Quote:
Originally Posted by SilvercatMoonpaw
I remember coming across a Youtube video of two guys demonstrating a medieval European unarmed combat style called......Twirch Ringen? I'm sure someone who deals with the subject more then me can remember the right name.
There's also Pankration, the Ancient Greek wrestling art.
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Pankration crossed my mind as potentially helpful here—though I don't know that feel-wise it suits "cinematic" or "chi" abilities that go beyond just being really strong.
Quote:
Originally Posted by johndallman
It comes from OD&D and AD&D1e Monks, who first appeared in Blackmoor in 1975. They were inspired by the Kung Fu TV series, which started in 1972, and more or less created the image of oriental martial arts in western popular culture. |
I was vaguely aware that Monks had been in D&D since 1st edition, but didn't know the details. Thanks for the history lesson!
Quote:
Originally Posted by khorboth
Do you need a historical analog?
In the European middle ages, the Catholic church suppressed all kinds of mysticism. No church, no supression. So, you could just move a neo-berzerker into a more spiritual role. Or if the Celts endured, it's not unlikely they would have developed something similar.
The pressures which created unarmed fighting techniques were the banning of weapons for commoners. Anywhere that's sustained, people will invent.
But if you're in full-on DF, just add handwavium.
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Dungeon Fantasy martial artists don't
have to fight unarmed, though all have at least a couple points in Judo and Karate. I'm more concerned about the mystical side of things. While I guess you don't strictly "need" a historical precedent, ideas on alternate flavorings would be nice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Colonel
What are we meaning by "martial arts"? Because Western Europe had a martial arts tradition every bit as rich as the East - there are multiple societies specifically dedicated to researching and recreating the martial arts of the European Middle Ages and Renaissance - and, I think, one that is Viking themed, although whether that is a themed invention or historical research is unknown to me.
If we mean unarmed combat - sadly sportification and the arrival of Eastern styles had probably meant that European Freestyle and anything resembling true Pankration have disappeared into MMA, but in reality, that's what happens to unarmed combat skills: the MMA exponents have more or less proven that Eastern style fossilization doesn't help.
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By "martial arts" I mean the Martial Artist template in
Dungeon Fantasy, complete with both cinematic skills and a specific interpretation of chi-abilities-as-powers.