Vegeta's Fighting Style

[Saul]

Do you think Vegeta learned any particular Martial Art or did he gain his fighting abilities from Training and fighting experience alone? Also what Martial Art do you think Vegeta's fighting technique resembles most?

[Aurek]

I would assume that he was trained by some of the best teachers as he was a prince after all. Possibly his father also? I dont think any name is ever given to the way he fights though I could be wrong.

I always thought he had quite a brutal method of fighting with much use of headbuts, knees and elbows.

[*PINHEAD*]

Saiyan martial arts? I don't really think the Saiyan style of fighting resembles any kind of Eastern martial art, but it's basically very brutal and straight-forward.

[Chibi Mystic Gohan]

It's like the raging monkey style of martial arts.

[SpaceKappa]

I have a Bardock/Gokuu poster that kind of illustrates that point. Bardock is standing with his fists clenched, and he seems very agressive. Gokuu is kneeling with his hands in the "knifehand" position, and seems to be more passive. I thought it was a great visual discrepancy between the two and their backgrounds.

[ThunderPX]

I have a Bardock/Gokuu poster that kind of illustrates that point. Bardock is standing with his fists clenched, and he seems very agressive. Gokuu is kneeling with his hands in the "knifehand" position, and seems to be more passive. I thought it was a great visual discrepancy between the two and their backgrounds.

Did it also have their names in Japanese on it? If so, I used to have a T-shirt like that XD

[Fuujin]

Toriyama wanted Vegeta to seem... well, foreign, alien. As such, his fighting style isn't similar to the Eastern-based martial arts that most characters used. Instead, those "all-in-one" styles like Vale Tudo come to mind, with less style, finesse and flashy moves, but more brutal, effective, practical "anything-goes". It's all about winning with this guy. A good example would be his techniques - he doesn't try to use innovative and complex techniques like Goku and Piccolo, instead he's pretty much about blowing shit up with large and/or numerous Ki blasts. He rarely even goes to a fighting stance to show his confidence. He mostly uses single, powerful straight punches, kicks, headbutts, knees and elbows, targeting the face and gut/solar plexus most of the time. He also ocassionaly throws the opponent by the arm. Contrary to what you might think, Vegeta does use strategy and uses it well (even other characters say so), however often pride clouds his judgement, making him use such trademark "techniques" like checking the opponents strength by intentionally giving him a free punch, just to wipe the blood ostentatiously and proclaim that it was "nothing special".

The anime tries to give him a little more control, with things like homing Renzoku Energy Dans, but mostly it's good ol' Vegeta-style slugfest. Bardock special gave us a little peek into Saiyan training traditions, which basically consist of blowing opponents away and picking up fighting naturally, by yourself. Not a bad explanation, and I think it works well with what Toriyama gave us.

As for the games, Hyper Dimension and Supersonic Warriors are the ones that translated Vegeta's style most faithfully IMO.

[oponok]

Really, it seems everyone in Dragonball Z fights the same way, beyond the meaningless stances. The double axehandles, punching eachother at the same time, roundhouse kicks, and generic energy attacks, all the characters look like they fight the same way (not to devalue the fights-they're some of the most creative and better choreographed I've seen).

Vegeta does have a few notable skills that oppose the "anything goes" idea. His Big Bang Attack, a huge amount of energy packed into a tiny, fist-sized "wad," seems like it would take a great amount of skill to master (for those of you not expecting to read the words "Big Bang" and "wad" in the same sentence, today... I apologize). His ability to curve the Final Flash, to the amazement of Trunks (not sure if that was mentioned in the manga, though), showed a good deal of control. Lastly, Vegeta's bad ass "explode-you-into-nonexistance-by-pointing-at-you-with-two-fingers" attack seems pretty sophisticated.

I'm not claiming that he's "the super mostest technicalicious geniusest fighter in all of Dragonball," but the only real differences between his fighting style and that of the other guys are his special attacks and deadly, spear-like head.

[Fuujin]

Although the diversity did seem to diminish between DB and DBZ, saying that all characters fight the same is an exaggeration. They all have some trademark moves and general attitutes towards fighting, and I'm not only talking about different Ki techniques. I red some chapters before posting to refresh my memory and, at least in the fights I checked, Vegeta used only two roundhouses and almost no generic energy attacks (when he uses Ki blasts, he uses them BIG TIME!). Dunno what an axehandle is, can anyone enlighten me?

Also, in some instances, anime makes a character's style more generic (not always, though, aka Ginyu). Vegeta, being one that was around for long, seems to be a good example.

[oponok]

An axe handle is when someone clenches both fists to together, with the fingers of each hand embracing the other as though the person was holding an axe with both hands, and come down with both hands on the opponent. Perfect Cell does it to Vegeta to knock him out, Vegeta does it to Goku in their first fight, so on, so forth.

[Xyex]

You have to remember the diffrences in circumstances too though in those fights. During DB most of the fights were at the Budokai, and those not weren't of the all or nothing variety. It wasn't until the King Piccolo stuff that losing became a very bad thing to have happen. So you'll notice more practiced fluidity. In Z though, it's faster, more 'do-or-die' etc, and shown as such.

You also need to remember that, when push comes to shove, you stick two martial arts masters into a ring to fight each other it wont look much different than a street brawl. You'll see hints of the styles used but the fluidity and choreography of the movies is all show and almost no fact.

[Sun_Wukong]

Is DBZ really that complex? Mabey its me, but I couldnt really tell that any of the characters had any fighting style. Other than their signature attacks, I couldnt tell one character's moves from another.

[*PINHEAD*]

Well, earlier in Dragon Ball, the series' foundation on cheesy kung-fu moves is fairly evident. But as the story progresses and the characters get insanely more powerful, fighting styles become somewhat obselete. The major deciding factor is who's the strongest/fastest.

[Aurek]

There is definate differences in style in some of the more developed and coreographed fights. The Goku/Majin Vegeta fight, Kid Buu/Goku and Vegeta. The way Buu fought also changed as he adsorbed various people.

I would illustrate with pictures but I dont know how take images from the crappy rm's I have on my PC...

[Sun_Wukong]

Someone please convince me that there are fighting styles in DB/Z. I'm not insulting the series, I've been a fan of it for years. I just dont see anything sophisticated about punches and kicks. I mean its more obvious in Street Fighter that characters are using different styles.

Again, I'm not insulting it, I just dont see it.

[Jerseymilk]

Well there are specific techniques and moves shown. One of the things I have always enjoyed about DB is watching the fights and seeing the perfection in the execution of their moves. It may seem like just all punching and kicking to you, but there are many different kinds of hand and leg moves. I don't know if you have any martial arts experience, but if you don't, that's likely why it all just looks the same to you. As for specific styles, I've recognized some Kung-Fu aspects in there, especially during DB, but it's always seemed like just a mish-mash of all kinds of styles to me. But we also have to remember, that there are also the "ki" techniques and other supernatural stuff, so you can't hold it in comparison to real life too much.

[Aurek]

a lot of it is quite generic though yes, Z more so than DB.

[Fuujin]

If you expect differences between the fundamental principles of fighting for different characters, like in a fight between Eddy Gordo and Hwoarang (sp?), then you will indeed be dissapointed. The basics of fighting are generally the same for all characters, with Ki manipulation and hard, very fast strikes kinda reminiscent of kickboxing, often using the benefits of flying for gaining momentum (well, Buu may be an exception). However, saying that all characters fight the same is unfair. If you don't want to call those differences separate "styles" in the purely martial arts definition of the word, then don't, but those differences are definitely there. The problem is that fights in DBZ are taken to such exaggerated level that some real-life martial arts principles begin to lose significance. Agility is less and less important with the application of flying. Differences in speed become more obscure, as fighters are already so ridiculously fast that picking up which warrior is faster becomes nigh impossible etc. etc.

However if you look closer, there are some variations. Saiyans' and Freeza's styles rely more on brute force and power, with ends justifying the means, very practical and militaristic. Goku's is more Eastern, complex and graceful, with more careful application of Ki blasts. Androids use very basic, straightforward kicks and punches with open palms, they also use many charging headbutts. Ginyu likes to use terrain to his advantage. And Buu is just plain weird.

[Aurek]

I think that sums it up quite nicely actually

[Saul]

Also think back to when Goku and Vegeta first fought, they have particular stances, Vegeta holds a open hand over his head while his other arm is back by his waist. Goku keeps both arms lower with one closer to his face and two fingers extended out on each hand, perhaps to channel Ki. When Vegeta blocks punches he blocks with the back of his Forearm with his fists covering his face, he also blocks with open hands as if catching each punch. Goku blocks with the side of his Forearm with fingers still extended to channel Ki to strengthen his arm.

Goku seems to have a more defined Art a little more graceful with attacks and blocks. While Vegeta is almost like a Boxer at times, his strikes are powerful like a Karate punch, he is also very acrobatic.