Street Fighter

Ki is a preternatural and esoteric form of energy that is said to be found in all things. Within living beings, ki can be wielded and harnessed via martial arts and other forms of physical activity, as well as specific exercises. Ki can also be quantified as the strength and build of one’s body, along with health, finesse, and muscle. Many fighters in the series are seen wielding this power in their attacks, manifesting in projectiles and attack moves that are engulfed in energy. Ki can take on a neutral form of energy, but as mentioned in the backstory of Urien, it is said that the user’s own ki can take on elements one is more sympathetic with; as such, various elemental energies like flame and electricity are seen. It is noted that, according to the Illuminati, they believe the maximum number of elements one could manipulate is three (not including Light and Darkness, since they aren’t specifically elements), as demonstrated by their Sixty-Six arts. According to supplementary materials, its temperature throughout the series is also said to vary upon one’s disposition and internal motives as well, regardless of one’s manifestations; those who are motivated by negative emotions such as Akuma are said to have cold ki, those who fight with extroverted passion and a sense of justice like Chun-Li are said to have lukewarm ki, those who fight for the sake of improvement and justifying their need for combat like Oro are said to have warm ki, and those who use Psycho Power are said to have blazing hot ki, ironically due to how the negative ki redirected but without anywhere to direct itself to manifest by the Psycho Drive’s mechanics, becomes extremely erratic due to it being stored. Oro believes that all forms of ki ultimately come from a universal source, and that their various manifestations are simply alternate methods to breaking physical limits and obtaining more power. As such, Psycho Power and the Satsui no Hado are not inherently evil powers, rather they are used maliciously by people to cross their normal boundaries. Oro’s knowledge of ki allows him to even utilize the Satsui no Hado, albeit only to demonstrate it to Dhalsim.

All people and their types of ki are:

Ryu: Light, Wind, Fire, Electricity, Satsui no Hado and Power of Nothingness.

Evil Ryu: Darkness, Fire, Electricity and Satsui no Hado.

Kage: Darkness, Fire, and Satsui no Hado.

Ken: Light, Electricity and Fire.

Violent Ken: Darkness, Fire and Psycho Power.

Chun-Li: Light, Wind and Water.

Sodom: Fire

Dhalsim: Faith and Fire.

Cammy: Psycho Power.

Sakura: Light and Electricity.

Sean: Light.

Alex: Light.

Guile: Wind and Light.

Nash: Wind and Light.

Shadow: Wind, Light and Psycho Power.

Sagat: Light and Fire.

Dee Jay: Sound and Wind.

M. Bison: Darkness, Fire, Electricity and Psycho Power.

Blanka: Electricity.

Goutetsu: Light, Dark and Satsui no Hado.

Fei Long: Fire.

Cody: Wind.

F.A.N.G: Poison.

Phantom: Poison.

Abel: Wind.

Poison: Light and Electricity.

Balrog: Wind.

Zangief: Light.

Rashid: Wind.

T. Hawk: Wind and Earth.

Laura: Electricity.

Ibuki: Light,

Dudley: Wind.

Dan: Light.

Go Hibiki: Light and Satsui no Hado.

Decapre: Darkness and Psycho Power.

Juli: Psycho Power.

Juni: Psycho Power.

Rose: Soul Power.

Ingrid: Light and Soul Power.

Remy: Light.

Yun: Wind.

Yang: Light and Wind.

Gen: Wind, Power of Nothingness and Satsui no Hado.

Oro: Light and Jindan.

Makoto: Dantian.

Gouken: Light, Electricity, Chikara no Hado and Power of Nothingness.

Akuma: Darkness, Fire, Electricity and Satsui no Hado.

Shin Akuma: Darkness, Fire and Satsui no Hado.

Oni: Darkness, Fire, Electricity and Satsui no Hado.

Necalli: Darkness and Earth.

Urien: Earth, Metal and Electricity.

Q: Fire.

Gill: Light, Cold and Fire.

Twelve: Any - The form of ki Twelve uses depends on the fighter he is mimicking v.i.a. X.C.O.P.Y.; he cannot wield true ki by his own power, only with this ability.

Juri Han: Light and Darkness.

Seth: Light, Wind, Darkness and Any.

Seth: Light, Wind, Darkness and Any (Tanden Engine).

Kolin: Cold.

Ed: Darkness and Psycho Power.

Menat: Soul Power.

Falke: Darkness and Psycho Power.

G: Earth, Magma and Fire.

Lucia: Fire.

Akira: Light.

Luke: Light.

Lily: Wind.

JP: Darkness and Psycho Power.

All the fighting styles are listed below:

The Satsui no Hadō sometimes translated as the Dark Hado, is a dark energy-based force that is known for its use by Akuma. It is the antithesis of the Power of Nothingness, which is mainly used by Gouken and Ryu. the spirit to kill the opponent to the extreme, and transforms it into a physical power. Martial arts made towards the purpose to kill, specifically Ansatsuken, come to have their repertoires and teachings intertwined with its power upon their founding, and their techniques ultimately hold the potential to develop the Satsui no Hado due to its originating intention.

The term Ansatsuken originated from Fist of the North Star (北斗の拳 Hokuto no Ken) in 1983, where in the first chapter they describe Kenshiro’s martial art as the Fearsome assassin’s fist (恐るべき暗殺拳 Osorubeki ansatsu ken). Ansatsuken (暗殺拳? lit. “Assassination Fist”) is a Japanese linguistic neologism used to describe the assassination arts, which consist of any martial art developed with the intention of slaying an opponent. The martial art styles used by Gen are known as the assassin arts of the Mourning Style (暗殺拳・喪流 Ansatsuken Sō Ryū?) and the Hateful Style (暗殺拳・忌流 Ansatsuken Ki Ryū?); both are personal styles which Gen developed based on his training in various Chinese kung-fu martial arts.

Boxing is considered one of the oldest sports in the world; while its modern incarnation and rules are predominately European, boxing is considered a global sport.

The participants wear gloves; any moves other than punches (i.e. kicks, elbows, knees, headbutts etc), as well as punching the opponent below waist height, are against the rules. Some grappling is common, but is usually broken up by a referee. It has four basic types of punches: straights, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts.

Ninjutsu is a real-life form of martial art centered around unconventional warfare and espionage that is purportedly practiced by the shinobi (commonly known outside of Japan as ninja). regarded more as an art of tricks than a martial art; nevertheless, its methods were focused on training ninja for their purposes of strategic sabotage, espionage, infiltration, and to even the heat of battle, from self defense in worst case scenarios to assassination. Ninjutsu was a different discipline in some traditional Japanese schools, which integrated study of more conventional martial arts along with shurikenjutsu, kenjutsu, sōjutsu, bōjutsu, and battlefield grappling kumi-uchi (an old form of jujutsu) among other practices. Schools of ninjutsu were also known to be as varied as martial arts, and due to their use by ninja, were strongly kept secrets within ninja communities that lived disguised from the everyday.

Bushinryu Ninjutsu (武神流忍術, Bushin-Ryuu Ninjutsu, “Martial God-Style Ninja Techiques/Spells”), also known simply as Bushinryu, Bushinryu relies on swift movements that overwhelm the opponent, employing speedy and unpredictable mix ups to manipulate a target into making a mistake and use of the environment to gain position. The Bushinryu art is known to disguise dash moves to give the enemy a false sense of the ninja using it is rushing at them, before a sudden stop and transition into various chain combo skills, before punishing the hapless opponent with devastating blows such as Bushin Goraisenpujin or Bushin Musou Renka.

Bōjutsu (棒術?), translated from Japanese as “staff technique”, is the martial art of using a staff weapon called bō which simply means “staff”. In the Okinawan context, the weapon is frequently referred to as the kon. Staffs have been in use for thousands of years in East Asian martial arts like Silambam. Some techniques involve slashing, swinging, and stabbing with the staff. Others involve using the staff as a vaulting pole or as a prop for hand-to-hand strikes.

Today bōjutsu is usually associated either with Okinawan kobudō or with Japanese koryū budō. Japanese bōjutsu is one of the core elements of classical martial training. Thrusting, swinging, and striking techniques often resemble empty-hand movements, following the philosophy that the bō is merely an “extension of one’s limbs”. Consequently, bōjutsu is often incorporated into other styles of empty-hand fighting, like traditional Jiu-jitsu, and karate.

Capoeira is a real-life martial art of Brazilian and African origins that combines elements of dance, acrobatics and music. It was developed in Brazil mainly by African descendants with native Brazilian influences probably beginning in the 16th century. It is known by quick and complex moves, using mainly power, speed, and leverage for a wide variety of kicks, spins, and highly mobile techniques; at heart is the ginga (similar to native Brazilian dance until today), the back-and-forth, foot-to-foot movement that serves as the starting point for such leverage. Capoeira used in genuine self-defense situations incorporates many sweeps and low moves, whereas when played as a game, there is more emphasis on high moves, demonstrations of acrobatics, full cartwheels (called au) for evasion, and flips or other exotic techniques by mestres (masters), and performing an entertaining match for the audience.

Parkour is a training discipline of French origin and it uses movement developed from military obstacle course training. Practitioners aim to get from one point to another in a complex environment, without assistive equipment and in the fastest and most efficient way possible. Parkour includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, rolling, quadrupedal movement, and other movements as deemed most suitable for the situation. Parkour’s development from military training gives it some aspects of a non-combative martial art. Parkour is an activity that can be practiced alone or with others, and is usually—but not exclusively—carried out in urban spaces. Parkour involves seeing one’s environment in a new way, and imagining the potentialities for navigating it by movement around, across, through, over and under its features.

Oil wrestling (Turkish: yağlı güreş), also called grease wrestling, is a Turkish national sport. It is so called because the wrestlers douse themselves with olive oil. The term “güreş” is shared with other forms of wrestling practiced by Turkic-speakers across Europe and Central Asia, such as the Uzbek kurash, Tuvan khuresh and Tatar köräş. The wrestlers, known as pehlivan (Persian: پهلوان‎ meaning “hero” or “champion”) wear a type of hand-stitched lederhosen called a kisbet (sometimes kispet), which is traditionally made of water buffalo hide, and most recently has been made of calfskin. Unlike Olympic wrestling, oil wrestling matches may be won by achieving an effective hold of the kisbet. Thus, the pehlivan aims to control his opponent by putting his arm through the latter’s kisbet. To win by this move is called paça kazık. Originally, matches had no set duration and could go on for one or two days until one man was able to establish his superiority, but in 1975 the duration was capped at 40 minutes for the “baş pehlivan” and 30 minutes for the “pehlivan” category. If there is no winner, play continues for another 15 minutes—10 minutes for the pehlivan category, wherein scores are kept to determine the victor.

Described by Dan as the “ultimate” fighting style, Saikyo Style was created by mixing several techniques based on his late father’s fighting style, elements of Muay Thai, and unprofessional Ansatsuken techniques that Dan learned during his short training with Gouken, as well as colorful taunts of his own. By using multiple provocations to show off, Dan can manipulate opponents to break their pace and lower their guard, giving him the opportunity to land “powerful” attacks.

Sambo is a Russian martial art that was first used by the Soviet Red Army in the 1920s. It is consisted to be a hybrid of Judo and freestyle wresting. Utilized and developed for the military, combat sambo resembles modern mixed martial arts, including forms of striking and grappling. Combat sambo allows regular punches, kicks, elbows and knees, as well as soccer kicks, headbutts and groin strikes, in addition to throws, holds, chokes and locks, except for a standing or flying wristbar. The chief distinction from Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ), apart from striking techniques, is that combat sambo rules and regulations do not permit a one-sided resort to ground fighting without throws or other combative maneuvers (i.e., by simply sitting down and continuing from the ground without touching the opponent that BJJ allows). In terms of aliveness, combat sambo surpasses ARB by design, though both were designed for combat situations only. Competitors wear jackets as in sport sambo, but also hand protection and sometimes shin protection and headgear.

Savate, also known as boxe française, French boxing, French kickboxing or French footfighting, is a French martial art which uses the hands and feet as weapons combining elements of western boxing with graceful kicking techniques. Savate is a French word for “old shoe” (heavy footwear, especially the boots used by French military and sailors).

Hitenryu (飛天流 Hiten-ryū?, “Flying School” or “Style of flying”) is the martial arts style developed and used by Fei Long. It is a form of kung fu based on Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do.

Senjutsu (仙術, lit. “Mystic Arts”, “Sage Techniques”, Xi’an Shen) is the name of a Chinese martial art of mythical and legendary proportions. It is said to have been used by the immortal mountain hermits of Taoist myth, and is centered on the exercise and mastery of one’s. Despite linguistic usage, Senjutsu is merely a Japanese umbrella term used to refer to the arts said to guide and refine one into becoming a Xian, the legendary fairy and genie like beings of Asian myth who are immortal and bear great supernatural power. Though its lore and mythology are up to debate on whether such ways truly do allow people to become Xian, Senjutsu’s origins tie in deeply with the Chinese arts of Taoism and Tai Chi Chuan, including the ki centered arts of Neidan (internal alchemy), Qigong, and Daoyin, from the archetype of the so called “Xian”, or enlightened being, being described in the writings of Chuang Tzu and the Huangdi Nei Jing Su Wen and to even the arts from ancient shamans of pre-united China. The mastery of such school’s ways of living were said to allow one to carefully balance their being to allow them the secret to immortality. In the subject of martial arts, the mythical ascended Xian and Taoist priest Zhang Sanfeng is said to be the legendary founder of the aspects of Neijia, or internal focused martial arts, those of which focused greater on the mental conditioning of being in tune with one’s body and drawing upon the aspects of ki. Esoteric and majorly unknown in its regards to its practices, the art is hinted to revolve around drawing upon the latent power within oneself, and learning how to communicate with heaven and earth. Training and study of Senjutsu is described to be extremely rigorous, demanding, and a vast investment of time, desiring only those who are utmost willing to learn its secrets in the years needed to master it. Mastery of these legendary practices were said to grant the practitioner fantastical powers; such powers include superhuman strength, prowess and agility, as well as longevity and/or effectively immortality. A Sennin can manifest their ki into corporeal form with ease and use it to perform telekinesis; they can also survive and withstand environmental and atmospheric conditions too extreme for a normal human being.

The Soul Power is a power that changes mental power into physical power. It is the same kind of power as ki.Channelling energy through objects makes them weapons from which the user can release concentrated energy, zap opponents, and in Rose’s case, project temporary copies of herself. Rose has been shown to utilize Soul Energy with her scarf, and Menat with her orbs. The user is also capable of casting hallucinations on their opponent.

Gouken, who only wanted to embrace the peaceful and spiritual aspect of the art, developed a sublimated variation of the same martial art style by removing the Satsui no Hado from its techniques before passing down his version of the art to Ryu and Ken, so no one would have to suffer from the negative aspects of the art. Later installments revealed that Gouken’s form of art used is known as the Mu no Ken, and the inspiring powers to replace the Satsui no Hado’s killing potential are that of the Hado no Chikara, a flow of ki allowing one to embrace necessary violence but out of a purpose, and the Power of Nothingness, a state of mind to flow with the world and follow into the natural destination of one’s life. Due to Ken’s prominence in various tournaments, the fighting style is often referred to by characters with no knowledge of the Satsui no Hado as Masters-Style Karate.

egardless of the multiple names and variants (Underworld Brawling, Jailhouse rock, Bare-knuckle boxing, etc, and even self defense), Street fighting proper is a form of hand to hand combat in where an individual faces another opponent formally or informally in a nearby setting. Unlike sport fighting, street fighting entails an “everything goes” situation which is avoidable and can be regulated with certain codes of conduct, but in where there are potentially no ground rules to hold back combatants and nothing is barred, be it from fighting styles to weaponry, to allow the fighters to win.As a form of fighting, street fighting in its “purest” form is usually a mix of boxing, kickboxing and amateur wrestling. Almost any other fighting styles, techniques and martial arts a fighter has seen or learnt can also been used, but these three are the most popular and thus easier to learn/watch. Due to its imagery as unrestrained conflict, street fighting is also associated with extreme forms of self defense and a great accumulation and application of street smarts and survival tactics, including using the nearest surroundings for any advantage, adapting makeshift weapons with whatever is near, and drawing out enemy weakness, be it through psychology or exploiting weak points. This is due to the previously aforementioned so-called “street rules”, where, for a lack of words, anything goes; there are very few, if any, rules that are followed and there is very little chance of a fair fight, as one fighter might have to take on unforeseen scenarios and chances that may be against them in some way and form. This may range from facing someone with more experience, using a martial arts style that has an advantage over them or have not seen before, or is stronger and fitter in form; in some of the more dangerous and intense scenarios, this includes facing someone who’s intoxicated, has a weapon, has a group of friends ready to fight, or intends to kill. Historically, while street fighting pertains a modern and urban image to its vernacular connotations, it should be noted that the martial arts and the need of them on travel have always existed hand in hand in the world of mankind since the dawn of history. Even in olden times, whether it be bandits and highwaymen, to even an overeager member of the warrior caste hoping to strike down another to make a name for themselves or to test out their might and skills on an unsuspecting passerby, the need for self defense and facing other warriors as a probable danger on one’s travels was still a possible, if not more occurring scenario within these periods.

Sumo is generally considered to be a gendai budō (a modern Japanese martial art), though this definition is misleading as the sport has a history spanning many centuries. In Sumo competitions, a Rikishi (力士) attempts to force another Rikishi out of the Dohyō (土俵), a circular ring, or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. There are also a number of other less common rules that can be used to determine the winner, for example a wrestler using an illegal technique automatically loses, as does one whose belt, or mawashi (廻し), becomes completely undone, or one who fails to turn up for his bout (including through a prior injury). Matches consist solely of a single round and often last only a few seconds, as usually one wrestler is quickly ousted from the circle or thrown to the ground. However, they can occasionally last for several minutes. Each match is preceded by an elaborate ceremonial ritual. Traditionally, Sumo wrestlers are renowned for their great girth and body mass is often a winning factor, since there are no weight divisions in professional Sumo, and considering the range of body weights in Sumo, an individual wrestler can sometimes face an opponent twice his own weight. However, with superior technique, smaller wrestlers can control and defeat much larger opponents.

Systema (Система, literally meaning The System) is a Russian martial art. Training includes, but is not limited to: hand-to-hand combat, grappling, knife fighting, and firearms training. Training involves drills and sparring without set kata. In Systema, the body has to be free of tensions, filled with endurance, flexibility, effortless movement, and explosive potential; the “spirit” or psychological state has to be calm, free of anger, irritation, fear, self-pity, delusion, and pride. Systema focuses on breathing, relaxation, and fluidity of movement, as well as utilizing an attacker’s momentum against him and controlling the six body levers (elbows, neck, knees, waist, ankles, and shoulders) through pressure point application, striking, and weapon applications. As a discipline, it is becoming more and more popular among police and security forces and it is taught by several practitioners inside and outside Russia.

Kanzuki Style Martial Arts, also known as Kanzuki-ryu Kakutojutsu or just Kanzuki-ryu, refers to an original martial art style created by Karin Kanzuki. Karin has a wide array of strikes, throws and potent reversals, and she prides herself on being able to handle any opponent she faces. She prefers to keep her opponents guessing by varying the speed of her attacks, and also makes them second-guess their own choice of moves for fear of her powerful counterattacks.

Kickboxing is a group of stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from Karate, Muay Thai and Western boxing. The term “kickboxing” can be used in a narrow and in a wide sense: in a narrow sense, it indicates the styles that self-identify as kickboxing (i.e. Japanese kickboxing and American kickboxing), but in a wider sense includes all stand-up combat sports which allow punches and kicks. Most punching techniques are very much identical to boxing punches, including jabs, crosses, hooks and uppercuts, plus a number of other techniques such as the backfist, a strike to the head delivered raising the arm and bending the arm at the elbow, and then straightening the arm quickly to strike to the side of the head with the rear of the knuckles, the flying punch, struck usually from the rear hand while the combatant hops on the front foot, kicking back with the rear foot and simultaneously extending the rear hand as a punch, the overcut, a semi-circular and vertical punch thrown with the rear hand, usually when the opponent bobbing or slipping, and so forth. The standard kicking techniques are the front kick, a strike to the face or chest with the heel, the side kick, delivered to the head or body with leg parallel to the ground, the circular kick and roundhouse kick, delivered in a chopping motion, and so forth. There are also spinning/jumping variation of basic kicks, and a large number of special techniques such as axe kicks, back kicks, sweeps and others. Knee techniques, indicative of its Muay Thai heritage, are also used in some competitions, usually in a short-range or clinching position.

Developed in Korea in the late 1940s, Taekwondo combines combat and self-defense techniques with sport and sparring. It is characterized by its emphasis on speed and agility, with head-height kicks, jumping and spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques. To facilitate fast turning kicks, Taekwondo generally adopts stances that are narrower and hence less-stable than the broader, wider stances used by martial arts such as Karate.

Characteristic of Taekwondo, all kicks can be executed as jump kicks, spin kicks, jump spin kicks or multi-rotational spin kicks, and also can be performed by both the front or rear leg in a given stance. Hand strikes are performed as a close distance in a number of ways: from standing, jumping, spinning and rushing forward. Various surfaces of the hand may be engaged as the striking surface depending on which area of the opponents body of which is being targeted.

In real life, Lerdrit were developed by the namesake Royal Thai Navy officer Wisit Lerdrit (Thai: วิสิทธิ์ เลิศฤทธิ์) in 1967, who combined various grapping and striking martial arts such as Aikedo, Karate, and traditional Muay Thai style known as Muay Korat, of which he is said to be the master of this style. Lerdrit intended to create the most “optimal” close-quarter combat martial arts to teach the Thai soldiers. Lerdrit demonstrated the technique to King Bhumibol (Rama IX) the next year. The king is impressed by his technique, though remarked that the martial art Lerdrit has created is too dangerous to teach an ordinary citizen. As such, Lerdrit is only taught to the Thai soldiers to allow them to defend themselves in CQC scenario.

Mexican wrestling is characterized by colorful masks, rapid sequences of holds and maneuvers, as well as “high-flying” maneuvers, some of which have been adopted in the United States. The wearing of masks has developed special significance, and matches are sometimes contested in which the loser must permanently remove his mask, which is a wager with a high degree of weight attached. Tag team wrestling is especially prevalent in lucha libre, particularly matches with three-member teams, or trios. Lucha Libre wrestlers are known as luchadores (singular luchador) (“wrestler(s)”). Female Lucha Libre wrestlers are known as luchadoras.