Rorschach fighting

[Infornific]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Judo is possible. The original Black Canary was based around advanced training in it.

While I was thinking about the Manhunter (Paul Kirk) I found one of his Golden Age comics as a reprint. His recognizable Techniques were Boxing Punch:(Face) and (a highly Cinematic version of) Judo Throw.

I could also cite some Judo users from 30s Pulps. Karate was pretty unknown until well after WWII when GIs started bringing it back from occupation Japan and Okinawa. It was still quite new in the 60s when I was a kid.

You shouldn't count on all unarmed combat from the era being unsophisticated though. I first read about Ear Clap in (I think) Burroughs first Pellucidar book. The hero explained it as a dirty trick a wrestling coach had taught him.

There's also a unarmed combat sequence in Triplanetary where some bad guy (they weren't zwilnicks yet) tried a "Coup de Savate" on conway Costigan. Costigan stopped it with (in Gurps terms) a Leg grapple, a takedown, a Limb Wrench and a Stamp Kick (Head). A thoroughly modern looking combo from a book from 1934.

Bulldog Drummond is also trained (in GURPS terms) in Judo. In real life that would part of a lot of military training circa mid 20th century. I'd say the typical action hero from the 1920s to the 1960s would have Boxing and Judo as unarmed combat skills, with a little Brawling for kicks and tackles. Wrestling would be an optional skill though some heroes would have Combat Wrestling. Circa 1970s, Karate becomes the main combat skill, at least for comic book heroes. Female characters are likely to adopt Karate earlier. I did once write up "Batman Jutsu" for 1940s superheroes. The thread also includes Kirk Fu plus Aesir23's Masked Avenger style.