Tell Me How You Fight: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

'''Eliot:''' It's a very distinctive style.|''[[Leverage]]'', "The Homecoming Job"}}

 

** '''[[Dance Battler|Capoeira and other Dance Battlers]]''': Often suggests a fun loving or lighthearted nature combined with the better elements of the [[Flynning|unnecessary movement]] fighter.

** Just as often, may imply an arrogant character toying with their victim (see [[Self-Imposed Challenge]] below). Possibly also a sadistic love of violence.

* '''[[Calling Your Attacks]]''': Suggests arrogance and confidence (or [[Magical Girl]]-ness).

* '''[[Combat Sadomasochist]]''': The character likes to inflict and receive pain, and ''lots of it''. The hallmark of a sadistic, careless villain. Depending on how strong the self preservation instinct is, the fighter might favor either the suicidal or elegant form when inflicting pain.

 

For a weapon-specific version, try [[Weapon of Choice]].

{{examples}}

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* From the comics Cassandra Cain, as [[Batgirl]] II, initially had trouble adjusting to being a crime fighter due to the fact her original style was focused specifically around assassination and most of her moves finished with a death blow.

** Damian Wayne also struggles with this problem when he becomes Robin. All of his training under the League of Assassins focused on killing his opponents, so he is less effective as a [[Thou Shalt Not Kill]] crimefighter.

* In the ''[[Batman]]'' novel ''[[Batman: Year One]]'', Bruce Wayne is able to surmise that Selina Kyle has had Karate training by fighting her.

* ''[[Sin City]]'' has a wide variety of combatants:

* In the final scene of ''[[House of Flying Daggers]]'', Jin and {{spoiler|Leo}} exhibit mutually suicidal tactics. It may say more about their emotional states at the time than them as people, though.

* ''[[Hero]]'': Flying Snow is fast and elegant to Fading Moon's suicidal aggression. Long Sky handicaps himself by leaving the head of his spear covered for his entire battle with the Elite Guards.

* Though it's never commented on in-universe, the fighting styles of characters in ''[[The Matrix]]'' add another layer to the philosophy of the movie. Explained [http://plotlessviolence.comicgenesis.com/d/20061112.html here].

** In short, humans tend to have more fluid, flashy or distinctive styles based on the character (contrast Morpheus' kung fu to Ballard's boxing), while the Agents all use a generic karate-based style. Humans also use martial arts throws and wristlocks (Morpheus vs. Neo), wheras agents simply grab-and-heave, which works due to their incredible strength.

** Actually, it does come up in universe in the second movie. Seraph (the Oracle's bodyguard) tells Neo he attacked him because fighting someone is the best way to get to know them.

* Played with in the ''[[Star Wars]]'' [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|Expanded Universe]]; lightsaber combat has many different styles that emphasize different things. They're not necessarily an indication of who the user is, though. Makashi is the style of precision and pragmatism...and is also used extensively by Count Dooku. On the flipside, Soresu emphasizes constant motion, always keeping the lightsaber moving so it's on its way to deflecting the next incoming attack even if it's not incoming yet. As one would expect, Obi-Wan, who doesn't put effort into hurting people, is a master of this.

* Knees and elbows from Muay Thai, first made popular by Tony Jaa in [[Ong Bak]], represent a sort of nuclear option in a hand to hand fight. ''[[Tom Yum Goong|The Protector]]'' took this further. Between the movies, there tends to be a progression as our somewhat pacifistic hero meets bigger and badder enemies: push kicks and palm strikes, to punches and kicks, and finally to knees and elbow. Of course, to use knees and elbows you have to get closer to your opponent, and in some cases jump on their head, but with some acrobatics one can land a flying double knees to the face, or double elbows to the top of the skull. But hey, that's what a guy like Tony Jaa (5'6" 136 lbs) has to do to beat Nathan Jones (6'11" 350 lbs).

** The principle is carried over from Real Life Muay Thai as well: Strike with brutality and precision and take out your opponent before he takes you out. Elbows are actually more efficient and less harmful to yourself than striking with a fist while at the same time providing ample knockout power, while using your knees instead of your feet prevents potential harm to your ankles.

** The styles are Xing Yi Quan (Heart Mind Fist(?)) and Ba Gua Quan (Eight Trigrams Fist), respectively. The former is recognized as a simple and direct style that's easy to learn, but hard to master. The latter's famous for its circular stepping movements, usually used to strafe the opponent. Practitioners are usually encouraged to train in both styles to cover each other's strengths and weaknesses.

*** Nicely contrasted in the final fight. {{spoiler|Gabe begins the fight with a more direct style, similar to Yulaw's, and possibly Xing Yi Quan itself. But there is a recognizeable point in the battle where he switches to Ba Gua Quan, which the overly direct, driven Yulaw cannot compensate for.}}

 

== [[Literature]] ==

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', Faith's fighting style is described as being psychotic and out of control.

* In ''[[Burn Notice]]'', Michael must convince a Russian gangster that he himself is Russian and does so by using Sambo to fight him (Sambo being a Russian Martial art). In his voiceover, he notes that if you talk like a Russian but fight like an American, you can consider your cover blown.

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** Similarly, Aang, [[Martial Pacifist|who doesn't like hurting people]], tries to avoid attacks until he can get in a hit that knocks his foe off balance or otherwise ends the fight without any damage.

** Of course, each Bending style is based on (and blended with) a martial arts style.

** Except it goes far beyond that. Zuko, Azula and Iroh all use the same style, but even someone without actual training can tell that they're extremely different. Zuko is very stiff and aggressive, [[Magnificent Bastard|Azula]] is ridiculously cool and precise, and [[Badass Grandpa|Iroh]] is relaxed yet terrifyingly powerful.

*** It carries over to the philosophy of three different types of Shaolin Martial Arts masters: Zuko represents a master driven by anger and aggression in his attacks. He's formidable but his emotional style of fighting compromises himself against the malicious and calculating Azula, who represents a master with a precise and malicious intent to kill. She's stronger than the emotional Zuko because of her increased control and mastery of emotion. Iroh, however, represents a true master of his art, in control of his emotions but still using them to fuel his fighting because of his reaching of Enlightenment.

 

{{reflist}}