Wado Heretic
Green Belt
Joined: 23 May 2014
Posts: 497
Location: United Kingdom
Styles: Wado-Ryu , Kobayashi Shorin-Ryu (Kodokan), RyuKyu Kobojutsu
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 Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 1:00 pm Post subject: |
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I must admit; it has been a few years since I read Manga, and I am somewhat of a social gamer at most. If someone does not offer to play a fighting game with me, I am probably never going to play said fighting game.
With that said; I find reading fictional works about martial arts can sometimes give an insight into an attitude one might not have as a martial arts enthusiast. After all, novelists are looking to appeal to an audience, and more often move with the times, where as one can tend to get stuck in their own bubble. So sometimes it is useful to find out what pop-culture attitudes about martial arts are.
Below are what I remember, with a little research to jog my memory where needed; I have tried to include a short synopsis about why I feel it is an interesting representation in Karate in said work of fiction, as well as a general opinion about the work it appears in.
Koukou Tekkenden Tough (The protagonist is somewhat of a Jerk, and his motivations can be hard to reconcile with. The earlier nearly superhuman feats, but still grounded in some level of reality, made possible through training from hell are also slowly replaced by super-natural feats justified by special genes.)
Kenjustukan: A homage/parody of Uechi-Ryu, which focuses on an extreme Hojo Undo regime to make the karateka capable of delivering devastating strikes, as well as able to absorb incredible amounts of trauma. Tetsuzan Kuramoto, the fictional founder of kenjutsukan, even has the nickname of Superman like Kiyohide Shinjō, although he perhaps derives as much inspiration from Mas Oyama as he does Shinjō. His primary student is also shown as incredibly dangerous, and gives the protagonist of the story one of his hardest fights.
Shinku-Kai: A fictional analogy to Tani-ha Shito-Ryu. Not much is revealed beside that about the style, except that it hosted open, knock-down tournaments; one of which was part of a character’s background.
Sekishin: Little more than a story telling device; all that is revealed about the style is that it was intended to face any type of attacker, including grapplers. However, considering its founder, and strongest members were both defeated by masters of sophisticated grappling styles in story; my guess is that it was a parody of how Kenka Karate schools, during the Japanese Vale Tudo craze, desperately tried to catch up on grappling skills.
Daido-Kan: A thinly veiled fictional analogy to Daido-Juko. There is even a reference to a tournament in-universe where the use of the iconic “Space-Helmet” is shown, and an early translation error where one translator had it called Daido-Juko in Universe.
Karate Shoukoushi Kohinata Minoru(Has a few tasteless, and politically incorrect jokes, which can be hard to ignore, and admittedly is why I gave up on reading it)
Koudan Kaikan: A homage/parody to Kyokushinkaikan, in that it is a Japanese school of Kenka Karate, although it takes many narrative cues from the history of other schools of karate. For example, it is the sponsor of a kick-boxing organisation called King of Strikers; an allusion to Seidokaikan and its connection to K-1. Similarly, many of Koudan Kaikan’s early champions were also pioneers in Japanese kick-boxing in Universe; not unlike Kyokushin Gym in the sixties and seventies. There is also a subtle reference to one of better known controversies in karate history; Ohtsuka Hironori’s forced exit from the Wadokai organisation. In Universe; Kaburagi Juuzou was the original head of Koudan Kaikan, but was forced out by his student Izumi Koushou, which lead to the formation of Kaburagi-Ryu.
Kaburagi-Ryu: Like Koudan Kaikan, it is a homage/parody of Kyokushinkaikan, and in some ways even more directly. It’s founder Kaburagi Juuzou is alluded to have engaged in inter-school competition, and to have been a legendary instructor and coach of fighters; not unlike Mas Oyama. Furthermore; it is shown to largely be inspired by Goju-Ryu, with regards to Kata alluded to, with some elements of Shuri Te just like Kyokushin.
Beside Kyokushin, Kaburagi-Ryu references other schools too. Its tournaments use extreme rules closer to FSA Kenshinkan Pro KarateDo events; where bare-knuckle punches to the head are allowed, and like the real event in Universe this is considered extreme and dangerous. Similarly; there is also references to Daido-Judo, with the use of the iconic space helmet during tournament qualifiers. Also, the eventual shutting down of Kaburagi-Ryu due to tax evasion charges mirrors the real-life arrest of Kazuyoshi Ishii, founder of the Seidokaikan karate organization.
Shiryuukan/Doryuukan (The naming is inconsistent): A parody of various “Vale Tudo” karate systems. Shown to essentially be Mixed Martial Arts in tradition keikogi; the question is even raised in Universe about whether it can still be called Karate without practicing kata. Considering how badly the Shiryuukan team does in the Team MMA Battle between it and Team Reinan (Kaburagi-Ryu), I believe it is supposed to be a “take that”, at those karateka who abandoned karate in favour of the flavour of the day, and still did badly. For example; the failure of several Daido-Juko fighters in the early Vale Tudo Japan events, and then Wajyutsu Keishukai’s showing against the poorly considered Kenkagei Koppo at Koppo VS. Keishukai, marred the reputation for such systems for a good while.
Garōden(I prefer the earlier version of the story more commonly called Garouden)
Hokushin: Perhaps the most straight forward homage/parody to Kyokushinkaikan I am aware of. The founder is based heavily on Mas Oyama, though given comic and peculiar characteristics derived more from the character in Karate Baka Ichidai than the historical figure. The founder is shown as having a history of dojo yaburi, and is hinted at having near super-human fighting prowess even in his advancing age. Little is shown about Hokushin beside the fact it is school of Kenka Karate, and its tournaments follow traditional Jissen-Kumite rules.
Interestingly; they host an open tournament in the story, which has rules giving an edge to karateka, not unlike many of criticisms made of the first Kyokushin Open World Tournament. Although these rules are put aside in the story itself to have a proper-free fighting tournament.
Hokushin fighters also appear in events sponsored by the FAW, an in-universe puroresu promotion, not unlike how Kyokushin fighters appeared in works for NJPW in the 70s and 80s. There is also an ongoing rivalry between Hokushin and FAW, mirroring the propaganda war for the title of strongest between NJPW under Inoki, and the “Strongest Karate” of Kyokushin in Japan in the time before MMA and Vale Tudo. Indeed; for fight fans of that time, the great unanswered question was how would Mas Oyama in his prime have done against the all-conquering Antonio Inoki, and Garoden seems to be moving towards the Author’s answer to said question.
Shiseikan: Again, a parody/homage of Uechi-Ryu; with its practitioners engaging in extreme Hojo Undo to develop a body capable of near inhuman feats. Interestingly; Teruo Kataoka (the sole practitioner seen fighting) is defeated via Suplex in the story, after being inadvertently drawn into a work by his pro-wrestling opponent. He faces his second defeat by falling victim to street fighting tactics. My guess is that it’s a badly communicated morale about how conditioning your body only goes so far if you never actually train to fight.
Shamo (Not for the faint of heart; I read it but I don’t know if I could recommend it due to its violent depictions, and the darkness of the story.)
Banryukai: At first glance; a very straight forward parody of Seidokaikan and Kyokushin. It models itself as the Strongest Karate, has branches across the world, and runs the Lethal Fight; a kick-boxing organisation inspired by K-1. Similarly; it is shown to have influences from both Naha Te, and Shuri Te, mirroring Kyokushin and its descendent arts. The main character primarily uses it in self-defence, and no rules situations, and thus fights “dirty” more often and not. As such, it is a pretty violent representation of what karate techniques could do to a person if one did not care for the target’s welfare at all. The school itself has its own arc very distinct from other examples, in that it rarely takes its narrative cues from the headlines or the history of Sogo Kakutogi, and there are some novel ideas regarding its history and organisation though they can be farfetched.
Kenji (Probably one of my favourite manga due to the depth of martial arts knowledge. The author gets a few things wrong, and of course leans on Kung Fu mythology a little much, but nothing an informed eye cannot deal with.)
Takayama ha Shotokan: A school of Shotokan developed by a character called Takayam Sohachi; in story he incorporated tactics and skills from Kalarippayattu, Boxing, and Daito-Ryu Aikijujutsu, and is implied to have studied numerous arts unnamed in story. In story, it is largely shown to be quite conventional karate; emphasising Kihon, Kata, and Kumite. However, significant differences from conventional Shotokan are implied, and there is use of Bogu Kumite, and multiple attacker drills more consistent with Aikido. The character, and his school are used largely as framing devices for the protagonist to learn more about martial arts, and combat sports, in general during the early part of the story.
Holyland: (Fairly realistic, but has some farfetched elements. The author makes some astute points about street-fighting, but again gets some things wrong.)
Hakusen: A form of Kenka Karate, which practices traditional Jissen Kumite. Little is said about the style, but one of the key characters, Shougo, practices it, and one of the minor story arcs involves the school. Aesthetically; it takes its cues more from Shotokan, with regards to its main representative who focuses more on movement in unusual spaces, striking vital points, and being adaptive to different fighting styles. Oddly; the other members of school fight in a more conventional Kyokushin tournament style. In some ways; this representation of Karate is like Shamo, but is far less violent, and the author spends more time justifying his depiction.
All-Rounder Megura (One of the few I am keeping up with; a very realistic depiction of Shooto, and the world of martial arts. Has a secondary story arc which is a little absurd involving Yakuza, but it does not detract from the slice of Life feel the rest of the story has.)
Sagawa Karate: Practiced by the main character in his childhood, and the base of his rival Takashi’s MMA skills. It appears to be inspired by Goju-Ryu, but might have been Kyokushin, as a character states how Sagawa used to state how karate was for fighting. The style of Sagawa karate seen in the manga right now appears to be a form of traditional, no contact, karate. Not much else is revealed about it, and it largely exists as a framing device.
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R. Keith Williams
Last edited by Wado Heretic on Fri Jul 14, 2017 3:50 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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on the post.
