Could Tenshinhan have learned Kaiou-ken?

[Legendary Saiya-Jin]

He and Chiao-tzu did stay on the King Kaiou's planet longer than Pikkoro and Yamucha for about a year or so? And we don't see how his training progressed; maybe King Kaiou trusted Ten more than Yamucha and Pikkoro with such a technique; it would kind of make sense that Ten of all people would learn such a technique, since skill set has always been his specialty. It might also explain why the Shin Kikouhou is special and seemingly more powerful than the regular Kikouhou.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

No, I don't believe that Tenshinhan ever learned Kaio-ken. If he had, we would have seen it.

And about Shin Kikoho, it's way stronger than the regular Kikoho because the technique is composed by many regular Kikoho fired one after another. In other worlds, Shin Kikoho is a rapid-fire Kikoho.

[Legendary Saiya-Jin]

How else would Ten have obtained the energy to even do that? Maybe this only suggests the idea.

[Marco Polo]

Considering what caused Tenshinhan to die and reach Kaio's planet in the first place, I doubt Kaio would teach him such as dangerous, life-threatening technique.

[DBZGTKOSDH]

How else would Ten have obtained the energy to even do that? Maybe this only suggests the idea.

Daizenshuu said that he obtained the power to use Shin Kikoho through intense training. How can the Kaio-ken be related to this though? He obviously didn't use it when he used Shin Kikoho.

[JP6GAMER]

I don't get why you think he learned the Kaio-ken.

[Legendary Saiya-Jin]

Because: his Shin Kikouhou being so powerful, his greater-length and unseen time on Kaiou's planet, the fact that he's a master of techniques and copying them like the Kamehame-ha during the 22nd Tenka'ichi Budoukai and some video game biography said he could use it in the story.

How else would Ten have obtained the energy to even do that? Maybe this only suggests the idea.

Daizenshuu said that he obtained the power to use Shin Kikoho through intense training. How can the Kaio-ken be related to this though? He obviously didn't use it when he used Shin Kikoho.

Because he'd use Kaiou-ken to increase his energy output to be able to blast multiple Kikouhous where he otherwise wouldn't be able to, maybe.

[Bussani]

Tenshinhan said something interesting at one point.

Chapter: 261 (DBZ 67), P8.4
Context: talking about Kaio’s training
Tenshinhan: “I can’t surpass Goku doing the same training…I’ll have to just quickly grasp the point of the training and polish my techniques in my unique way…I just won’t accept the sort of pathetic showing as last time…”

That's not really conclusive of anything, but it would be interesting if Tenshinhan had incorporated the principles of Kaio-ken when creating the Shin Kikoho in order to make it more powerful. The Daizenshuu only describes the attack as "a technique that increases the force of the Kikoho", not mentioning the rapid fire nature of it at all, so maybe it's possible. But it is just a fan theory.

I don't get why you think he learned the Kaio-ken.

Wasn't he just asking if Tenshinhan could have learned it? No one actually said that he did.

[Legendary Saiya-Jin]

That's really interesting; I wonder if that implies whether everyone else learned Kaiou-ken to some extent as well, too. Maybe Pikkoro for when he does massive blasts like against Imperfect Seru (even though it did nothing) and Yamucha with an improved "Spirit Ball" version of Genkai Dama. I dunno.

[Jackal puFF]

I really like that idea of them incorporating King Kai's attacks into their own. I mean at least they all have their own original moves unlike Goku.. Haha.

It is a bit strange that they didn't learn those moves. Was it because King Kai didn't like them? Maybe they weren't strong enough? I really doubt it.. What was the whole point of even going there?

[hleV]

I believe he could. Why is Goku that special?

[DBZGTKOSDH]

The Daizenshuu only describes the attack as "a technique that increases the force of the Kikoho", not mentioning the rapid fire nature of it at all, so maybe it's possible.

While Daizenshuu 7 doesn't refer to the rapid-fire, Daizenshuu 4 does.

[Bussani]

Okay, my mistake for leaving that out. I suppose it's possible that Daizenshuu 7 only says the Shin Kikoho has more force because it's rapid fire, but on the other hand, it's possible that it has more force and is rapid fire. I still think it's an interesting fan theory, whether it's true/believable/whatever or not.

[Saiga]

I don't see what's so special about the Shin Kikoho being stronger than the regular Kikoho. The Super Kamehameha is stronger than the regular Kamehameha, so it's not really surprising for it to be stronger AND rapid-fire.

[Legendary Saiya-Jin]

Gokuu learned the Super Kamehame-ha after God's training. Ten never had such a technique even after God's training; coincidentally, he could have learned it after King Kaiou's teachings. Also, Gokuu never fires a technique of multiple Kamehame-ha blasts with a single exertion.

[Saiga]

Gokuu learned the Super Kamehame-ha after God's training. Ten never had such a technique even after God's training; coincidentally, he could have learned it after King Kaiou's teachings. Also, Gokuu never fires a technique of multiple Kamehame-ha blasts with a single exertion.

What does God's training have to do with it? It just shows that you can make a super-charged version of a technique without the Kaio-ken.

And actually, Goku has done that. When en route to Namek and training in the enhanced gravity.

[Legendary Saiya-Jin]

What does God's training have to do with it? It just shows that you can make a super-charged version of a technique without the Kaio-ken.

My point was that it's not the same as Ten's attack, which was a rapid-fire move. Regardless, Ten never displayed this type of Super Kikouhou on Seru as he did on Nappa after Kami's training, so perhaps his Shin Kikouhou wasn't just a super-charged version.

And actually, Goku has done that. When en route to Namek and training in the enhanced gravity.

I thought that was anime-only. But still, I'm not sure that exactly counts; I'm under the impression that Shin Kikouhou fires shots off in one blast whilst that Kamehame-ha shoots one off within seconds between.

[Pantalones]

Shin Kikoho also seemed to drain Tenshinhan's life a lot less than the regular version (especially considering how much its actual power seemed to have increased), so it's definitely not just a simple "Kikoho version 2.0" sort of upgrade. He went from a single Kikoho, after losing his arm anyway, being enough to kill him outright (while barely scratching Nappa) to multiple Shin Kikoho blasts in a row only making him lose consciousness after a while (while sending 2nd-form Cell flying every time.)

I figure Tenshinhan could learn Kaio-Ken (there's no reason for him to be unable to, regardless of whether he did or not, since he was there for a year, was already stronger when he first arrived than Goku was after Raditz so adjusting to the gravity was probably less of an issue, and tends to learn new techniques quickly)... but I don't see why it would have any relation to the Shin Kikoho. It does seem to be amplified a great deal from an ordinary Kikoho, but it definitely doesn't have the Kaio-Ken's typical ruins-your-body side-effect... if anything it seems like a single Shin Kikoho blast is a whole lot less self-destructive than either a regular Kikoho or the higher-grade Kaio-Ken multipliers would be, and apparently much more powerful too (considering that even Android 16 couldn't budge 2nd-form Cell, and there's no way that even a Kaio-Ken x20 would put Tenshinhan on #16's level... I think that's something everyone can agree on, regardless of how high or low you believe his "base" level at this point in the story to be.)

[Attitudefan]

Remember too, that Ten can learn techniques by just seeing it once and performing it perfectly.

[Saiga]

Remember too, that Ten can learn techniques by just seeing it once and performing it perfectly.

No, he can't. He replicated the Kamehameha with ease, but that's not a difficult technique to pull off. As for the Mafuba, he had to train to use that properly and ended up damaging the container because of his botched attempts.