Martial Arts

Greetings and salutations, Splendid Seven devotees, martial arts aficionados, and hand-to-hand fighting game fans. Antoni here. Ever since I sunk my teeth into Sesshoumaru, Shuran, Inuyasha, Hakkaku, Ginta, Ayame, and Shunran partaking in various martial arts, I also thought about my experience playing hand-to-hand video games such as Tekken, Street Fighter, and King of Fighters when I was a child. Furthermore, I also thought about Fatal Fury: Legend of the Hungry Wolf, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, Street Fighter Alpha the Animation, Street Fighter II V, and Street Fighter the Animated Series which have always been my most favourite animated adaptations from hand-to-hand fighting video games. What better way to unite my enjoyment of hand-to-hand fighting video games and the dedication I have to my beloved Inuyasha AU headcanon than to match the fighting game characters that I think match Sesshoumaru’s, Inuyasha’s, Shuran’s, Hakkaku’s, Ginta’s, Ayame’s, and Shunran’s fighting styles and personalities.   Since The Splendid Seven consists of, naturally, seven members who are united as one powerful and unconditionally loving family, I am going to list seven fighting game characters to each Splendid Seven member that I believe encapsulates each of them in terms of personality, style, and appeal. Furthermore, these fighting game characters are who I believe they would emulate with all their being. With that said, let us get cracking and mauling.   Sesshoumaru is undoubtedly a Shotokan, Kyokushin, Mixed Martial Arts, Marine Corps Martial Arts, Japanese Jujitsu, and Brazilian Jujitsu champion. However, I could also see him excelling in Ansatsuken, Mishima Style Fighting Karate, and Kyokengryu Karate with precision and lethalness. Here are the fighting game characters Sesshoumaru would potentially form the basis of his fighting style. Ryu Hoshi (Street Fighter) Guile (Street Fighter) Charlie Nash (Street Fighter) Kazuya Mishima (Tekken) Lee Chaolan (Tekken) Ryo Sakazaki (King of Fighters) Robert Garcia (King of Fighters)   Inuyasha is the undisputed master of Taekwondo, Hapkido, Pankration, Ancient Greek Wrestling, Ancient Greek Boxing, Kapu Kuialua, and Bokator. Just like Sesshoumaru, he would also excel in Ansatsuken and Mishima Style Fighting Karate. The difference is that Inuyasha would also employ Hybrid Style Martial Arts in his combat resumé with great strength and power. Inuyasha’s fighting game character inspirations are as follows. Ken Masters (Street Fighter) Akuma (Street Fighter) Alex (Street Fighter) Paul Phoenix (Tekken) Baek Doo San (Tekken) Terry Bogard (King of Fighters) Alex Bogard (King of Fighters)   Shuran can dominate any ring in Sumo Wrestling, Mongolian Wrestling, Professional Wrestling, Ssireum, Turkish Oil Wrestling, Pehlwani, and Malla-yuddha. Although he is predominantly a grappler, he could also adapt superbly with strikes, especially where his punches and palm strikes are concerned as well as having a background in Brazilian Jujitsu, Sambo, and Vale Tudo. No doubt is Shuran going to emulate these fighting game characters. E. Honda (Street Fighter) Zangief (Street Fighter) Hugo (Street Fighter) Ganryu (Tekken) The Jack Robots (Tekken) Akatsuki-Maru (King of Fighters) Antonov (King of Fighters)   Hakkaku can use his skills in Muay Thai, Pradal Serey, Kajukenbo, Panantukan, Dambe, Moraingy, and Taekkyeon to knock every single one of his opponents down. His signature elbow strikes, knee strikes, and shin kicks may be gloriously devastating, but he could also employ these attacks from Taekwondo, Bushinryu, and Boxing. It is through these fighting game characters that Hakkaku is going to find inspiration from the following seven. Dan Hibiki (Street Fighter) Sagat (Street Fighter) Guy (Street Fighter) Bruce Irvin (Tekken) Bryan Fury (Tekken) Joe Higashi (King of Fighters) Shen Woo (King of Fighters)   Ginta can implement what he has been learning from Lethwei, Pencak Silat, Sanda, Hwa Rang Do, Tang Soo Do, Eagle Claw Kung Fu, and Systema to effectively incapacitate all of his enemies. He is also extremely versatile in terms of his combat approaches, as evidenced in combining strikes from Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Boxing, Jeet Kune Do, and Shaolin Kung Fu. These seven fighting game characters are undoubtedly who can define Ginta. Fei Long (Street Fighter) Adon (Street Fighter) Cody (Street Fighter) Lei Wulong (Tekken) Marshall Law (Tekken) Kim Kaphwan (King of Fighters) Rick Strowd (King of Fighters)   Ayame is an exemplarily picture-perfect example of championing Kickboxing, Nippon Kenpo, Shorinji Kenpo, Boxing, Judo, Krav Maga, and Sambo. Given her formidability and adaptability to any and every martial art, she can also use what she has learned in Shaolin Kung Fu, Aikido, Karate, and army-based martial arts to propel her physical abilities and use them for protection. This is evidenced in the seven fighting game characters who define her. Chun-Li (Street Fighter) Cammy White (Street Fighter) Sakura Kasugano (Street Fighter) Nina Williams (Tekken) Mary “Blue Mary” Ryan (King of Fighters) Mai Shiranui (King of Fighters) Yuri Sakazaki (King of Fighters)   Shunran is a godsend through her incomparable Capoeira, Shaolin Kung Fu, Wing Chun, Wushu, Baguazhang, Changquan, and Northern Praying Mantis. She is also a very versatile martial artist who does not limit herself to kicks, somersaults, and dance-like moves, for she can use punches, hand strikes, knee strikes, elbow strikes, and joint locks to overcome her enemies. Shunran’s fighting game inspirations do shape what her identity as a fighter is. Hokuto (Street Fighter) Pullum Purna (Street Fighter) Elena (Street Fighter) Anna Williams (Tekken) Athena Asamiya (King of Fighters) Li Xiangfei (King of Fighters) May Lee Jinju (King of Fighters)   There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the fighting game characters I believe would fit Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, Shuran, Hakkaku, Ginta, Ayame, and Shunran really well. It was not easy compiling this, especially re-familiarising myself with certain fighting game characters, but it made me so overjoyed rediscovering my enjoyment of fighting games and incorporating it to my Splendid Seven AU headcanon.

Greetings and salutations, Splendid Seven devotees and martial arts aficionados. Antoni here. It is said that the martial arts have their place in culture, history, and sociolinguistic norms throughout the world. It is also said that when Sesshoumaru, Shuran, Inuyasha, Hakkaku, Ginta, Ayame, and Shunran practice various martial arts and make it a way of life, they not only become a powerful septet of Yokai warriors but also a strong family united by honour, courage, fortitude, discipline, attitude, confidence, and valour. Nothing can ever separate their bond as martial artists and as a family.   For this written entry, I am going to do something that is called East meets West in which each Splendid Seven member has two Eastern martial arts and two Western martial arts. This match-up would open them up to various combat possibilities and would combine specific physical aspects from each martial art to create adaptability to overcome stronger and more skilled opponents. While this would apply to all of The Splendid Seven members, the only exceptions are Shuran, Hakkaku, Ginta, and Shunran whose fighting styles are predominantly Eastern with one martial art being of Western origin, thus having three Eastern martial arts and one Western martial art for the four of them. With that said, let us get kicking, punching, grappling, and mauling, everybody.   Sesshoumaru combines tradition with innovation through Japan’s Shotokan and Kyokushin Karate, Brazil’s and America’s Mixed Martial Arts, and America’s Marine Corps Martial Arts. Shotokan’s and Kyokushin’s focus, balance, and power are combined with Mixed Martial Arts’ sheer brutality and Marine Corps Martial Arts’ speedy reaction time, survival tactics, and lethal precision. For Sesshoumaru, timing is everything when it comes to how he blocks, throws punches and kicks, and grapples his opponents to the ground to choke and batter the life out of them with his bare hands. If that were not enough, the Japanese and American army bases would be really proud to have Sesshoumaru on board with his skills in Marine Corps Martial Arts, for he has the speed and lethal accuracy to make his enemies squirm with terror, especially when he snatches their weapons away with lightning-fast quickness and incapacitates them with soul-shattering blows. He would even incorporate Karate’s main principles of Kihon, Kata, and Kumite in Mixed Martial Arts and Marine Corps Martial Arts as a means to condition himself, his teammates, and his troupes well against their enemies. Sesshoumaru is truly a martial artist worthy of respect and admiration.   Inuyasha combines power with brutality through Korea’s Taekwondo and Hapkido, Greece’s Pankration, and Hawaii’s Kapu Kuialua. Taekwondo’s and Hapkido’s speed, power, balance, and timing are combined with Pankration’s brute strength and Kapu Kuialua’s fierce brutality. Inuyasha’s raw power, super strength, and muscular virility are a wonderful yet dangerous combination should thugs, hellions, and lowlives dare cross paths with him. He uses every part of his body from his fists to his elbows to his knees to his heels to overcome his enemies and make them submit to his awesome power. Furthermore, Inuyasha’s combination of Taekwondo’s predominant punches and kicks with Hapkido’s, Pankration’s, and Kapu Kuialua’s joint locks, arm bars, submission holds, bearhugs, back-breakers, and neck-breakers demonstrate how serious of a fighter he really is. Whether he delivers a series of fatal spinning back kicks or disfiguring jabs to the face or devastating uppercuts to the chin or submission holds so tight that an anaconda is strangling his prey, Inuyasha can accomplish them all with pride and glory as well as having his muscles being bathed in his enemies’ blood. There is no escape when Inuyasha invites his enemies to their own demise.   Shuran combines brute force with grand virility through Japan’s Sumo Wrestling, Mongolian Wrestling, Korea’s Ssireum, and America’s and Great Britain’s Professional Wrestling. Sumo Wrestling’s, Mongolian Wrestling’s, and Ssireum’s grandly time-honoured tradition and cultural significance to Asia are combined with Professional Wrestling’s macho bravado and boundless thrills for all the spectators to witness. Locking enemies in various submission holds and throws is only one part of Shuran’s game in doing what he can to not falter. Consistency in his technique and dedication to his craft as a martial artist as well as to his family are also what make him thrive in perseverance and fortitude. Should any opponent dare to squeeze the life out of Shuran, he would just retaliate a million times harder with bearhugs, back-breakers, neck-breakers, suplexes, arm bars, joint locks, Boston Crabs, and Full Nelsons that can easily suffocate them to submission. Even his palm strikes and bodyslams have been proven to cause so much collateral damage. The ring and the ground are essentially home to Shuran. When potential opponents try their strength at him, they would not even last one nanosecond, thus bringing them to their knees.   Hakkaku combines fierceness with quick reflexes through Thailand’s Muay Thai, Cambodia’s Pradal Serey, Hawaii’s Kajukenbo, and the Philippines’s Panantukan. Muay Thai’s and Pradal Serey’s lethalness and brute force are combined with Kajukenbo’s versatility and Panantukan’s no holds barred determination to triumph. Hakkaku’s repertoire of punches and kicks may be devastating, but how he uses his clinches, elbow strikes, knee strikes, and shin kicks is nothing short of phenomenally jaw-dropping in the most brilliant way possible. He could never begin to tell the many occasions where he found purpose in kicking oak trees and banana trees with his bare shins to the point where Thailand and Cambodia honoured him as a fighter worthy of discipline, respect, and dignity. No mugger nor murderer would be impudent to dare besmirch Hakkaku’s good name. While Hakkaku’s punches and kicks can disfigure skeletons and break bones, his clinches combined with his knee strikes, shin kicks, and elbow strikes can leave his enemies bleeding, bruised, and beaten almost to death. There is no stopping Hakkaku when it comes to dishing out a huge serving of pain and punishment when he puts his elbows, knees, and shins to phenomenal use.   Ginta combines ferocity with speed through Myanmar’s Lethwei,…