks only when he achieves desvio: redirection of (or possibly indifference to) his foe’s weapon. Thus, the style’s signature moves are the Evaluate and Wait maneuvers. When the adversary launches an attack that leaves him vulnerable, the diestro parries and then follows up with a Counterattack to a vital location. He eschews the similar but riskier Riposte.

The style also teaches disarms and counters to disarms, and how to fight with either hand – indeed, some stylists learn to fight with two rapiers simultaneously. Unarmed techniques aren’t part of the style. The diestro defeats his foes using his blade, not by wrestling. In a cinematic game, the sensitivity and poise of the diestro suggest several special abilities. The style is also wellsuited to Weapon Master (Rapier). Cinematic stylists won’t be flashy fencers like those in the movies. Instead, they’ll be extremely composed, unflappable, and imperturbable in the face of the enemy.

Skills: Expert Skill (Natural Philosophy); Mathematics/TL2 (Pure); Rapier.

Techniques: Bind Weapon (Rapier); Counterattack (Rapier); Disarming (Rapier); Feint (Rapier); Retain Weapon (Rapier); Targeted Attack (Rapier Thrust/Face); Targeted Attack (Rapier Thrust/Neck); Targeted Attack (Rapier Thrust/Vitals).

Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting; Light Walk; Mental Strength; Precognitive Parry.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Rapier); Dual-Weapon Defense (Rapier); Initial Carving (Rapier). Perks: Chi Resistance (Kiai); Off-Hand Weapon Training (Rapier); Sure-Footed (Uneven).

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Danger Sense; Enhanced Parry (Rapier); Unfazeable; Weapon Master (Rapier).

Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Spanish); Overconfidence.

Skills: Body Language; Cloak; Main-Gauche; Philosophy (Hermetic); Rapier Art or Sport; Savoir-Faire.

Perks: Weapon Bond.

Thanks to gunpowder, the popularity of armor continued its decline in the years after the Italian School appeared. Heavy armor-piercing weapons, in turn, also became less common. The rapiers of the time capitalized on the prevalence of light weapons and armor by becoming shorter and lighter. In France, a fencing style soon emerged to take advantage of this. The heyday of this “Transitional French School” was between 1640 and 1720 – a period known today as the Transitional Era – when fencers widely regarded it as a superior way to use a rapier. Its masters taught that the sword alone was the basis of both offense and defense, and did away with defensive weapons such as the cloak and main-gauche. Its importance faded with the early 18thcentury development of the smallsword and the rise of schools that favored it (see French Smallsword).

A fencer of this style usually starts the fight on the defensive. He favors Evaluate and Wait until he parries and creates an opening, and then opens his own offensive with a Counterattack. Deceptive Attacks are common, typically in the form of a glide along the opponent’s blade. However, the rapierist might also attempt extremely aggressive (and risky!) attacks, such as an All-Out Attack (Long) ending in a crouch – a floor lunge – to attack a distant foe, or a two-step Committed Attack (Determined) to press an adversary who’s giving ground.

Cinematic masters of this style are much like those of the later French Smallsword style. They’re highly mobile, attempting acrobatic techniques, great leaps, and fantastic lunges. High DX, Basic Speed, and Acrobatics are common, and Perfect Balance is extremely useful for running along banisters and landing after chandelier swings!

Historically, this style gave equal weight to elegance of execution and effectiveness of technique, and some masters taught methods that were more artistic than practical. For these, eliminate Rapier but retain Rapier Art. Such salons were a great place to learn both secret techniques (p. 86) and useless techniques (p. 95). Most schools took their training seriously, though, and prepared students for deadly duels.

Skills: Games (Sport Rapier); Rapier; Rapier Art. Techniques: Bind Weapon (Rapier); Close Combat (Rapier); Counterattack (Rapier); Disarming (Rapier); Feint (Rapier); Retain Weapon (Rapier).

Cinematic Skills: Flying Leap.

Cinematic Techniques: Flying Lunge (Rapier); Initial Carving (Rapier).

Secondary Characteristics: Improved Basic Speed.

Advantages: Enhanced Parry (Rapier); Perfect Balance; Status; Wealth.

Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Gentleman’s); Delusion (“My style is inherently superior to all others.”); Overconfidence.

Skills: Acrobatics; Broadsword; Jumping; Main- Gauche; Savoir-Faire; Shield Art (Buckler); Two-Handed Sword Art.

French Smallsword represented the apex of the fencing arms race. As fencers placed increasing emphasis on the riposte, they sought progressively shorter blades to give them greater speed and maneuverability. The result was the smallsword: a short, stiff thrusting blade. The attendant fencing style became a gentleman’s martial art, with the riposte and elegant form as its core values. Proponents claimed that its defensive techniques applied to all combat – not just to smallsword fencing. Such claims resemble those of an “ultimate style”. In a cinematic game, smallsword fencing might indeed hold all of the secrets of combat!

French Smallsword’s signature tactic is the Riposte: a parry and counterattack “in one time.” Disarms are also routine; a stylist might parry his enemy’s blade, whip it from his grasp, and then dispatch his unarmed victim. Some fighters even attempt this as an All-Out Attack (Double) – but should it fail, the would-be predator is likely to end up prey. Smallsword fencers often use All-Out Attack (Long) to lunge at a distant foe, typically stabbing but occasionally making a Tip Slash. Advanced students learn to grapple, but the aim is always to ward off the opponent’s attack and run him through.

Cinematic masters of this style are fluid, elegant, and acrobatic. The Jumping and Acrobatics skills are as common as Enhanced Parry. Swashbucklers might swing from chandeliers, slide down banisters, and disarm half a dozen foes with a single sweep of the blade. They’re blindingly fast and incredibly agile, and able to use their prodigious defensive abilities with any weapon. High DX and Basic Speed are a must!

This style was common from the early 18th century until about 1830. Its main weapon was the smallsword, but masters were still expected to train students in the cavalry saber and sometimes the cutlass. Smallsword fencing was significantly more artistic than the rapier styles it replaced. While it was a functional martial art, many students learned an overly artistic form… yet believed in its utter invincibility. Such students would often know secret techniques or useless techniques.

Skills: Games (Sport Fencing); Smallsword; Smallsword Art.

Techniques: Bind Weapon (Smallsword); Close Combat (Smallsword); Disarming (Smallsword); Feint (Smallsword); Retain Weapon (Smallsword); Targeted Attack (Smallsword Thrust/Vitals).

Cinematic Skills: Flying Leap.

Cinematic Techniques: Flying Lunge (Smallsword); Grand Disarm (Smallsword); Initial Carving (Smallsword).

Perks: Quick-Sheathe (Sword); Quick-Swap (Smallsword).

Advantages: Enhanced Parry (All); Perfect Balance; Status; Wealth.

Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Gentleman’s); Delusion (“My style is inherently superior to all others”); Overconfidence.

Skills: Acrobatics; Broadsword; Broadsword Art; Jumping; Main-Gauche; Main-Gauche Art; Riding (Horse); Savoir-Faire; Shortsword; Shortsword Art; Staff Art; Two-Handed Sword Art; Wrestling.

Sport fencing largely eliminates moves that are dangerous to one’s opponent. The point is to test skill – not to kill one’s adversary – so sport styles favor safety and structure over the rough-and-tumble of combat fencing. For instance, sport fencers rarely swing their weapons; even saber cuts are powered by wrist and fingers, not hip and shoulder, making them faster but reducing the odds of injury. Matches take place on a strip and emphasize linear movement . . . unlike duels of the past, which took place wherever honor demanded. Further distinguishing sport fencing from combat are such rules as “right of way” and “priority,” which determine which hits count and which fencer can attack, and in what manner.

In game terms, sport fencers don’t use the Strong option for All-Out or Committed Attack. The Determined, Feint, and Long versions are quite common, however. The Deceptive Attack and Riposte combat options see extensive use, too.

Cinematic sport fencers aren’t bound by these restrictions. The GM ought to let such PCs learn combat and Combat Sport skills, and give them access to the full range of maneuvers and combat options. Their techniques should work as well in battle as on the strip. Below are several sport-fencing styles. Schläger is less common than the others and uses a bare blade; injury determines the victor.

Épée uses a sporting version of the rapier. Only thrusting attacks can score but the entire body is a valid target. No “right of way” rules apply.

Skills: Games (Epee Fencing); Rapier Sport.

Techniques: Counterattack (Rapier Sport); Feint (Rapier Sport).

Advantages: Enhanced Parry (Rapier).

The foil was developed in the late 19th century as a practice blade. Épée fencers often learn Foil as an introduction to fencing, but it is a full-fledged sport of its own. The only valid target in Foil is the torso. Thrusts only count if you have “right of way,” which lasts from the start of your attack until your opponent successfully parries and ripostes, giving him the right of way.

Skills: Games (Foil Fencing); Smallsword Sport.

Techniques: Counterattack (Smallsword Sport); Feint (Smallsword Sport).

Advantages: Enhanced Parry (Smallsword).

Saber fencing developed from cavalry sword practice. Since cutting attacks are very effective from horseback, Saber includes both cuts and thrusts. Valid targets are the body above the hip line. “Right of way” applies in Saber just as in Foil.

Skills: Games (Saber Fencing); Saber Sport.

Techniques: Counterattack (Saber Sport); Feint (Saber Sport).

Advantages: Enhanced Parry (Saber).

Schläger (or Mensur) is the form of “academic” swordplay used as a test of personal quality by German fraternities since the late 18th century. It still has its adherents. It uses the sharp-edged mensurschläger. Participants don goggles and wrap the head and neck to prevent serious injury. They then trade Defensive Attacks, slashing at the face – the only valid target – until someone is cut deeply enough to bleed. This frequently scars, and some fighters participate expressly to gain a dueling scar as a badge of honor!

Skills: Broadsword Sport; Games (Schläger Fencing).

Techniques: Feint (Broadsword Sport); Targeted Attack (Broadsword Cut/Face).

Advantages: Enhanced Parry (Broadsword).

Disadvantages: Distinctive Features (Dueling scars).

Furusiyya was the combat horsemanship style of the Mamluks, slave soldiers trained from childhood. It evolved out of earlier tactics used widely by Muslim armies. Manuals surviving from the 13th century detail the Mamluk version, but researchers believe that Furusiyya was essentially identical across the Islamic world. The practitioners of Furusiyya – like their contemporaries, the elite knights of Europe – regarded their combat skills as a fine art. Not all Muslim warriors received such extensive training, but their basic skills were similar.

Contrary to longstanding myth, Islamic horsemen wore armor – sometimes more than their Christian opponents. However, the training and tactics of Furusiyya prepared them better for the role of light cavalry. The style depended heavily on the bow and spear held two-handed, although fighters did use the small shield in close quarters. Furusiyya’s weapons also included such exotica as fire siphons, naphtha grenades, and crossbows that launched primitive Molotov cocktails. Like many exotic weapons, such things were probably less effective than bows and spears (or else everyone would have used them!). In a cinematic campaign, though, the GM should let stylists use these devices to good effect.

Those trained in Furusiyya learn a fast-paced, fluid style of combat. They keep their distance from the enemy and engage the foe only on ground of their choosing. Mounted, they alternate between raining down arrows and swooping in using the spear. The bow always precedes the spear against uninjured, prepared opponents. When closing with the spear, stylists use Evaluate to look for an opening. The attack itself is two-handed and overhand – often a Committed Attack (Strong) or an All-Out Attack (Strong).

Furusiyya fighters also use the broadsword, emphasizing the cutting stroke. Some use two swords in a double-blade style. This is only somewhat cinematic. Even in a realistic game, it’s possible to use one blade to Beat and the other to strike a blow as part of a Dual-Weapon Attack.

Cinematic stylists routinely brandish two swords, launch devastating spear thrusts, and make incredible longdistance bow shots from horseback. Legends of Furusiyyatrained warriors emphasize their speed and accuracy, not mythical abilities. Heroic Archer is very appropriate.

The Mamluks of Egypt practiced Furusiyya until the early 19th century; Mamluk cavalry fought Napoleon at the Battle of the Pyramids. Its heyday was during the 13thcentury Crusades. Finding a Furusiyya teacher shouldn’t be difficult for Muslim PCs. Non-Islamic warriors are probably out of luck . . . although some auxiliaries in Crusader armies – the mostly Christian, mostly locally born turcopoles – trained to fight in the same manner.

Skills: Bow; Broadsword; Riding (Horse); Spear. Techniques: Cavalry Training (Broadsword or Spear); Combat Riding; Hands-Free Riding; Horse Archery; Quick Mount; Targeted Attack (Broadsword Swing/Neck); Targeted Attack (Spear Thrust/Vitals). Cinematic Skills: Zen Archery.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Broadsword).

Perks: Off-Hand Weapon Training (Broadsword); Strongbow; Unusual Training (Dual-Weapon Attack, Both attacks must target the same foe).

Optional Traits

Advantages: Enhanced Parry (Any); Heroic Archer. Disadvantages: Disciplines of Faith; Impulsiveness; Overconfidence.

Skills: Animal Handling; Axe/Mace; Brawling; Crossbow; Fast-Draw (Arrow); Liquid Projector (Flamethrower); Shield; Throwing.

Hapkido (“Way of Coordinated Power”) is a Korean martial art developed during the 1950s. Its founder learned Aikijutsu (p. 149) in Japan, and combined it with Judo (p. 166) and Korean striking arts on returning home. One of his students later named the resulting style. Hapkido incorporates strikes, throws, and joint locks, as well as weapons training for advanced students. It uses a colored belt system similar to that of Tae Kwon Do (p. 200). Despite its recent origins, the style has spread rapidly; it isn’t difficult to find a Hapkido school in Korea, Europe, or North America.

Three main principles guide Hapkido methodology. The Circle Principle states that all techniques are round and cyclical, each feeding off the results of the previous one. The River Principle says that the style must conform to the circumstances but unleash power in a sudden torrent, like a river. The Influence Principle holds that the martial artist should use movements that influence his opponent to make responses that he can anticipate and counter. The idea is to make one’s adversary do most of the work that leads to his defeat.

Stylists use locks, throws, and strikes, separately and in combination. They often let the opponent strike first, neutralize his attack, and then counter it. A counter to a high kick might be a Leg Grapple followed by a Sweep or a takedown; a counter to a punch might be a parry followed by an Arm Lock and/or a Judo Throw. The martial artist sometimes follows the victim of a throw to the ground to apply a Choke Hold. It’s also common to mix in kicks and punches; for instance, after an Arm Lock and before a Judo Throw.

Hapkido includes spectacular kicking techniques, too: jumping kicks, kicks thrown from a kneeling posture at a foe behind, and high kicks. Many of these follow a successful Arm Lock, to ensure that the target won’t be able to defend effectively.

Hapkido weapons include the short staff, sword (often a bokken), and jutte. Many masters reserve training in these for higher-ranking students. However, even beginners learn defenses against such weapons.

Hapkido is young, but like many arts it claims a heritage that includes ancient styles. The cinematic skills and techniques below are those that match the legends of these “ancestor” martial arts, as well as the stories surrounding the style’s founder and his most important students. Masters are said to have great control of their minds – and sometimes those of their students, even at great distances . . .

Skills: Judo; Karate; Karate Sport; Savoir-Faire (Dojo). Techniques: Arm Lock; Back Kick; Breakfall; Choke Hold; Head Lock; Jump Kick; Kicking; Leg Grapple; Leg Lock; Spinning Kick; Sweep (Judo or Karate).

Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow; Flying Leap; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Flying Jump Kick; Roll with Blow.

Perks: Back Kick possible from kneeling without posture penalty.

Optional Traits

Advantages: Language (Korean); Telepathy Talent.

Disadvantages: Overconfidence.

Skills: Broadsword; Jitte/Sai; Knife; Staff.

Hoplomachia was the armed combat style of the ancient Greek city-states. Most citizens learned only the spear and shield, but dedicated warriors studied the entire art. The style outlasted the citizen armies, and was common among professional soldiers and mercenaries alike. For an earlier style suitable for “heroic” Greek warriors, see Heroic Spear Fighting (p. 196).

Hoplomachoi (as practitioners were known) lead with their medium shield, often held out at an angle in front of the body or even horizontally, rim pointed toward the enemy. They use shield bashes, Beats (pp. 100-101) with the shield, and shoves to render the foe more vulnerable before bringing the spear into play. Favorite targets for the spear are the less-armored neck and face. Defensively, stylists prefer to block with the shield rather than parry with the spear. Close in, hoplomachoi make aggressive use of the spiked spear butt or resort to a sword – typically a shortsword but occasionally a broadsword. A common tactic is to grapple an adversary in order to drive the sword or butt spike into him.

Practitioners of Hoplomachia often acted as teachers, offering their services to young men seeking training in the style as well as in unarmed combat styles; see Pankration and Ancient Greek Boxing. Greek society was divided on their status: some thought them essential to a city’s military strength while others regarded them as dangerous men of doubtful morals. Indeed, a number of philosophers agued that this kind of training was detrimental to a soldier because it taught him how to defend himself rather than to rely on his comrades in a firm battle line. Whatever the prevailing view, a teacher would not be difficult to find in ancient Greece.

Skills: Shield; Shortsword; Spear; Wrestling.

Techniques: Close Combat (Shortsword); Feint (Shield); Spinning Strike (Spear); Targeted Attack (Spear Thrust/Face); Targeted Attack (Spear Thrust/Neck).

Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Push, used with shield.

Perks: Grip Mastery (Spear); Naval Training, for elite epibatai, or marines, aboard triremes; Teamwork (Hoplomachia).

Optional Traits

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Cultural Familiarity (Ancient Greece); Enhanced Block; Language (Ancient Greek).

Disadvantages: Duty (Polis); Reputation (Dangerous man of doubtful morals); Sense of Duty (Polis).

Skills: Boxing; Brawling; Broadsword; Hobby Skill (Feats of Strength); Running.

Hsing I Chuan (also known as Hsing-yi or Xingyichuan) is one of China’s three main “internal,” or Taoist, styles. Unlike its sister arts Pa Kua Chuan (pp. 187-188) and T’ai Chi Chuan (pp. 200-201), Hsing I Chuan is linear and direct. Modern research traces its origins to a teacher in mid-17th century Shanghai, who developed it from spear techniques. However, legend attributes its invention to General Yue Fei in the Song Dynasty (960-1127), who created it as a style for army officers. Supposedly, masters passed down the art in secret until the mid-1600s, when it became widespread.

Hsing I Chuan is organized around five “fists” (strikes) and 12 animal styles. The fists are named for the five traditional Taoist elements and the type of strike used: water (“drilling”), wood (“penetrating”), earth (“crossing”), metal (“splitting”), and fire (“pounding”). This focus on strikes makes Hsing I Chuan unusual for an “internal” style. The style is linear and depends on very firm stances; Hsing I Chuan fighters are famously hard to budge. The stylist relaxes his body until the last instant, when he tenses to strike, defend, or throw. In training, forms are less common than two-person drills aimed at teaching the proper feel for combat.

Hsing I Chuan is an offensive-minded martial art. Its normal stance is compact, faces the foe, and keeps the hands up to defend the vitals and face. Practitioners seek to attack first. If this is impossible, the stylist attempts to avoid his enemy’s attack and then launch an overwhelming counterattack into his assailant’s motion. The most common methods of doing so are the Counterattack technique and the Riposte option. Typical follow-ups to parries include Exotic Hand Strike (usually aimed at the torso), Sweep, and Arm Lock.

Hsing I Chuan makes more use of the hands than the feet, and kicks are uncommon. The style also favors crippling and killing attacks over throws and merely painful locks. After injuring a foe with a lock, a Hsing I Chuan stylist releases his grip in order to free both hands for defense. Practitioners tend to favor a single, powerful attack over multiple strikes; a straightforward Attack or Committed Attack (Strong) is common, only rarely with the Rapid Strike option.

Hsing I Chuan formerly used many weapons, including the spear, staff, various edged swords, the hook sword, and the halberd. Modern schools often omit weapons training. Advanced students sometimes still learn these traditional weapons, though.

Cinematic Hsing I Chuan masters are said to be unmovable after settling into a stance, capable of defeating foes with a shout, and able to sense danger as it approaches. They often perfect Power Blow in order to deliver body-shattering strikes.

Hsing I Chuan and Pa Kua Chuan share a history. Past masters of these arts befriended one another and exchanged techniques and forms. Students of one style often train in the other, and some forms of each school are amalgamations of both. Hsing I Chuan schools aren’t common, but there are instructors worldwide.

Skills: Judo; Karate.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Counterattack (Karate); Exotic Hand Strike; Sweep (Judo or Karate); Trip.

Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow; Immovable Stance; Kiai; Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets; Sensitivity.

Cinematic Techniques: Lethal Strike; Pressure-Point Strike; Springing Attack; Timed Defense.

Perks: Style Adaptation (Pa Kua Chuan); Technique Adaptation (Counterattack).

Optional Traits

Secondary Characteristics: Improved Per.

Advantages: Danger Sense; Enhanced Parry (Bare Hands).

Disadvantages: Bloodlust.

Skills: Breath Control; Broadsword; Polearm; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Shortsword; Spear; Staff.

Legend has it that one of the Five Masters who survived the burning of the Shaolin Temple in the 17th century passed along his kung fu skills to fellow rebels against the Manchu in the form of Hung Gar. Later, one of the style’s most famous practitioners – Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-Hung – created the tiger-crane variation described below. The actual history is hard to verify. Hung Gar certainly existed in Wong Fei-Hung’s time, as he built upon an existing system rather than inventing his own. It might stretch back as far as the 17th century, but that’s conjecture. Today, Hung Gar is taught worldwide. It isn’t difficult to find a master, but the style has a reputation for extremely strenuous apprenticeships.

There are many forms of Hung Gar, but all include the tiger as the basic animal form. Tiger-crane combines the physical power and courage of the tiger with the committed strikes, deceptive movements, and counterattacks of the crane (see Pak Hok). Hung Gar is a southern Chinese style, and emphasizes firm stances, close-in tactics, low-line kicks, and high-line punches. It teaches fighters to use both hands equally, to fight armed and unarmed, and to keep their balance on slippery planks and rocking boats. Students study deep breathing and remain in deep stances for long periods of time in order to learn to hold firm against a foe. Stylists prefer to use Aggressive Parry to ward off attacks, and then follow immediately with a Counterattack. This counter is very strong and often a Committed Attack or even an All-Out Attack. The style’s teachings consider evasion less important than the ability to withstand attacks and counter them in place.

Hung Gar also has an armed component. Masters sometimes reserve this training for advanced students. Weapon forms include staff, spear, broadsword, paired broadswords, paired butterfly swords, whip, polearm, knife, and double whip.

Hung Gar holds chi development in high regard, as its deep breathing and strong stances suggest. Thus, cinematic masters should be capable of great feats. They should also be strong, fit, and possess remarkable patience and endurance. Exceptional physical abilities – including high ST, HT, and FP – are as likely as chi powers.

Skills: Breath Control; Karate; Philosophy (Buddhism).

Techniques: Aggressive Parry (Karate); Counterattack (Karate); Exotic Hand Strike; Hammer Fist; Jam; Stamp Kick.

Cinematic Skills: Body Control; Immovable Stance; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques: Pressure-Point Strike.

Perks: Iron Body Parts (Any); Naval Training; Off-Hand Weapon Training (Any); Sure-Footed (Slippery).

Optional Traits

Secondary Characteristics: Improved FP and HP.

Advantages: Ambidexterity; Fit or Very Fit; Language (Cantonese); Striking ST.

Disadvantages: Overconfidence.

Skills: Broadsword; Judo; Knife; Polearm; Shortsword; Spear; Staff; Whip.

Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Broadsword, Shortsword, or Whip).

Hwa Rang Do (HRD) is a Korean art with ties to the fighting and healing techniques of the Hwarang (p. 14). It’s said to have originated from um yang kwan (“hard and soft together”), martial skills influenced by 1,500 years of Korean history. The modern style known as Hwa Rang Do was founded in Seoul in 1960, by Dr. Joo Bang Lee. It isn’t simply a fighting style; black sash-ranked students learn healing and philosophy, and study chi and meditation intensively. HRD is most common in the U.S., South Korea, and Europe, but there are schools worldwide.

Hwa Rang Do combines striking and grappling, and mixes these unarmed techniques with weapons training. Strikes are both linear and circular. Grappling includes throws and submission holds, often in conjunction with pressure-point activation.

Hwa Rang Do stylists prefer to open a fight with punches and kicks in an attempt to disable or injure the foe. The spinning kick is one of the style’s signature moves, and is performed jumping, standing, kneeling, and as a leg sweep – most often as a Committed Attack (Determined). After injuring his opponent or successfully parrying an attack, the HRD stylist closes in to grapple, seeking to finish the fight with an Arm Lock, Judo Throw, takedown, or choke. Fighters train to move smoothly into and out of grappling range, using strikes and grapples interchangeably.

Even low-ranked students learn weapons; PCs who study HRD should start buying weapon skills immediately. Standard weapons are the sang-jyel-bong (nunchaku), staff, spear, broadsword, knife, and short staff. Optional weapons training is extensive, and includes the baton and bow. HRD schools also encourage parallel training in Kumdo (Korean Kendo – use the rules for Kendo, p. 175). At advanced levels, weapons training mixes takedowns, sweeps, and strikes. Hwa Rang Do has a large body of legendary abilities. The extensive study of chi and practice of chi-based feats make it especially powerful in a cinematic campaign. Legends attribute body- and mind-control powers, telepathy, and secret pressure-point techniques to masters – and note that training in such matters is part of the curriculum for high-level black sashes even today.

Skills: Judo; Karate; Karate Sport; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Techniques: Arm Lock; Back Kick; Breakfall; Counterattack (Karate); Disarming (Judo); Exotic Hand Strike; Head Lock; Jump Kick; Kicking; Spinning Kick; Sweep (Karate).

Cinematic Skills: Body Control; Breaking Blow; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques: Pressure-Point Strike.

Perks: Chi Resistance (Any); Spinning Kick takes no posture penalty; Unusual Training (Breaking Blow, Only vs. wellbraced objects out of combat).

Optional Traits

Advantages: Fit or Very Fit; Language (Korean); Telepathy Talent.

Disadvantages: Overconfidence.

Skills: Breath Control; Broadsword Art; Esoteric Medicine; First Aid; Flail; Judo Art; Karate Art; Knife; Meditation; Shortsword; Smallsword; Spear; Staff; Two- Handed Sword Art.

In 1967, Bruce Lee (pp. 24-25) founded Jeet Kune Do (JKD) in California. He welcomed all students who could meet his high standards of training. In describing his art, Lee said, “Jeet Kune Do is a process, not a goal; a means but not an end, a constant movement rather than an established static pattern.” In other words, Lee didn’t consider JKD to be a style – although this didn’t prevent fiction, movies, and schools from representing it as one after his death. JKD is taught worldwide today. How it’s taught varies greatly; see The Tao of Jeet Kune Do.

Jeet Kune Do rejects the aesthetic and spiritual considerations of traditional martial arts. Lee believed that those styles were incomplete and restrictive, and placed too much emphasis on set patterns. JKD emphasizes spontaneity; it’s a set of tools for engineering a flexible response to any violent situation. Anything that works is acceptable: grappling, throwing, striking, ear twisting, biting. JKD favors direct attack and instant counterattack over traditional “defend then counter” approaches. It also demands rigorous physical training – a legacy of its founder’s obsession with fitness and the great demands his art makes of its practitioners.

Jeet Kune Do (JKD) is an evolving art. Bruce Lee himself felt that it wasn’t a style at all, but a process. He believed that even naming JKD might have been an error – it made it easier to mistake his process of exploration for a finished result.

While Lee didn’t favor stagnation in the martial arts, he did believe that he had stripped his fighting style down to a core of simple, useful techniques applicable to all humans. Yet he also felt that martial arts were about “honestly expressing yourself,” and that each person would have to learn about him- or herself through the arts – not simply study another’s way. His paradoxical endorsement of both the individual need to explore and learn and the idea that all humans have the same tools to fight with led JKD to develop along two different paths after his death.

Some schools teach a fairly rigid curriculum in an attempt to match Lee’s style as it was at the time of his death. They believe that one should not throw away Lee’s experience, teaching, and knowledge in favor of new developments. Other schools heavily add to and subtract from JKD, and maintain that the true lesson of JKD is that it must continue to grow. Ironically, both types of schools have often added additional techniques and skills to the JKD syllabus, while Lee saw JKD as a process of subtraction – like a sculptor removing what’s unnecessary to depict his subject.

With the GM’s permission, players should be able to add to or subtract from the techniques listed under Jeet Kune Do (p. 165) to represent the curriculum of their school. JKD/Escrima and JKD/grappling-style blends are especially common. Other schools may teach another style but import a few tools or techniques from JKD and use the JKD name. These schools should simply add Style Adaptation (JKD) to their main style; they don’t teach the full version of JKD.

Jeet Kune Do fighters typically put their “power side” (dominant hand) forward. This is the opposite of what most styles counsel, including Boxing. Stress is on the attack, even when on the defensive; the Counterattack technique and the Riposte option (pp. 124-125) are favorite tactics. Deceptive Attacks stacked with feints are also common, as Lee was a great believer in “progressive indirect attacking”: throwing a series of strikes and using each attack to draw an opening for the next. JKD practitioners aim kicks at the legs to bring down the opponent, and hand strikes at the eyes, face, vitals, and groin.

If JKD has a signature attack, it’s the “straight blast.” This starts with a front-hand straight punch with the striker’s full body weight behind it – often a Committed Attack. It’s frequently used to intercept an attacker (see Stop Hits, p. 108). The opening blow is then followed by a series of Rapid Strikes to disrupt and overwhelm the victim.

Lee built JKD from a number of styles. It draws heavily on Wing Chun (pp. 203-204), and also on Boxing (pp. 152- 153), Escrima (pp. 155-156), fencing, other kung fu styles, and Lee’s own extensive experience and experimentation. He added spectacular high kicks for their cinematic impact, but primarily used low kicks in practice. The central philosophy of JKD was reduction – not addition. Lee experimented with many techniques from other arts but only kept a tight core of broadly useful ones. JKD fighters don’t have a wide range of techniques but rather an extensive range of applications for the small set they practice. Recognizing his art’s stripped-down nature, Lee sometimes referred to JKD as “scientific streetfighting.”

While Lee demonstrated his ability with weapons on film, JKD is an unarmed martial art. Nevertheless, some schools offer weapons training – and cinematic Bruce Lee clones should possess numerous weapon skills to better match his movie exploits! Lee also enjoyed tameshiwari, or breaking, but regarded it as an amusing stunt and not a combat skill. JKD is a combat style. No sport version exists, although Lee chose his moves on the set as much for how they looked as for how well they would work in a fight.

Lee had little regard for the special powers that some traditional martial-arts masters claimed. This didn’t prevent admirers from ascribing such abilities to him – a result of his charisma, skill, and fame. The cinematic components below reflect Lee’s exploits in the movies.

Skills: Judo; Karate.

Techniques: Counterattack (Karate); Ear Clap; Elbow Strike; Eye-Poke; Feint (Karate); Head Butt; Kicking; Knee Strike; Stamp Kick.

Cinematic Skills: Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets; Push.

Cinematic Techniques: Flying Jump Kick; Lethal Eye- Poke; Lethal Strike; Pressure-Point Strike. Perks: Biting Mastery; Style Adaptation (All); Technique Adaptation (Counterattack); Technique Adaptation (Feint).

Optional Traits

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Fit or Very Fit.

Disadvantages: Delusion (“Bruce could . . .”); Obsession (Perfect my martial art).

Skills: Brawling; Flail; Running; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Smallsword; Staff; Thrown Weapon (Shuriken); Wrestling. Techniques: Jump Kick.

Perks: Off-Hand Weapon Training (Flail or Smallsword).

Judo is a Japanese combative sport that focuses on grapples and throws. It was one of the first martial arts taught on a large scale in the West. It became popular in Europe in the 1920s and ’30s, and in America after World War II. Today, Judo is an Olympic sport that attracts competitors from around the world.

While Judo evolved from Jujutsu (see below), it’s definitely a sport. It concentrates on throws, not on locks or chokes, and has many modifications aimed at reducing the likelihood and severity of injuries. Judo doesn’t teach counters to punches and kicks, either, and many moves that work well against another judoka(Judo player) on a mat would be dangerous at best in a real fight. Some schools use katato walk through various throws and holds, and competitions often feature artistic displays of kata. Judo training isn’t gentle, though; competitive players use randori – a form of freestyle sparring – to prepare for matches.

Judo was partly responsible for the Western myth that a small-but-skilled martial artist could defeat any foe, no matter how large. In reality, many techniques legal in Judo matches depend as much on strength as on skill. Judo tournaments have weight classes for a reason! If Judo has a body of larger-than-life lore, it’s the exotic techniques, strange abilities, and unlikely victories of weak over strong depicted in Western television and movies – notably in the 1960s – with no explanation other than “I know Judo!” Wildly inaccurate depictions sometimes even included “Judo strikes,” especially chops with the edge of the hand. The cinematic skills and techniques below assume that legends about the style’s founder and the movies’ wildest claims are all true. Cinematic judoka should always buy Judo in addition to Judo Sport.

Early Judo included a full repertoire of punches, kicks, and throws, and both standing and ground-fighting techniques. For this kind of Judo, use Jujutsu. Skills: Games (Judo); Judo Sport; Savoir-Faire (Dojo). Techniques: Arm Lock; Breakfall; Ground Fighting (Judo Sport).

Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting; Immovable Stance; Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure Points.

Cinematic Techniques:Roll with Blow.

Perks: Power Grappling; Technique Mastery (Judo Throw); Technique Mastery (Sacrifice Throw).

Optional Traits

Secondary Characteristics:Improved FP.

Advantages:Fit or Very Fit; Hard to Subdue.

Disadvantages:Delusions.

Skills:Judo; Judo Art.

Techniques: Choke Hold; Feint (Judo Sport).

Jujutsu originally referred to the unarmed fighting arts of Japan – and certain armed ones, too. Today, the term is commonly associated with locks, holds, and throws. Like “karate” and “kung fu,” “jujutsu” is a broad label. It describes a variety of styles: ground-fighting schools that finish foes with chokes, stand-up throwing-and-locking styles, and striking arts indistinguishable from Karate . “Jujutsu” no longer describes strictly Japanese styles, either. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, for instance, originated in South America after an expatriate Japanese instructor introduced Judo and Jujutsu there. Several variants have been developed in the U.S., too.

Below are two representative styles. See Aikijutsu and Aikido for some noteworthy forms of “jujutsu” that differ enough to merit separate treatment.

Jujutsu is the name of a traditional Japanese martial art. It has seen several different transliterations over the centuries, but we favor “jujutsu” here. Many fighting styles – some only loosely connected Jujutsu (see below) – use variant spellings: jujitsu, jiu-jutsu, jiu-jitsu, and others. Whichever spelling one prefers in the Roman alphabet, all of these terms originate from the same kanji, or Chinese characters, in Japanese. Some specific usages:

Jiu-jitsu: Used by the Gracie and Machado families for their Brazilian Jiu-jitsu styles, as well as by many American schools.

Jiu-jutsu: A transliteration found in older sources but uncommon today.

Jujutsu: The most common modern transliteration, used for the traditional art.

The style described below is a purely unarmed art; bushi would study it as part of a larger ryu. Historical Jujutsu forms ranged from arts that focused on grapples and throws to “hard” styles that differed little from karate. This version is a mixed style that uses grappling and striking equally.

Jujutsu is a very direct martial art. The fighter uses strikes to injure and weaken the enemy, followed by locks and throws to disable him or render him helpless. Kicks tend to be low-line. Other strikes target the vitals, neck, groin, and especially the face (a man in armor is usually least-armored there). Stylists train extensively at armored grappling techniques, known as kumi uchi. Locks, pins, and throws are much more effective than unarmed blows against an armorclad adversary!

Cinematic jujutsuka (Jujutsu fighters) use their knowledge of pressure points and vital areas to overcome their foes. They’re forceful and direct, using kiais and lethal attacks to stun and then slay opponents.

Jujutsu styles often vary from the components listed below. Individual schools may add or subtract techniques. Today, Jujutsu usually omits weapons entirely, rarely if ever teaches tactics for use in armor, and emphasizes grappling over striking. Strikes are still a core tactic, but stylists use them more to supplement or set up grapples than as primary attacks. Some modern schools still utilize weapons in training, but mainly to teach how to defend against weapons, not how to use them.

Skills: Judo; Karate.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Back Kick; Disarming (Judo); Elbow Strike; Low Fighting (Judo or Karate); Targeted Attack (Karate Kick/Leg); Targeted Attack (Karate Punch/Face); Targeted Attack (Karate Punch/Neck).

Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Kiai; Mental Strength; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques:Hand-Clap Parry; Lethal Strike; Pressure-Point Strike.

Perks: Armor Familiarity; Power Grappling; Sure-Footed (Uneven). Optional Traits Advantages:Combat Reflexes; Forceful Chi. Disadvantages:Duty. Skills: Broadsword; Knife; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Shortsword; Spear; Staff; Two-Handed Sword. Techniques:Ground Fighting (Judo or Karate).

The Gracie family developed Brazilian Jiu-jitsu (BJJ) during the early 20th century, after Japanese-born judoka and wrestler Maeda Mitsuyo taught them Judo and Jujutsu. Maeda and the Gracies created a style that emphasized ground fighting and technique over brute strength. The Gracies first exhibited their skills as part of a circus wrestling team, taking on fairground challengers. Over the decades, the Gracies stripped away techniques that they deemed inefficient and sharpened their focus on ne waza,or ground techniques.

The Gracies became famous by issuing challenges to all comers, including world-champion boxers (none of whom accepted). They fought no-holds-barred matches called vale tudo(Portuguese for “anything goes”) to demonstrate their skills. In the early 1990s, an American form of vale tudo emerged – the “Ultimate Fighting Championship” – which gave the Gracies a venue in which to fight. They did well, with Royce Gracie capturing the first two titles and grappling-trained fighters dominating the UFC ever since. For more on no-holds-barred fighting, see Tournament Combat(pp. 134-135) and Mixed Martial Arts(p. 189). The Gracies – and their relatives, the Machado family – formed the core of BJJ. They later exported it to the U.S. and beyond. Other instructors have expanded the style, but at its heart it remains the ground fighting-heavy style of the Gracie family.

Brazilian Jiu-jitsu’s philosophy is that most fights end up on the ground, so you might as well go there immediately and control the action once you hit the ground. BJJ stylists wait for an opening, and then “shoot” in and grapple (typically an Attack or Committed Attack). They follow up with a takedown and then an Arm Lock, Choke Hold, or Leg Lock to force a submission. In a life-or-death struggle, a BJJ fighter would use a quick choke or a broken limb or two to disable his assailant. Some BJJ fighters like to set up submissions from the bottom, using the “guard” (lying face-up, with the adversary on top and usually between their legs). Others seek the “mount” (kneeling or crouching on an opponent who’s prone or lying face-up), fighting from the top and passing their rival’s guard. Stylists learn locks, chokes, and defenses for use ineithersituation. A few forms of BJJ add strikes, but it’s more common for BJJ practitioners to cross-train in another style if they desire striking skills. BJJ stylists are famously patient, often pinning a foe and slowly working into position for a fight-winning lock.

Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is a relatively new art without a mystical background. Nevertheless, some cinematic skills fit the more hyperbolic descriptions of its effectiveness!

Skills: Judo; Wrestling.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Breakfall; Choke Hold; Ground Fighting (Judo or Wrestling); Leg Grapple; Leg Lock; Leg Throw; Low Fighting (Judo or Wrestling); Lower-Body Arm Lock; Lower-Body Head Lock; Lower-Body Leg Lock; Scissors Hold; Triangle Choke; Trip.

Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting; Pressure Points.

Cinematic Techniques: Roll with Blow.

Perks: Ground Guard; Power Grappling; Technique Adaptation (Ground Fighting); Technique Adaptation (Low Fighting).

Optional Traits

Secondary Characteristics: Improved FP.

Advantages:Enhanced Dodge; Enhanced Parry (Bare Hands); Fit or Very Fit; Hard to Subdue; Language (Portuguese).

Disadvantages: Bully; Overconfidence; Reputation (Always goes for the takedown after a grapple).

Skills:Brawling; Karate; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Bartitsu was developed by E.W. Barton-Wright in the late 1890s. Barton-Wright based his style heavily on Jujutsu but added moves from Boxing, no-holds-barred Wrestling, Victorian Singlestick, and even fencing for good measure. The art became famous when Sir Arthur Conan Doyle revealed Sherlock Holmes to be a practitioner (and misnamed it “Baritsu”). Barton-Wright turned to public exhibitions to attract students, disgusting and driving off his Japanese partner in the dubious venture. His demonstrations were as much about showmanship and feats of strength as actual fighting methods. He made grandiose claims of Bartitsu’s effectiveness against all opponents in all circumstances.

Some of Bartitsu’s techniques were questionable and likely more dangerous to the user than to his opponent if done vigorously; the GM could add these as useless techniques. Risky Committed and All-Out Attacks were common. Still, the core form was a combative Jujutsu style, and some of the added techniques were valuable to a pragmatic fighter. A stylist who can’t distinguish the dangerous moves from the functional ones would qualify for a Delusion!

The components below assume a functional art. A harshly realistic take would replace all combat skills with Combat Sport skills. In our world, Bartitsu attracted few students, but in a cinematic Victorian setting it might be a thriving style with functional combat abilities and cinematic skills.

Skills: Brawling; Hobby Skill (Feats of Strength); Judo.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Head Butt; Head Lock; Knee Strike.

Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Power Blow; Push.

Perks: Power Grappling.

Optional Traits

Advantages:Fearlessness.

Disadvantages:Delusions; Overconfidence.

Skills: Boxing; Broadsword; Cloak; Lifting; Performance; Running; Smallsword; Stage Combat; Wrestling.

Kajukenbo is a “fusion” martial art, founded in Hawaii in 1947 by a mixed group of martial-arts instructors. They created a street-ready system to use in the bars and streets of the rough neighborhood in which they lived. The first classes didn’t use padded floors or mats. Injuries were very common among early students! By 1950, Kajukenbo had a dozen schools and had spread to the mainland. Today, it’s taught across America and Europe. “Kajukenbo” is an acronym describing its constituent arts: “ka” for (Korean) Karate, “ju” for Judo and Jujutsu, “ken” for Kenpo, and “bo” for Boxing – both Chinese (Chu’an-fa kung fu) and American. Several other systems – including native Hawaiian arts and Escrima – inform the style as well. The founders’ real-world experience in frequent street fights is also clearly visible in Kajukenbo’s teachings.

Kajukenbo is truly a fusion of both techniques and traditions. It uses the high-line kicks of Korean martial arts, the throws and grapples of Judo and Jujutsu, and the hand strikes of Kenpo, Chu’an-fa, and Boxing. Its low-line kicks also come from kung fu. It mixes Japanese and Chinese ranking systems: students progress through kyu and dan ranks, but upper dans wear red belts, not black ones. Teachers are called sifu. Despite its tough nature, it’s sometimes known as a Christian martial art, as its founders stressed the importance of family and faith, and opened practice sessions with prayer. Kajukenbo is above all a streetfighting style. It uses Hammer Fist to prevent hand injury and low-line kicks to the legs and groin to avoid Leg Grapples. Deep stances are common, with the stylist planting his feet to avoid being moved out of position. Fighters practice freestyle follow-ups to finish a fallen adversary, including stomps and kicks to the vitals, head, kidneys, and spine of a foe curled up to ward off blows. They also learn to pile on attack after attack to finish an enemy who tries to flee.

Kajukenbo teaches a full range of attacks but emphasizes aggressive ones. The stylist resorts to All-Out Defense or Defensive Attack only if he can’t find an opening, and once his enemy is injured or stunned, he rains down attacks using Committed Attack and All-Out Attack (often Double or Strong). Throws and locks follow parries, and aim to put the victim in a position for follow-up strikes; for instance, a grappled arm or leg immediately becomes the target of attacks intended to break it. Fighters use Exotic Hand Strike (in the form of clawed fingers) to gouge and rip foes after grabbing them.

Kajukenbo also stresses “clearing” an area – that is, checking for remaining hostiles. This became part of the system after one of the founders defeated a foe in front of him in a barroom brawl . . . and was stabbed in the kidney from behind. Practitioners are taught to sidestep away from a fallen enemy and then step back while turning around, checking in all directions for anyone who might want to backstab them. In game terms, Kajukenbo fighters should turn around and Wait after dispatching an adversary.

Like many modern arts, Kajukenbo has no body of legendary techniques. It does have a lineage of other martial arts with such legends. The cinematic skills below reflect these parent styles. Several offshoot schools exist. Some are “softer” and rely more on parries followed by throws and locks. Others are hard styles. They’re all close enough for the components below to cover them.

Skills:Judo; Karate.

Techniques:Arm Lock; Elbow Strike; Exotic Hand Strike; Hammer Fist; Kicking; Leg Grapple; Stamp Kick; Sweep (Karate).

Cinematic Skills:Immovable Stance; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Lethal Kick; Timed Defense.

Perks: Neck Control (Karate); Special Exercises (DR 1 with Tough Skin).

Optional Traits

Secondary Characteristics: Improved Per.

Advantages:Combat Reflexes; Danger Sense.

Disadvantages:Bloodlust; Sense of Duty (Kajukenbo schools).

Skills:Boxing; Brawling; Carousing; Observation; SavoirFaire (Dojo); Streetwise; Wrestling.

Kalaripayit – sometimes Kalaripayattu(“place of exercise training”) – is a term for the traditional weapon-and-wrestling form of Kerala, India. The art as practiced today dates to the 9th century A.D., but India had similar forms of armed and unarmed combat long before that. Legend has it that the founder of the Kerala state also founded the firstkalari(place) for teaching the fighting arts. It’s more probable that Kalaripayit evolved from the weapon and wrestling practices of the warriors of the local villages. Many sub-styles of Kalaripayit exist. These resemble the style presented here in most respects.

Kalaripayit starts with weapons training and phases in unarmed combat for advanced students. Before the beginner learns anycombat skills, though, he must prepare mentally and physically with meditation, massage, and yoga-like poses intended to build strength and clear the mind. Only then is he taught the staff, muchan (baton), and otta (curved club). After several years, he progresses to advanced weapons: knife, gada (twohanded mace), broadsword, shield, spear, and finally urumi(whip-sword). Before the advent of gunpowder, this list included the bow, too. Once the student masters these skills, he learns striking and grappling.

Advanced fighters go on to study marma: the art of using special strikes to particular vital points to kill enemies. Masters learn a series of mantras capable of affecting the world. When spoken, these words of power enhance the guru’s power, grant the abilities of totemic animals, heal, or smite foes. In a game where magic works, Kalaripayit masters are likely to be wizards who specialize in the Body Control and Healing colleges, and in the shapeshifting spells of the Animal College. Mantras are one of the style’s deep secrets, taught to selected students; revealing them is said to weaken their power. Kalaripayit teachings are closely tied to Hindu beliefs. In a historical campaign, only Hindu PCs are likely to receive training. Legend tells of several women who achieved great reputations as Kalaripayit instructors, so female stylists might well be historically accurate! In recent times, Indian expatriates have started teaching Kalaripayit in such places as the United Kingdom, making it available to anyone who cares to learn, Hindu or not.

Skills: Axe/Mace; Broadsword; Karate; Knife; Meditation; Shield; Shortsword; Spear; Staff; Theology (Hinduism); Two-Handed Axe/Mace; Whip; Wrestling. Techniques: Arm Lock; Elbow Strike; Knee Strike; Low Fighting (Any).

Cinematic Skills: Body Control; Mental Strength; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques: Pressure-Point Strike; Roll with Blow.

Perks: Unusual Training (Pressure Points).

Optional Traits

Advantages:Magery.

Disadvantages:Duty (To instructor); Sense of Duty (India); Vow (Do not reveal the secret of the mantras). Skills: Esoteric Medicine; Physiology; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); spells.

The term “karate” and most of the styles it describes are 20th-century constructs. Regarded as the quintessential Japanese martial art, Karate is Okinawan in origin – Funakoshi Gichin (p. 23) brought it to Japan in the early 20th century. In 1933, Japan recognized karate-doas an official martial-arts ryu(school). Its precursor was an art called Te,or “hand.” Te, in turn, owed much to the Chinese martial arts.

Originally, the kanjicharacters for “karate” were those for “Chinese” and “hand.” In the 1920s, Funakoshi and his fellow senseireplaced the kanji for “Chinese” with that for “empty,” both pronounced “kara.” This changed “karate” from “Chinese hand” to “empty hand,” emphasizing use over origin. These early masters also adapted many Karate terms from Okinawan to Japanese.

Karate – despite its practitioners’ reputation in the popular mind – is a -do form. Its techniques are designed as much for safe sparring and kata as for combat utility. Karate can be effective in a fight, but it’s primarily a sport. There are combat-oriented Karate schools that teach fullcontact martial arts, but few dojos break free of the artistic kata and low-contact sparring which characterize the art.

Below is a small sampling of important Karate styles, both Japanese and Okinawan. This list is far from exhaustive – there are dozens of other styles, and the instructors of many styles have developed further variations. Major styles not discussed here include Chito Ryu, Shito Ryu, Shorin Ryu, Uechi Ryu, and Wado Ryu. The GM can safely use the styles described here as guidelines when expressing these other arts in game terms.

The various forms of Te – sometimes called Di– were Karate’s Okinawan precursors, and included Naha Te, Shuri Te, and Tomari Te.Developed while weapons were banned, Te was strictly an unarmed art; for Okinawan weapons training, see Kobujutsu(p. 178). Te was brutal and combat-oriented. It was taught informally, had neither a ranking system nor a uniform, and made few distinctions between styles. The master taught techniques and kata at his discretion rather than in a set order.

Te stresses deflecting an incoming attack and then launching a strong counterattack. The goal is to finish the fight with a single blow – either a killing punch or kick, or an incapacitating pressure-point strike. Stylists use Aggressive Parry to ward off an enemy’s attack, and then follow up with a disabling or lethal attack. Committed Attack (Strong) is common, and blows often target the vitals, neck, or skull.

Many Te masters went on to found Karate schools, but almost none passed on pure Te. Today, training in Te is nearly impossible to find – the GM could reasonably require a modern PC to have an Unusual Background if he wishes to know Te. This rarity makes Te an excellent “ultimate style”.

Skills: Judo; Karate.

Techniques: Aggressive Parry; Back Kick; Counterattack (Karate); Elbow Strike; Exotic Hand Strike; Hammer Fist; Kicking; Knee Strike; Leg Grapple; Sweep (Karate); Targeted Attack (Karate Exotic Hand Strike/Vitals); Targeted Attack (Karate Kick/Vitals); Targeted Attack (Karate Punch/Neck).

Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow; Immovable Stance; Kiai; Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Karate); Lethal Kick; Lethal Strike; Pressure-Point Strike; Targeted Attack (Lethal Kick/Vitals); Targeted Attack (Lethal Strike/Vitals).

Perks: Iron Body Parts (Any); Special Exercises (Striking ST +1); Unusual Training (Breaking Blow, Only vs. wellbraced objects out of combat).

Optional Traits

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; High Pain Threshold; Languages (Japanese, Okinawan).

Disadvantages: Reduced Appearance; Unnatural Features (Gnarled knuckles from iron-hand training).

Skills:Any weapon skill under Kobujutsu(p. 178); Parry Missile Weapons; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Shotokan Ryu is the Karate school founded by Funakoshi Gichin (p. 23). It’s named for the pseudonym he used when writing poetry: Shoto (“Pine Wave”). Funakoshi led the relocation of Karate to Japan, and today his school is one of the world’s largest Karate organizations. Many Karate schools worldwide teach either Shotokan or a style based on it.

In Shotokan as in most traditional Karate styles, the karateka learns to defend and then counterattack, and launches each technique with the intention of disabling his adversary in a single blow. At the start of the fight, he uses Evaluate to size up his foe or All-Out Defense to ensure a successful defense. After stopping the initial attack, he hits back with a strong blow, typically a punch or a kick aimed at the head, neck, or torso. Attacks to the limbs are less frequent. Shotokan uses a lot of feints, and an alternating series of Feints and Attacks – plus the rare All-Out Attack (Feint) – is a common rhythm, with the fighter stringing together techniques until his opponent fails to defend.

Shotokan stresses kata and preset pattern drills. Freestyle sparring is uncommon. In competition, scoring is for techniques stopped just short of contact, and there are limits on the number of consecutive attacks that contenders can launch. However, the style retains much of its Te core. Students drill hard in its techniques, practicing them againstmakiwara(p. 233) and using them in tameshiwari (breaking). Thus, the art remains valid for self-defense.

Funakoshi didn’t believe in chi powers and often debunked or refuted wilder claims about the martial arts. Nevertheless, after his death, some adherents attributed amazing capabilities to him. Cinematic Shotokan stylists might possess several chi abilities and be able to pull off such showy tricks as using tameshiwari against active, resisting foes.

Funakoshi placed great emphasis on the peaceful nature of karate-do.Even when he recounted using Karate in circumstances that most would deem justified self-defense, he felt that he had overreacted and used too much force. Karateka who emulate Funakoshi and adhere to his teachings might have Pacifism (Self-Defense Only).

Skills: Karate; Karate Art; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Techniques: Back Kick; Elbow Strike; Exotic Hand Strike; Feint (Karate); Hammer Fist; Jump Kick; Kicking; Knee Strike; Spinning Kick; Stamp Kick.

Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow; Immovable Stance; Kiai; Mental Strength; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques: Lethal Kick; Lethal Strike; Pressure-Point Strike.

Perks: Clinch (Karate); Technique Adaptation (Feint); Unusual Training (Breaking Blow, Only vs. well-braced objects out of combat).

Optional Traits

Advantages:Language (Japanese); Reputation (Student of Funakoshi, from all karateka).

Disadvantages:Pacifism (Self-Defense Only).

Skills:Any weapon skill under Kobujutsu(p. 178); Games (Karate); Judo Sport; Karate Sport; Parry Missile Weapons.

Chojun Miyagi founded Goju Ryu in the 1920s after studying under Higaonna Kanryu, a noted master of Naha Te and Chinese kung fu. Miyagi further pursued both Te and kung fu, and developed his own Karate style. He formally named it “goju,” or “hard and soft,” in 1927.

Goju Ryu’s philosophical base is strongly linked to Chinese Taoism. Some of its kata originated with kung fu forms. The style heavily emphasizes deep-breathing techniques, slow kata done with surface muscle contraction, and strong stances.

Goju Ryu stylists usually fight from a strong, defensive stance. They avoid meeting force with force; instead, they attempt to avoid the enemy’s attack and retaliate with a strong counter. Despite this, Goju Ryu’s strong stances and training at absorbing blows without shifting from a stance make it an effective linear style. Many of its parries are meant to injure the attacker as much as defend. Like all Karate styles, Goju Ryu seeks to defeat the enemy with a single, decisive blow. Fighters make extensive use of the Wait and All-Out Defense maneuvers, and then strike back with an Attack or Committed Attack (Strong) aimed at a vital location.

Today, Goju Ryu is widespread. However, many modern dojos – especially in the U.S. and Europe – have largely discarded its internal teachings and concentrate solely on its hard, external training. Schools often teach a variety of Okinawan weapons in addition to unarmed fighting.

Skills:Breath Control; Karate; Karate Art; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Techniques:Aggressive Parry; Back Kick; Elbow Strike; Exotic Hand Strike; Hammer Fist; Kicking; Knee Strike; Spinning Kick; Targeted Attack (Karate Exotic Hand Strike/Vitals); Targeted Attack (Karate Kick/Vitals).

Cinematic Skills: Body Control; Breaking Blow; Immovable Stance; Kiai; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Karate); Lethal Kick; Lethal Strike; Targeted Attack (Lethal Kick/Vitals); Targeted Attack (Lethal Strike/Vitals).

Perks:Clinch (Karate); Iron Hands; Special Exercises (DR 1 with Tough Skin); Unusual Training (Breaking Blow, Only vs. well-braced objects out of combat).

Optional Traits

Advantages:Language (Japanese); High Pain Threshold.

Disadvantages:Disciplines of Faith.

Skills: Any weapon skill under Kobujutsu(p. 178); Games (Karate); Parry Missile Weapons.

Shimabuku Tatsuo, an expert in Shorin Ryu and Goju Ryu, founded Isshinryu (meaning “one heart, one mind”) in 1954. A student of Chojun Miyagi, Shimabuku broke from his parent styles and formed his own after his teacher’s death. Many of the differences had to do with his personal philosophy, which he expected his students to learn and follow.

Isshinryu diverges from most other Karate styles in action as well. The most visible distinction is that while karatekagenerally corkscrew their fist into the horizontal when punching, Isshinryu fighters keep their knuckles vertical. They throw shorter strikes, too, “snapping” out punches and then retracting them quickly. Other differences include less stress on high-line kicks in favor of kicks that aren’t as vulnerable to a Leg Grapple, and a preference for multiple, quick strikes over a single, disabling blow. Isshinryu karateka fight in close, and favor punches and short-range kicks over showier, longer-ranged attacks. They often use Combinations, Rapid Strikes, and Dual-Weapon Attacks. When kicking, they prefer targets below the waist. All of these strikes are more likely to be Defensive Attacks or Attacks than Committed Attacks or All-Out Attacks. Stylists usually use punches to fight their way out of a standing grapple.

There are Isshinryu schools the world over. Finding an Isshinryu dojo in the U.S. isn’t difficult.

Skills: Karate; Karate Art; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Techniques: Aggressive Parry; Back Kick; Elbow Strike; Exotic Hand Strike; Feint (Karate); Hammer Fist; Kicking; Knee Strike; Spinning Kick.

Cinematic Skills: Kiai; Mental Strength; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Karate); Pressure-Point Strike.

Perks: Clinch (Karate); Rapid Retraction (Punches); Unusual Training (Breaking Blow, Only vs. well-braced objects out of combat).

Optional Traits

Secondary Characteristics:Improved Per.

Advantages: Language (Japanese); Peripheral Vision.

Disadvantages:Overconfidence.

Skills:Any weapon skill under Kobujutsu(p. 178); Games (Karate); Judo. Techniques: Leg Grapple.

Mas Oyama (p. 24), a student of Funakoshi Gichin (p. 23), founded Kyokushin in the late 1950s. He greatly emphasized physical toughness and his satsu: one shot, one kill. His style reflects this, and teaches a traditional “block hard, then counter” approach. Students learn to parry an incoming attack firmly and retaliate with a single strike capable of incapacitating the opponent. Alongside power they learn control. In training, they attack just short of their partner to avoid injury.

Kyokushin stylists often use Committed Attack to follow up a successful parry. They target the head, neck, groin, and other vital areas to end the fight in a single blow. Punches to the skull typically use Hammer Fist. Fighters rarely retreat to avoid attacks. Rather than give ground, they punish their opponent with an Aggressive Parry and then follow it with a finishing technique – often an All-Out or Committed Attack (Strong).

Kyokushin tournaments don’t allow punches to the head (kicks are allowed), so athletes who practice this style sometimes leave their face poorly protected or don’t bother to strike the head. Another weakness is minimal grappling training. The usual response to a grapple is to seize the assailant – using plain DX or the Clinch perk – and batter him into letting go.

Training in Kyokushin emphasizes tameshiwari (breaking), full-force attacks, and “toughening” exercises that involve breaking objects overthe student. Even in a realistic game, students can purchase Style Perks that increase their ability to dish out and take damage. In a cinematic campaign, advanced fighters have access to the fantastic abilities attributed to Mas Oyama. They’ll stand their ground in the face of any adversary (human or otherwise!) and smash down foes using a single strike – or merely shock them into submission with a well-timed kiai! Those interested in playing a PC like this need look no further than Mas Oyama’s own life for roleplaying tips.

Stickfighting is one of the most ancient forms of combat – only slightly more recent than unarmed grappling and striking. A primitive ancestor of man armed with a thighbone and an Escrima guro doing sinawali with rattan sticks are both stickfighters; Escrima is but one of hundreds of stickfighting styles known to the world throughout history. Adventurers will encounter stickfighting across Africa, Asia, Europe (Ireland, Portugal, Russia . . .), and the Americas, from prehistoric times to the present day.

Sub-Saharan Africa has a rich stickfighting tradition. Some styles use a stick grasped in the middle as a parrying stick and another stick gripped at the end to strike. Such styles sometimes use a weapon much closer to a knobbed club (p. 219) for striking – add Axe/Mace for the primary stick, making style cost 3 points, and use Smallsword for the off-hand parrying stick. (Irish shillelagh fighting uses similar tactics: attacks are with a knobbed club, parries are with a shorter stick in the off hand.)

Skills: Smallsword.

Techniques: As Escrima (pp. 155-156), but remove all Karate and Main-Gauche techniques. For styles with Axe/Mace, any technique listed for Smallsword is also available for Axe/Mace.

Advantages: Ambidexterity. Skills: Brawling.

French cane fighting emerged during the Napoleonic period, when wearing swords was banned within Paris’ city limits. Parisians switched to canes and wielded them with sword techniques. Some schools used a crook-topped cane as long as 5 1/2 feet; these schools would replace Smallsword with Staff and add the Hook (Staff) and Sweep (Staff) techniques. This style was often taught in conjunction with Savate (pp. 193-194).

Modern French cane-fighting schools teach doublecane techniques, as well as Knife (for the bowie knife and straight razor), Shortsword (for the cutlass), Staff, and Whip. Some add firearms training, too.

The style used with the German dusack (p. 215) would be similar; simply replace Smallsword with Shortsword. Martial artists who prefer long, narrow canes would replace Smallsword with Rapier. In both cases, adjust the techniques to match the master skill.

Skills: Smallsword.

Techniques: Disarming (Smallsword); Feint (Smallsword).

Advantages: Ambidexterity.

Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Smallsword).

The sport of singlestick originated in 18th- and 19thcentury Britain and America. Based on saber and broadsword practice, participants would carry a single stick, with the other hand either held or tied behind the back. American president Teddy Roosevelt was an enthusiastic singlestick player. Singlestick also influenced the Sikh sport of gatka, or sword-dancing. Gatka practitioners should add the Dancing and Stage Combat skills, making style cost 4 points.

Skills: Broadsword Sport.

Techniques: Feint (Broadsword Sport).

Skills: Games (Singlestick).

Kyokushin attracted many students at its inception and is still widely taught today. Its full-contact sparring and tournaments, emphasis on tameshiwaricompetitions, and strenuous belt tests are well-known in martial-arts circles. These things have made the style famous for producing tough, contesthardened martial artists. Kyokushin schools are found worldwide.

Skills: Karate; Karate Sport; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Techniques: Aggressive Parry; Axe Kick; Back Kick; Elbow Strike; Exotic Hand Strike; Hammer Fist; Head Butt; Jump Kick; Kicking; Knee Strike; Spinning Kick; Stamp Kick.

Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow; Immovable Stance; Kiai; Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques: Lethal Kick; Lethal Strike; PressurePoint Strike. Perks: Clinch (Karate); Iron Hands; Special Exercises (DR 1 with Tough Skin); Special Exercises (Striking ST +1); Unusual Training (Breaking Blow, Only vs. well-braced objects out of combat).

Optional Traits

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; High Pain Threshold; Language (Japanese); Reputation (Kyokushin student, from all karateka).

Disadvantages: Overconfidence; Reputation (Throws punches to the body, kicks to the head).

Skills:Breath Control; Hobby Skill (Feats of Strength); Judo; Parry Missile Weapons.

Kempo, sometimes spelled Kenpo, is a Japanese striking art with origins in China. In popular usage, “kempo” – like “karate” and “kung fu” – is occasionally a generic term for all Chinese and Japanese striking arts. Here it refers specifically to Shorinjikempo: the Shaolin Kung Fu-based style founded in 1947 by Doshin So.

Shorinjikempo teaches hard-style strikes similar to those of modern Karate (pp. 169-172) combined with soft-style grapples and throws akin to those of Aikijutsu (p. 149). It puts artistic kata on an equal footing with combat techniques and expects students to learn its underlying philosophy alongside its fighting methods. Doshin So founded Shorinjikempo to teach both martial arts and Buddhist philosophy, which he felt was lacking in postwar Japan. The goal of its training is to make the student a peaceful, better person in harmony with Buddhist principles.

Unlike karateka,who usually twist their fist into the horizontal plane when punching, Kempo stylists throw vertical punches. Kempo shares Karate’s practice of aiming strikes at vital locations, however – indeed, cinematic masters often raise their Pressure Points skill to extraordinary levels. Kempo fighters train to parry their attacker and then counter with a punch, kick, or throw. A common follow-up to a grapple or a Judo parry is an Arm Lock, with the usual goal being not to injure the victim but to cause him pain and then exploit his shock by attempting an immediate throw or takedown.

Practitioners integrate all of these responses seamlessly, flowing back and forth between striking and grappling as they counter their opponent’s actions.

Shorinjikempo includes weapons training for very advanced students – although few actually receive it. Weapons include the staff, baton, and yawara(p. 226). Until recently, Kempo’s official symbol was the omote manji:a counterclockwise swastika traditionally used in Buddhism to denote the location of temples. Decades of difficulty in persuading outsiders that this swastika was in no way connected to Nazism eventually took its toll, however. In 2005, Kempo changed its symbol to a pair of interlinked circles set in a four-pointed badge. Kempo schools vary greatly in their teachings. Some proffer kung fu variants modified to incorporate elements of Jujutsu (pp. 166-168) and Karate. Others teach Karate or kung fu forms that are only nominally Kempo. There are even Christianschools that offer a style very similar to Shorinjikempo but with Christian prayers replacing Buddhist rituals.

Skills: Breath Control; Judo; Karate; Karate Art; Philosophy (Buddhism); Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Techniques: Arm Lock; Back Kick; Breakfall; Elbow Strike; Kicking; Knee Strike; Spinning Kick.

Cinematic Skills: Body Control; Immovable Stance; Mental Strength; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets. Cinematic Techniques: Pressure-Point Strike.

Perks: Special Setup (Karate Parry > Judo Throw).

Optional Traits

Advantages:Language (Japanese).

Disadvantages:Disciplines of Faith; Pacifism (SelfDefense Only). Skills:Judo Art; Shortsword; Staff.

Kenjutsu is the art of the Japanese longsword, or katana. The katana held a privileged place for the samurai class – it was said to house its owner’s soul. Its manufacture was a mystical ritual that combined metallurgical skill with a strong sense of aesthetics. It and the fighting methods used with it have become legendary.

Samurai most often wielded the katana in two hands, and the style described here favors two-handed methods. The blade was balanced well enough for one-handed use, though, and there were schools that weighted one- and twohanded use more evenly. These would feature more Broadsword techniques.

Kenjutsu places much emphasis on the cut. Fighters learn to thrust but usually use their sword for deep slashes. Likewise, while Kenjutsu teaches a full range of parries, it isn’t a defensive art. Stylists commonly make Committed and All-Out Attacks. The classic Kenjutsu tactic is to dash the opponent’s blade out of line with a Beat (pp. 100-101) and then finish him with a cut. Ultimately, Kenjutsu is a highly aggressive style.

Kenjutsu training uses the bokken(wooden sword). This is safer than a bare blade, but severe injuries can – and did – occur during practice. Musashi Miyamoto (pp. 21-22) felt that the bokken was deadlier than the katana, and used it or improvised substitutes to fight lethal duels. When it comes to legends about weapons and their wielders’ abilities, the katana and Kenjutsu have few rivals. In a cinematic game, nearly any skill or technique that could conceivably work with a sword should be available to one ryu or another. A few schools reputedly taught how to throw either the katana or the wakizashi (shortsword) as a secret tactic of last resort!

Secret methods needn’t be cinematic, however. Historically, Kenjutsu was only part of a particular ryu (see Ryu,p. 12). Warriors normally studied the katana alongside the other weapons in the samurai arsenal. Kenjutsu ryuha were unusually numerous, though – there were more than 700 during the Tokugawa era! The differences between them were typically minute and only distinguishable by advanced practitioners, but many schools were rivals that keenly guarded secret techniques from one another. Thus, a realistic ryu would probably teach only a subset of the techniques from the extremely complete list below – stressing some moves over others – while possibly adding optional (“secret”) components.

Today, Kenjutsu schools are extremely rare. Would-be students must typically seek out instruction in Japan. Kendo (p. 175) is far more common. Korean swordsmen use a weapon very similar to the katana, called the jang gum. Korean sword arts are nearly identical to Kenjutsu in game terms, and should use the components listed below. They’re less likely to offer Fast Draw or techniques for two-sword fighting, though, and practitioners make jumping attacks (treat as Committed or All-Out Attacks) more often.

Skills: Broadsword; Two-Handed Sword.

Techniques: Back Strike (Two-Handed Sword); Counterattack (Two-Handed Sword); Feint (Broadsword or Two-Handed Sword); Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Sword Swing/Arm); Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Sword Swing/Neck); Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Sword Swing/Skull); Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Sword Thrust/Neck); Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Sword Thrust/Vitals).

Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting; Flying Leap; Immovable Stance; Kiai; Mental Strength; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Defense (TwoHanded Sword); Timed Defense (Two-Handed Sword); Whirlwind Attack (Two-Handed Sword).

Perks:Grip Mastery (Katana).

Optional Traits

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Language (Japanese); Weapon Master (Katana).

Disadvantages:Code of Honor (Bushido); Duty.

Skills: Armoury; Breath Control; Broadsword Art; Fast Draw (Sword or Two-Handed Sword); Meditation; Philosophy (Zen Buddhism); Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Shortsword; Thrown Weapon (Sword); Two-Handed Sword Art.

Techniques:Counterattack (Broadsword); Low Fighting (Broadsword or Two-Handed Sword); Reverse Grip (TwoHanded Sword).

Perks: Weapon Bond.

Iaijutsu is the Japanese art of drawing a weapon and striking or parrying with it in a single motion. It rose to prominence during a period when samurai were routinely armed but not typically in combat. (In battle, they’d ready their weapons before engaging the enemy!) It fell into disfavor after “crossroad cuttings” – practicing Iaijutsu skills on convenient passersby – became common.

Swordsmen often studied Iaijutsu alongside Kenjutsu (above) or Nito Ryu (below). Iaijutsuka (Iaijutsu stylists) focus on two sets of tactics. Defensively, they practice drawing the sword to fend off blows – especially surprise attacks. Offensively, they learn to draw and strike before their victim can react.

The iaijutsuka doesn’t necessarily expect to win the fight with his initial strike. He remains poised to deliver second and later attacks should his foe survive the first one. After dispatching his enemy, he composes himself while remaining wary; treat this as a Wait maneuver. Once it’s clear that no further threat remains, the iaijutsuka cleans his blade before sheathing it. The motion used to clean blood from the blade is called chiburi. This automatically follows many Iaijutsu moves, whether or not the iaijutsuka plans to sheathe his weapon. It can consist of a broad, swinging motion, a wrist snap, or spinning the sword. Flicking the blood of a fallen enemy from the blade used to cut him down can impress onlookers and surviving foes – roll a free Intimidation attempt! In cinematic and fantasy games, chiburi is also useful for removing corrosive monster blood, incriminating poison, etc.

Skills: Broadsword; Broadsword Art; Fast-Draw (Sword); Two-Handed Sword.

Techniques: Back Strike (Broadsword or Two-Handed Sword); Low Fighting (Broadsword or Two-Handed Sword); Targeted Attack (Broadsword or Two-Handed Sword Swing/Arm); Targeted Attack (Broadsword or TwoHanded Sword Swing/Neck); Targeted Attack (Broadsword or Two-Handed Sword Swing/Skull); Targeted Attack (Broadsword or Two-Handed Sword Thrust/Neck); Targeted Attack (Broadsword or Two-Handed Sword Thrust/Vitals).

Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength; Precognitive Parry.

Cinematic Techniques: Springing Attack (Broadsword or Two-Handed Sword); Timed Defense (Broadsword or TwoHanded Sword).

Perks:Grip Mastery (Katana); Quick-Sheathe (Sword); Shtick (Chiburi).

Secondary Characteristics:Improved Basic Speed and Per.

Advantages:Combat Reflexes; Danger Sense; Language (Japanese).

Disadvantages: Reputation (For crossroad cutting).

Skills: Meditation; Observation; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Shortsword; Shortsword Art.

Perks: Weapon Bond.

Nito Ryu (“two swords school”) is a term used forHyoho Niten Ichi Ryu, the Kenjutsu style founded by Musashi Miyamoto (pp. 21-22) in 17th-century Japan. Musashi felt that holding a sword in two hands restricted the wielder’s movements, limited his defensive and offensive options, and was impossible on horseback or when carrying a second weapon (such as a spear or bow) for battle. He developed a style that used the katana in one hand, freeing the other to use the wakizashi (shortsword) simultaneously or to hold another weapon. Although heavily identified with the sword, Musashi also learned to use the jitte (p. 217) from his family’s martial-arts training, and modern schools teach this to advanced students.

Nito Ryu can be very aggressive, attacking with both blades at once or using them alternately to rain down blows. Stylists wield their weapons forcefully, using Committed Attack or even All-Out Attack (Double) to overwhelm their foe. When armed with two swords, they favor Dual-Weapon Attack – often using one blade to feint (or to Beat; see pp. 100-101) and the other to attack. Nito Ryu makes regular use of both weapons to fend off single-weapon attacks (see Cross Parry, p. 121), followed by a Counterattack. Overall, it eschews defensive tactics in favor of overpowering the foe. Musashi was known for his aggressiveness and his disdain for many of the trappings of the samurai. His impressive success record in mortal duels also gave him a reputation for bloodthirstiness. Nito Ryu stylists may choose to duplicate their style founder’s less-praiseworthy traits as well as his skills.

Skills: Broadsword; Shortsword.

Techniques: Counterattack (Broadsword or Shortsword); Feint (Broadsword or Shortsword); Targeted Attack (Broadsword or Shortsword Swing/Arm); Targeted Attack (Broadsword or Shortsword Swing/Neck); Targeted Attack (Broadsword or Shortsword Swing/Skull); Targeted Attack (Broadsword or Shortsword Thrust/Neck); Targeted Attack (Broadsword or Shortsword Thrust/Vitals).

Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Broadsword or Shortsword); Dual-Weapon Defense (Broadsword or Shortsword); Timed Defense (Broadsword or Shortsword); Whirlwind Attack (Broadsword or Shortsword).

Perks: Off-Hand Weapon Training (Shortsword); Unusual Training (Dual-Weapon Attack, Both attacks must target the same foe).

Advantages:Ambidexterity; Combat Reflexes; Language (Japanese).

Disadvantages:Bloodlust; Obsession (Perfect sword skills); Odious Personal Habit (Bad manners); Reputation (User of unconventional strategies).

Skills:Breath Control; Broadsword Art; Fast-Draw (Sword); Jitte/Sai; Meditation; Philosophy (Zen Buddhism); Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Staff; Tactics; Two-Handed Sword.

Samurai disappointed with kata-only practice developed Kendo as a form of contact training less risky than sparring with bokken. Their efforts yielded specialized light armor, the shinai(split-bamboo sword), and rules intended to prevent injury while allowing contact.

Kendo is a sport, not a combat form. Limited targets, light weapons, and strong protection contribute to the participants’ safety. Players may strike the protected face, neck, torso, and hands. In order to score, they must declare their target as they attack. They’re allowed to shove, but only sword blows score. Many Kendo moves would get you killed in a real swordfight.

One Kendo variant – based onNito Ryu(pp. 174-175) – uses twoswords. Replace Two-Handed Sword Sport with Broadsword Sport and Shortsword Sport; change the techniques to match; add Dual-Weapon Attack (Broadsword Sport or Shortsword Sport) to cinematic techniques; and include Off-Hand Weapon Training (Shortsword Sport) and Unusual Training (Dual-Weapon Attack, Both attacks must target the same foe) as Style Perks. Style cost becomes 5 points. Players use Dual-Weapon Attack to feint and attack, since only one attack counts for scoring purposes. Striking twice can invalidate both scores!

Kendo was briefly banned during the Allied Occupation of Japan, but was restored in 1947. Since the 1960s, it has become an international sport. Today, it’s widely popular in Japan, where it’s a common sport in school. Korea’s Kumdo is identical, but uses Korean etiquette and nomenclature.

Skills: Games (Kendo); Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Two-Handed Sword Sport.

Techniques: Feint (Two-Handed Sword Sport); Targeted Attack (TwoHanded Sword Sport Swing/Arm); Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Sword Sport Swing/Skull); Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Sword Sport Thrust/Neck). Cinematic Skills: Kiai; Immovable Stance; Mental Strength; Power Blow. Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Defense (Two-Handed Sword Sport); Whirlwind Attack (Two-Handed Sword Sport).

Advantages:Enhanced Parry (Two-Handed Sword). Disadvantages:Delusions. Skills: Breath Control; Meditation; Philosophy (Zen Buddhism); Shortsword Art; Two-Handed Sword Art.

Iaido is the -doform of Iaijutsu (p. 174). Like Kendo, it started life as a way to cope with the loss of combat conditions under which to practice. Unlike Kendo, it focuses on kataand drill, not free sparring. Stylists often use an unsharpened sword.

Skills: Broadsword Art; Fast-Draw (Sword); Savoir-Faire (Dojo); TwoHanded Sword Art. Techniques: Low Fighting (Broadsword Art or Two-Handed Sword Art).

Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength.

Cinematic Techniques: Springing Attack (Broadsword Art or Two-Handed Sword Art).

Perks: Grip Mastery (Katana); Quick-Sheathe (Sword); Shtick (Chiburi).

Secondary Characteristics: Improved Basic Speed and Per.

Advantages:Combat Reflexes.

Disadvantages:Delusions.

Skills:Meditation; Shortsword Art.

Medieval European knights studied the martial arts intensively. From an early age, they practiced mounted and foot combat, alone and in groups. Their fighting styles evolved over time to keep up with increasingly heavy armor and larger mounts, and the weapons that accompanied those developments.

Following the demise of the Roman Empire, mounted warriors gradually came to dominate European warfare. These early knights were armed with the spear and the broadsword (which was both a status symbol and their main weapon). Stirrups were common, but the saddles of the time didn’t provide sufficient support for true “couched lance” techniques. Protection consisted of mail armor and a medium or large shield.

These early knights used the spear overhand – or, occasionally, couched under the right arm – to attack their enemies’ vulnerable face, neck, and vitals. When wielding the broadsword, they generally dealt overhand slashing blows, although thrusting attacks weren’t unknown. When using either weapon, they preferred to block with the shield rather than parry. Close in, they employed wrestling moves – both to prevent the enemy from using his weapons and to disable attackers when they were themselves disarmed.

Legends of knightly combat often mention fierce battle cries that terrified lesser foes – a Western version of Kiai. Legends also tell of knights cleaving foes in half, killing horses with a single blow, and other feats worthy of Power Blow.

This style is appropriate for knights during the years 600-1100. In later periods, it could represent the training of light cavalry from “backwater” or “tribal” provinces.

Skills: Broadsword; Riding (Horse); Shield; Spear; Wrestling.

Techniques: Cavalry Training (Broadsword or Spear); Combat Riding; Hands-Free Riding; Quick Mount; Retain Weapon (Spear); Staying Seated.

Cinematic Skills: Kiai; Power Blow.

Perks: Grip Mastery (Spear); Shield-Wall Training.

Advantages:Combat Reflexes; Enhanced Block; Status; Wealth.

Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Chivalry); Duty (To liege).

Skills: Animal Handling; Axe/Mace; Bow; Brawling; Knife; Swimming; Thrown Weapon (Spear).

Between the 12th and late 14th centuries, a different style of combat emerged. Knights of the High Middle Ages were still able foot combatants, but the emphasis shifted to horsemanship. The “couched” lance became the knight’s trademark attack. Those who fought this way resembled the stereotypical knights of fiction: still clad in mail, but soon adopting plate armors of increasing complexity, greathelms, and bright heraldic colors.

High medieval knights led with the lance or sword hand rather than with the shield – which was medium, small, or totally absent. They avoided dismounted combat in favor of a charge with the couched lance. In addition to using the lance for shock action, they trained to use its head for a Tip Slash (p. 113).

While they favored the lance, knights of this period also learned to fight using the broadsword, axe, and mace. The sword was their primary sidearm, used to both cut and thrust. The thrust was somewhat more common – and was often aimed at chinks in other knights’ heavy armor. Knights sometimes wielded their swords twohanded, and used Committed Attack (Strong) to defeat their opponents’ armor. Grappling skills were still standard training.

Myths of knightly prowess from this period always focus on the knights’ strength and fortitude. Cinematic knights can deliver blows capable of shearing an armored man in half. They can fight through incredible punishment – even eventually fatal injury – and when they finally drop, they always take enemies with them. Use Fearlessness, Hard to Kill, High Pain Threshold, and improved HP to help model this. Their great battle-oaths may cause foes (especially heathens or pagans) to flee in terror.

Horsemanship was all-important for this style, and the necessary proficiency meant that training started at a young age. Wealth was also critically important. The weapons, armor, and mount that let the knight dominate the battlefield weren’t cheap!

Skills: Axe/Mace; Broadsword; Lance; Riding (Horse); Shield; Wrestling.

Techniques: Cavalry Training (Axe/Mace or Broadsword); Combat Riding; Staying Seated; Targeted Attack (Broadsword Thrust/Vitals); Targeted Attack (Broadsword Thrust/Vitals Chinks).

Cinematic Skills: Kiai; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Timed Defense (Axe/Mace or Broadsword).

Perks: Technique Adaptation (Cavalry Training).

Secondary Characteristics:Improved HP and Will.

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Enhanced Parry (Broadsword); Fearlessness; Hard to Kill; High Pain Threshold; Status; Wealth.

Disadvantages:Code of Honor (Chivalry); Duty (To liege); Sense of Duty (To liege).

Skills: Animal Handling; Bow; Brawling; Crossbow; Polearm; Shield (Buckler); Spear; Two-Handed Sword.

Knightly combat in the late 14th through 15th centuries was drastically different from earlier styles. Highly developed armor and the relative uselessness of the lance against disciplined infantry forced knights to abandon their cherished heavy-cavalry role in favor of more versatile training in foot and mounted combat. They came to rely entirely on plate armor for protection, completely abandoning the shield in favor of two-handed, armor-piercing weapons.

Mounted, the main weapon remained the lance, although the sword saw use. On foot, the knight either faced his opponent squarely or led with the off hand. His primary weapons were the thrusting bastard sword and dueling halberd – with the mace and pick favored as backup weapons for their deadliness and effectiveness against heavy armor.

The knight normally held his sword or halberd in a Defensive Grip (pp. 109-111), but quickly shifted to a normal grip to attack a vulnerable foe. “Trick” attacks – such as the Deceptive Attack option and Spinning Strike technique – were common. A typical finishing move was either an Attack or a Committed Attack (Strong) aimed at a vulnerable location such as the neck or vitals. Unarmed knights used refined grappling, throwing, and choking techniques. In all cases, foot combat stressed agility and speed in heavy armor. The knight’s survival depended on his ability to parry or dodge!

Advanced fighters sometimes rounded out their training with knife-fighting skills. A few learned an entire dagger fighting style; see Dagger Fighting(p. 155). Some knights also trained specifically with the pollaxe, adding the methods of Pollaxe Fighting (p. 191) to this art.

After the 15th century, this style became increasingly uncommon. Skills: Judo; Lance; Riding (Horse); and Polearm orTwoHanded Sword. Techniques: Cavalry Training (Any); Choke Hold (Polearm or Two-Handed Sword); Combat Riding; Counterattack (Polearm or Two-Handed Sword); Hook (Polearm); Spinning Strike (Polearm or Two-Handed Sword); Staying Seated; Sweep (Polearm); Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Sword Swing/Neck); Targeted Attack (TwoHanded Sword Thrust/Neck); Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Sword Thrust/Vitals); Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Sword Thrust/Vitals Chinks). Cinematic Skills: Kiai; Power Blow. Cinematic Techniques: Timed Defense (Any). Perks: Armor Familiarity (Judo); Grip Mastery (Polearm or Two-Handed Sword); Style Adaptation (Pollaxe Fighting).

Secondary Characteristics:Improved Basic Speed.

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Enhanced Parry (All); Status; Wealth.

Disadvantages:Code of Honor (Chivalry); Duty (To liege).

Skills: Animal Handling; Axe/Mace; Brawling; Broadsword; Knife; Savoir-Faire; Shield; Spear; Staff.

“Kobujutsu” (or Kobudo) is a term for all Okinawan weapons training, military or civilian – although it occasionally describes ancient (pre-Meiji) martial arts in general. According to some accounts, a 15th-century Okinawan king banned all weapons but ceremonial ones among civilians. Okinawans responded by learning to fight with weaponized versions of day-to-day tools, as well as by honing their unarmed fighting arts (see Te,pp. 169-170). Later, Japanese invaders banned all weapons – ceremonial or otherwise – along with unarmed-combat training. All this did was drive the Okinawan martial arts underground and further encourage practitioners to disguise kata and weapon drills as dances.

Okinawan military weapons included the bisento,bow, broadsword, crossbow, katana, knife, naginata,shortsword, and yari. Even the musket and pistol eventually entered the fold. Post-ban civilian weapons were the bo (staff), eku, jo, kama, kusarigama, nunchaku, rokushaku kama(kama-staff combination),sai, spear,tekko (brass knuckles),tonfa, and tuja, and such hidden weapons as the fan, pipe, and umbrella. Traditional Kobujutsu also covered the timbe,a form of buckler used both to block and to strike. For weapon descriptions, see Chapter 6.

Given the number of weapons involved, it was rare for a school to offer training in everything. Most emphasized a few choice weapons. Thus, the style described here covers only the weapons most commonly associated with Kobujutsu. Traditionalists, Weapon Masters, instructors, and so on should still learn most or all of the listed weapon skills. The complete style would only be readily available in Okinawa, however!

Like Karate, Kobujutsu seeks to deflect an incoming attack and then retaliate with a single crushing blow. Kobujutsuka(Kobujutsu stylists) commonly take the Wait maneuver and attack the enemy when he steps into range, or parry his attack and then counter with a blow aimed to finish him. Many strikes are Deceptive Attacks, because while they’re direct and linear, they’re also quick and difficult to defend against. Stylists learn to fight against each weapon using any other.

Today, “kobujutsu” often refers to training in the civilian weapons developed under the weapons ban. Some masters do still offer the complete art, but this is rare. Modern schools tend to focus on the kama, nunchaku, sai, staff, and/or tonfa. In many cases, these weapons are taught as part of a Karate style.

Skills: Axe/Mace; Flail; Jitte/Sai; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Staff; Tonfa; and at least oneof Broadsword, Knife, Kusari, Polearm, Shield (Buckler), Shortsword, Spear, and TwoHanded Axe/Mace.

Techniques: Disarming (Jitte/Sai); Feint (Any weapon skill in style); Reverse Grip (Axe/Mace or Jitte/Sai).

Cinematic Skills: Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Axe/Mace, Flail, Jitte/Sai, or Tonfa); Dual-Weapon Defense (Any weapon skill in style); Whirlwind Attack (Any weapon skill in style).

Perks: Grip Mastery (Staff); Off-Hand Weapon Training (Any one-handed weapon skill in style); Technique Adaptation (Feint); Technique Adaptation (Whirlwind Attack).

Advantages:Ambidexterity; Combat Reflexes; Enhanced Parry (All).

Disadvantages: Obsession (Master all Okinawan weapons).

Skills:Bow; Combat Art form of any weapon skill in style; Crossbow; Guns; any weapon skill above not learned initially.

“Kuntao” is an umbrella term for the martial arts of the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia and Malaysia. The name comes from the Chinese term chuan do (“way of the fist”) and describes Chinese kung fu that has been influenced by contact with Pentjak Silat (pp. 189-191) – Kuntao’s traditional rival. Like Pentjak Silat, Kuntao isn’t a style but a rangeof styles. The version given here is a “hard” variety. For softer forms, use the style components of Pa Kua Chuan (pp. 187-188) or T’ai Chi Chuan (pp. 200-201).

Kuntao stresses hard strikes and speedy counterattacks. The emphasis is on punching, but the style also includes lowline and spinning kicks for use against foes caught off-guard or on the ground. Stylists learn to retract their punches quickly to counter Pentjak Silat practitioners’ attempts to grab incoming limbs, and study the Evade technique – and employ it often – to stay out of grappling range. They make frequent use of the Counterattack technique and the Riposte option (pp. 124-125) to exploit the openings that opponents leave in their defenses when attacking. On the defensive, Kuntao fighters often follow up parries with throws.

Like its ancestor styles and its close neighbor, Pentjak Silat, Kuntao teaches many weapons. These include the broadsword, butterfly swords (usually paired), chain, hook sword, jian, lajatang, liangtjat(sharpened stick), sai, siangkam, spear, staff, three-part staff, two-handed sword, whip, and various polearms. See Chapter 6 for descriptions of these weapons. Students eventually learn all weapons but commonly start out with only a few.

Historically, because of Kuntao’s rivalry with Pentjak Silat, each school’s teachers and students kept it secret from their non-Chinese neighbors and other Kuntao schools alike. At its most peaceful, this took the form of phony demonstrations intended to obscure the true art. There were also bloody clashes between Pentjak Silat and Kuntao schools, though – and even between rival Kuntao schools.

Today, finding a Kuntao instructor is difficult – in part because of the art’s tradition of secrecy and in part because many masters believe modern students lack the focus needed to learn the art. Nevertheless, there are a few schools abroad. These sometimes combine Kuntao with other forms of kung fu, Karate, or even Pentjak Silat!

Skills: Broadsword; Judo; Karate; Shortsword; and at least one of Jitte/Sai, Knife, Kusari, Polearm, Smallsword, Spear, Staff, Two-Handed Flail, Two-Handed Sword, and Whip.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Back Kick; Counterattack (Karate); Evade; Exotic Hand Strike; Hammer Fist; Head Lock; Spinning Kick.

Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting; Body Control; Breaking Blow; Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets; Throwing Art.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Shortsword); Pressure-Point Strike; Roll with Blow. Perks:Off-Hand Weapon Training (Shortsword); Rapid Retraction (Punches).

Advantages:Language (Chinese).

Disadvantages:Social Stigma (Minority Group, Chinese in Indonesia).

Skills: Breath Control; any weapon skill above not learned initially.

Kusarijutsu is the Japanese art of the kusari, or weighted chain. Its developers were likely medieval samurai who sought a flexible backup weapon. Chain weapons may date back as far as the beginning of the Kamakura period (1192).

Practitioners learn to use the kusari to strike blows, entangle the foe’s legs, and apply Choke Holds and Arm Locks (which involve entangling the arm and then twisting it into a painful or crippling position). Due to their weapon’s excellent reach but poor defensive capabilities, they alternate aggression with caution. Stylists prefer to use Wait, Evaluate, or Feint to set up an opponent before dealing a disabling attack – possibly with Entangle or Back Strike. Until such a decisive attack is possible, they move to take advantage of reach and keep the enemy at bay. Once the adversary is vulnerable, though, a crushing finishing move with Committed Attack (Strong) or All-Out Attack (Strong) is likely.

Cinematic Kusarijutsu stylists can swing their weapon with enormous force. They can also bind adversaries with loops of chain in combat. Some train to strike a single target with both ends of their kusari at the same time – or to attack two adjacent foes, one with either end. These last two moves count as Dual-Weapon Attacks, and are only possible with a kusari held in two hands and readied at less-than maximum reach.

Kusarijutsu is an excellent starting point for nonJapanese martial arts that use chain weapons, or for cinematic or fictional styles that use (often bizarre or impractical) chain- and rope-based weapons: rope darts, bladed chains, chains with saw-edged spiked balls, etc. For more on the kusari and its many variants, see Chapter 6. For the kusarigama and its variations, see Kusarigamajutsu(p. 180).

Skills: Kusari.

Techniques: Arm Lock (Kusari); Back Strike (Kusari); Choke Hold (Kusari); Entangle (Kusari); Return Strike (Kusari); Targeted Attack (Kusari Swing/Arm); Targeted Attack (Kusari Swing/Skull); Targeted Attack (Kusari Thrust/Face).

Cinematic Skills: Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Binding; Dual-Weapon Attack (Kusari).

Perks: Special Setup (Kusari Parry > Arm Lock).

Advantages:Weapon Master (Kusari).

Disadvantages:Overconfidence.

Skills:Flail; Judo; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Techniques:Spinning Strike (Kusari).

Perks: Weapon Bond.

Warriors sometimes attach the kusarito another weapon (see Combination Weapons,p. 214). The kusarigama– a kusari fastened to a kama (sickle) – is the most famous combination. The chain is affixed to either the kama’s head or the butt of its handle. This style covers both cases, but each variation demands its own tactics.

If the chain is attached to the handle, the user wields the kusarigama in two hands: his master hand holds the kama while his off hand controls the kusari. He can then “throw” the chain. The usual target of a throw is the opponent’s face or hands – hopefully distracting or injuring him, creating an opening to move in and strike with the kama. This kind of quick attack with both parts of the weapon is a (realistic) Dual-Weapon Attack.

A related tactic with this kind of kusarigama is to swing just the kusari in an attempt to entangle or injure the foe. If the intent is to injure, the attacker aims for the skull or neck. If using the Entangle technique, he targets the arms, legs, or weapon. The turn after stunning or entangling his enemy, the wielder rushes in with the kama for a finishing blow. This is likely to be a Committed or AllOut Attack – especially if the kusari took the victim’s weapon out of commission! The kusarigama user might pull his opponent offbalance prior to such an attack; treat this as a takedown or a Beat (pp. 100-101).

It’s possible to hold onto the kusari and whirl the kama around on the end of the chain. This is potentially deadly, as it imparts greater speed to the kama. However, attacking commits the whole weapon – the kama isn’t in the master hand, ready to strike and parry. On a hit, or on an enemy block or parry, the entire weapon becomes unready!

If the chain is attached at the head, the user can wield the weapon with one hand. The kusari swings freely and the wielder attacks with it (pulling his kama swings short of the target) orthe kama. Often he’ll use Entangle to snare the foe’s weapon or pull him in (again, a takedown or a Beat), and then assault him with unarmed strikes or a secondary weapon.

Kusarigamajutsu is typically part of a larger ryu– frequently a secret or hidden element. Some Naginatajutsu (p. 186) schools teach the kusarigama as a backup weapon. For stylists using other kusari combinations, use this style but replace Axe/Mace with the appropriate skill: Jitte/Sai for the kusarijutte,Staff for the staffchain, and so on. Tactics remain the same.

Skills: Axe/Mace; Kusari.

Techniques: Choke Hold (Kusari); Entangle (Kusari); Return Strike (Kusari); Targeted Attack (Axe/Mace Swing/Neck); Targeted Attack (Kusari Swing/Arm); Targeted Attack (Kusari Swing/Skull); Targeted Attack (Kusari Thrust/Face).

Cinematic Skills: Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Axe/Mace or Kusari).

Perks: Grip Mastery (Kusarigama); Off-Hand Weapon Training (Kusari); Unusual Training (Dual-Weapon Attack, Both attacks must target the same foe).

Advantages:Ambidexterity.

Disadvantages:Overconfidence.

Skills:Karate; Two-Handed Sword.

Kyujutsu is the Japanese art of the bow, or yumi (typically the dai-kyu, or composite bow). It’s primarily a combat style. For sport and art variants, and non-Japanese styles, see Archery (p. 181).

Since arrows weren’t terribly effective against armor, samurai learned to aim for the face, which was only rarely protected by a mask. Samurai also practiced shooting at a full gallop. They used inuomono, or dog-shooting, to hone their skills. This involved chasing dogs across open fields and shooting at them – often with arrows equipped to whistle and warn the dog. This taught warriors to shoot at fast-moving, quick-dodging targets.

Legendary archers could hit targets at extreme range with great accuracy. They used their skills not only to kill but for “trick shots” – cutting standards from poles, knocking decorations off helmets, and so on – to intimidate the foe. Japanese bowmen employed several peculiar arrowheads specifically for the purpose (see Special Arrows,p. 232).

Kyujutsu represents the minimum training a samurai needs to fight from horseback using a bow. Most receive additional mounted-combat instruction; see Bajutsu(p. 151). Later samurai and ashigaru (conscript infantry) might train to fight on foot; see Foot Archery (p. 181).

Skills: Bow; Fast-Draw (Arrow); Riding (Horse).

Techniques: Combat Riding; Hands-Free Riding; Horse Archery; Targeted Attack (Bow Shot/Face).

Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength; Pressure Points (Bow); Zen Archery.

Cinematic Techniques: Pressure-Point Strike.

Perks: Strongbow; Technique Adaptation (Targeted Attack).

Secondary Characteristics:Improved Per.

Advantages:Acute Vision; Heroic Archer; Wealth; Weapon Master (Bow).

Disadvantages:Code of Honor (Bushido).

Skills:Animal Handling (Dog or Horse); Bow Art; Meditation; Savoir-Faire (Dojo). Perks: Weapon Bond.

Longsword Fighting was popular in Central Europe from around 1350 until almost 1600. The longsword (p. 219) was ideally suited to two-handed tactics. Fighters regarded one-handed use as secondary, and didn’t use a shield at all; they either kept two hands on their weapon or used one hand to grab the foe while driving in the sword with the other. Masters rounded out the training with punching, kicking, grappling, and knife fighting.

Swordsmen typically grasped the longsword in a Defensive Grip (pp. 109-111), holding the long ricasso and using the blade to ward off blows. They launched attacks from both this grip and the normal grip. Against plate-armored foes, they favored thrusts aimed at chinks in armor. Some attacks used an inverted sword: the fighter held his weapon by the blade and either bashed his opponent with the hilt as if it were a mace or used the Hook technique with the crosspiece.

Armored and unarmored warriors alike practiced Longsword Fighting. Those with armor would grapple, shove, slam, and Beat (pp. 100-101) extensively, closing with their foe and trying to put him at a disadvantage in order to finish him with a stab to a vital area. Unarmored fighters – less protected from cuts and stabs – circled and kept their distance. They used Evaluate, Wait, and Feint to spot or create an opening before moving in for the kill. Both circumstances called for a strong attack capable of punching through armor; in game terms, either Committed Attack (Strong) or All-Out Attack (Strong).

While the style’s iconic weapon was the longsword, both the thrusting bastard sword and thrusting greatsword saw use. The latter was often known as the zweihänder in the hands of the doppelsöldner, who received twice the pay of other foot soldiers. To gain this coveted status, he had to produce a diploma from a recognized longsword master.

Medieval heroes who wish to learn this style shouldn’t have trouble finding a master in 14th- through 16th-century Central Europe. The rapier rapidly replaced the longsword for civilians during the 16th century, but the longsword remained a common military weapon. Period art depicts Italian fencing masters with longswords as late as the 1580s. Modern recreationists have restored a version of this style based on the writings of German longsword masters.

Skills: Brawling; Judo; Knife; Two-Handed Sword.

Techniques: Arm Lock (Judo); Armed Grapple (TwoHanded Sword); Bind Weapon (Two-Handed Sword); Choke Hold (Two-Handed Sword); Close Combat (Two-Handed Sword); Counterattack (Two-Handed Sword); Disarming (Judo or Two-Handed Sword); Ground Fighting (Knife); Kicking; Knee Strike; Retain Weapon (Two-Handed Sword); Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Sword Thrust/Face); Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Sword Thrust/Neck); Targeted Attack (Two-Handed Sword Thrust/Vitals Chinks); Trip.

Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Defense (TwoHanded Sword); Timed Defense (Two-Handed Sword). Perks: Armor Familiarity (Judo); Grip Mastery (Longsword); Skill Adaptation (Bind Weapon defaults to Two-Handed Sword); Sure-Footed (Uneven).

Advantages:Enhanced Dodge; Enhanced Parry (TwoHanded Sword or All); Weapon Master (Two-Handed Sword).

Disadvantages:Obsession (Achieve certificate of mastery).

Skills: Broadsword; Fast-Draw (Knife); Two-Handed Axe/Mace; Wrestling.

Techniques: Hook (Two-Handed Axe/Mace).

Perks: Weapon Bond.

Kyujutsu (pp. 179-180) is hardly the only bow style. The horse archery of the Great Plains Indians, Huns, Mongols, Scythians, etc., would be similar but lack such specifically Japanese elements as Code of Honor (Bushido) and Animal Handling (Dog), and offer different Targeted Attacks. Military Rank and Status would join Wealth as optional traits, the mix varying by culture. Some styles differ more radically.

Historically, infantry as well as cavalry were archers. In the time a horse archer took to master a weapon anda mount, a foot archer could develop great arm strength, letting him draw heavier bows. Tactics relied more on ambush and massed fire than on aim, but bowmen shot targets for sport and practice – especially in England. Melee Weapon skills were important for close defense and to finish off foes.

Cinematic archers like Robin Hood might focus on aim, learning Targeted Attacks and special skills for engaging concealed or distant targets. Larger-than-life heroes could easily justify the Kiai skill, too. Archery served as much to demoralize as to kill, and bowmen were known for their battle cries!

Modern athletes should replace Bow with Games (Archery), and use Bow Sport for shooting.

Skills: Bow; Bow Sport.

Techniques: Close Combat (Bow); Retain Weapon (Bow).

Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting; Kiai; Zen Archery.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Bow).

Perks: Special Exercises (Arm ST +1) up to three times, allowing Arm ST +3; Strongbow; Sure-Footed (Slippery).

Secondary Characteristics:Improved Per.

Advantages: As Kyujutsu (pp. 179-180), but remove Wealth and add Fit.

Skills: Armoury (Missile Weapons); Camouflage; Fast Draw (Arrow); Hiking; Intimidation; Melee Weapon skills; Soldier; Stealth.

Techniques: Targeted Attack.

With the rise of firearms on the Japanese battlefield in the 1570s, the bow fell into decline as a military weapon. Japanese society admired skilled archers, though, and desired to preserve Kyujutsu. Thus, it became one of the first jutsu arts to develop a do form.

Kyudo breaks down each shot into eight stages and expects the archer to move smoothly between them, performing each with equal deliberation. Training proceeds slowly and treats target shooting as a distraction until one has mastered posture, breathing, and the draw. The art is equally formal in competition.

Kyudo is practiced from both kneeling and standing postures.

Skills: Bow Art; Meditation; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Techniques: Low Fighting (Bow Art).

Cinematic Skills:As Kyujutsu (pp. 179-180).

Secondary Characteristics: Improved Per.

Advantages: As Kyujutsu, but remove Wealth.

Skills: Autohypnosis.

Yabusame, used in Shinto ritual, is one of the only surviving examples of horse archery today. Practitioners use the same yumi as in Kyudo, but from horseback.

Emphasis is on precision. The archer has but a small window of opportunity in which to aim and shoot while riding at a full gallop.

Skills: Bow Sport; Riding (Horse).

Techniques: Combat Riding; Hands-Free Riding; Horse Archery.

Cinematic Skills: Zen Archery.

Secondary Characteristics: Improved Per.

Advantages: As Kyujutsu (pp. 179-180), but remove Wealth.

Disadvantages: Disciplines of Faith.

Skills: Bow; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

The English and German “Masters of Defence” were men who prided themselves on their expertise with a wide variety of weapons, civilian and military. Their art seems to have originated in the 15th century. It lasted until the late 17th century across most of Europe. As time wore on, the Masters – and students willing to train with them – became increasingly less common and ultimately disappeared entirely.

To learn this style, a would-be student had to find an accredited master and become his apprentice. Next came a lengthy training period, followed by tests – first to become a journeyman and eventually to qualify as a master. These would be excellent goals for a PC in a historical game.

A master of this style was expected to know all of its many weapons and be able to fight them in any combination. Fighters also learned unarmed techniques – especially those useful for dealing with armed foes. Some masters taught a substantial number of throws and locks; their schools would teach Judo rather than Wrestling. Practitioners didn’t regard such unarmed methods as “dirty.” Anything that worked was acceptable. Indeed, many masters lost eyes or digits proving their skill during certification tests or in subsequent duels. The one-eyed English Master of Defence was a common stereotype!

Tactics varied greatly depending on the weapons used. When wielding any weapon, though, stylists would mix armed techniques with unarmed ones intended to disarm the foe. Masters regarded such methods as crucial when disarmed – and as valuable additional means of defeating an armed opponent even when armed.

In a cinematic game, Masters of Defence make excellent Weapon Masters. The sheer breadth of their training means that they’re fearsome fighters with almost any available weapon. There are tales of Masters standing off several adversaries at once, casually defeating skilled opponents (especially fencers and other foreigners!), and shearing men in half with tremendous blows.

Masters of Defence were commoners, not members of the upper class. This often led to social difficulties when dealing with their rapier-instructor contemporaries, who could simply ignore their challenges owing to the difference in status. Despite this, it’s possible that some Masters learned the rapier – either to better defend against it or because they recognized its growing importance as a street weapon.

Skills:Brawling; Broadsword; Knife; Polearm; Shield; Shield (Buckler); Shortsword; Spear; Staff; Two-Handed Sword; Wrestling.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Armed Grapple (Polearm, Spear, Staff, or Two-Handed Sword); Disarming (Any skill in style); Feint (Any weapon skill in style); Hook (Polearm); Sweep (Polearm, Spear, Staff, or Two-Handed Sword).

Cinematic Skills:Kiai; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Shortsword); Grand Disarm (Staff or Two-Handed Sword); Whirlwind Attack (Staff or Two-Handed Sword).

Perks:Form Mastery (Spear); Grip Mastery (Two-Handed Sword); Off-Hand Weapon Training (Shortsword).

Advantages:Ambidexterity; Combat Reflexes; Fearlessness; Languages (English or German); Weapon Master.

Disadvantages:Low Status; Missing Digit; One Eye.

Skills:Judo; Rapier; any other weapon skill not listed above.

Perks: Style Familiarity (Italian School).

Historically, many of the fighting arts in this chapter – particularly the armed ones – saw battlefield use. Their role diminished as firearms spread and became dependable, but veterans knew that ammunition could run out and that guns weren’t always manageable in close quarters. Thus, hand-to-hand combat remained a part of almost every recruit’s basic training. Some armies adapted traditional styles. Others invented new ones, like the relatively modern “scientific” or “synthetic” styles below.

W.E. Fairbairn (pp. 23-24) – with some assistance from Rex Applegate and Eric Sykes – created the style of hand-to-hand fighting most widely taught to Allied commandos in World War II. Fairbairn and Sykes also designed a fighting knife for use with their style: the Sykes-Fairbairn “commando” knife (p. 225). Applegate developed close-quarters pistol techniques.

This style emphasizes killing and sentry removal. There’s nothing gentlemanly about its methods or their execution; it’s purely pragmatic. The training places relatively little emphasis on traditional kicking and punching, because the practitioner is supposed to be taking out sentries or isolated enemy troops – not fighting in a stand-up brawl.

Training includes throws, locks, and strikes to vital areas. It also covers concealing weapons, tying up prisoners, and fighting with sticks and even chairs! Targeted Attack (Knife Thrust/Neck) is one of the style’s most important techniques. It normally follows a grapple and is itself followed by a cut outward from the throat to ensure that the enemy bleeds out quickly. These moves can form the basis of a brutal but effective Combination (see Combinations,p. 80).

In a cinematic game, Fairbairn-trained commandos might be able to replicate some of the legendary feats of the ninja, such as silent, invisible movement. Fairbairn was trained in the Far East . . . perhaps he learned some secrets that he only passed along to the most elite soldiers.

Skills: Judo; Karate; Knife; Stealth.

Techniques: Choke Hold; Disarming (Judo); Head Butt; Knee Strike; Neck Snap; Targeted Attack (Knife Thrust/Neck).

Cinematic Skills: Invisibility Art; Light Walk.

Cinematic Techniques: Backbreaker; Binding.

Perks: Improvised Weapons (Karate).

Advantages:Combat Reflexes.

Disadvantages:Bloodlust; Overconfidence.

Skills: Garrote; Holdout; Knot-Tying; Shortsword.

Imi Sde-Or (born Imrich Lichtenfeld) grew up in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. During the 1930s, rising anti-Semitic violence in the region moved Imi – an experienced circus wrestler and competitive grappler – to train his fellow Jews to combat attackers willing to use weapons and “dirty” tactics. When he immigrated to Palestine in 1942, Imi started training settlers in his fighting system, which he later named “Krav Maga” (Hebrew for “contact combat” or “contact fight”). Today, Krav Maga is the official martial art of the Israeli Defense Forces.

Krav Maga mixes strikes, takedowns, and both standing and floor grappling. Kicks are low-line and used to disable the legs for a quick victory. The style expects the fighter to be aggressive, eschewing Defensive Attack in favor of Attack and Committed Attack. The Krav Maga stylist typically opens with a strike intended to distract or injure the foe, followed by either a grapple and takedown or a Head Lock and throw. After downing his opponent, he’ll end the fight with a pin or a Choke Hold.

The style also teaches disarms against guns and knives. Once the weapon is out of the opponent’s grasp, the Krav Maga student learns to kick it away or otherwise ensure that his original assailant or a third party can’t use it. Stylists even practice techniques to keep the enemy from detonating a grenade!

Krav Maga incorporates improvised-weapons training and stresses using anything available to win. Practitioners learn to throw objects at opponents to distract as well as to injure, and to stab with pens and pencils, hit with purses, reinforce punches with rocks, and so on. Survival is the only goal and training is done without ceremony. Instructors expect students to learn to spot dangerous situations and deal with them – by fighting or fleeing, as appropriate.

By design, Krav Maga is easy to learn, useful for people of any size or fitness level, and effective in real combat situations. Krav Maga has no sport version, although there’s a civilian self-defense version that’s somewhat different from the combat form presented here. Both versions use a colored-belt system nearly identical to that of Judo (p. 166). Krav Maga has no body of legend, but several cinematic skills and techniques would follow logically from its realistic ones in a cinematic game.

Skills: Karate; Wrestling.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Breakfall; Choke Hold; Disarming (Wrestling); Elbow Strike; Eye-Rake; Ground Fighting (Wrestling); Hammer Fist; Head Lock; Knee Strike; Stamp Kick.

Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques: Lethal Strike; Pressure-Point Strike; Roll with Blow.

Perks: Improvised Weapons (Karate).

Advantages:Combat Reflexes; Fit; Language (Hebrew).

Disadvantages:Bloodlust; Social Stigma (Minority Group, Jew).

Skills:Boxing; Brawling; Guns (Pistol, Rifle, or SMG); Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Knife; Spear.

Techniques:Retain Weapon (Pistol or Rifle).

MCMAP (pronounced “mihk-map”) is a direct, simple style taught to all U.S. Marine Corps personnel during Basic Training. It replaces the Linear Infighting Neural-override Engagement (LINE) system of the 1990s, which taught set responses to specific attacks. MCMAP emphasizes quick, violent attacks to stun or confuse the opponent, followed by a takedown or throw. It has a few submission techniques for less-than-lethal situations, but no sport form – its main purposes are to teach Marines basic self-defense skills and to encourage aggressiveness.

Training is accordingly direct – recruits pair off and practice against each other – and includes hands-on drills that involve multiple opponents, armed attackers, and “mob engagements.” Students learn a small number of techniques chosen for their violence, effectiveness, and (relative) ease of use in fighting gear. Rounding out the instruction are simple lessons in disarming, weapon retention, and bayonet fighting, plus enough training in improvised weapons to inculcate in the Marine the idea that any item can be a weapon if necessary. Advanced schooling, typically conducted in the infantry schools or operating forces, progresses into grappling and groundfighting tactics.

MCMAP practitioners engage the foe with a punch, kick, grapple, or grab, followed by a throw or takedown attempt. They usually finish a downed opponent with a double stomp to the head: two Stamp Kicks aimed at the face or skull. Treat this as an All-Out Attack (Double) or Rapid Strike.

While MCMAP is a specific training style for a particular military branch, it’s a good example of the kind of unarmed training used to condition recruits. Other services have very similar styles. None of these offer cinematic skills – they completely lack legends of special abilities. Cinematic stylists should simply buy high skill, ST, DX, and HT.

Remember that however skilled a Marine gets at unarmed combat, he’s expected to rely on his firearms and bayonet first. All recruits receive bayonet training similar to Jukenjutsu (p. 197) in addition to MCMAP. They also receive firearms training, of course – but this isn’t part of MCMAP ortopical for Martial Arts.

Skills: Brawling; Judo.

Techniques: Disarming (Judo); Elbow Strike; Knee Strike; Stamp Kick; Targeted Attack (Stamp Kick/Face); Targeted Attack (Stamp Kick/Skull).

Perks: Improvised Weapons (Brawling).

Advantages:Combat Reflexes; Fit or Very Fit.

Disadvantages:Bloodlust; Overconfidence.

Skills:Karate; Spear; Staff.

Techniques:Ground Fighting (Brawling or Judo); Retain Weapon (Rifle).

Sambo is an acronym for the Russian samozashchita bez oruzhiya(“self-protection without weapons”). The style originated in the 1930s as an amalgamation of traditional wrestling styles – including Mongolian, Caucasian, GrecoRoman, and belt wrestling – and Judo. Its founders deliberately set out to design a unifying “Soviet” art that would replace all existing styles in the USSR. Grappling comes first in Sambo. Strikes serve chiefly to distract or injure the enemy, “softening” him for an effective hold or lock. Stylists use a full range of maneuvers, but the style emphasizes aggression over reaction, making Wait and Evaluate less common than Attack and Committed Attack. Perhaps unusually, Sambo makes extensive use of Leg Locks. Many proponents claim that limb locks are more effective than chokes for defeating a foe. While Sambo lacks a body of legendary techniques, it enjoys a mystique as a brutally effective art used by ruthless, physically powerful men. Cinematic samboists are likely to have high levels of ST and HT, and use Power Blow to shatter arms and snap legs. They might also know certain “strong man” techniques that, while not realistic for actual combat, feature prominently in the wilder claims made for the style. The style presented here is military or “combat” Sambo, taught to special-operations forces and elite police units. There’s also a sport version. To get this, add the Wrestling Sport skill and remove the Disarming and Choke Hold techniques – and since striking isn’t allowed, eliminate Karate and its techniques, too. Skills: Judo; Karate; Wrestling. Techniques: Arm Lock; Choke Hold; Disarming (Judo); Elbow Strike; Ground Fighting (Wrestling); Head Lock; Leg Lock; Leg Throw; Lower-Body Arm Lock; Lower-Body Head Lock; Lower-Body Leg Lock; Stamp Kick; Triangle Choke; Wrench (Limb). Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Mental Strength; Power Blow. Cinematic Techniques: Backbreaker; Piledriver. Perks: Iron Legs; Power Grappling; Special Exercises (Striking ST +1); Technique Adaptation (Ground Fighting). Optional Traits Advantages:Combat Reflexes; Fit; High Pain Threshold. Disadvantages:Bloodlust. Skills:Boxing; Brawling; Knife; Spear.

Many traditional martial arts have a battlefield history and could justly claim to be “military.” For game purposes, however, “military hand-to-hand” specifically describes the melee combat styles taught to TL6+ troops armed with firearms. That is, it refers to modern military styles.

The biggest difference here is that the arts practiced by pre-gunpowder warriors were primary skill sets, while those learned by modern soldiers are last resorts. A hightech infantryman carries a rifle, grenades, and often a pistol. He enjoys the support of machine guns, mines, and mortars. He can radio for a fire mission. He’ll use all of these tools before joining hand-to-hand combat, because they’re all more efficient at killing the enemy. A samurai or a Roman legionary, on the other hand, starts with a spear or a sword!

This is important for soldier characters. Modern military training doesn’t spend as much time on hand-to-hand combat as on firearms. Thus, a Marine PC shouldn’t have many more points in MCMAP than in Guns skills. Elite troops who are highly trained at melee combat have different skills and techniques from their historical brothers, too. The GM who wants to design his own military styles should be aware of the goals of such arts.

Modern warfare is all about firearms. If you have a gun and the other guy doesn’t – and he doesn’t surrender before he gets close enough to be a threat – shoot him. In close-quarters battle, though, any tight corner could conceal an enemy close enough to grab your weapon. To counter this, military styles teach how to keep weapons away from unfriendly hands; that is, the Retain Weapon technique.

If the other guy has the gun, the correct response is to take away his weapon and shoot him with it – not to attack with a knife or a jump kick. Thus, military styles teach ways to gain control of an opponent’s firearm, too. This is the Disarming technique.

This emphasis on keeping and taking away weapons explains why most military styles favor grappling skills over striking skills, with few exceptions.

This doesn’t mean that melee weapons are worthless. When you’re out of ammo, you don’t walk around empty-handed, hoping to take away an enemy’s weapon. You use what you have. To kill the other guy before he kills you, a long weapon is best. Typical Melee Weapon skills taught by military styles – in order from longest to shortest reach – are Spear (for the fixed bayonet); Axe/Mace (for entrenching tools, or a rifle butt used as a club) or Shortsword (for a machete or unfixed sword bayonet); and Knife (for fighting knives and unfixed knife bayonets).

Military styles prioritize these skills in order of reach. Training for military police is sometimes an exception, as it might focus on Shortsword or Tonfa for use with a baton. If weapon techniques are taught, they’re similar to those for unarmed combat – Disarming and Retain Weapon – possibly with the addition of Close Combat.

Barehanded combat training is good for aggression and morale. Troops learn Brawling or Karate primarily for this reason. Military styles focus on techniques with the booted foot: Jam, Kicking, Stamp Kick, etc. Hand techniques involve brutal mauling, like Eye-Gouging and Neck Snap, not breaking fists on helmets. Unarmed striking is truly the last resort. If you’re fighting without a weapon – and can’t take somebody else’s – you’re probably doomed. The most realistic use of unarmed strikes is as “finishing moves”: stomping on the head or windpipe of a fallen foe.

Silently neutralizing a sentry is the only situation where a melee weapon is preferable to a firearm. This arises less often in reality than in action movies, which is why ordinary troops don’t carry silencers, glove pistols, and similar exotica. When necessary, a knife will do and the goal is to kill, not to fight. If you can’t silence the target without a struggle, shoot him – a single shot is no less stealthy than a screaming brawl. The Knife skill is all that’s needed here, but techniques such as TA (Knife Swing/Throat) and TA (Knife Thrust/Vitals) aren’t unknown.

Some styles teach the Garrote skill, but a garrote is tricky to use on someone wearing bulky body armor and web gear. Thus, the skill is typically optional.

Muay Thai is Thailand’s native kickboxing style. It’s related to other Thai martial arts, such as Krabi Krabong (p. 176). Due to the burning of Siamese records in the 17th century, its origins are lost. As a form of full-contact tournament fighting, though, the style dates back at leastthat far. Muay Thai is practiced worldwide today.

Muay Thai is a pure striking style. Students learn three kicks, six punches, and use of the knees and elbows. Few targets are off-limits. Stylists learn no grapples or throws, but takedowns from a “clinch” sometimes occur when fighters get in close. Most contenders prefer to throw Knee Strikes in the clinch, however (see Grab and Smash!, p. 118).

Muay Thai fighters are famously aggressive. They favor Committed Attack and shun Defensive Attack. Most kicks use the shin as a striking surface, and the usual targets are the head and body (for the knockout) or the legs (to score a knockdown). Muay Thai has a distinctive guard style, with both hands held up and far forward of the body to help ward off elbows and high kicks. Against low kicks, the usual counter is a Jam.

Finishing moves tend to be spectacular – often Telegraphic Attacks (p. 113) – and too risky to attempt against a fresh, wary opponent. Examples include the jumping Knee Strike, which is an All-Out Attack (Strong), and a Spinning Punch that incorporates an Elbow Strike. Fighters save Spinning Kick for fight-ending shots, too. Even then, many consider this technique showy – and insulting to the victim!

Most Muay Thai fighters learn their art from professional teachers at training camps, sometimes under the control of promoters. Professional prizefighters train daily; their regimen includes cross-training, bag work, sparring, yoga, massage, and running. In the past, conditioning exercises included hitting the legs with sticks or kicking trees to toughen the shins, but modern practitioners use heavy bags. Muay Thai camps are full of prospective fighters hoping for a shot at the title – much like boxers in other countries. Few last long enough to make it far. Poverty and crippling injuries are more common than title shots.

In matches, competitors wear modern boxing gloves or hand wraps, mouth guards, and groin protectors. In historical times, they wore wraps dipped in glue and rolled in broken glass, the goal being identical to that of ancient Greek and Roman boxers who used the myrmexor cestus. A contender might fight one or more matches per month. Thanks to the full-contact nature of the “sport,” fighters often have short careers; the hard training, dubious safety procedures, and frequent matches can result in career-ending injuries.

In Thailand, traditional rituals still surround matches: a ceremonial dance (ram muay) with respectful bows to teachers (wai kru) before a bout, music during it . . . and betting. No one bets until after the first round, which fighters use to demonstrate their toughness and skill. Contenders are often as young as 14 or 15, ferociously fighting for a chance at a living in the sport. Outside Thailand, Muay Thai has lost much of its ritual but retains its combative nature. Muay Thai mixed with grappling arts has been successful in mixed martial arts matches, and some Karate practitioners have made the leap to professional Muay Thai.

Skills: Games (Muay Thai); Karate.

Techniques: Counterattack (Karate); Elbow Strike; Jam; Kicking; Knee Strike; Leg Grapple (DX); Push Kick; Spinning Kick; Spinning Punch; Sweep (Karate); Targeted Attack (Karate Kick/Leg); Uppercut.

Cinematic Skills: Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Roll with Blow. Perks: Clinch (Karate); Iron Legs; Neck Control (Karate); Special Exercises (Striker, Crushing with Limb, Shin); Technique Mastery (Knee Strike).

Advantages:Fit or Very Fit; Hard to Subdue; High Pain Threshold.

Disadvantages: Social Stigma (Minor); low Wealth; crippling injuries galore.

Skills: Boxing; Boxing Sport; Dancing (Ram Muay); Savoir-Faire (Gym); Wrestling.

Lethwei (also known as Lethay) is a Burmese boxing system similar to Muay Thai (pp. 185-186). Unlike Muay Thai, however, Lethwei permits throws, head butts, and sweeps. It’s even legal to strike a falling opponent once on the way down, if his head is at least 12 inches from the floor. Competitors rarely use substantial hand wrappings, let alone gloves.

Lethwei has no weight classes, although some tournaments group contenders by age and experience. A bout goes four rounds. The first three rounds end when there’s bleeding from a head wound or an especially effective strike or takedown. The final round lasts until one participant is knocked out or gives in. Under traditional rules, a fighter mustsubmit to end the match; unconscious contestants are revived and given the option to continue or submit.

Skills:As Muay Thai,but add Judo and change Games specialty to Lethwei.

Techniques:As Muay Thai, plus Head Butt.

Perks:AsMuay Thai, plus Iron Hands.

Advantages: Hard to Subdue; High Pain Threshold.

Naginatajutsu is a Japanese polearm-fighting style for use with the naginata(a sword blade mounted on a staff) or nagamaki(which has more equal blade-to-haft proportions). The naginata was a battlefield weapon, and schools dedicated to it have existed since at least the mid-12th century. Indeed, Benkei the monk – legendary companion of the great 12th century hero Yoshitsune – was a Naginatajutsu master. The weapon itself is several centuries older than that, so the style might have even earlier origins. By 16th century, firearms had relegated the polearm to a largely ceremonial role. Naginatajutsu became a martial art practiced by noblewomen for home defense and to add physical training to a largely sedentary lifestyle.

Naginatajutsu is an offensive style. The weapon has a length advantage over most others and lends itself to swift, wheeling motions, so practitioners seek to eliminate the foe quickly.Stylists use feints to draw out the opponent and attacks to the legs and body to disable or kill him. Historically, the leg was such a popular target that warriors wore heavy shin armor specifically to counter naginata cuts! Full extension lunges that exploit the naginata’s length are very common; treat such an attack as an All-Out Attack (Long). Fighters also use long-range swings. Other training includes butt strikes, both to targets in front and behind; techniques for disarming foes and retaining the naginata in the face of similar disarms; and sweeps with the end of the pole.

Naginata schools teach staff forms as well as polearm skills, for use in the event that the naginata’s blade breaks off. Some ryuha train using a naginata that has a sharp cap on the butt, which allows the weapon to serve as a spear in extremis or after a feint with the blade. Others teach the knife or shortsword as a backup weapon.

Naginatajutsu schools still exist today. In fact, there’s a dedicated federation committed to spreading the art. Modern students usually learn a sport version (seeNaginatado,p. 187).

Skills: Polearm; Staff.

Techniques: Back Strike (Staff); Disarming (Staff); Feint (Polearm or Staff); Retain Weapon (Polearm); Sweep (Polearm or Staff); Targeted Attack (Polearm Swing/Face); Targeted Attack (Polearm Swing/Leg).

Cinematic Skills: Kiai; Mental Strength; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Defense (Polearm or Staff); Whirlwind Attack (Polearm or Staff).

Perks: Form Mastery (Naginata); Grip Mastery (Naginata).

Advantages:Combat Reflexes; Enhanced Parry (Polearm).

Disadvantages:Reputation (Always aims for the legs).

Skills:Knife; Parry Missile Weapons; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Shortsword; Spear; Two-Handed Sword.

The world has seen a mind-boggling variety of polearms – more than a few of which have been the subject of multiple fighting styles. Historians often dismiss these weapons as suitable only for mass combat and illtrained peasant infantry. Historical warriors, on the other hand, often regarded polearms as ideal for man-to-man combat. Indeed, some Masters of Defence held certain varieties of bills and glaives to be superior to allother weapons! Of course, most of these martial artists used polearms that were shorter, lighter, and far more agile than the full-length battlefield weapons that historians read about in chronicles of old wars.

The specifics of polearm-fighting styles vary as much as the weapons, but a few principles are nearly universal. Polearm fighters normally hold the shaft in a Defensive Grip (pp. 109-111) and parry with both the blade and the haft. Most attacks are Defensive Attacks with the tip (thrusts). The warrior saves swings for fallen or disarmed foes – but uses Committed Attack (Strong) when he does swing. The fight consists primarily of using Evaluate and Wait to circle and look for an opening, or Feint to create one. Most styles avoid close-in fighting and seek to keep enemies at bay, although some teach kicking.

Chinese polearm styles differ somewhat in that while they’re pragmatic, they also contain extravagant flourishes to impresses friend and foe alike. Polearm Art is a common addition.

For more on the weapons used in polearm fighting, see Chapter 6.

This Chinese style uses the pudao or “horse-cutter,” a weapon functionally similar to the European halberd. It’s suitable for use with the halberd and the Okinawan bisento as well.

Skills: Polearm; Polearm Art; Staff.

Techniques:As Naginatajutsu(p. 186), plus Counterattack (Polearm) and Spinning Strike (Polearm). Perks: Form Mastery (Horse-Cutter); Grip Mastery (Horse-Cutter).

Advantages: Combat Reflexes.

This Welsh polearm style uses the dueling glaive or the forest bill. Swiss halberd fighting would be almost identical – just change the Form Mastery specialty to Halberd.

Skills:Brawling; Polearm; Staff.

Techniques: Counterattack (Polearm); Disarming (Polearm); Feint (Polearm or Staff); Hook (Polearm); Kicking; Knee Strike; Spinning Strike (Polearm); Sweep (Polearm); Targeted Attack (Polearm Swing/Leg); Targeted Attack (Polearm Thrust/Vitals).

Perks:Form Mastery (Dueling Bill); Form Mastery (Dueling Glaive).

Advantages: Combat Reflexes.

Naginatado is the sport form of Naginatajutsu (p. 186). Stylists use a wooden naginata for kataand solo drills – a practice dating back to the early 17th century – and a bamboo-bladed weapon and kendo armor when sparring. Valid targets in bouts are the head, neck, torso, and shins.

Skills:Polearm Sport; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Staff Sport.

Techniques and Perks: As Naginatajutsu.

Pa Kua Chuan – also called Pa Kua Chang, Bagua,or Baguazhang– is one of the three major “internal” arts of Chinese kung fu, the others being Hsing I Chuan (pp. 162-163) and T’ai Chi Chuan (pp. 200-201). Legend places its origins as far back as the 14th century. Its verifiable history starts in 1796.

Pa Kua Chuan translates literally as “eight trigram palm,” hinting at its basis in theI Ching.Practitioners walk in circles while making complex hand movements. The art is nonaggressive, and based on avoiding blows and redirecting the foe’s attacks. It does include some strikes – especially with the open palm (treat as Hammer Fist). These are effective, although they look deceptively lazy and unskilled.

The Pa Kua Chuan practitioner normally chooses Wait, Defensive Attack, or All-Out Defense (Increased Parry). Only after his opponent commits to an attack does he respond – most often with a lock or a throw. Strikes are infrequent; stylists prefer evasion and redirection to taking the offensive. Move and Attack, Committed Attack, and All-Out Attack are all extremely rare for the same reason.

Developing and channeling chi is the ultimate goal of Pa Kua Chuan. The style can be effective in a realistic game . . . but it’s devastating in a cinematic one. Masters avoid incoming blows with steady walking and sidestepping, and use Push, Pressure Points, and Power Blow to defeat attackers.

Legend tells of a friendship between a famous Hsing I Chuan master and a renowned Pa Kua Chuan master. Some sources say that they fought a three-day duel before the Hsing I Chuan master finally laid out the Pa Kua Chuan master with a strike! Each master was so impressed by the other’s style that they shared their secrets, cementing the tradition of training one another’s students. Whatever the truth, Pa Kua Chuan practitioners frequently learn Hsing I Chuan as well, students of one art are welcome at schools of the other, and the styles have borrowed from one other – some Pa Kua Chuan schools teach linear forms from Hsing I Chuan.

Skills: Judo; Karate; Meditation; Philosophy (Taoism).

Techniques: Arm Lock; Exotic Hand Strike; Hammer Fist.

Cinematic Skills: Hypnotic Hands; Immovable Stance; Mental Strength; Power Blow; Push; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques: Roll with Blow.

Perks:Style Adaptation (Hsing I Chuan).

Advantages:Enhanced Dodge; Enhanced Parry (Bare Hands).

Disadvantages:Disciplines of Faith (Ritualism).

Skills:Judo Art; Karate Art; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Legend has it that an early 15th-century Tibetan monk developed Pak Hok kung fu after observing a struggle between a crane and an ape. As the story goes, the crane deftly avoided the ape’s attacks and plucked out an eye, thereby winning the fight despite the mismatch in strength. Inspired, the monk created the style originally called “lion’s roar” and later renamed Pak Hok,or “white crane.” Other sources claim that the style predates Bodhidharma’s arrival at the Shaolin Temple, which would date it to the 6th century or even earlier. Its verifiable history is traceable only to the 17th century, when it was first taught publicly to monks and non-monks alike in Canton.

Pak Hok works off four principles:cham, or remorseless and completely committed attack without thought of retreat;sim, or dodging strikes while leaving the hands free to counterattack;cheung, or assaulting the foe with a ceaseless barrage of blows; and it, or countering the enemy’s attacks by being one step ahead. Stylists employ very distinctive footwork which mimic a crane’s careful (but quick) steps.

The Pak Hok stylist prefers Wait and Evaluate at the start of a fight. When his foe attacks, he dodges or parries and then counters with a Committed or All-Out Attack – most often using the Counterattack technique. After landing a telling blow, he unleashes a torrent of strikes to finish his opponent, making extensive use of Rapid Strike and All-Out Attack (Double). Defensive Attack is rare, but a stylist facing multiple foes might use the Attack maneuver instead of Committed Attack or All-Out Attack.

The style’s usual attacks are punches and beak-like Exotic Hand Strikes – although a Hammer Fist to the face sees use as well. Feints are most often Beats (pp. 100-101) intended to knock down the target’s guard. Pak Hok considers kicks secondary to punches; stylists sometimes use Jump Kick but they only train extensively at Kicking and Sweep. This last technique features prominently in Pak Hok’s signature combination: a parry followed immediately by a backhand punch to the neck and a foot sweep, thrown as a Counterattack. If using Combinations (p. 80), Combination (Karate Punch/Neck + Karate Sweep) should be common among stylists.

Pak Hok schools also teach a few Chinese weapons, including the jian, spear, staff, and chain whip. Some add Chin Na (p. 154) to the system to complement their strikeheavy art with locks and throws. Pak Hok places little emphasis on chi, instead aiming for maximum speed and power. Despite this, several special abilities make sense for the cinematic practitioner. Think of these as focused skill and strength – not as exotic powers! Most famous is the lethality of the master’s beaked hand, said to be capable of plucking out the foe’s eye as the crane did in Pak Hok’s legendary origin.

Before the 17th century, Pak Hok was a secret art – or at least an obscure one. Finding an instructor in the modern world isn’t difficult, however.

Skills: Karate; Philosophy (Buddhism).

Techniques: Counterattack (Karate); Exotic Hand Strike; Feint (Karate); Hammer Fist; Kicking; Sweep (Karate); Targeted Attack (Karate Hammer Fist/Face); Uppercut.

Cinematic Skills: Power Blow; Pressure Points.

Cinematic Techniques: Eye-Pluck; Lethal Kick; Lethal Strike; Pressure-Point Strike.

Perks: Special Setup (No Hands > Karate Parry), allows parries with the body instead of the hands, with each replacing a hand parry; Technique Adaptation (Counterattack).

Advantages:Enhanced Dodge; Enhanced Parry (Bare Hands); Fit; Striking Strength.

Disadvantages:Callous; Overconfidence.

Skills:Judo; Rapier; Spear; Staff; Whip.

Pankration was the ancient Greek style of all-in wrestling. Its name translates as “all powers” and refers to the fact that in competition, all holds and strikes were permitted. Matches were long and brutal, and could end in death or disfigurement. Pankrationists needed a great deal of endurance to last even a single bout. They trained to fight equally well on slick ground, loose sand, and soft earth.

Pankrationists generally took Evaluate or Wait maneuvers until they spotted a good opening, then rushed in to deliver strikes or to execute a grapple and takedown. They used all manner of attacks. Hand strikes included punches dealt with protruding knuckles or stiffened fingers, overhead chops using the edge of the hand, and blows with the heel of the palm. Finishing moves done as All-Out Attacks were crowd-pleasers. Fighters usually fought defensively, though; the most common end to a match was a decisive hold on the ground. Fatal damage from strikes, limb wrenches, or chokes wasn’t uncommon.

Pankration had no weight classes, so champions tended to be strong men. However, the ancient Greeks admired the skilled contender who defeated his opponents through superior technique as much as the strong fighter who simply overpowered his foes with brute force. There were also those who felt that all pankrationists were bloody-handed, simple-minded fools who represented the worst in Greek culture, and whose skills were worthless to the polis during wartime.

There are modern versions of Pankration. These don’t trace their heritage back to ancient Greece but do take inspiration from the original sport. Skills and techniques are similar but tend to deemphasize moves that would be illegal in sanctioned mixed martial arts events.

Skills: Games (Pankration); Judo; Karate; Wrestling.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Elbow Strike; Exotic Hand Strike; Ground Fighting (Judo or Wrestling); Hammer Fist; Kicking; Knee Strike; Leg Grapple; Low Fighting (Wrestling); Stamp Kick; Wrench (Limb).

Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Backbreaker; Lethal Strike; Roll with Blow.

Perks: Iron Hands; Neck Control (Karate); Sure-Footed (Slippery); Sure-Footed (Uneven).

Secondary Characteristics: Improved FP and HP.

Advantages: Fit or Very Fit; High Pain Threshold.

Disadvantages: Bloodlust; Overconfidence; Reputation (Bloody-handed, simple-minded fool).

Skills:Boxing; Games (Boxing); Hobby Skill (Feats of Strength).

Pentjak Silat (also Pencak Silat) is a term for the martial arts of Indonesia. There are scores of Silat styles. One count suggested more than 160 . . . and this was probably low, because many instructors regard their art as secret and conceal it from all but carefully selected students. Most forms come from Java, but Silat exists across Indonesia, and also in Malaysia and the Philippines (Filipino Silat fighters should blend one of the styles below with Escrima, pp. 155-156). Because Indonesia was a Dutch colony, Silat is found almost anyplace that received IndonesianDutch immigrants, too – including Europe. Attempts to unify Silat into a single entity have failed.

As a general rule, Silat stylists fight low to the ground, launching strikes and throws from crouching stances and using rapid sideways movement. They learn to strike hard in order to destroy the foe’s means of attacking – and to retreat if faced with superior force. Students study weapons from the first days of training. All Silat variations teach the art’s signature weapon, the kris(p. 219).

Like many Asian styles, Silat has legendary origins. For instance, one form of Silat claims that a woman from Sumatra saw a fight between a snake and a bird, and used their moves as inspiration for the style. In reality, Silat appears to be a mixture of native martial arts influenced by Indian and Chinese styles. During the Japanese invasion of Indonesia during World War II, Japanese arts were also an influence.

Pentjak Silat styles vary from soft to extremely hard. Some stress destructive striking techniques and brutal limb breaks. Others concern themselves with meditation, hypnotic hand rhythms, and even supernatural powers. Indeed, many Silat styles purport to grant magical abilities, with the kris serving as a focus (much like the Powerstone and Staff in GURPS Magic). This makes Silat an ideal transplant to Yrth in a GURPS Banestorm campaign! Experts of such styles can reputedly kill at a distance and render themselves impervious to weapons.

Below are two of the many Pentjak Silat variations. The GM may wish to develop more if running a Silat-heavy game. “Art” and “sport” forms are rare, though. Silat is a kind of cultural expression – dance-like exhibitions accompanied by music are common at celebrations – but this aspect of the style is secondary to its combative side.

The heartland of Kumango Silat is Bukittinggi (Fordekok), in the Menangkabau area of Sumatra. The style’s origins are unknown, but it’s believed to be a native Sumatran art. It’s still practiced in the 21st century.

Kumango Silat is a soft, flexible Silat form. It emphasizes evasions and escapes from grapples. Stylists yield to an attacker’s movements and then slip free. Fighters parry from outside to inside, usually sidestepping (see Retreat Options, pp. 123-124) to get to the enemy’s flank. They favor the elbow parry – an Aggressive Parry – against incoming kicks and Knee Strikes. The usual counter to a high kick is a Leg Grapple followed by a throw or a takedown.

Feints are an important part of Kumango Silat, and often precede a Deceptive Attack. The attack itself might be a kick, a punch, or both,thrown as a Dual-Weapon Attack. Strikes focus on the foe’s centerline, the primary targets being the groin, neck, and vitals. Stylists also grapple – a favorite target being the foe’s parrying arm – and follow up with throws, locks, and (especially) strikes.

Kumango Silat stances are very low and incorporate thigh slaps and deep movements. Practitioners often fake these motions as part of a feint or Deceptive Attack. The hands cover the groin and body, or the back of the neck while turning. Stylists practice stances on sandy beaches in order to get used to shifting ground.

Kumango Silat is rare outside of Indonesia but a good model for other “soft” Silat styles. Like all forms of Silat, it includes weapons training from the start. At some schools, students learn Combat Art versions of its core skills instead of combat skills.

Skills: Judo; Karate; Knife.

Techniques: Aggressive Parry (Karate); Arm Lock; Counterattack (Karate or Knife); Elbow Strike; Evade; Exotic Hand Strike; Feint (Karate or Knife); Leg Grapple; Low Fighting (Judo, Karate, or Knife); Spinning Kick; Spinning Punch; Sweep (Judo or Karate); Targeted Attack (Karate Kick/Groin); Targeted Attack (Karate Punch/Neck); Targeted Attack (Karate Punch/Vitals); Targeted Attack (Knife Thrust/Vitals); Trip.

Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow; Hypnotic Hands; Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Karate); Springing Attack (Karate). Perks: Sure-Footed (Sand); Technique Adaptation (Low Fighting); Unusual Training (Dual-Weapon Attack, Both attacks must target the same foe).

Advantages: Cultural Familiarity (Southeast Asia); Language (Indonesian).

Disadvantages:Delusion (“My kris has magical powers”); Vow (Uphold Islam and the traditions of the style).

Skills: Jitte/Sai; Judo Art; Karate Art; Knife Art; Kusari; Main-Gauche; Staff; Whip.

Ifan Badjam officially founded Tapak Sutji Pentjak Silat in 1963, at the age of 72, in Central Java. A long period of development and practice preceded this event, however, and the art’s true origins stretch back to the 1920s and the founding of an earlier school with identical drills and teachings. Practitioners fought the Japanese during WWII, the Dutch in the late 1940s, and the Communists in the 1960s. Like other Silat styles, Tapak Sutji stances are low to the ground. They aren’t static – the practitioner keeps moving to gain an advantage over his foe. Traditionally, students practiced the style outdoors on uneven ground, on beaches, or in tangled undergrowth, and were expected to cope with (and learn to fall on!) the rough and varied natural terrain. Tapak Sutji practitioners make extensive use of Judo Throw, Sweep, and Trip to put the opponent on the ground. Follow-ups are more likely to be strikes than grapples or locks. Attacks often follow feints, and are usually Deceptive Attacks. Stylists like to counter an enemy attack with a parry followed by either an immediate Counterattack or an Arm Lock and thena strike or throw. As usual for Silat, the aim is to destroy the foe’s ability to continue the attack, so the limbs are common targets. Tapak Sutji includes training in a vast array of traditional Indonesian weapons. It also adds a short, flexible metal truncheon called the segu (treat as a baton) and the Japanese katana. Stylists don’t use the katana with Kenjutsu stances or tactics, but rather in the mobile, low-to-theground Silat style.

Tapak Sutji Pentjak Silat is widely practiced. Finding a Tapak Sutji school in Indonesia, Europe, and many other parts of the world is relatively easy. Tapak Sutji students wear a red uniform with yellow bands on the neck and sleeves. Skills: Judo; Karate; Knife; Shortsword; Two-Handed Sword. Techniques: Arm Lock; Breakfall; Counterattack (Karate, Knife, or Shortsword); Exotic Hand Strike; Feint (Karate, Knife, Shortsword, or Two-Handed sword); Jump Kick; Kicking; Low Fighting (Judo, Karate, Knife, or Shortsword); Sweep (Judo or Karate); Targeted Attack (Karate Kick/Leg); Targeted Attack (Karate Punch/Arm); Trip. Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow; Hypnotic Hands; Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets. Cinematic Techniques: Springing Attack (Karate). Perks: Sure-Footed (Uneven); Technique Adaptation (Low Fighting). Optional Traits Advantages: Cultural Familiarity (Southeast Asia); Weapon Master. Disadvantages:Delusion (“My kris has magical powers.”); Vow (Uphold Islam and the traditions of the style). Skills:Jitte/Sai; Judo Art; Karate Art; Knife Art; Kusari; Main-Gauche; Shortsword Art; Staff; Two-Handed Sword Art; Whip.

Silat tradition regards the connection between master and disciple as a blood relationship. The bond is as much that of parent and child as it is that of student and teacher. This is very different from the more businesslike arrangements common in the West.

According to hoplologist Donn Draeger, the teacher traditionally expected the student to give him certain gifts before he would offer instruction:

• A chicken, the blood of which would be spread on the ground as a symbolic substitute for the student’s blood.

• A roll of white cloth, for use as a burial shroud should the student be killed during training.

• A knife, to represent the sharpness expected of the student.

• Tobacco, for the teacher to smoke.

• Money, to replace the teacher’s clothing torn during training.

The student also had to swear an oath on the Koran to uphold the style’s traditions and the laws of Islam.

These practices aren’t common in Silat schools in the modern West, but such academies often have charters and rules that are nearly as stringent. The GM could certainly have a teacher from the “old country” expect Western students to respect these traditions, or use them as inspiration for a fictional style. In a fantasy or space-opera setting, the gifts might be strange indeed . . .

The pollaxe was popular for knightly judicial duels in 15th- and early 16th-century Europe. This weapon wasn’t the massive “axe-head-on-a-shaft” described on p. B272, which was primarily suited for use by ranked soldiers. Rather, it was a shorter “dueling halberd” (p. 216) – sometimes with a toothed hammer instead of an actual axe blade – designed specifically for personal combat.

Knights normally gripped the pollaxe two-handed, like a staff, spacing their hands far apart and holding the shaft diagonally across the body. In game terms, this would be a Defensive Grip (pp. 109-111). Fighting was close-in, and favored jabs with the point and short swings over wide, sweeping blows that – while powerful – would expose the attacker. Another popular tactic was hooking the beak, blade, or spike behind the opponent’s weapon, leg, or neck. Feints and Defensive Attacks were common, but a fighter would use Committed Attack (Strong) or All-Out Attack (Feint) if his rival seemed vulnerable.

Some pollaxes concealed a hollow space in the head that was filled with an irritant “blinding powder.” Launching this is a dirty trick (see Dirty Tricks,p. 76). The attacker can use Polearm skill instead of DX to throw the powder if knows the appropriate Style Perk. However, roll 1d after any swinging attack with the weapon. On 1-2, the powder spills prematurely (and harmlessly). Any critical miss means the powder affects the pollaxe’s wielder, in addition to the results on the Critical Miss Table!

Despite its fearsome appearance, the pollaxe was more popular in tournaments than in wartime. Some scholars believe that this was because it wasn’t especially effective at penetrating armor – even a full-force swing would knock down an armored man without inflicting much injury. This is more a commentary on the fighters’ armor than their tactics, which were certainly earnest enough. Practitioners should definitely learn combat skills, not Combat Sport skills.

The pollaxe lost whatever military utility it might have had once warfare became an issue of massed pikes and halberds rather than individual warriors. Some commanders still carried a pollaxe while leading such troops, however.

Skills:Brawling; Games (Knightly Combat); Polearm.

Techniques:Disarming (Polearm); Feint (Polearm); Hook (Polearm); Knee Strike; Retain Weapon (Polearm); Stamp Kick; Sweep (Polearm).

Cinematic Skills:Power Blow.

Perks: Grip Mastery (Dueling Halberd); Unique Technique (Powder Spill).

Advantages:Status; Wealth.

Disadvantages:Code of Honor (Chivalry).

Skills:Knife; Polearm Sport; Shortsword; Two-Handed Axe/Mace; Wrestling.

Tradition has it that a 17th-century Shaolin monk observed a praying mantis hunting and – inspired by its deft use of its hooked forelimbs – adapted the insect’s movements to his own style and added elements from other arts to create Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Like all legendary origins, this tale is impossible to verify. Still, several Chinese martial arts that emulate the mantis’ methods survive today. The style described below is a type of Northern Praying Mantis. Southern Praying Mantis also exists but shares only a name – not techniques or history.

Mantis is noted for its narrow, low stances that mimic those of its namesake insect, with close-in elbows and both hands extended forward, often held open or claw-like. Its signature move is the “hook”: the stylist grabs his enemy’s arm in order to pull him off-balance, push his guard aside, apply an Arm Lock, throw him, or otherwise impede him. This is a grapple attempt – ideally, executed swiftly enough to be a Deceptive Attack. An attempt to pull the foe off balance is a Beat (pp. 100-101) if the aim is to reduce his defenses, a takedown (p. B370) if the goal is to put him on the ground. Mantis fighters also use Judo Throw (preferably a damaging throw; see p. 75) to take down a victim and position him for a finishing move.

Stylists use Wait and Evaluate until their opponent commits. They seek to void their attacker’s aggressive movements by stepping aside or parrying, and then counterattack with a cascade of precise strikes – often using a Rapid Strike to launch two attacks, or a feint and attack to overwhelm the foe quickly. Practitioners value placement and skill over brute strength. Mantis punches use the open hand, a vertical fist, and various Exotic Hand Strikes (details depend on the style variant, and might involve a single finger, a protruding knuckle, etc.).

Cinematic Mantis uses chi to accelerate its already-rapid attacks. Its light and flexible stances allow practitioners to walk without leaving a trace, while its precision strikes can target vital points. Its claw-like hand movements and quick steps can even hypnotize the foe, leaving him open for a fight-ending blow.

Buddhist philosophy is a traditional part of Praying Mantis instruction. The skills below assume a modern campaign, but in a historical game – especially one where students must learn the style from monks – the GM should add Philosophy (Buddhism) and raise style cost to 5 points. Mantis schools sometimes teach weapons, including all manner of “Shaolin” weapons. Some stylists learn a core of Mantis tactics and then adapt other styles (nearly always Chinese) to the “Mantis” system; such martial artists should learn the art described here and buy Style Adaptation perks for these other styles.

Skills: Judo; Karate; Karate Art.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Counterattack (Karate); Ear Clap; Exotic Hand Strike; Eye-Poke; Hammer Fist; Kicking; Knee Strike; Targeted Attack (Judo Grapple/Arm).

Cinematic Skills: Hypnotic Hands; Light Walk; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets; Sensitivity.

Cinematic Techniques: Lethal Eye-Poke; Lethal Strike; Pressure-Point Strike; Roll with Blow.

Perks: Chi Resistance (Hypnotic Hands); Iron Hands; Special Setup (Karate Parry > Arm Lock); Style Adaptation (Varies).

Advantages:Combat Reflexes; Enhanced Parry (Bare Hands); Extra Attack; Forceful Chi.

Disadvantages:Disciplines of Faith.

Skills: Broadsword; Broadsword Art; Philosophy (Buddhism); Staff; Staff Art; Two-Handed Flail; TwoHanded Flail Art; Two-Handed Sword; Two-Handed Sword Art.

Staff fighting is as widespread as stickfighting (p. 157). In the age of spears and polearms, a warrior would train to use his pole weapon as a staff should its head come off in battle. In anyera, the staff’s simple construction and ease of use make it an extremely accessible weapon.

Japan and Okinawa had highly developed stafffighting arts, called Bojutsu. Many ryuha taught Bojutsu forms, typically emphasizing the effective use of the naginataor yarishould its head break off in battle. A bo(staff) might be up to 8’ long, but the rokushakubo, or “six-foot staff,” was most common.

Skills, Techniques, Perks, and Optional Traits: As Quarterstaff (p. 193).

Legend has it that Jojutsu’s founder, Muso Gonnosuke, challenged Musashi Miyamoto, fought using Bojutsu, and lost. He decided that he needed more flexibility than the staff offered, shortened the bo to create the jo, and then used this weapon to fight Musashi to a standstill (or even defeat him). His school, Shindo-Muso Ryu, is the most common Jojutsu style. Jojutsu uses techniques similar to both Bojutsu (above) and Kenjutsu (pp. 173-175), and training involves the bokken as well as the jo.

Skills: Staff; Two-Handed Sword.

Techniques:Arm Lock (Staff); Disarming (Staff or Two-Handed Sword); Feint (Staff or Two-Handed Sword); Sweep (Staff).

Cinematic Skills and Techniques:As Quarterstaff (p. 193).

Perks: Form Mastery (Jo).

Advantages: Enhanced Parry (Staff).

Skills: Karate.

Quarterstaff fighting evolved into a popular sport in 19th-century England. Practitioners used bamboo staffs to avoid injury, and wore protective headgear and padding. The rules removed grappling and stressed less-damaging blows.

Skills: Staff Sport.

Techniques:Feint (Staff Sport).

Advantages: Enhanced Parry (Staff).

Considered by many to be a quintessentially English weapon, the quarterstaff was and still is practiced the world over. Historically, some masters held it in low regard next to the sword. Others – such as George Silver – considered it the “perfect” weapon, and praised its tactical flexibility, ability to stand off enemies either singly or in groups, and striking power. One needn’t look any further than the tales of Robin Hood to gain an appreciation of its legendary status!

Against a shorter weapon, the staff fighter takes advantage of his reach. He keeps his distance, using strikes and the Disarming and Sweep techniques to attack from afar. If his enemy’s weapon is longer, though, he steps in close with an Attack or rushes in with a Move and Attack. Once inside his opponent’s reach, he uses Armed Grapple or Sweep to put his adversary on the ground, and then finishes him with a thrust, swing, or Choke Hold. Not every instructor teaches all of these moves… but most teach the majority of them.

Historical staff fighters used weapons of many lengths – the half-staff, quarterstaff, pikestaff, and so forth – named for their dimensions, the wielder’s grip, and/or the staff’s origin. A true master knew how to use all of these weapons.

The staff-fighting style given here assumes a fully developed “school” that teaches all lengths and techniques. It’s nominally European, but Asian arts are very similar; see Staff Fighting. Some masters put a spike on one end of their staff. Others practiced staff tactics as a “backup” to pike fighting, for use in the event that the head broke off their weapon. Add the Spear skill and the Form Mastery (Spear) perk to reflect such a style.

Skills: Staff.

Techniques: Arm Lock (Staff); Armed Grapple (Staff); Back Strike (Staff); Choke Hold (Staff); Disarming (Staff); Feint (Staff); Sweep (Staff).

Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Push.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Defense (Staff); Grand Disarm (Staff); Pressure-Point Strike (Staff); Timed Defense (Staff); Whirlwind Attack (Staff).

Perks: Grip Mastery (Staff).

Advantages: Enhanced Parry (Staff).

Disadvantages: Overconfidence.

Skills: Polearm; Spear; Staff Art; Wrestling.

Savate is a kicking, punching, and grappling art native to the south of France. The earliest historical reference to “savate” is in an 18th-century poem. Its techniques are certainly much older, though, and probably saw use as far back as the 15th century. Sometime in the interim, Savate became the streetfighting style of choice for sailors, thugs, and toughs.

In 1877, Joseph Charlemont and his son opened a Savate school in Paris. Charlemont Academy took both male and female students, noble and common, and Savate become fashionable. Later in the 19th century, savateurs in contact with Japanese martial artists began to combine their art with Jujutsu, developing the system further while retaining its distinctive French style. After two World Wars, however, few savateurs remained (less than three dozen silver glove holders) and emphasis shifted to a sport form; see La Boxe Française (see above).

Savate is best known as a kicking art but includes a full range of hand strikes, head butts, and even hip and shoulder strikes. Its famous kicks are both high- and low-line – with low kicks being more common – and thrown jumping, spinning, and main au sol (“hand on the floor”). Treat a main au sol kick as either a Committed Attack or an All-Out Attack (Long). Stylists use grapples to avoid an attack or set up a strike, not for locking or immobilizing.

Savate frequently includes cane fighting for advanced students; serious cane fighters should learn La Canne de Combat (p. 157) as well. Certain schools also teach a full range of weapons, including knives, swords, straight razors, whips, and even guns. Some offer an improvised-weapons sub-style called Panache to silver-gloves students. This teaches how to use any object or item of clothing to distract or injure an antagonist.

There are two ways to handle cinematic savateurs. They might throw spectacular acrobatic kicks following handstands and cartwheels, their exaggerated stances, feints, and kicks retaining effectiveness even as they impress with their artistry. Alternatively, such fighters might be like the bareknuckled, full-contact savateurs of old, in which case they should have the same “cinematic” traits as boxers (see Boxing, pp. 152-153).

Modern Savate is often a sport form that favors clean, elegant kicks and punches over pragmatic street techniques. It eliminates grappling and “dirty fighting,” and doesn’t include cane fighting or Panache. Students of this art learn La Boxe Française, not the style described here. Savate is most common in France but has an international federation. It’s possible to find schools – albeit with some difficulty – worldwide.

Skills: Karate; Wrestling.

Techniques: Back Kick; Drop Kick; Feint (Karate); Hammer Fist; Head Butt; Jump Kick; Kicking; Spinning Kick.

Cinematic Skills: Flying Leap; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Flying Jump Kick; Lethal Kick; Roll with Blow; Springing Attack (Karate).

Perks: Improvised Weapons (Karate); Technique Mastery (Kicking).

Advantages: Language (French).

Disadvantages: Bloodlust.

Skills: Acrobatics; Broadsword; Guns; Karate Art; Knife; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Shortsword; Smallsword; Whip.

Techniques: Acrobatic Stand.

Colored patches customarily identified as “glove colors” signify Savate rankings (the gloves themselves don’t change color). New students receive the blue glove after completing the introductory training. Further training leads to the green, red, white, and yellow glove, the silver glove for technique (first through third degree), and ultimately professeur (instructor) status. The red glove is the minimum rank for competition in sport Savate and sometimes called “Savate’s black belt.”

Several additional ranks can’t be reached through training alone. The bronze glove and the silver glove for competition (first through fifth degree) are awarded in competition, on the basis of skill and success at full-contact matches. The gold glove is a title awarded on the basis of exceptional merit – as much for service in the name of the art as for technique and competitive victories. Unlike most martial arts, Savate has separate student and teaching ranks. Starting at green, students can learn to teach. The future professeur receives specialized training in how to structure and instruct a class.

La Boxe Française is a sport form of Savate that became popular after World War II. It lacks weapon arts and emphasizes ring-safe techniques over streetfighting ones. While the style retains some selfdefense applicability, it isn’t a complete armed and unarmed combat system like its forerunner.

Skills: Games (La Boxe Française); Karate Sport.

Techniques: Back Kick; Feint (Karate Sport); Jump Kick; Kicking.

Skills: Acrobatics.

Shaolin Kung Fu is the world-famous art of the Shaolin Temple monks. No martial-arts school is so steeped in myth as the Temple, and its kung fu inherited this legendary status. Separating fact from fiction is difficult . . . even in the face of rigorous research. What is verifiable is that there was more than one Temple and that their monks were as renowned for their skill with the staff and bare hands as for their piety. They were also well-known for their resistance to Manchu rule, and for sheltering rebels and refugees – both of which ultimately led to the Temple’s destruction at the hands of the Manchu.

The main weapon of the Shaolin monks was the staff, which earned them fame for most of the past millennium. It was the ideal weapon: inexpensive, convenient to carry, and a symbol of priesthood in many Asian countries (although it’s hard to say which came first: the symbol or its use as a weapon!). The monks trained to use the staff for attack and defense, and as the basis of some unarmed-combat moves – including their signature Pole-Vault Kick.

Shaolin monks also learned (or at least had access to training in) many other weapon skills. There are stories of monks using nearly every Chinese weapon – but especially the hook sword, jian, and three-part staff, and such exotica as the “deer antlers” and qian kun ri yue dao. See Chapter 6 for more about these weapons.

Cinematic Shaolin monks are capable of just about every amazing feat from martial-arts myth. This is in part due to the immense body of folk legend surrounding the Temple’s monks and in part due to decades of martial-arts movies ascribing the incredible abilities of almost any martial artist to “Shaolin Temple training.” The GM could fairly permit nearly any cinematic skill, technique, or perk!

In historical times, the only way to learn this style was to travel to the Shaolin Temple and become a monk. A monk’s life was more about meditation and hard chores than martial arts – hundreds of kung fu movies notwithstanding. Those who wished to go on to become masters had to commit to life in a monastery. The GM might make exceptions in a cinematic game.

Finding a Shaolin Kung Fu instructor in the modern world isn’t difficult – but many of these schools actually teach other kung fu styles, or Wushu (pp. 206-207), under the Shaolin name. A few schools do seem to be able to trace their lineage back to the Shaolin Temple, and teach a style much like the historical one described here. They usually teach Combat Art skills only, however, or save genuine combat skills for advanced students.

Skills: Judo; Karate; Meditation; Philosophy (Buddhism); Staff.

Techniques: Arm Lock (Judo or Staff); Armed Grapple (Staff); Back Kick; Choke Hold (Staff); Disarming (Staff); Elbow Strike; Exotic Hand Strike; Feint (Karate or Staff); Hammer Fist; Jump Kick; Kicking; Spinning Kick; Spinning Punch; Spinning Strike (Staff); Stamp Kick; Sweep (Judo or Karate).

Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting; Body Control; Breaking Blow; Flying Leap; Hypnotic Hands; Immovable Stance; Kiai; Light Walk; Lizard Climb; Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets; Push; Sensitivity.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Defense (Staff); Fighting While Seated (Karate); Flying Jump Kick; Grand Disarm (Judo or Staff); Lethal Eye-Poke; Lethal Kick; Lethal Strike; Pole-Vault Kick; Pressure-Point Strike; Roll with Blow; Timed Defense; Whirlwind Attack (Karate or Staff).

Perks: Chi Resistance (Any); Cotton Stomach; Drunken Fighting; Iron Body Parts (Any); Special Exercises (DR 1 with Tough Skin); Special Exercises (Striking ST +1); Style Adaptation (Any Chinese style); Technique Mastery (Any kicking technique).

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Fit or Very Fit; Forceful Chi; High Pain Threshold; Inner Balance; Language (Chinese).

Disadvantages: Disciplines of Faith; Sense of Duty (Shaolin Monastery); Vows.

Skills: Acrobatics; Broadsword; Broadsword Art; Judo Art; Jumping; Karate Art; Knife; Knife Art; Polearm; Polearm Art; Shortsword; Shortsword Art; Staff Art; Two- Handed Flail; Two-Handed Flail Art; Whip; Whip Art.

The Shaolin Temple’s visible traditions are its students’ orange robes, shaved heads burned with a pattern of nine small dots, and physical fitness (imparted by years of martial-arts training). These things are familiar from TV, movies . . . and actual monks. The People’s Republic of China reopened the long-closed Temple as a cultural center. It’s a popular destination for visiting martial artists, who train there or with any of the many unaffiliated teachers who live nearby. In the past, of course, one had to join the Temple to train there.

Historically, entry into the order was fairly mundane. Impressing the resident monks with your seriousness about the vows, and taking those vows, would be the only requirements. This might still be difficult; it’s said that Bodhidharma sat outside the Temple for years, seeking entrance, until his gaze burned a hole in the mountain. On the other hand, the Temple did have a reputation for taking in wanderers, political dissidents, and other refugees – often rebels against the ruling Manchu Dynasty – if they were willing to take vows. Some of these monks might be more concerned with the world outside than with meditation or prayer. This reputation and the presence of politicized monks (both refugees and long-time acolytes) led to many conflicts with the government.

Movies and TV shows prefer a more exotic “admission test.” Typically, one must either fight some or all of the monks (usually in ascending order of skill), or take unrealistically severe vows of obedience. Most of these fictional treatments also require a “final exam” before one is considered a true monk.

The TV show Kung Fu had its own, now famous, version of the “final exam.” After training for years, students had to pass an ordeal involving an oral test on Buddhist philosophy, a maze filled with “attack dummies” and traps sprung by surprise, and other tricks designed to trip up the unwary and unskilled. Finally, the candidate had to lift a red-hot cauldron weighing 500 lbs. and carry it a short distance. On the sides were raised markings that branded the carrier’s arms with a dragon and a tiger, marking him as a Shaolin monk. This is Hollywood rather than reality – but it certainly suits cinematic Shaolin monks!

The shortsword was unpopular for much of the Middle Ages. Around 1250, however, it reappeared in the hands of foot soldiers. By the late 15th or early 16th century, it was the standard sidearm of the German Landsknecht. Commoners across Europe also used this light, handy, cheap sword. The law often played a role in this: it was quite common to restrict broadswords to the nobility. The shortsword – like the dagger – was legal on the street in some cities . . . and useful in tight corners.

Shortsword Fighting was a style for unarmored or lightly armored combatants relying on deft footwork and quick parries for protection. The razor-sharp swords were primarily cutting weapons, although most had a stabbing point. Swordsmen used Defensive Attack to “feel out” the enemy and Deceptive Attack to bypass his guard. Because most wore little or no armor, they avoided All-Out Attack, Committed Attack, and other tactics that opened them up to retaliation.

Stylists learned to fight in close combat with hand parries, grapples, kicks, and blows with the pommel. Some historical fighters preferred two swords – one to defend and the other to attack – to a single blade and an open hand. Cinematic warriors would use two weapons to attack or parry at the same time, of course!

The shortsword is likely to be a favorite weapon of urban thugs and ruffians wherever it’s permitted on the streets. Fairly or not, then, stylists might gain a reputation for being scum themselves. Shortsword fighters seeking to expand their skills might learn Dagger Fighting (p. 155) and/or Combat Wrestling (pp. 204-205) as well. Shortsword Fighting was also a popular “backup” style for those schooled in Longsword Fighting (pp. 180-182).

Skills: Brawling; Judo; Shortsword.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Armed Grapple (Shortsword); Bind Weapon (Shortsword); Close Combat (Shortsword); Disarming (Judo); Eye- Gouging; Eye-Poke; Feint (Shortsword); Ground Fighting (Shortsword); Low Fighting (Shortsword); Targeted Attack (Shortsword Swing/Arm); Targeted Attack (Shortsword Swing/Neck); Targeted Attack (Shortsword Thrust/Vitals).

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Shortsword); Fighting While Seated (Shortsword). Perks: Grip Mastery (Shortsword); Off-Hand Weapon Training (Shortsword); Quick-Swap (Shortsword); Skill Adaptation (Bind Weapon defaults to Shortsword).

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Enhanced Parry (Shortsword or All).

Disadvantages: Reputation (Ruffian).

Skills: Fast-Draw (Sword); Knife; Main-Gauche.

This is the Japanese art of throwing and concealing the shuriken (throwing blade; see p. 223). Contrary to popular perception, shuriken weren’t merely “ninja throwing stars.” Samurai valued them as backup weapons, because they were easy to conceal and quick to deploy. Some shuriken (especially single-pointed spikes) functioned as fist loads, too, making them useful last-ditch melee weapons. Shurikenjutsu was usually a “hidden” or “secret” part of a ryu, because the shuriken was most effective when the enemy wasn’t expecting it.

Shurikenjutsu stresses readying the shuriken quickly, without letting the opponent see it. Stylists typically conceal it in the palm or behind a sleeve. They toss the weapon with a sharp overhand or underhand motion, spin it sideways, or throw it while sweeping their hand through a sworddrawing motion – attacking the enemy by surprise even as they ready their sword. Treat such moves as either dirty tricks that use Holdout vs. Perception (see Dirty Tricks, p. 76) or one of the options under Tricky Shooting (p. 121). The GM should consider letting practitioners learn a Style Perk that gives them access to Tricky Shooting if the campaign doesn’t generally use those rules.

Stylists hurl shuriken rapidly, ideally throwing at least one per second to deny the foe a lull that he could exploit to advance or attack. To do this, ready a shuriken in each hand (possibly using Fast-Draw), throw the one in your master hand, use the Quick-Swap perk to move the other to your throwing hand, and Fast-Draw a replacement with the off hand. Use Rapid Strike with Thrown Weapons (p. 120-121) to throw two or more blades! Fast-Draw and Quick-Swap let you keep a steady rain of shuriken heading toward your victim.

Cinematic Shurikenjutsu works somewhat differently. Rather than hurling a constant stream of shuriken, practitioners throw multiple blades from both hands simultaneously! They toss shuriken with such precision that they can break firearms, shatter chains, and split thick slabs of wood.

Shurikenjutsu still exists, its practices of concealment and quick throwing unchanged from its combative predecessor. Students use sharp shuriken to practice on targets, blunt ones to practice on partners in padded armor. Thanks to the shuriken’s popularity during the 1980s “ninja craze” in the U.S., many regard it as a weapon of criminals or wannabe ninja and treat those who carry shuriken accordingly.

Shurikenjutsu schools sometimes teach how to throw knives, too – including the kubizashi (head-displaying knife) and such larger blades as the tanto (large knife). The GM can also adapt this style for other thrown weapons, such as the chakram (p. 214), although the name and Thrown Weapon skill would certainly change.

Skills: Fast-Draw (Shuriken); Holdout; Thrown Weapon (Shuriken).

Techniques: Targeted Attack (Shuriken Throw/Eyes); Targeted Attack (Shuriken Throw/Hand); Targeted Attack (Shuriken Throw/Leg); Targeted Attack (Shuriken Throw/Neck).

Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Thrown Shuriken).

Perks: Off-Hand Weapon Training (Fast-Draw or Thrown Shuriken); Quick-Swap (Shuriken); Unusual Training (Can use Tricky Shooting in a campaign that doesn’t use those rules).

Advantages: Ambidexterity; Weapon Master (Shuriken).

Disadvantages: Reputation (“Thug or criminal,” in a modern game; “Signature move: carries and uses concealed shuriken,” in a historical one).

Skills: Karate; Thrown Weapon (Knife).

Sojutsu, also known as Yarijutsu, is the Japanese art of spear fighting. While samurai are popularly associated with swords, many preferred the spear for warfare – mainly because of its reach advantage and effectiveness against mounted foes. Historically, the spear played a very important battlefield role.

Sojutsu deals primarily with using the spear for stabbing. It includes some training at wielding the spear as a staff, but warriors who wish to make extensive use of such tactics should consider studying Bojutsu (p. 192) as well. Sojutsu schools hardly ever teach spear throwing: few bushi carry multiple spears, and throwing away one’s primary weapon is foolhardy at best!

Sojutsuka (Sojutsu fighters) use their spear’s length to keep the enemy at bay, holding their weapon two-handed and usually at maximum reach. Stylists circle, using Wait and Evaluate to look for an opening to exploit, or Feint to create one. When they strike, they go for a lethal thrust to the vitals, neck, or (especially against an armored foe) face. They often use Committed Attack (Strong) to penetrate armor and ensure an incapacitating hit.

Cinematic Sojutsuka are known for their fierce battle cries and armor-cracking strikes. They can even launch a Whirlwind Attack, attacking multiple adversaries with a Tip Slash (p. 113). This tends to be a last resort, since Tip Slash isn’t especially damaging.

Some Japanese spears had hooks or even L-shaped spearheads designed for hooking and grabbing. Practitioners who use such weapons might learn Armed Grapple (Spear) and/or Hook (Spear).

Skills: Spear; Staff.

Techniques: Disarming (Spear); Feint (Spear); Retain Weapon (Spear); Sweep (Spear); Targeted Attack (Spear Thrust/Face); Targeted Attack (Spear Thrust/Neck); Targeted Attack (Spear Thrust/Vitals).

Cinematic Skills: Kiai; Mental Strength; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Defense (Spear); Whirlwind Attack (Spear).

Perks: Form Mastery (Spear); Grip Mastery (Spear); Off-Hand Weapon Training (Spear).

Advantages: Combat Reflexes.

Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Bushido).

Skills: Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Thrown Weapon (Spear).

Techniques: Armed Grapple (Spear); Hook (Spear).

Sojutsu (pp. 197-198) is but one of the world’s many spear arts. The spear is a very simple weapon that has seen extensive use in warfare, hunting, and personal combat since before recorded history. It survives today as the bayonet, taught by modern armies as much to instill aggressiveness in recruits as for combat utility.

Chinese Spear Fighting is dramatic. A move particular to Chinese styles, especially cinematic ones, is the fullextension thrust with one hand on the very end of the pole. This is an All-Out Attack (Long) that ends in a crouch, inflicting normal one-handed damage. Cinematic fighters should use the Flying Lunge technique and the Tip Slash option (p. 113) extensively, too.

Chinese spears are flexible, allowing arced thrusts. Treat these as Deceptive Attacks. A decorative horse-hair tassel – white or brightly colored – is knotted behind the head. This serves to distract enemies and prevent blood from running down the shaft (which could foul the wielder’s grip).

Skills: Acrobatics; Spear; Staff.

Techniques: As Sojutsu (pp. 197-198), but add Feint (Staff) and Sweep (Staff).

Cinematic Skills and Techniques: As Sojutsu, but add Flying Lunge (Spear).

Perks: Form Mastery (Spear); Grip Mastery (Spear).

Skills: Spear Art.

This style is based on the heroic stories of Homer’s Iliad. Greek heroes carried two spears and a sword. They were ferried to battle on chariots but dismounted to fight. They usually threw one spear and saved the other for melee. The sword was a backup, used when both spears were lost or against especially difficult foes. Spear fighters should also learn Pankration (pp. 188-189) or some form of Wrestling (pp. 204-206) or Boxing (pp. 152-153).

Greek epics often demonstrated the enemy’s ferocity and the danger posed by his weapons by having the hero narrowly avoid an attack that went on to kill his chariot driver. The GM could treat this as a limited Extra Life!

Legendary Celtic warriors fought similarly, and should use this style as well. They were famed for being able to run up volleys of arrows shot at them. See Special Feats for Cinematic Skills (pp. 129-130) for ideas on how to handle this.

Skills: Shield; Spear; Thrown Weapon (Spear).

Techniques: As Sojutsu (pp. 197-198), but remove Disarming (Spear) and Sweep (Spear).

Cinematic Skills and Techniques: As Sojutsu, but add Dual-Weapon Attack (Thrown Spear).

Perks: Naval Training; Off-Hand Weapon Training (Thrown Spear).

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Fearlessness; High Pain Threshold. A fierce Reputation is critical – it’s usually what the warrior is fighting to establish!

Disadvantages: Bad Temper; Bloodlust; Overconfidence.

Skills: Shortsword.

History credits Shaka, the early 19th-century Zulu king, with turning the Zulus into a warrior nation. He forged war bands into disciplined regiments, or impi, and trained his troops to fight with the short-handled, long-bladed iklwa instead of the assegai (javelin). They also used the knobbed club. When not at war, Zulu warriors led a pastoral existence, and thus tended to be both fit and fleet of foot.

Iklwa Fighting is extremely direct. It uses the shield not only to deflect attacks but also to hook the enemy’s shield and drag him off-balance. After pulling his foe off-guard, the warrior stabs his opponent in the vitals and disembowels him (to release his spirit in death). Committed Attack (Strong) is common.

Skills: Axe/Mace; Running; Shield; Spear.

Techniques: As Sojutsu (pp. 197-198), but replace Disarming (Spear) and Sweep (Spear) with Armed Grapple (Shield) and Feint (Shield).

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Fit.

Disadvantages: Bloodlust; Callous.

Skills: Guns.

Jukenjutsu is the Japanese art of bayonet fighting, but it works “as is” for the bayonet style of almost any military force in the world. Jukenjutsu has both sport and combat forms. Sport fighters use padding-tipped rifles and throat, chest, and face protection. Only these three targets are valid – and only thrusting is allowed. Purely military bayonet training omits Savoir-Faire (Dojo) and Spear Sport. Some soldiers also learn Knife.

Skills: Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Spear; Spear Sport.

Techniques: Feint (Spear); Retain Weapon (Rifle); Targeted Attack (Spear Thrust/Face); Targeted Attack (Spear Thrust/Neck); Targeted Attack (Spear Thrust/Vitals).

Advantages: Combat Reflexes.

Shields were relatively uncommon for foot troops in Asia but very common in Europe. This style is suitable for spear fighters from across Europe or anywhere warriors use the shield and hurled spear in battle. Its users included the Vikings, who especially admired heroic feats with the thrown spear.

Skills: Shield; Spear; Thrown Weapon (Spear).

Techniques: As Sojutsu (pp. 197-198).

Cinematic Skills and Techniques: As Sojutsu, but add Dual-Weapon Attack (Thrown Spear).

Perks: Naval Training; Off-Hand Weapon Training (Thrown Spear); Shield-Wall Training.

Sumo is a form of traditional Japanese combat. Closely tied to the Shinto religion, it’s as much a ceremony as a sporting event. It’s also Japan’s earliest unarmed martial art. It originally included all manner of hand strikes and kicks, and deaths occurred in the ring, but killing techniques were banned in the early 8th century. The sportive form originated in the Sengoku Jidai Era, and the dohyo (wrestling ring) came into use in 1578. Today, there are six basho (tournaments) each year, with one bout a day for 15 days.

Before Sumo became a ring-based sport, stylists – also known as sumotori or rikishi (“strong gentlemen”) – trained samurai, acted as bodyguards, and fought in fairly brutal matches. Few techniques were barred. Victory was by submission.

In modern Sumo, matches are short and explosive. Sumotori square off in the ring and begin the match by mutual decision. Common tactics include throws (typically over the leg, a variation on Sweep), shoves, and slams. Feints are extremely important, and include fakes, simple ploys such as the nekodamashi (“cat confuser,” a clap in the opponent’s face), powerful slaps, and shifts of weight to trick one’s rival into opening himself to fight-winning shoves. Contenders frequently use Committed Attack (Strong) or All-Out Attack (Strong) for a full-force shove – often after a Feint. The first fighter to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of his feet, or to contact the ground outside the ring, is the loser.

Sumotori train at “stables,” where the daily routine consists of chores, Sumo practice, and eating gigantic amounts of high-protein, high-fat foods to gain weight. Great bulk isn’t a requirement – young children, male and female, engage in the sport – but because Sumo has no weight classes, sheer size tends to influence a fighter’s career. Simply put, a large man is harder to lift and shove. Strong sumotori have won bouts “simply” by lifting a smaller opponent and dropping him outside the ring!

Cinematic sumotori are like realistic ones, but more so – in every sense. They’re even larger, stronger, and harder to move. Their massive bulk enhances their combat ability.

Sumo is most widely taught in Japan. It’s easy to learn the basics and almost anyone can try to join a stable, but training is grueling and designed to weed out non-contenders. Schools do exist outside Japan – especially in Eastern Europe, Hawaii, and Mongolia – but those who want to “make it” must join a Japanese stable. Ranked competitors must be able to speak polite Japanese. All participants, including foreigners, use Japanese ring names that feature the first kanji of their trainer’s name.

Sumo is purely a sport; no “self-defense” schools exist. However, the style favors size and strength, and its practice and tournaments are full-contact. These factors make Sumo potentially useful outside the ring if the stylist learns its optional skills and techniques.

Skills: Games (Sumo); Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Sumo Wrestling.

Techniques: Feint (Sumo Wrestling); Sweep (Sumo Wrestling); Trip.

Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Springing Attack (Sumo Wrestling).

Perks: Power Grappling; Special Exercises (DR 1 with Partial, Skull and Tough Skin); Special Exercises (HP can exceed ST by 100%).

Secondary Characteristics: Improved HP.

Advantages: Language (Japanese); Reputation (From fans).

Disadvantages: Fat or Very Fat; Gluttony.

Skills: Brawling; Intimidation; Judo; Karate.

Techniques: Hammer Fist; Low-Line Defense (Sumo Wrestling).

Almost every aspect of Sumo contains elements of both ritual and sport. All fighters wear a uniform – a long, wrapped loincloth called a mawashi (sometimes decorated with tassels) – and variations aren’t allowed. They must style their hair in a samurai’s topknot, or chonmage. Low-ranking sumotori do each other’s hair or that of their seniors; highranking ones sometimes have a professional stylist on their staff.

Before the fight begins, each contestant grabs a handful of salt and throws it to ritually purify the ring. Then they square off. When both feel prepared, they start the match. The fighters typically attempt to “psyche out” their rival first, and may return to their corners three or four times before they clash. It can take up to four minutes for high-ranking sumotori to begin a bout! (Low-ranking ones are expected to get on with it quickly . . .) Matches have no time limit, and range from seconds to minutes in length.

Sumo rankings depend on victories. Successful rikishi are voted up and down through five ranks. The top two ranks – ozeki and yokozuna (grand champion) – are most important. Ozeki who seek to become yokozuna must win at least two basho to merit consideration. Only those who show proper “spirit,” dignity, and good technique receive the rank. Yokozuna is a status, not merely a title. Once a sumotori becomes yokozuna, he can’t lose that rank! A fading yokozuna is expected to honorably and voluntarily retire to avoid bringing shame to the rank.

Sword-and-Buckler Play was a popular means of self-defense among the European nobility and bourgeoisie from about 1250 until the 16th century. It might have originated even earlier – Germanic and Viking warriors were known to wield the iron boss of a wooden shield like a buckler when the shield was hacked apart. The style seems to have been particularly fashionable with the urban upper classes, students, and clerics. Infantry, missile troops especially, studied it for protection when their formations were broken.

Sword-and-Buckler Play involved the broadsword, buckler, and unarmed strikes and grapples, and emphasized speed and mobility. Stylists faced their foe squarely with both sword and buckler, to keep him at arm’s length. They used the sword aggressively to cut and thrust, the buckler to ward off blows and make shield bashes. Bucklers occasionally had sharp edges for slashing, too; see Chapter 6 for more on sharpened shield rims. A warrior who couldn’t bring his sword and buckler into play would attempt kicks, punches, grapples, and takedowns. Sword-and-buckler fighters tended to fight defensively, using the Defensive Attack and Attack maneuvers until the enemy was at a disadvantage, then moving in with strong armed or unarmed attacks.

Few legends surround sword-and-buckler fighters. However, larger-than-life stylists could certainly exist in a cinematic campaign! Likely techniques are those that enhance fighting with two weapons at once.

While primarily a combative art, Sword-and-Buckler Play also had a sportive side. Fighters would sometimes put on public displays or engage in friendly competition. The style remained common across Europe until the 16th century, when fencing became more fashionable. Fencing with the buckler and rapier would continue for another century or so. Skills: Brawling; Broadsword; Shield (Buckler); Wrestling.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Armed Grapple (Buckler); Bind Weapon (Broadsword); Counterattack (Broadsword); Disarming (Broadsword); Feint (Broadsword or Buckler); Kicking; Retain Weapon (Broadsword or Buckler); Trip.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Broadsword or Buckler); Dual-Weapon Defense (Broadsword or Buckler).

Perks: Skill Adaptation (Bind Weapon defaults to Broadsword); Special Setup (Brawling Parry > Arm Lock); Sure-footed (Uneven).

Advantages: Enhanced Block.

Disadvantages: Overconfidence.

Skills: Fast-Draw (Sword); Knife; Rapier; Shield.

Perks: Weapon Bond.

Sword-and-Shield Fighting was the art of using the broadsword and shield in combat. It likely originated in the Dark Ages, although conclusive evidence is scanty. Its heyday was the early Middle Ages, but it survived – even thrived – well into the Renaissance. The Spanish used sword-and-shield troops until the 16th century, and the style vanished from the battlefield only after the spread of firearms rendered the shield obsolete.

Unlike bucklers, shields were distinctly military in character. Civilians rarely carried them. After 1350, the shield was primarily a tool of the infantry in Europe. Fighters used shields of all sizes – from small to large – made of metal, wood, and leather. Some even sported sharp spikes! Sword-and-Shield Fighting required lots of room. It stressed footwork, darting strikes, and fighting at arm’s length. Stylists held the shield forward to repulse enemies, and used more blocks than parries. They learned some wrestling moves but largely avoided close combat (unlike practitioners of Sword-and-Buckler Play).

The sword-and-shield fighter circled his foe and used Wait and Evaluate to seek an opening, or a Beat (pp. 100- 101) with his shield to create one. He often attacked by rushing in, striking, and pulling back quickly. Treat this as a Committed Attack (Determined) with two steps – one in, one out. He might instead launch a Defensive Attack in the form of a jabbing thrust to a vulnerable location. If his attacker left himself open on the offensive, the stylist punished him with the Counterattack technique. If his enemy pressed the attack, the sword-and-shield man responded with All-Out Defense (Increased Block), and used retreats to open the gap. When things got too close, he made aggressive use of his shield – both to shove his opponent back to arm’s length and to bash him.

There are no tales of “cinematic” sword-and-shield fighters. The GM should certainly allow them, though, and a few techniques are very appropriate for the style. Modern reenactors – in particular the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) – have worked hard to recreate this style. Use the style as written, replacing combat skills with Combat Sport skills. For live-steel reenactors, even this change is unnecessary.

Skills: Broadsword; Shield; Wrestling.

Techniques: Counterattack (Broadsword); Feint (Broadsword or Shield).

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Broadsword or Shield); Dual-Weapon Defense (Broadsword or Shield); Flying Lunge (Broadsword).

Perks: Shield-Wall Training; Sure-Footed (Uneven).

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Enhanced Block; Enhanced Dodge.

Disadvantages: Duty.

Skills: Acrobatics; Brawling; Knife.

Tae Kwon Do (Korean for “hand-foot way”) traces its lineage through several Korean martial arts back to 500 A.D. – or earlier, by some accounts. Its official founding was in 1955, however. While it’s descended from combative arts, it’s largely a sport form, like modern Karate. Indeed, it borrowed some kata (later removed and replaced with native forms) and the use of colored belts from that art. There are schools that teach Tae Kwon Do for self-defense rather than for competition, though; these feature full-contact matches (with padded armor) and intense training.

Tae Kwon Do emphasizes striking, especially the power, speed, and utility of kicking. Stylists use all manners of kicks – particularly high kicks aimed at the head, since these score the most in competition. They even practice a kick thrown after a 540º spin; treat this as the All-Out Attack version of Spinning Kick (pp. 79-80). Tae Kwon Do also teaches punches – including spear-hand and ridge-hand strikes – but considers them secondary. Schools that teach self-defense versions of the art put punches on a more equal footing with kicks.

In competitive Tae Kwon Do, punches score only if they strike the chest. Kicks must hit the opponent at waist level or higher. Spectacular high kicks rack up the most points and offer the possibility of a knockout victory. Stylists also show off breaking techniques to demonstrate strength. Instructors and judges expect advanced practitioners to be able to break boards or concrete with all punching and kicking techniques. Tae Kwon Do is widespread – particularly in the U.S., where it was introduced a year after it was founded – and it’s easy to find a teacher. Many “karate” schools actually teach a form of Tae Kwon Do! Tae Kwon Do was a featured demonstration sport at the 1988 Olympic Games and became a fullfledged Olympic sport at the 2000 Games.

Tae Kwon Do denotes rank using a series of colored belts, just like the Japanese arts from which it took its ranking system. It uses 10 gup ranks and 10 dan ranks. Belt colors are: white (10th gup), yellow (8th gup), green (6th gup), blue (4th gup), red (2nd gup), and black (1st through 10th dan). Oddnumbered gup ranks use a belt of the previous rank’s color with a stripe of the next rank’s color; e.g., a 7th gup wears a yellow belt with a green stripe.

Not all schools use this traditional ranking system. Many have adopted a wide variety of belt colors to denote different ranks, adding solid colors such as purple and orange to denote odd-numbered gups. Some add more intermediate stripes between belts to allow for steady progress through small promotions.

Skills: Jumping; Karate; Karate Sport; Savoir-Faire (Dojo). Techniques: Axe Kick; Back Kick; Elbow Strike; Exotic Hand Strike; Jump Kick; Kicking; Spinning Kick; Spinning Punch; Sweep (Karate).

Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow; Flying Leap; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Flying Jump Kick.

Perks: Rapid Retraction (Kicks); Technique Mastery (Any kicking technique); Unusual Training (Breaking Blow, Only vs. well-braced objects out of combat).

Advantages: Fit.

Disadvantages: Overconfidence; Reputation (Aims kicks high).

Skills: Acrobatics; Games (Tae Kwon Do).

T’ai Chi Chuan – literally “supreme ultimate fist,” but in fact named after the famous yin/yang diagram – is an art intended for combat and self-defense. It seems to have originated in 17th-century China, but it’s based on much older principles. The GM could reasonably include T’ai Chi Chuan in a historical game set centuries or even millennia before the 17th century. Modern gamers should know that while this style is the ancestor of the T’ai Chi system practiced for health and spiritual reasons today, the two aren’t identical; see T’ai Chi.

T’ai Chi Chuan is an internal art based on qigong breathing techniques, chi flow, and balance. The practitioner creates a “root,” or point of balance, and uses this to launch and resist attacks. Punches often employ the palm or a loose fist; stylists use the Hammer Fist technique extensively. Kicks are generally low-line and regularly accompanied by a fake strike to distract – a Deceptive Attack.

The primary basis of T’ai Chi Chuan practice is a single form that contains all of the art’s techniques, done slowly and with relaxation. In combat, the martial artist uses the same methods at full force. T’ai Chi Chuan includes “push-hands” practice. Practitioners stand face-to-face and try to push over their opponent or draw him into pushing against a sudden lack of resistance, thereby throwing or tripping him. This helps train stylists at balance and at knocking over foes with a shove.

In combat, the T’ai Chi Chuan fighter normally takes Wait maneuvers, lets his foe attack first, and makes good use of Stop Hit (p. 108) and Riposte (pp. 124-125). He wards off his assailant with parries, then grabs him and applies a lock. Typical follow-ups to locks are throws, takedowns, and strikes. The stylist might instead use a shove to take down an off-balance opponent or to set up an adversary for a low-line kick, punch, or throw. All-Out and Committed Attacks are rare.

Cinematic T’ai Chi Chuan is especially powerful. This is mainly due to its emphasis on chi abilities. The GM should allow cinematic stylists to replace Sumo Wrestling with Push on the style’s skill list.

Traditional T’ai Chi Chuan includes weapon forms for the dao, jian, spear, and staff. Some schools add the combat fan and slashing wheel. Like the art’s unarmed forms, its weapon techniques are smooth, flowing, and deceptively relaxed. Most modern schools teach Combat Art versions of weapon skills, when they offer them at all.

Skills: Breath Control; Judo; Judo Art; Karate; Sumo Wrestling.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Hammer Fist; Sweep (Judo, Karate, or Sumo Wrestling).

Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Mental Strength; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets; Push.

Cinematic Techniques: Pressure-Point Strike; Roll with Blow.

Perks: Unusual Training (Push, May not step or move while doing so).

Advantages: Forceful Chi; Inner Balance; Perfect Balance.

Skills: Autohypnosis; Broadsword; Broadsword Art; Knife; Knife Art; Meditation; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Spear; Spear Art; Staff; Staff Art.

Techniques: Push Kick.

T’ai Chi is a meditative version of T’ai Chi Chuan. T’ai Chi practitioners – unlike T’ai Chi Chuan stylists – throw all strikes completely without force and rarely if ever practice against an opponent. Such training imparts no effective striking ability. Few schools offer push-hands practice. Weapons training, if any, teaches Combat Art skills exclusively.

Skills: Judo Art.

Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Push.

Cinematic Techniques: Roll with Blow.

Skills: Autohypnosis; Breath Control; Broadsword Art; Knife Art; Meditation; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Spear Art; Staff Art.

Japan’s Tokugawa period was an era of growing state control. Police were called on to rein in unruly ronin and samurai, who were often armed and sometimes dangerous. In the capital, Edo, this led to a larger police force trained in refined tactics for capturing criminals. Foremost among their methods was Taihojutsu, a martial art aimed at quickly disarming a resisting adversary and rendering him helpless without causing permanent injury or death.

Taihojutsu’s signature weapon was the jutte, which was capable of parrying swords, disarming, and striking without inflicting bloody cuts like a sword would. The jutte was so closely identified with Taihojutsu that it became as much a symbol of authority as a weapon. Other Taihojutsu weapons included the kusarijutte, sasumata, and sodegarami (“sleeve catcher”). Chain- and truncheon-type weapons were popular because they were difficult if not impossible for a sword to break, and could disarm a sword-wielding foe. For more on these weapons, see Chapter 6.

The goal of Taihojutsu was to disable or capture the opponent without causing serious harm. Almost anything that accomplished this was acceptable. For instance, Taihojutsu-trained officers occasionally carried metsubushi (p. 220) and used them to blow blinding powder in the target’s face to make him easier to apprehend. Training also emphasized group tactics – officers worked in pairs or in small teams to surround a suspect, rapidly disarm him, and tie him up. Because of this emphasis on capture, Defensive Attacks and such techniques as Disarming and Targeted Attacks on limbs were common. Grapples tended to be a prelude to a takedown or an Arm Lock.

Taihojutsu included Hojojutsu: the art of tying up suspects with rope (frequently using elaborate knots). This usually followed a pin or an Arm Lock that prevented the detainee from resisting effectively. Cinematic practitioners can use the Binding technique to truss opponents in combat without restraining them first!

Taihojutsu was unique to Tokugawa-era Japan. The style is extinct today, although some of its component weapon skills remain. See Styles for Cops (p. 145) for notes on modern police styles.

Skills: Jitte/Sai; Judo; Knot-Tying; Kusari; Staff.

Techniques: Bind Weapon (Jitte/Sai); Disarming (Jitte/Sai or Kusari); Entangle (Kusari); Hook (Staff); Targeted Attack (Jitte/Sai Swing/Arm); Targeted Attack (Kusari Swing/Arm).

Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength; Pressure Points.

Cinematic Techniques: Binding; Pressure-Point Strike; Snap Weapon (Jitte/Sai).

Perks: Form Mastery (Kusarijutte); Style Adaptation (Kusarijutsu); Teamwork (Taihojutsu); Technique Adaptation (Disarming).

Advantages: Enhanced Parry (Jitte/Sai).

Disadvantages: Duty; Sense of Duty (Innocent Civilians).

Skills: Blowpipe; Polearm.

Perks: Weapon Bond, usually to a jutte.

Taijutsu (“body combat art”) is the striking and grappling art of the ninja. This term isn’t synonymous with Ninjutsu. “Ninjutsu” encompasses all of the ninja’s skills – not just Taijutsu but also training at stealth, subterfuge, and deception, and a number of other armed and unarmed styles. These additional elements have nothing to do with Taijutsu!

Taijutsu has three main components, taught together and given equal emphasis:

1. Falling, tumbling, and acrobatics.

2. Striking, kicking, and breaking.

3. Grappling and joint locking.

Stylists use speed, flexibility, and quick movement to defend themselves and defeat their opponents. They remain mobile and seek to avoid a static fight. To accomplish this, the ninja makes regular use of Evade to skirt foes and Acrobatic Dodge to avoid attacks.

Taijutsu punches use both closed fists and Exotic Hand Strikes (finger strike, spear-hand, shuto, etc.). Kicks primarily connect with the heel, the ball of the foot, or the top of the foot. Preferred targets for all types of strikes are the groin, vitals, neck, and eyes, as Taijutsu aims to disable the enemy quickly. Deceptive Attacks that rely on sheer speed or changes of target are common. Conversely, Telegraphic Attacks (p. 113) are rare.

After weakening his opponent with strikes, the Taijutsu practitioner either piles on more blows or moves in with a grapple followed by a throw or a takedown. Once his foe is down, he may deliver a finishing strike, apply an Arm Lock to achieve submission, or follow his victim to the ground for a pin. Advanced students sometimes learn further ground techniques, but the art is primarily stand-up.

Modern Taijutsu schools teach a large number of weapons that would be part of other jutsu in historical times. Such training typically starts within the first few belts, although some schools reserve weapons for black belts. Weapons include the hanbo, jo, katana, knife, kusari, naginata, ninja-to, shuriken, spear, staff, and even the tessen (combat fan); see Chapter 6 for details. All of these skills are optional, but it’s unusual to learn Taijutsu without learning weapons. Some even say that the entire goal of Taijutsu is to learn to use anything as a weapon – whether it’s built for the purpose or improvised. Stylists use the footwork, tactics, and hand motions of unarmed Taijutsu when armed, and learn to regard a weapon as an enhancement to the body’s natural weapons, not a replacement for them.

Cinematic Taijutsu stylists are ninja in the grand folkloric tradition. They have access to a huge body of cinematic abilities. They can move without being seen, control bodily functions, walk without sound, and fight blindfolded. Their strikes are lethal, silent, and almost unstoppable. Tales of the ninja credit them with virtually every feat in martial-arts myth. Hollywood-style ninja frequently master Kobujutsu weapons, too – indeed, skill with the nunchaku, sai, and tonfa is practically required!

Modern Taijutsu schools do exist, and practitioners are called “ninja.” Some teach a reinvented form of Ninjutsu – complete with stealth training, costumes, and nunchaku. Others focus almost exclusively on Taijutsu. Currently, there’s only one certified Grand Master of Taijutsu, who heads three schools of Ninpo (Ninjutsu) and six other martial-arts schools amalgamated into a single budo ryu. These schools use the standard 10 kyu and 10 dan ranks, although a few have 15 dan ranks. Students do partner drills, perform kata (sometimes modified by broken rhythms and improvised techniques), and wear gi.

Historical ninja would learn a combat style nearly identical to this. As noted above, they would acquire their weapon skills separately. They should study styles for primary weapons (such as the katana, wakizashi, and spear) and backup weapons (such as the shuriken and kusari). For more about ninja, see Ninja and Ninjutsu.

The Japanese characters that form the word “ninja” mean “one who endures.” An alternative reading is “the art of invisibility.” In some times and places, ninja were also known as shinobi.

Ninjutsu (occasionally spelled Ninjitsu) is a term for the entire collection of arts practiced by ninja. Among other things, these include disguise, climbing, evasion, spying, and armed and unarmed combat. Taijutsu (see right) describes a particular set of combat skills.

Few of the weapons popularly associated with ninja were uniquely “ninja weapons.” For instance, Tokugawaera police used the metsubushi (a kind of blowpipe) to distract suspects; samurai carried the kusarigama and shuriken as backup weapons; and the tonfa, sai, and nunchaku belonged to the Okinawan art of Kobujutsu (p. 178). Ninja generally favored the weapons of the samurai. This isn’t surprising – these weapons were readily available and would make it easier to blend in while disguised, and the ninja would be schooled in their use, because many (perhaps most or all) ninja were in fact members of samurai clans.

Ninja might have used more hidden and combination weapons than most people, though, as backup weapons or surprise tactics. An “unarmed” spy could conceal several deadly (or at least distracting) secrets! The poisoned weapons frequently suggested for ninja are unlikely, however – such things tend to be as dangerous to the user as to the victim. Like modern assassins, ninja probably knew that food was the best vehicle for poison.

Every ninja ought to know Taijutsu (see above). A historical ninja will practice one or more Japanese weapon styles as well; e.g., Kenjutsu (pp. 173-175), Kusarijutsu (p. 179), Kusarigamajutsu (p. 180), or Shurikenjutsu (pp. 195-197). Cinematic ninja should further add Kobujutsu (p. 178) – to use so-called “ninja weapons” from Okinawa! For suitable ninja templates, see Assassin (pp. 31-32) and Spy (p. 38).

Realistic ninja should equip themselves as described above. Cinematic ones might wear a “ninja suit” (the infamous hooded black outfit, which isn’t historical; see The Ninja, p. 13) or other martial-arts costume. Some might include firearms in their arsenal – especially comic-book super-ninja.

In Martial Arts, we follow accepted English usage and use “ninja” for both the singular and the plural. However, many people prefer “ninjas” for the plural – and this seems somehow more appropriate for a cinematic game. When playing fast and loose with equipment and fighting styles, why fret over the English word for a Japanese concept? The true master of deception knows there’s power in names and wants people to get such things wrong!

Skills: Acrobatics; Judo; Karate; Karate Art; Savoir-Faire (Dojo).

Techniques: Acrobatic Stand; Arm Lock; Breakfall (Acrobatics or Judo); Choke Hold; Ear Clap; Elbow Strike; Evade (Acrobatics or Judo); Exotic Hand Strike; Eye-Poke; Feint (Karate); Kicking; Knee Strike; Targeted Attack (Karate Exotic Hand Strike/Neck); Targeted Attack (Karate Kick/Groin); Targeted Attack (Karate Punch/Neck).

Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting; Body Control; Breaking Blow; Flying Leap; Hypnotic Hands; Invisibility Art; Light Walk; Lizard Climb; Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets; Sensitivity; Throwing Art.

Cinematic Techniques: Eye-Pluck; Hand-Clap Parry; Lethal Eye-Poke; Lethal Kick; Lethal Strike; Pressure-Point Strike; Roll with Blow; Timed Defense. Perks: Acrobatic Feints; Improvised Weapons (Any); Style Adaptation (Any Japanese armed style); Technique Adaptation (Feint); Unusual Training (Sensitivity, Only while at least one hand is in physical contact with the opponent).

Advantages: Enhanced Dodge; Language (Japanese).

Disadvantages: Delusions; Overconfidence; Reputation (Silly ninja wannabe).

Skills: Jumping; Knife; Kusari; Polearm; Shortsword; Shuriken; Spear; Staff; Two-Handed Sword; any weapon skill under Kobujutsu (p. 178).

Techniques: Ground Fighting (Judo).

Wing Chun is a combative martial art native to southern China. According to legend, it was founded in the early 18th century. After the destruction of the Shaolin Temple, a nun named Ng Mui fled south. She met Yim Wing Chun, a shopkeeper’s daughter, and taught her Shaolin boxing. Yim added techniques and went on to teach her style to her husband, who named it after her. Variations on this story have Yim learning the style to defeat a bullying general who wished to take her as his concubine.

Wing Chun’s actual origins seem to be more prosaic. The style appears to have coalesced out of fighting techniques used in southern China – particularly by boatmen. References to fighters using forms and technique names unique to Wing Chun suggest that its history extends back more than a century before its legendary founding.

There are several schools of Wing Chun. The most common variation today is that of the Yip family, who have taught Wing Chun for centuries. The art’s most famous student, Bruce Lee (pp. 24-25), was a student of Yip Man.

Wing Chun is notably short on ceremony and ritual. It traditionally lacks ranks and bowing, and has only three forms. The style focuses on a small set of widely applicable tools and stresses practicing these until they come naturally in combat. The emphasis is on close-range fighting – short punches, lowline defensive kicks, soft parries, and standing locks. Its characteristic stance is slightly backward-leaning, with the feet set side-by-side. Wing Chun includes two weapons: the butterfly sword, used in pairs, and the staff, used like a two-handed sword to make wide swinging attacks.

Fundamental to Wing Chun are the concepts of the centerline, an imaginary line drawn down the center of the practitioner’s body, and the six “gates” (high, middle, and low, on either side of the centerline), which are openings to attack from or through. Stylists learn to keep their centerline pointed at the foe while staying off his, minimizing his ability to strike while maximizing their own effectiveness. Another key aspect of the art is chi sao, or “sticking hands”: feeling an opponent’s shifts of balance or focus in order to respond with a parry and counterattack, or to trap his limbs. Students sometimes practice chi sao blindfolded to increase sensitivity.

Wing Chun expects the practitioner to seize the initiative and steamroll his adversary with rapid attacks. The Wing Chun fighter uses “chain punches” – strings of Defensive Attacks, often thrown as Rapid Strikes – to keep the foe offbalance. Kicks frequently target the legs and tend to be Defensive Attacks as well. The stylist meets the enemy’s kicks with a Jam. If using Combinations (p. 80), Combination (Karate Punch/Torso + Karate Kick/Leg) is common among stylists. This sometimes follows a parry that drags down the opponent’s guard to open him up for the combo; model this as a Counterattack. The fighter continues to attack like this until he stuns or weakens his victim, then uses strikes – likely in combination with a lock – to finish him.

Cinematic Wing Chun stylists are extremely powerful. They can sense enemy attacks using Sensitivity and use their chi to root themselves in place. Their unarmed strikes are especially lethal, aimed at pressure points or vital locations to paralyze or kill.

Wing Chun is widespread. Finding a teacher isn’t difficult. Some schools use a formal ranking system of colored sashes; others have no ranking system at all.

Skills: Karate; Shortsword; Wrestling.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Close Combat (Shortsword); Counterattack (Karate or Shortsword); Elbow Strike; Feint (Karate or Shortsword); Jam; Knee Strike; Stamp Kick; Targeted Attack (Karate Kick/Leg).

Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting; Immovable Stance; Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets; Sensitivity.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Shortsword); Dual-Weapon Defense (Karate or Shortsword); Lethal Eye-Poke; Lethal Strike; Pressure-Point Strike.

Perks: Off-Hand Weapon Training (Shortsword); Special Setup (Karate Parry > Arm Lock); Technique Adaptation (Counterattack); Unusual Training (Sensitivity, Only while at least one hand is in physical contact with the opponent).

Advantages: Ambidexterity; Enhanced Parry (Bare Hands or All); Inner Balance; Language (Cantonese).

Disadvantages: Overconfidence.

Skills: Knife; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Staff; Two-Handed Sword.

Techniques: Leg Grapple.

Perks: Off-Hand Weapon Training (Knife).

Wrestling, in one form or another, is the world’s oldest martial art. Humans (and their ancestors) have wrestled since long before recorded history. Almost every culture – not just those known for their martial arts – has some form of wrestling, whether for sport or for combat. This includes Asian countries renowned today for their striking styles, such as China. Below is a tiny sampling of important wrestling styles, selected for their utility in GURPS campaigns in general and Martial Arts games in particular.

Combat Wrestling – sometimes known as “all-in fighting” – was a pragmatic combat art. Knights, fencers, and other professional armsmen routinely learned it to supplement their armed skills. It had neither rules nor a sense of fair play. All holds were “legal,” and any tactic that could damage, dismay, or disable the enemy was considered good.

Combat Wrestling was common at least as far back as the Middle Ages. It continued well into the Renaissance; indeed, many fencing masters felt obliged to include a section on wrestling techniques in their manuals to demonstrate that their knowledge of fighting was complete. Many such manuals survive today. Their depiction of fighters armed with swords and fencing weapons choking, punching, and tripping one another puts the lie to the modern ideal of the “gentlemanly” fencer.

Stylists learned to reach cautiously and wait for their opponent to make a mistake. They used Wait and Evaluate extensively. Attacks took the form of grapples and strikes calculated to disable the foe quickly: standing grappling techniques such as Arm Lock and Finger Lock; limb wrenches; and incapacitating blows aimed at the eyes, groin, jaw, nose, and neck. Most Combat Wrestling styles assumed a battlefield or a street brawl as the setting, so ground-fighting tactics were rare. The first priority of a fighter on the ground was to get up!

The masters emphasized the importance of strength to wrestling, but they also knew that muscle alone wasn’t always enough to win a grappling contest. They taught counters against armed assailants and expected students to be able to fight both armed and unarmed. A few even taught techniques for kicking weapons (especially knives) out of an attacker’s hand.

Combat Wrestling assumed an armed and often armored adversary, so it emphasized grapples and throws over strikes. Thus, striking techniques weren’t as a rule especially advanced. Some masters were dangerous and notable exceptions, however.

Cinematic wrestlers should be strong, although there are period illustrations that show a wrinkled old man cheerfully demolishing his strapping young opponent. Fighters learned the body’s vital areas and strikes to target them, which could justify the Pressure Points skill. Many other cinematic feats fit the style. One manual even showed how to parry weapon attacks while seated!

This style, with slight variations, works for no-holdsbarred wrestling worldwide – be it in China, the Caucasus, the Middle East, or Sub-Saharan Africa. Historical heroes should have no trouble finding a master in almost any place or period.

Skills: Brawling; Judo; Wrestling.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Breakfall; Choke Hold; Disarming (Brawling, Judo, or Wrestling); Elbow Strike; Eye-Gouging; Eye-Rake; Finger Lock; Hammer Fist; Head Lock; Knee Drop; Knee Strike; Neck Snap; Sweep (Judo); Targeted Attack (Brawling Kick/Groin); Targeted Attack (Brawling Punch/Face); Wrench (Limb); Wrench Spine.

Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Mental Strength; Pressure Points.

Cinematic Techniques: Backbreaker; Fighting While Seated (Judo); Pressure-Point Strike.

Perks: Special Exercises (Lifting ST +1).

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Fit or Very Fit.

Disadvantages: Bloodlust; Bully; Overconfidence.

Skills: Karate.

Techniques: Elbow Drop; Ground Fighting (Judo or Wrestling); Kicking; Stamp Kick.

The sport wrestling we know today traces its origins to the ancient Olympic Games. Modern Greco-Roman Wrestling is a safer, less-extreme version of those early matches. The sport still demands great skill, fortitude, and fitness of its competitors, however.

The rules of sport wrestling put the athletes’ safety first, and replace techniques liable to cause actual injury with safer moves. For instance, they allow head locks – but only if the attacker loops one of the defender’s arms into the lock, too. This reduces the odds of the lock inflicting neck injury . . . and renders it less effective in combat or a no-holds-barred match. Despite this, collegiate wrestlers have successfully made the leap to mixed martial arts and more combative forms of wrestling. In game terms, they simply improve Wrestling from their Wrestling Sport default and add the striking skills necessary to compete.

Greco-Roman wrestlers are highly mobile. If one technique fails, they quickly switch to another. They respond to their rival’s movement and reactions, exploiting any opening to go for a pin, lock, or reversal (breaking free of a hold and applying one of their own). Wrestlers use Beats (pp. 100-101) to physically overpower their opponent’s guard, and feints – such as weight shifts and fakes – to create offensive opportunities. The art prizes skill over strength, but strong wrestlers have a definite advantage. In a match, competitors receive points for successful techniques, even if they don’t force a submission. Bouts are timed, and point totals determine the winner when the time runs out.

Greco-Roman Wrestling is an Olympic sport, practiced worldwide. In the U.S., almost every high school or college has a wrestling team. Thus, it’s exceptionally easy to find training. Wrestlers train hard and coaches expect them to be fit and strong. The GM may require competitive wrestlers to take the Fit advantage. High ST is also common.

Skills: Games (Wrestling); Wrestling Sport.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Feint (Wrestling Sport); Low Fighting (Wrestling Sport).

Perks: Power Grappling; Special Exercises (Lifting ST +1).

Secondary Characteristics: Improved FP.

Advantages: Fit or Very Fit.

Disadvantages: Obsession (Make and maintain weight).

Skills: Lifting; Savoir-Faire (Gym); Wrestling.

Submission Wrestling is a form of modern wrestling similar in character to mixed martial arts, but without striking. The goal is to force the opponent to submit using locks or chokes. Wrestlers score points for throws, positions, and holds. Matches that last the allotted time without a submission are decided on points. A major championship held annually by the Abu Dhabi Combat Club attracts competitive wrestlers worldwide.

Skills: Games (Submission Wrestling); Wrestling.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Choke Hold; Ground Fighting (Wrestling); Leg Lock; Low Fighting (Wrestling); Lower-Body Arm Lock; Lower-Body Leg Lock; Triangle Choke; Trip.

Perks: Power Grappling; Special Exercises (Lifting ST +1); Technique Adaptation (Ground Fighting).

Advantages: Fit or Very Fit; Hard to Subdue.

India has a long tradition of wrestling. According to myth, the gods taught the art to a mortal so that he could defeat a demon. Its actual origins are untraceable, as they date to prehistory. Wrestling was common in India from the time of the earliest written records, though, and is still popular today.

Indian wrestlers strive for massive size. The ideal is solid slabs of muscle – not the sheer weight favored by Japan’s sumotori. The sport depends on submissions and pins, which limits the value of mass for its own sake.

Wrestlers rise as early as 3 a.m. to exercise, and do dands (“cat stretch” pushups) and baithaks (deep knee bends) to build endurance and strength. They always do these exercises in a 1:2 ratio, and each exercise has its own routine. They spend the whole day alternately wrestling, exercising, and undergoing massages to prepare their muscles for more work. Medieval wrestlers ate meat; modern ones eat great quantities of almonds, milk, and ghee (clarified butter) to fuel their activities. Wrestlers are expected to be celibate, patriotic, and stoic.

Like other sport wrestling, Indian Wrestling emphasizes pins and holds. Its trademark tactic is the steady, patient application of technique and pressure to force the opponent to submit. Otherwise, it largely resembles Greco-Roman Wrestling (p. 205) in execution.

Wrestlers traditionally work out with the gada, or twohanded mace. They often pose for pictures holding it but rarely learn to fight with it. In a historical or cinematic game, it might see more use as a weapon.

Cinematic Indian wrestlers should be incredibly strong. Like Hindu yogi, they might be capable of feats of body control. Their self-denial in terms of sex, food, and luxuries is seen as instrumental in developing internal energy to project during bouts.

Skills: Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Wrestling; Wrestling Sport.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Ground Fighting (Wrestling); Low Fighting (Wrestling).

Cinematic Skills: Body Control; Immovable Stance; Light Walk; Mental Strength; Pressure Points.

Perks: Special Exercises (FP can exceed HT by 50%); Special Exercises (Lifting ST +1).

Secondary Characteristics: Improved FP.

Advantages: Cultural Familiarity (India); Fit or Very Fit; Inner Balance.

Disadvantages: Overconfidence; Sense of Duty (India); Vows (Celibacy, Vegetarianism).

Skills: Two-Handed Axe/Mace; Two-Handed Axe/Mace Art.

Professional Wrestling, or “entertainment wrestling,” has a worldwide following – from the U.S. to Japan, from Europe to South America. It encompasses everything from amateur “backyard” wrestling to the show-biz world of the professional federations. It’s the style of television wrestlers, masked Mexican luchadors . . . and super-powered bricks.

Professional Wrestling revolves around spectacular or painful-looking techniques. It’s an aggressive style, with competitors using grapples, takedowns, and hard strikes to send their opponent to the floor. Committed Attack (Strong) and All-Out Attack (Strong) are exceedingly common for strikes and takedowns!

There’s some debate about the real-world effectiveness of Professional Wrestling. It is a performance, but many competitors are fit and strong. The techniques they exhibit – if performed “for real” – could do tremendous damage. However, “rivals” in the ring are really more like skilled accomplices who practice going along with each other’s moves in order to increase the performance value and reduce the odds of injury. It’s safe to assume that if a wrestler successfully pulled off one of these techniques in earnest, it would hurt – a lot.

Cinematic wrestlers can perform the art’s many stunts outside the ring, on unwilling and uncooperative opponents. They’re terrifically strong and capable of absorbing massive punishment without flinching (but not without dramatic superficial bleeding!). They should have high ST and HT, and advantages such as Hard to Subdue. Special skills – notably Power Blow, used for massive roundhouse punches and hoisting foes for Backbreakers and Piledrivers – rely not on chi but on “adrenaline surges” or theatrical effort. A high FP score is useful for fueling these skills and for extra effort. Cinematic techniques often look quite different from the way they do in other arts; for instance, Springing Attack involves leaning back against the cage or ropes enclosing the ring.

Would-be career wrestlers attend schools that cater to aspiring pros. Some of these gyms also teach actual combat skills, but the potential pro studies the artistic techniques necessary for crowd-pleasing wrestling. In addition to the skills required below, wrestlers often learn Stage Combat and Performance to look better in and out of the ring.

The GM decides how “realistic” Professional Wrestling is in his campaign. If he wants wrestlers to be more martial artists than performers, he should replace Combat Art skills with combat skills. The techniques below are also merely suggestions.

Pros – cinematic or otherwise – often have named signature moves. These range from useless techniques (p. 95) to everyday ones, even basic kicks and punches, with colorful names. The GM may allow Skill Adaptation perks that let any technique default to Wrestling Art; e.g., a “suplex” would be Skill Adaptation (Sacrifice Throw defaults to Wrestling Art). Each move requires its own perk, and because the default is to Wrestling Art, combat use is at -3. Most wrestlers use these as fight-ending “finishing moves.”

Skills: Brawling Art; Wrestling Art; Wrestling Sport.

Techniques: Breakfall; Choke Hold; Drop Kick; Elbow Drop; Head Butt; Stamp Kick; Wrench (Limb).

Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow; Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Backbreaker; Hand Catch; Piledriver; Roll with Blow; Springing Attack (Brawling Art).

Perks: Shtick (Varies); Skill Adaptation (Varies); Special Exercises (DR 1 with Tough Skin); Unusual Training (Roll with Blow, Only on the spring-loaded ring floor or against the ropes).

Secondary Characteristics: Improved FP and HP.

Advantages: Ally (Tag-team partner); Charisma; Hard to Subdue; High Pain Threshold; Patron (Wrestling organization); Reputation (Good Guy, from fans).

Disadvantages: Fat; Gigantism; Reputation (Bad Guy, from fans); Reputation (Signature move).

Skills: Acrobatics; Brawling; Games (Professional Wrestling); Hobby Skill (Feats of Strength); Performance; Stage Combat; Two-Handed Axe/Mace (for chairs!); Wrestling.

Techniques: Arm Lock; Exotic Hand Strike; Hammer Fist; Head Lock; Neck Snap.

Wushu is the state-sponsored martial art of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In the 1950s, the PRC officially adopted the term “wushu” in place of “kung fu” to refer to all armed and unarmed fighting arts. These notes describe a specific style – also called “Wushu” – which the central sports committee created from Northern (“long”) kung fu, Southern kung fu, T’ai Chi, and weapons training.

The Communist government saw traditional martial arts as reactionary and subversive – they couldn’t forget the traditional links between anti-government secret societies and kung fu. The authorities also felt that the martial arts were worthless for modern combat but useful for cultural expression and encouraging fitness. Thus, when the central sports commission created its style, it replaced many combat-useful techniques with attractive moves that had no combat value. “Internal” techniques were eliminated as well, on the basis that they were superstitious and backward-looking.

After the Cultural Revolution ended in 1976, internal techniques started to reappear. At the end of the 1990s, fullcontact matches known as san shou became increasingly common, giving rise to more combat-useful applications. Although Wushu training still produces mainly athletes and movie stars, some of its practitioners have been genuine fighters.

Wushu favors deep stances, long punches, and high kicks. It borrows some short strikes and tight stances from Southern styles, but they’re less common. The art is both acrobatic and attractive, and stresses showy techniques and athleticism over practical applications. Weapons training typically involves blunt weapons and “thunder blades” designed to flash, bend, and make loud noises during demonstrations. Such training is extremely common in Wushu schools, but not required. Most Wushu-trained martial artists should learn at least one of the optional weapon skills listed for the style.

Wushu fighters typically use high kicks and multiple strikes. Single-strike techniques are less common than flurries of blows; thus, Rapid Strike and All-Out Attack (Double) are common. Wushu is also aggressive, thanks to its emphasis on flashy moves. Stylists routinely throw Jump Kicks and other Committed and All-Out Attacks. They use spinning strikes of all kinds, both when armed and when unarmed.

By design, Wushu eschews martial-arts myth. Nevertheless, thanks to exhibitions of showy techniques – and movies featuring Wushu-trained actors doing wuxia and wire stunts – many old legends remain and the style has even acquired a number of new ones. Cinematic Wushu practitioners should be able to perform most of the moves seen in kung fu movies, even those claiming to be about Wing Chun, the Shaolin Temple, T’ai Chi, or other arts. Many of the stars of these movies are Wushu stylists, not Shaolin monks or Wing Chun students! Thus, Wushu is ideal for high-powered wuxia campaigns.

Wushu is commonly available in the PRC. Schools are less common elsewhere, but a student should be able to find one if he looks hard enough. Some schools that claim to teach another form of kung fu – often Shaolin – teach strongly Wushu-derived styles.

Skills: Acrobatics; Jumping; Karate; Karate Art; Savoir- Faire (Dojo).

Techniques: Acrobatic Stand; Axe Kick; Back Kick; Evade; Exotic Hand Strike; Feint (Karate); Jump Kick; Kicking; Spinning Kick; Spinning Punch; Sweep (Karate).

Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow; Flying Leap; Mental Strength; Power Blow; Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Karate); Dual-Weapon Defense (Karate); Fighting While Seated (Karate); Flying Jump Kick; Lethal Kick; Lethal Strike; Pole- Vault Kick; Pressure-Point Strike; Roll with Blow; Springing Attack (Karate); Timed Defense.

Perks: Acrobatic Feints; Technique Adaptation (Spinning Attack); Technique Mastery (Any Spinning Attack); Unusual Training (“Split Kick”: Dual-Weapon Attack, Only to kick two adjacent foes).

Advantages: Cultural Familiarity (China); Fit or Very Fit; Flexibility; Language (Mandarin).

Disadvantages: Delusions; Obsession (Perfect my art).

Skills: Broadsword Art; Judo; Judo Art; Performance; Philosophy (Communism); Shortsword Art; Spear Art; Staff Art; Stage Combat; Two-Handed Flail Art; Whip Art.

Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Shortsword Art); Flying Lunge (Any weapon Art); Sweep (Spear Art, Staff Art, or Two-Handed Flail Art); Whirlwind Attack (Any weapon Art).

“Mixed martial arts” (MMA) is an emergent trend in modern martial arts. It isn’t a style but an umbrella term for anystyle or combination of styles that includes both striking and grappling tactics for fighting limited-rules bouts. MMA events pit fighters from many different styles against one another, and are rapidly growing in popularity.

In early no-holds-barred bouts, pure striking stylists did poorly because they couldn’t cope with elementary chokes and locks once a grappler took them to the ground. Dedicated grapplers did well until faced with opponents trained to strike and grapple, both standing and prone. The curriculum of MMA schools reflects the lessons learned from these matches. Such schools are pragmatic – gyms more than dojos, even in tradition-heavy Japan.

Mixed martial arts competitors learn to punch and kick until they can grapple their adversary and finish him with a choke, lock, or close-in strike. Each fighter has his strengths and weaknesses, but no serious contender can afford to be without training at both striking and grappling. While almost any style that offers effective, fight-tested techniques and full-contact sparring can be part of a MMA curriculum, a striking stylist must learn a grappling art – and vice versa – to be competitive.

Common MMA striking styles include Bando (pp. 151-152), Boxing (pp. 152-153), and Muay Thai (pp. 185-186). Nearly any grappling art makes an excellent basis for MMA training – including such sport forms as Judo (p. 166) and Greco-Roman Wrestling (p. 205), which sometimes show up in MMA bouts after a fighter learns locks and holds illegal in his original sport! A few arts are essentially MMA “as is,” most famously Brazilian Jiu-jitsu (pp. 167-168), Sambo (p. 185), and modern Pankration (pp. 188-189). On the other hand, kick-heavy styles such as Tae Kwon Do and Savate, and “soft” arts like Aikido and T’ai Chi Chuan, play almost no role in MMA.

In game terms, a MMA fighter needs a style or a blend of styles that offers striking skills (usually Karate or Boxing) andgrappling skills (Judo or Wrestling). Ideal choices are arts that teach techniques popular in MMA, notably Arm Lock, Choke Hold, Ground Fighting, and Low Fighting. The Clinch, Neck Control, and Style Adaptation perks – especially Style Adaptation (All) – are common among competitors. If using templates, Contender(p. 32) works best. Instructors might use Instructor(pp. 34-35) or be contenders with the Teaching skill and too many injuries to fight.

Many cultures have a special name for a killing rage. The best-known of these is berserk. This comes from the Old Norse berserksgangr,a word for the fierce, single-minded battle lust exhibited by warriors in Icelandic myth (and perhaps in reality). In Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, the term is amok.People who “run amok” go on a rampage of random killing until they’re themselves slain. In modern U.S. lingo, this would be “going postal” . . . but that can also refer to a more coldly planned killing spree. GURPS reserves “berserk” – and the Berserk disadvantage (p. B124) – for those who experience genuine battle frenzy!

Berserk fighters don’t “forget” their training – they simply forsake any defense for a furious attack. In game terms, those who suffer the effects of Berserk can only take the All-Out Attack maneuver. They can still use skills and techniques, learned or at default, subject to a few special rules.

Berserkers can employ techniques that require a turn or more of Ready to set up – they just have to use All-Out Attack instead of Ready for the setup. The options are Determined, for +4 to DX-based rolls required by the setup, or Strong, for +2 to ST-based rolls . . . at the usual cost of no active defenses. The berserker must also use All-Out Attack for the technique itself on a later turn. He’s free to select any option that suits his technique. This is most likely to be Determined or Strong, but could instead be Double, Long, or even Feint.

However, berserkers can’t use techniques that are active defenses, including Aggressive Parry and Jam; techniques that rely on active defenses, such as Counterattack; or combat options that depend on taking an active defense, like Cross Parry (p. 121) and Riposte (pp. 124-125). This is true even if such a move would be the most effective tactic possible! Such is the cost of not defending.

Many cultures have styles that consist largely – if not solely – of collections of weapon skills. For examples, see Kobujutsu(p. 178) and Masters of Defence Weapon Training (p. 182). The armed styles below are equally noteworthy, if less-famous. The GM can create similar styles for Dark Ages warriors, Aztec knights, ancient soldiery, and so on.

Banshay is the armed sub-style ofThaing(a blanket term for Burmese martial arts). It’s usually learned in conjunction with Bando (pp. 151-152). It includes the use of fist loads, sticks, batons (dhot), staffs, clubs, spears, shields, knives, machetes, kukris, swords (short through broad), axes, bows, crossbows, ropes, chains, belts, whips, shoes, and even clothes. Ancient legends are plentiful, such as that of Prince Sawthi of Burma, who slew four giant monsters after being trained by a hermit archery master.

Skills: Broadsword; Knife; Shield; Shortsword; Spear; Staff.

Techniques: AsKobujutsu (p. 178), but for the above weapon skills.

Advantages: Combat Reflexes; Heroic Archer; Language (Burmese).

Skills:Axe/Mace; Bow; Brawling; Crossbow; Kusari; Whip.

Krabi Krabong is a Thai combat style that dates back at least 400 years. Its earliest origins are unknown owing to the loss of written records in Thailand. However, it’s clear that Thailand’s royal bodyguards learned the art and that matches served as both spectator sport and training. Krabi Krabong teaches the daab song meu(twin short swords), krabi (saber), mae sun-sawk(twin tonfa-like clubs), ngao(polearm), and plong(staff). It also includes unarmed strikes, grapples, and throws. Unarmed blows often parallel those of Muay Thai (pp. 185-186) but are frequently reinforced with weapons – e.g., elbow strikes while using the mae sun-sawk – and many fighters learn Muay Thai alongside Krabi Krabong.

Modern Krabi Krabong matches still involve real weapons. Competitors avoid hitting the opponent, however, and instead strike his weapons or halt just short of impact. Injuries do occur but an injured fighter can continue. The contenders’ endurance and display of skill determines victory. Competitive fighters should learn Combat Sport and combat versions of the style’s weapon skills – or only Combat Sport versions, if they’re strictly athletes.

Skills: Judo; Karate; Polearm; Saber; Smallsword; Staff; Tonfa.

Techniques: Back Kick; Elbow Strike; Feint (Polearm, Saber, Smallsword, or Staff); Kicking; Knee Strike; Sweep (Staff); Uppercut.

Cinematic Skills: Power Blow.

Cinematic Techniques: Dual-Weapon Attack (Saber, Smallsword, or Tonfa).

Perks: Style Adaptation (Muay Thai); Unusual Training (Dual-Weapon Attack, Both attacks must target the same foe); Weapon Adaptation (Shortsword to Smallsword).

Advantages:Combat Reflexes; Language (Thai). Disadvantages:Crippling injuries. Skills:Games (Krabi Krabong); Shield.

The stereotypical martial-arts uniform is the ubiquitous Japanese gi (slang for dogi). Worn by judoka and karateka, it consists of loose, string-drawn cotton pants and a wrap top, cinched with an obi (belt) denoting rank. The traditional gi is white, but many schools wear black, blue, or even multicolored gis – either for style (black became popular during the ninja-crazed 1980s) or for practical reasons (black doesn’t show stains!). Asian and Asian-derived styles often use the gi.

Many other styles have trademark garb. Boxers wear shorts, sumotori wear a mawashi, wrestlers wear a singlet, and Tapak Sutji Pentjak Silat students wear a red uniform with yellow striping. There are countless other examples. Some Aikido, Aikijujutsu, and traditional Japanese budo schools (teaching Kendo or Kyudo, for example) use the hakama, or split skirt. Worn over a normal gi, this is split front and back to allow free movement of the legs. Kung fu schools often adopt the pajama-like silk shirt common in China, along with gi-like drawstring pants. These uniforms are likely to be brightly colored, not white or black. Most have sashes instead of belts. Mixed martial arts practitioners commonly wear shorts and gloves (women add a sport top) – the expected uniform in no-holds-barred matches. Typically, students train in shorts and t-shirts. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu stylists are a notable exception, usually training (and competing) in a gi, which they regard as an important part of their art. Modern schools emphasizing “street use” or self-defense often train in street clothes. Students of historical schools – especially in styles that teach skills meant for actual combat – also tend to wear day-to-day clothing, not a uniform. This may be fairly uniform in nature, but such martial artists don’t change into special clothes to train!

Uniforms in Combat: The crucial difference between fighting in and out of clothing – including uniforms and armor – is that nudity offers fewer handholds, making it easier to break free. If you’re naked or in a skin-tight outfit, you get +1 to break free. Increase this to +2 if sweaty (at least 1 FP lost to exertion or heat) or +3 if oiled (lasts for one fight and costs $2 per application). Elaborate garb, including traditional Japanese costume, has many handholds and gives -1.

“Kung fu” is a Chinese term for “hard work” or “good effort.” Originally applied to any endeavor, it has become synonymous with the martial arts. Kung fu isn’t a specific style. It’s a blanket term for all Chinese martial arts. The uninformed often misapply it to other fighting arts, though – much as they do “karate.”

Many of the styles in this chapter are forms of kung fu: Chin Na, Hsing I Chuan, Hung Gar, Pa Kua Chuan, Pak Hok, Praying Mantis, Shaolin Kung Fu, T’ai Chi Chuan, Wing Chun, and Wushu. Kuntao is a variety of kung fu taught in Indonesia. Other styles drew heavily on kung fu during their development, including Jeet Kune Do, Kajukenbo, and Kempo. There are hundreds if not thousands of kung fu styles and sub-styles!

Martial artists often distinguish between “external” and “internal” styles. External arts stress physical achievement and strong attacks. Internal ones emphasize spiritual development, and sometimes have deep philosophical underpinnings (e.g., in Taoism or Buddhism). This distinction originated in China, which traditionally sorted the martial arts into the Wudong schools (Taoism-based styles such as Hsing I Chuan, Pa Kua Chuan, and T’ai Chi Chuan), which were deemed “internal,” and the Shaolin schools (all other Chinese styles), which were identified as “external.”

Another common way of classifying the martial arts is to dub them either “hard” or “soft.” Hard styles are those that meet force with force in an effort to overwhelm the opponent, while soft ones are those that yield to aggression and attempt to redirect the enemy’s force. Faced with an attacker, a hard school defends and then counterattacks – or even seizes the initiative and attempts to defeat the foebefore he can attack. A soft stylist seeks to avoid confrontation, and responds with a throw, trip, or lock if attacked.

The “external vs. internal” split is more legendary than actual. An external style might counsel spiritual development; for instance, Nito Ryu Kenjutsu (pp. 174-175) is solidly external but its creator wrote a deeply philosophical work on the martial arts:A Book of Five Rings. The “hard vs. soft” dichotomy is similarly idealized; few “hard” styles lack “soft” parries and retreats. And while external stylestendto be hard and internal ones tend to be soft, this isn’t universal. Hsing I Chuan (see below) is hard andinternal, while Judo (p. 166) and Wrestling (pp. 204-206) are soft andexternal. A single art might have elements from each of these four categories!

Today, these terms describe a style’s methodology more than anything else. “Hard” is another way of saying that the art makes heavy use of striking (Boxing, Brawling, Karate, and Melee Weapon skills), as exemplified by Boxing (pp. 152-153), Jeet Kune Do (pp. 164-165), Karate (pp. 169-172), Wing Chun (pp. 203-204), and most armed styles. “Soft” suggests a preference for grappling (Judo, Sumo Wrestling, and Wrestling skills); Aikido (p. 149), Chin Na (p. 154), Pa Kua Chuan (pp. 187-188), and T’ai Chi Chuan (pp. 200-201) are good examples. “External” and “internal” are used the same way by everyone but purists.

Marma is the Indian study of pressure points. It’s a closely guarded secret, passed along only to the most advanced students of Kalaripayit (pp. 168-169). Marma’s claims and methods are identical to those of other martial arts that use pressure points. Marma is a subset of Kalaripayit, not studied alone. Only Kalaripayit stylists can learn Pressure Points from a marma master. Furthermore, because marma teaches how to both heal andkill, stylists who study Pressure Points mustlearn Esoteric Medicine and Physiology, too. Some sources claim that marma techniques exist for tigers, elephants, and other animals. If the GM wishes, marma practitioners can avoid the penalties in Physiology Modifiers (p. B181) by buying a Style Perk for each animal they’ve studied. Veterinary is an appropriate optional skill for such characters.

In the popular imagination, a “black belt” is a martial-arts master. In reality, not all black belts are masters and not all arts use colored belts – or haveany ranking system. Even in styles that use belts, the black belt doesn’t mark the end of instruction: a black-belt student has mastered the basics and is ready for true apprenticeship. If his style is combative, he might be extremely tough. If his style is artistic, he might be less capable in a fight than the average brawler! A widespread origin myth for the black belt suggests that a novice received a white belt. When he had learned enough to be deemed a master, the belt would be so dirty that it was black. This is at best unverifiable. What is verifiable is that today’s familiar coloredbelt system was invented for Judo (p. 166) by founder Jigoro Kano. The rankings in that system were: white (6th through 4th kyu), brown (3rd through 1st kyu), black (1st through 5th dan), red-and-white (6th through 8th dan), and solid red (9th and 10th dan). Later, 10th dan was changed to white. The rankings didn’t stop at 10th dan, but no one was ever promoted higher. In this system, one says the ranking’s number first, then its name; for instance, 4th kyu isyonkyu and 4th dan isyondan. In English, “dan” becomes “degree”; e.g., a 10th dan is a “10th-degree black belt.” Kyu rankings are usually known only by color. When Te (pp. 169-170) came to Japan and became Karate, it adopted Judo’s ranking system. Funakoshi Gichin created the first karate-doblack belts in 1924.

Today, Karate (pp. 169-172) and Tae Kwon Do (p. 200) use similar systems, but with 10 kyu ranks and 10 dan ranks; belt colors vary considerably. Kendo (p. 175) doesn’t use belts, but has eight kyu and eight dan ranks. Chinese systems use sashes instead of belts, and the top color is red or gold. The only generalization one can make about other Asian styles is that the top and bottom ranks are black and white – usually. Outside Asia, sport styles typically have ranking systems based on belts or colored patches (e.g., Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and sport Sambo), fighting record (e.g., Boxing, Wrestling, and mixed martial arts), or a combination of the two (e.g., Savate).

Things were quite different before modern times. In the Japanese arts, instructors in each ryu issued teaching certificates, awarding grades that denoted how advanced and respected the teacher was. The chosen head of the ryu held the highest rank. Chinese martial arts used a similar system, with a letter from an instructor testifying to his student’s skill. In historical Europe, the Masters of Defence (p. 17) had a grading system similar to that of trade guilds: “apprentice,” “journeyman,” and finally “master.” A would-be master had to acquit himself with any combination of weapons in a public test by other masters. A great many historical and modern arts have no formal ranking system. Each school ranks its students by seniority. Instructors either receive teaching permission from their peers on an ad hoc basis or are entirely self-proclaimed.