Apropos of nothing much at all really, here are some examples of real-world D&D-style monk/mystics and why having them do huge amounts of damage with unarmed fists isn't really so fantastical.
Bear in mind Higaonna Morio, the guy in the first video, is over 70 years old. Also bear in mind that the guy in the second video is presumably wearing armoured gloves of some description. You get the drift.
This post is really an extension of this old one. Human beings (let's face it, usually the male ones) are really good at figuring out ways of efficiently killing each other. In a fantasy world we'd probably be really good at figuring out ways to efficiently kill non-humans too. Using tai chi on a dragon might be a stretch... But we'd probably come up with something.
People are made of bones. Bones are equal in killingness to a solid wooden club. But if you snap a club over someone's head it isn't such a problem.
ReplyDeleteYou could have an unarmed system whereby we risk hurting ourselves to inflict more harm. Training in unarmed fighting mitigates the risk of messing yourself up, thereby making it more reasonable to go all out.
True. You can easily break your hands punching somebody. (This is one of the reasons why the Okinawan karate styles place such emphasis on conditioning the fists to be able to...well...smash them repeatedly against reinforced concrete pillars.) This is also the main reason why boxers wear gloves, I believe.
DeleteThat first video is extraordinary.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's very impressive, although I'm not sure it's entirely worth it...
DeleteAnything with jointed limbs, eyes, breathing passages, and... *ahem* sensitive bits can be put in a world of hurt if sufficient kinetic energy is applied to said vulnerable spots. I agree that a multi ton, naturally armored dragon would probably be a challenge, but humans are cussed enough to figure it out, like you say.
ReplyDeleteOozes, undead, and constructs would be the real problem. (Although undead still have bones and could be disabled thru sheer force, and I guess taking down a living statue isn't that big a jump from a karate guy breaking bricks. You could have a monk go all "Magnus: Robot Fighter" on an iron golem and I wouldn't complain much...) Oozes would still suck. (Unless you're from the planet Skyron in the galaxy of Andromeda and all your blancmanges are that size.)
Thinking further on beating up dragons using Tai Chi, if the square cube law applies even a little bit in whatever the campaign world's rules are, then a well prepared Tai Chi master has a lot of dragon meat available to help the lumbering thing crush itself to death. After all, from what I understand of that art and Akido, the general idea is to help your opponent beat themself up. :)
DeleteUndead is intriguing. I suppose it depends on the type of undead. I can imagine Higaonna being extremely effective on a skeleton.
DeleteThere's a wealth of Chinese "Hopping Zombie" movies that delve into that very subject. My personal favorite is Samo Hung's "Spooky Encounters" . If I ever ran an Asian themed game with wu jen that movie would be my main source of inspiration.
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