View source for My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours

{{trope}}
{{quote|''"You can tell a [[Shonen|shounen]] series by the amount of times that someone says 'I'm training to become stronger.'"''|''[http://podcast.animenano.com Anime Nano Podcast]''}}

In [[Fighting Series|shows where mano-a-mano combat is a main plot element]], characters spend much of their lives training and [[Super Weight|improving their strength]] so they can one-up each other at a critical point in a fight. This invariably develops into an arms race that can, and has, taken out entire planets and solar systems. If two nations do this, it's a [[Lensman Arms Race]].

This has a [[Truth in Television|grain of truth]] in it, as between two equally ''skilled'' fighters, the deciding factor will often be one's strength.
{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Dragon Ball]] Z''. In fact, this is the entire point of all three Dragonball shows (though less so in the beginning of ''Dragon Ball'' and ''Dragon Ball GT'').
* ''[[Saint Seiya]]'', ''[[Naruto]]'', ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'' and pretty much every other shonen series.
** It can be seen to a considerably lesser degree in other anime where martial arts are a central element, such as: ''[[Ranma ½|Ranma 1/2]]'', ''[[Flame of Recca]]'' and ''[[Sumomomo Momomo]]''.
* Also seen to a lesser extent in sports anime such as ''[[The Prince of Tennis]]'' and ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' (with training the sport instead of fight training).
* ''[[Bleach]]'', between arcs, in the middle of arcs, [[Talking Is a Free Action|even in the middle of]] ''[[Talking Is a Free Action|battles]]''.
* This isn't just a factor in martial-arts series. It can show up in [[Mons]] series like ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'', ''[[Pokémon]]'', ''[[Beyblade]]'', and ''Bistro Chef'' (better known as ''Fighting Foodons'' in the States), and [[Cooking Duel]] series like ''[[Yakitate!! Japan]]''. Essentially, anything that has individual competition, typically in a [[Tournament Arc]], will tend to end up with this kind of arms race.
* Displaying formidable multitasking skills, the eponymous ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'' is revealed in the series' ancillary manga to be able to train in the magical equivalent of VR constantly while leading her normal civilian life, apparently to explain her jump from neophyte magical girl to hardened battlemage in the short interval between the show's first two seasons. After the second season, she trains so hard she becomes known as "[[The Ace|Ace of Aces]]" and is promoted to Combat Drill Instructor [[Improbable Age|in her early teens.]] In the third season, another character trains herself nearly to the point of exhaustion in an effort to prove herself ([[Hard Work Hardly Works|but, of course, doesn't quite succeed]]).
** It didn't work because the show decided to point out that mindlessly attempting to improve yourself with brute force tactics doesn't work, it just breaks you down. Nanoha had a [[Heroic RROD]] in during the second [[Time Skip]], specifically because of all the training she did.
** And when Teana actually started listening in class, she got a lot better herself.
** The [[All There in the Manual|StrikerS manga]] devotes two chapters to explicitly deconstruct this trope: the younger cast try to figure out the "strongest fighter" in their organization, but eventually learn [[An Aesop]] that no matter how strong your opponent is, he always has a weak spot which you can exploit to defeat him. The winner is thus determined not by a single variable but by a combination of quick thinking, experience, magical power, and sheer luck.
** The "VR training while doing other things" is actually showin in the first movie, showing how Nanoha went from completely unskilled in magical combat to being good enough to take on a trained battle mage during the Jewel Seed incident.
* A decidedly more [[Hermetic Magic|magical]] example, [[Mahou Sensei Negima|Negi]] trains constantly for fear of harm coming to his students. He's particularly fond of using [[Our Vampires Are Different|Evangeline]]'s [[Year Inside, Hour Outside|time-warping villa]] to add extra hours (or rather ''days'') to his day to train more.
* Although the battles are of actual skills (usually) in [[MAR]], the good guys are often sent to train themselves in this manner for the next set of battles whenever the story allows, often using a time-warp ARM in the process.
* In ''[[Love Hina]]'', Motoko is stunned when Seta defeats her in martial arts, and becomes fixated on challenging him.
* The titular character in ''[[Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple]]'' already goes through a daily regimen of [[Training from Hell]] to build up his stamina and improve his skills, but the few times he actually ''loses'' to an opponent, such as {{spoiler|Odin and Tirawat Koukin}}, he forces himself to train even harder for the inevitable rematch.
* Multiple Dei in ''[[Angelic Layer]]'' spend all their free time training for the titular game—even Misaki, the lead character that [[The Messiah|converts and attracts]] her opponents by teaching them that it's just a game rather than [[Serious Business]].
* The very reason Kyo of ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' goes into the mountains to train for six months is to one day beat his cousin Yuki in a fight (the manga reveals {{spoiler|this is a lie covering up an unrelated [[Heroic BSOD]], though}}). Every time Yuki wipes the floor with him, he only vows to become stronger... over... and over... again.
* The five protagonist of ''[[Mobile Fighter G Gundam]]'' spend a good period of the middle of the series training in the Guyana Highlands in order to overcome individual [[My Greatest Failure|failures]] ({{spoiler|For Domon, it's his unfocused rage actually helping the Devil Gundam; for the other four, it's DG Cell possession making them question their own motives}}).
* Mugen from ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' always trains to the point of absurdity when there is an opponent stronger or more skilled than he is.
* Subverted in ''[[Berserk]]'', when [[Revenge]] took on Guts's major priority after the Eclipse rather than training and getting stronger like he initially planned.
* ''[[Swan]]'' is a shoujo version of this trope, but with ballet as the plot point.
* [[Grappler Baki]]. The greatest styles are "Total fighting" (Baki) and "Every martial art you damn please" (Yujiro).
* [[Parodied]] in [[Ranma ½]], when [[The Rival|Ryoga]] learns a technique to channel his [[Wangst]] into a mini [[Angst Nuke]]. Ranma uses [[Awesome By Analysis]] ([[Attractive Bent Gender|and]] [[I Have Boobs - You Must Obey!|deception]]) to rip off the same attack. [[Hilarity Ensues|Cue contest to have a worse life and channel more]] [[Wangst]]. Ultimately  {{spoiler|Ranma [[Takes a Third Option]] and learns a counter-technique based on confidence. Unfortunately he severely underestimated the power of the [[Up to Eleven|upgraded version]] of Ryoga's technique, which became a true [[Angst Nuke]]. Cue [[Curb Stomp Battle]] until Ranma's [[Awesomeness By Analysis]] kicks in and points out a weak point in Ryoga's [[Angst Nuke]].}}

== Comic Books ==
* This phrase is actually said in the new{{when}} run of Marvel comic ''[[Immortal Iron Fist]]''. Of course, the protagonist would necessarily have to have the strongest kung-fu if he could kill a dragon barehanded, so it wasn't empty boasting.
** Eventually he does get his ass handed to him by a guy who's even better.

== Film ==
* Unsurprisingly, since it is a kung fu movie and owes a certain amount to anime tropes, ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'' has this as the basic set-up for the fight with the [[Big Bad]]: that in order to defeat Tai Lung, the [[Designated Hero|Dragon Warrior]] must attain the [[MacGuffin|Dragon Scroll]], for only with its cosmic powers can he hope to be strong enough to prevail. To hammer this point home (as if it needed it), after learning that his former student has paralyzed the Furious Five, Shifu declares that "Tai Lung has gotten stronger." Cue the delivery of the scroll to the understandably freaked Po.
* In ''[[The Core]]'', the hacker kid invokes this trope as he hacks a security system to save the mission (and crew and thus the world) aboard the ship.
{{quote|"Your Kung Fu is NOT strong."}}
** Earlier in the film, he describes the automated program he's written which will scour the entire Internet and remove any mention of the Earth's collapsing magnetic field. He proudly says, "It is my Kung Fu, and it is strong."
* Parodied in ''[[American Pie]]'' during an overblown speech by Kevin.
* [[Star Wars]]
** From ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'':
{{quote|'''[[Badass Grandpa|Yoda]]''': Powerful you have become, Dooku. [[The Dark Side]] I sense in you.
'''[[Master Swordsman|Dooku]]''': I have become more powerful than any Jedi. [[Blatant Lies|Even you]]. }}
** ''[[Revenge of the Sith]]'': Obi-Wan says is unwilling to kill Anakin, but Yoda sends him to fight him anyway, because "strong enough to face this Lord Sidious, you are not." {{spoiler|Yoda finds he isn't strong enough either.}}
* The basic premise of the Stephen Chow flick ''[[Kung Fu Hustle]]'' where everyone's kung fu is stronger than someone else.


== Literature ==
* In the ''[[Animorphs]]'' book ''The Ellimist Chronicles'', this sort of arms race between Ellimist and Crayak ends up  {{spoiler|destroying a handful of galaxies and ripping a hole in spacetime that makes them omnipotent, universe-controlling gods.}}
* Averted up the wazoo in ''The California Voodoo Game'', where hypercompetent Bishop's martial arts techniques vastly out-class the limited training of Alex Griffin,  {{spoiler|yet Griffin still kicks Bishop's ass because he's [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|so pissed off]] that he doesn't care if his ribs or fingers get broken: he just keeps smashing his opponent into the walls, denying Bishop the elbow room required for his dojo-ballet moves}}.


== Live Action TV ==
* [[Power Rangers]]. All of them.
** And their source material, the [[Super Sentai]] series, in a lot of cases, but especially in ''[[Juken Sentai Gekiranger]]'', where the entire point of the series was two rival schools of fighting squaring off against each other.
* In the finale of "[[Dexter]]" - season 3, there is a delicious example of this, in a scene with the season's "[[Big Bad]]" and Dexter. Remember Doakes's comment about why would a nerd like Dexter need to learn advanced ju-jitsu? Well basically it's so that when {{spoiler|other killers tie up Dexter and are armed with a pretty menacing blade he can overpower them and snap their neck like a twig...with one good hand as he had to break his other one to get free from those pesky ropes that were holding him(Dex) down.}} Very strong kung fu indeed.


== Video Games ==
* Most incarnations of the ''[[Street Fighter]]'' series portray Ryu as a loner who does nothing but train in his spare time (moreso after Akuma killed his master).
* Also a quote for [[Duke Nukem]].


== Tabletop RPG ==
* It's an actual ''character flaw'', explicitly ''called this'', in [[Deadlands]]. It's intended for [[Supernatural Martial Arts|Enlightened]], but could thematically be used to create any character who takes great pride in their key fighting skill and is frequently fighting others to prove their superiority.


== Western Animation ==
* Used in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' by Katara to Hama.
** My bending is more powerful than yours.
* ''[[Rocko's Modern Life]]'': "We are the Samurai Warriors From Somewhere East of Pittsburg. Our kung fu... better than your kung fu!"


== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[Order of the Stick]]'', Vaarsuvius says to Xykon, [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0653.html "My power ... EXCEEDS yours!"]
** [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown|Buuut that didn't help Vaarsuvius much.]]
*** Actually, it makes it even worse. Had V just been out to end his reign of terror, he would have gone easy on hir. In the case of a duel of strength, he had no reason to hold back.


== Other ==
* The rift that developed between Aoi Matsubara and Sakashita-senpai in ''[[To Heart]]'' was the result of the latter's unacceptance of "Extreme Fighting" as a martial art.
** This rift disappeared when Aoi won the Extreme Fighting Championship in ''[[To Heart]]: Remember My Memories'' when Aoi defeated her senior Ayaka Kurusugawa who had defeated Sakashita earlier on in the tourney with ''one roundhouse kick to the head'', a la [[Memetic Badass|Chuck Norris]].

== Real Life ==
* [[Real Life]] Example: The way some professional sportsman and some [["Stop Having Fun!" Guys|hardcore gamers]] act.
* In Chinese slang, the phrase "Kung Fu" is akin to "Mojo." In any activity, rivals will compare the their respective Kung Fu with each other.
** This is because 'kung fu' means, literally, 'human achievement', or, skill.
{{quote|'''Jim:''' [[Hong Kong Dub|"Their Tiger Style kung fu is strong, but our Dragon Style kung fu will defeat it!"]]}}

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Fight Scene]]
[[Category:This Index Knows Kung Fu]]
[[Category:Skills and Training Tropes]]
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