Goku's fighting style

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Yuji
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Goku's fighting style

Post by Yuji » Thu May 06, 2021 7:05 am

It seems to be a key theme of the current arc that Goku needs to find his own fighting style. As a kid, Goku always seemed very reactive, trying to match whatever his opponents threw at him. As an adult, he became a lot more proactive and his fighting style became a lot more fierce and less technical, at least until he tapped into UI. He's of course a very smart fighter but he's not really known for excelling at one thing.

How do you analyze Goku's fighting style until now and what kind of style would you like to see him develop?

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Re: Goku's fighting style

Post by LightBing » Thu May 06, 2021 1:28 pm

I would say Goku is easily one of the smartest fighters around. Re-reading the manga, he's always fooling and tricking his opponents. His style was both tactical and spontaneous. Coming up with strategies mid-fight.

As the manga progresses, a reliance on power associated with transformations starts to take over and Goku's fighting follows the trend.

The main weakness he has is leaving openings. Sometimes due too overconfidence, others due too distractions.

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Re: Goku's fighting style

Post by Lionel » Thu May 06, 2021 4:14 pm

Well the closest thing to a specific style we hear of is "Kung-Fu". Whatever sub-group he was referring to we can't say as Kung-Fu has hundreds of different varieties. It doesn't appear to matter much as virtually all of his opponents tend to be either weaker or stronger than he is. Few who are able match him tend to rely on eccentric techniques such as in the cases of Tenshinhan and Kid Buu. Jackie Chun did utilise some variant of Zui Quan but Goku promptly countered it with his own improvised style of it.

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Re: Goku's fighting style

Post by Adamant » Fri May 07, 2021 9:35 am

Lionel wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 4:14 pm Well the closest thing to a specific style we hear of is "Kung-Fu". Whatever sub-group he was referring to we can't say as Kung-Fu has hundreds of different varieties.
It's been specifically referred to as "Kamesenryu", Turtle Sage Style.
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Re: Goku's fighting style

Post by Lionel » Fri May 07, 2021 9:08 pm

Adamant wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 9:35 am
Lionel wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 4:14 pm Well the closest thing to a specific style we hear of is "Kung-Fu". Whatever sub-group he was referring to we can't say as Kung-Fu has hundreds of different varieties.
It's been specifically referred to as "Kamesenryu", Turtle Sage Style.
I'm fairly certain the principles of the style were summarised as "refining" the limbs, organs, and mind of the student. It doesn't elaborate on any specific methodology of attack or defence. Whatever preemptive choreographic moves the student has appears to be what they continue using, albeit with superior strength and speed from the Kame training regimen.

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Re: Goku's fighting style

Post by nickzambuto » Sun May 09, 2021 7:49 pm

These characters practice superhuman martial arts. The fact that they can fly is probably why we see very little grappling in the series, especially on the ground grappling. And when you have superhuman senses, agility, and you can cover hundreds of feet in a split second, it completely changes all the principles of distance and timing that we realistically follow when we fight. So I don't believe in judging Goku by how realistic his fighting style is, in reality we have no idea what it would be like to fight superhuman beings in midair while being able to shoot energy beams.

Goku is supposed to be one of the greatest martial artists in the universe, and he is shown outsmarting literally every single opponent that he fights at least once.

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Re: Goku's fighting style

Post by Lionel » Sun May 09, 2021 10:12 pm

Fair point. I don't believe hand-to-hand martial arts practiced by a normal human would work against the likes of a chimpanzee or gorilla due to the enormous discrepancies in size and muscle mass between them. I guess the notion is similar here.

It that may be one of motivational factors behind all of the garish transformations and over the top ki explosions. Well, besides the obvious escalation of scales and conflicts.

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Re: Goku's fighting style

Post by Hulk10 » Wed May 26, 2021 9:06 pm

Lionel wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 10:12 pm Fair point. I don't believe hand-to-hand martial arts practiced by a normal human would work against the likes of a chimpanzee or gorilla due to the enormous discrepancies in size and muscle mass between them. I guess the notion is similar here.

It that may be one of motivational factors behind all of the garish transformations and over the top ki explosions. Well, besides the obvious escalation of scales and conflicts.
You're right they wouldn't work on a chimp, or gorilla.
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Re: Goku's fighting style

Post by Polyphase Avatron » Wed May 26, 2021 10:06 pm

Hulk10 wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 9:06 pm
Lionel wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 10:12 pm Fair point. I don't believe hand-to-hand martial arts practiced by a normal human would work against the likes of a chimpanzee or gorilla due to the enormous discrepancies in size and muscle mass between them. I guess the notion is similar here.

It that may be one of motivational factors behind all of the garish transformations and over the top ki explosions. Well, besides the obvious escalation of scales and conflicts.
You're right they wouldn't work on a chimp, or gorilla.
What about an Oozaru?
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Re: Goku's fighting style

Post by Hulk10 » Thu May 27, 2021 5:21 pm

Polyphase Avatron wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 10:06 pm
Hulk10 wrote: Wed May 26, 2021 9:06 pm
Lionel wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 10:12 pm Fair point. I don't believe hand-to-hand martial arts practiced by a normal human would work against the likes of a chimpanzee or gorilla due to the enormous discrepancies in size and muscle mass between them. I guess the notion is similar here.

It that may be one of motivational factors behind all of the garish transformations and over the top ki explosions. Well, besides the obvious escalation of scales and conflicts.
You're right they wouldn't work on a chimp, or gorilla.
What about an Oozaru?
Yeah not a chance.
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Re: Goku's fighting style

Post by Yuji » Thu May 27, 2021 7:19 pm

nickzambuto wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 7:49 pm These characters practice superhuman martial arts. The fact that they can fly is probably why we see very little grappling in the series, especially on the ground grappling. And when you have superhuman senses, agility, and you can cover hundreds of feet in a split second, it completely changes all the principles of distance and timing that we realistically follow when we fight. So I don't believe in judging Goku by how realistic his fighting style is, in reality we have no idea what it would be like to fight superhuman beings in midair while being able to shoot energy beams.

Goku is supposed to be one of the greatest martial artists in the universe, and he is shown outsmarting literally every single opponent that he fights at least once.
Well, Whis states Goku doesn't have a refined style of his own. "Monkey see, monkey do" seems to be quite literally his style and that's what Whis is calling him out on. Trying to decipher Goku's style isn't a matter of realism, it's something being pointed out in-universe right now.

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Re: Goku's fighting style

Post by TheQuestioner » Fri May 28, 2021 7:21 am

I have yet to fully reread the manga so I don't have any proper analysis going on, but I don't think Goku ever had a style, and that's for the better. He's truly styleless in the original manga, similar to Bruce Lee. He learned a large number of things from various instructors, each with their own styles, and combined everything to become a better fighter. So I doubt that you can really say that Goku has a specific style.

If there is one thing to note though, it's that on a fundamental level he was extremely solid. Even as a child he was shown to be extremely skilled, going toe to toe with Roshi and eventually surpassing him. He was creative enough to reinvent his abilities to improve them, making moves such as the Feet and Instant Kamehameha. Sometimes, he even completely changed the entire game, Grade 4 was a transformation that completely surpassed the expectations of everyone else and made the techniques of the others look like a joke. Besides his physical skill and intelligence, he also had a good understanding of training and how to properly benefit from it. We all know the moment where Goku lectured Vegeta on training too much. He's not flawless by any means, but he is very capable.
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Re: Goku's fighting style

Post by Hugo Boss » Fri May 28, 2021 8:54 am

Yuji wrote: Thu May 27, 2021 7:19 pm Well, Whis states Goku doesn't have a refined style of his own. "Monkey see, monkey do" seems to be quite literally his style and that's what Whis is calling him out on. Trying to decipher Goku's style isn't a matter of realism, it's something being pointed out in-universe right now.
Perhaps he will specialize in one of the Monkey Kung Fu substyles.

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