Chapter Text
Before we start, I’m going to give you some vocabulary. Some may know, others may not, but it will help with what I’m about to write.
Choke - A technique that restricts blood supply to the brain or constricts the airway
Clinch - In stand-up fighting, clinching is also known as grappling. You essentially hold on to your opponent and keep them close, upsetting their balance. Clinching can also help you control your opponent and deliver greater power to an elbow or knee strike.
Close Quarter/Infighting - Fighting at close range so that you can strike with a head, elbow, or knee
Deflection - Redirecting an opponent's movement
Grappling - On the ground, grappling is fighting in close quarters with or without limited striking.
Ground Fighting - This is just fighting on the ground. You see it a lot in MMA.
Hold - Holding an opponent in a certain way so that it restricts their movement and controls their body positioning.
Joint Lock - When you manipulate a joint to or beyond its maximum range of motion causing pain.
Kata - Choreographed fight patterns that a martial arts practitioner can do alone. They help address certain fighting scenarios.
Pin - To hold an opponent to the ground
Stance - The positioning of the feet or body
Stand Up Fighting - Fighting while on your feet
Strike - Any time you use part of your body to hit another person’s body
Submission - To yield to an opponent and accept immediate defeat
Sweep - From standing, it means to take a person down by taking their legs out from under them. From the ground, it means a move that reverses positioning.
Takedown - Taking an opponent down in one swift move
Tap Out - Physically tapping your opponent three times to signal defeat you can also say tap.
Throw - Using momentum to displace an opponent's weight and take them to the ground. The goal is for the one throwing to be left standing when both combatants go down; it's called a sacrifice throw.
Trapping - Immobilizing an opponent's hand or limb with your hand or limb.
Fighting Styles in alphabetical order (if I’ve missed any, please tell me; I’d literally love to know more)
Aikido (Japan)
Aikido focuses on redirecting the attack away from you rather than confronting it with direct force. It concentrates on joint locks, throws and incorporates training versions of traditional Japanese weaponry (katana, naginata, tanto, bo staff, and jo staff). Aikido techniques are based on having a blade in hand, so when you learn a technique, you are learning one for an empty hand and carrying a bladed weapon. It is good for all sizes and is useful for small characters or someone who wants to take quick physical control while attracting minimal attention.
Boxing
Boxing focuses on punching. It was in the ancient Greek Olympics and has changed a lot through the ages, so make sure you look at the time period your story is based in. Not only has stance changed, but the earliest forms of boxing, aka pugilism, allowed for knees, kicks, and throws. Boxing is not good for a character who needs to spare their hands, considering how fragile the bones in your hands are. If the character has been doing hard labor or boxing, the bones in their hands will be thicker and sturdier. That doesn’t mean that they can’t break, though.
Brazilian Jiu-jitsu (aka BJJ)
BJJ focuses on getting an opponent down to the ground and then grappling. BJJ competitions may employ a point system or be “submission-only,” meaning one can only win by submitting to their opponent. This is also great for smaller characters as it focuses on technique rather than strength. Some examples of submissions are joint locks, torsions, and chokes that can employ the use of clothing. If the character has BJJ training, they should only go to the ground if there is no other choice. Also, think about the fact that if a character with the training falls or is thrown to the ground, the techniques they’ve learned will allow them not only to defend themselves but also to defeat their attacker.
Capoeira
This fighting style is fluid, acrobatic, and resembles dancing. This was for a very good reason. Capoeira was created by Africans enslaved in Brazil who were not allowed to fight, so they disguised fighting as dancing. The speed of the acrobatic maneuvers creates the force of each strike. Many of the moves themselves don’t actually involve your hands. Capoeira allows you to string together unconventional angles that catch an opponent off guard while keeping a steady rhythm. I highly recommend watching videos of people fighting Capoeira style. It is so fuckin amazing, and it's one of my favorites to see.
Hapkido (Korea)
Hapkido uses joint locks, grappling, and throwing techniques, as well as kicks, punches, and other striking attacks. It also teaches the use of traditional Korean-bladed weapons, staffs of varying lengths, and a few others, like the rope/sash and fan. If a character is in a rural setting surrounded by farm tools, hapkido will give you ideas on how you might use those types of tools as weapons. This one is also good for a small character.
Jailhouse Rock (aka JHR)
This could also be called prison style; JHR is based on how prisoners fight in jail. Many of the attacks are aimed at the head to render an opponent unconscious so that every part of the body is a potential target. While punching is a part of it, a great deal focuses on elbows, hammer fists, knees, kicks, sweeps, and grappling. The attacks rely on methods that leave little evidence of physical confrontation on the aggressor. In other words, a standard punch in rarely used as it leaves bruising or worse on the knuckles.
Jeet Kune Do (China)
Bruce Lee created Jeet Kune Do, which is actually a fusion of several different styles. It encourages the fighter to use what works for them. It focuses on simplicity, directness, and efficiency. It involves kicking, punching, trapping, and grappling. Like in Kung Fu ground grappling is used only as a means to get back to the feet. JKD is great for characters of all sizes because of the emphasis on what works for the individual. It also uses fighting sticks, knives, and nunchucks.
Judo (Japan)
Judo uses an opponent’s weight, momentum, or movements to sweep or throw them. You then employ tactics to pin the opponent to the ground, control them, and apply various choke holds or joint locks until the opponent submits. Judo and Aikido are both children of Japanese jujitsu. Because of that, they are all great for characters who wear armor. However, Judo puts more emphasis on throws than the other two. Using techniques in Judo, a person should be able to throw an opponent twice their size.
Jujitsu
Japanese jujitsu was created for close-quarters fighting against physically armored and armed opponents. It uses grappling techniques like throws, traps, joint locks, holds, disengagements, and escapes. This includes striking and weapons tactics as well. Jujitsu is great for characters in armor and what they would do if they were to lose their sword. However, make sure to research because modern jujitsu taught in martial arts gyms is far different from its original form, which was far more violent.
Karate (Japan)
Karate uses striking and defensive blocking with arms and legs, sweeps, and throws. The emphasis is on focusing all of the body’s power behind each strike. There are many variations to karate, and I’m not really gonna get into it because you likely knew that one kid in school who told you way more than you ever wanted to know about it.
Kickboxing
As the name may suggest, it is a combination of kicking and punching. Unlike Muay Thai, it doesn’t allow clinching or the use of knees and elbows. Because of the fact that it has become a popular exercise among the average person, it is completely plausible that your boring soccer mom-esque character would know quite effectively how to throw a punch and kick attackers.
Krav Maga
Krav Maga is based on a self-defense system created by the Israeli military. The goal was to create a well-rounded combatant who would be able to defend effectively in real situations where there may be weaponry. The goal is to end a confrontation forcefully and quickly. Krav Maga teaches strikes, throws, joint locks, torsions, chokes, ground fighting, disarms, and the use of redirection of momentum. If you combine all of the martial arts and fighting styles in the world, you get Krav Maga. The ultimate goal is to create peace so this is THE style you want to choose if your character is special forces. (People of the cod fandom, I love you. Please use this if you are gonna describe their style of fighting. Also, look at SAMBO which is further down)
Kung Fu
Kung Fu incorporates striking, kicking, joint attack/locks, throwing, ground defense, and weapon techniques. The katas address a bunch of different scenarios, including multiple opponents. The movements are meant to be graceful for a character of any size. I’m assuming you’ve seen the Kung Fu Panda movies, and if you have, you know there are at least half a dozen styles of Kung Fu. Here's a fun fact about the movie: Some characters, such as Crane, Monkey, Tiger, and Mantis, are based on the names of Kung Fu styles. Those styles are loosely based on the movements that the animals make. Kung Fu uses a number of weapons, including traditionally styled swords, chain whips, hook swords, kwan daos, staffs, nunchucks, and three-sectioned staffs. They also use weapons of opportunity.
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
MMA is often thought of as something new, but it is actually quite old. MMA descended from Pankration, which was a part of the ancient Olympic games. As the name suggests, MMA is a mixture of martial arts, incorporating boxing and wrestling as well. Most MMA fighters actually have a specialty in a particular martial art if a character is a well-rounded fighter, they often have done MMA.
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is a form of kickboxing that uses an eight-limb system, including the hands, elbows, knees, and legs. It also makes use of the clinch and sweeps to take an opponent off their feet. Muay Thai is great for a sturdy and aggressive character who may not have access to weapons. Like all styles that employ striking characters with a long reach, it will have a bit of an advantage.
Ninjutsu (Japan)
Modern Ninjutsu focuses on six areas of study: unarmed combat, weapons, stealth, survival, strategy, and tactics. This technically makes it a strategic combat survival martial art system rather than a single martial art. People may describe it differently, but it is a survival-based system that addresses both stand-up and ground fighting.
SAMBO
SAMBO is an acronym for the Russian phrase “Self-defense without weapons.” It is a form of free wrestling that allows throws, joint locks, strikes, kicks, and chokes. SAMBO is quick and dirty: one minute, you're standing, and the next, you're on the ground. This is also a great option for a special forces character. (It’s also kinda hot if you ask me)
Tae Kwon Do (TKD)
TKD is an art that focuses on striking with the legs. Sometimes, punches and hand strikes are employed. TKD also utilizes weapons such as staffs, nunchucks, sai knives, kama knives, and swords. It's great for characters who need to spare their hands and are nimble on their feet. It’s especially good for characters with long limbs. A lot of the high-spinning kicks you may see are more for show now than practice, but they do have a purpose, like knocking a rider off their horse.
Tai Chi Chuan (aka Tai Chi) (China)
A lot of people seem to make fun of Tai Chi and shrug it off as something old people do in parks. The maneuvers we see the old people doing are simply the regular moves slowed down. So if we speed it up, you can get a dangerous person. The skills are entirely transferable from slow to quick, so think twice before messing with that old person. Tai Chi uses strikes, redirection, joint locks, takedowns, and grappling. If you want a character to seem harmless but formidable in reality, I recommend Tai Chi.
Tang Soo Do (aka TSD)
Tang Soo Do is a Korean style of karate. It combines the Korean art of Soo Bahk Do and Kung Fu styles from northern and southern China. This came about from invasions and lots of them. Chuck Norris is a ninth-degree black belt in TSD.
Wing Chun
Wing Chun is a southern Chinese style of Kung Fu. It’s used for close-quarters combat and is known for being efficient and direct with no waster movement. The moves are sneaky and on the offensive and defensive simultaneously. Strike attacks are typically delivered with little change in the body's position. Look up the Wing Chun chain punch if you want to see something super awesome. Because the style was created for crowded street environments, you can use Wing Chun effectively in a limited space. Wing Chun uses kicks, punches, hand trapping, and short swords, known as butterfly swords.
Wrestling
We are all familiar with wrestling, in which two opponents struggle body to body to pin each other to the mat. The most popular styles in organized athletics are Folkstyle, Freestyle, and Greco-Roman. Folkstyle concentrates on control. The wrestler on top is constantly working toward a pin, and the wrestler on the bottom continually tries to escape or reverse positions. Freestyle has fewer restrictions than Folkstyle and includes using your legs to trip or subdue the opponent. Greco-Roman prohibits grabbing below the waist or using your legs to hold or subdue. This would make sense as many ancient Greek and Roman depictions show competitors naked.