Wax On, Wax Off: Difference between revisions

{{examples}}

* On ''[[Dragon Ball]]'', Master Roshi takes it to comedic excess when he forces Krillin and Goku to work long hours delivering milk on foot, sowing fields with their bare hands, and doing chores at construction sites, all the while wearing weighted turtle shells. He makes a few bucks off it, too. It does really build them up fast, however. ''[[Dragon Ball]]'' was fond of this trope and repeated it frequently, often setting Goku to a mundane but laborious task to retrieve an item that would increase his power, only to reveal that it was the task itself that increased his strength.

** Occasionally the teacher would admit from the get-go that that was what was going on. When Goku first went to train with King Kai, he found that the gravity was so impressively strong that he could barely move (precisely, ten times the gravity of Earth). King Kai told Goku that he'd be ready to train when he could catch Bubbles the monkey, and later, use a mallet to hammer Gregory the cricket on the head - because, obviously, it'd mean that he'd strengthened enough that he could move well enough in the high gravity for the training to be any good.

* A filler episode of [[One Piece]] uses a learn a craft variant. A young kid who had only worked as a dish washer on a Marine ship kitchen accidentally destroys the weekly (and almost legendary) curry lunch for the officers, and the head chef forces him to make a new batch on his own as punishment. With Sanji [[Stealth Mentor|providing some subtle clues of his own]], the kid learns that the observations made as a simple dish washer have given him the fundamental skills to cook the meal.

* Averted in [[Saiyuki]]. Kouryuu is constantly seen sweeping up leaves when speaking to his master- but this seems to be because he wants the courtyard to be clean and there is nothing to suggest that Koumyou even asked him to do it.

== Film ==

* Well before all of these, the 1978 [[Jackie Chan]] movie ''[[Drunken Master (film)|Drunken Master]]''. Jackie plays Wong Fei-hung, a young punk who is punished by being put under the brutal training of So Hai, an alcoholic with a style known as the Eight Drunken Gods. So Hai appears to delight in putting Fei-hung through [[Training from Hell]]: pour water from one giant barrel to another, while balancing atop the barrels. Fill a bucket with a a teacup-oh, the bucket is on the top of a pole, the stream is on the bottom of the pole, and you do it by wrapping your legs around the top of the pole, hanging upside down, and doing upside down situps. Crush walnuts-WITH YOUR HANDS, not a nutcracker. Do katas in time with your instructor-with your hands roped to his, so he can yank you around if you're too slow...or just for the hell of it. Of course, it all comes clear in the climactic battle against the film's [[Big Bad]]. {{spoiler|the bucket exercise gives you a hell of a grip. Just imagine your enemy's ear is a bucket handle. Balancing atop the barrels means you're also used to being off balance and you've strengthened your ankles, definitely required if you plan to use [[Drunken Boxing]]. Upside down situps give you powerful abs, required if you plan to have the speed to get out of the way of enemy kicks. Walnut cracking by hand? Imagine your enemy's larynx is a walnut...}}

* Played surprisingly straight in ''[[Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D.]]''; to learn how to control his powers, Harry must sort a huge pile of rice by variety, practice coming up with Haikus, and take a whole bunch of [[Groin Attack|groin attacks]]. Okay, so maybe not ''that'' straight.

{{quote|'''Mikey:''' Watch this! ''(Ala Miyagi)'' "Wax on, wax off. Wax on, wax off. ''Wax on''-"

'''Raph:''' ''(Stops him)'' Mouth. Off! }}

== Literature ==

{{quote|'''Lobsang''': "I mean, I understand how it works. The master makes the pupil do all the menial jobs, and then it turns out the pupil is really learning things of great value ... And I don't think I'm learning ''anything'', really, except that people are pretty messy and inconsiderate.

'''Lu-Tze''': "Not a bad lesson, all the same." }}

* This is supposedly the way that [[Inheritance Cycle|Dragon Riders]] were taught to be aware of their magic: They were given incredibly arduous tasks to do (such as filling barrels using buckets - using only their feet) so that they would eventually get so frustrated that they'd spontaneously do ''something'' magical.

* R.J., of ''[[Power Rangers Jungle Fury]]'' does this to bring Casey up to speed with the other Rangers, with the minor subversion that one of the tasks really ''was'' pointless, even though the other three weren't.

* Also in ''[[Juken Sentai Gekiranger]]'', a shorter version of the Power Rangers version above (only one task, which taught the hero how to be a better bull-rusher). Ostensibly, fighting the monster corresponding to the one in the ''Jungle Fury'' example.

* In an episode of ''[[The Office]]'', Michael unveils a movie he had been working on for years. In it, the hero has to learn how to play hockey and his mentor teaches him by having him mop the ice.

* Used (of course) in ''[[Exalted]]'': one of the Scroll of the Monk books had a comic depicting a martial arts student griping about his sifu making him slap water out of a pan for his special training. Then he slams his hand down on the table in anger and breaks it in half.

== Video Games ==

** Incidentally, the book you read this [[Sarcasm Mode|charming]] little story from, titled "The Axe Man," is a skill book. What skill does it raise? Axes.

* Double subverted in ''[[Fans]]''. Master Kana's training of Rumy involves making her do chores around the house. When she finds out she's just being used, she attacks Kana and they start fighting. During the fight, Kana reveals that he was trying to make her angry, so she wouldn't hold back while they fight.

* In the discontinued webcomic ''[[Ghost Cat]]'', one of the leads take up martial arts under his elderly groundskeeper, who teaches him the ancient art of "Do Mae Wohk". Say it out loud...

== Web Original ==

* Spencer's training of the gang in ''[[Lonelygirl15]]'' includes bizarre methods like hopping like a kangaroo, wandering around blindfolded, and playing '80s video games whilst eating candy. Jonas in particular is sceptical, but the methods are surprisingly effective. Well, except for the idea of plunging knives into a wall and pulling oneself up with them; that really was just an extremely dumb idea.

* In ''[[Dragon Ball Abridged]]'', when Tien, Yamcha, and Piccolo arrive on King Kai's planet, he sets Tien to the same training as Goku, lets Piccolo meditate, and tells Yamcha to wax his car. Yamcha assumes this trope is the case and launches into the task with gusto. Except Kai doesn't give a damn about [[Butt Monkey|Yamcha]] and just wanted to give him some menial chore to keep him busy.

== Western Animation ==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]

[[Category:School Tropes]]

[[Category:Skills and Training Tropes]]