Transhuman Martial Arts
by Peter V. Dell'Orto & Werner H. Hartmann
The solar system of Transhuman Space is a place of wonder and technological progress. But it is also a place of inter-group and interpersonal violence. The martial arts have been in constant development for thousands of years, and 21st century was no exception. Numerous martial styles were developed, refined, and taught as man moved off planet. Here is a small sampling of some martial arts that have developed throughout the 21st century and into the early days of the 22nd.
Martial Arts in the 21st
In the first decades of the third millennium the body of techniques collectively known as "martial arts" developed itself into three different directions. The largest, and commercially most successful, was the amalgamation of various martial art techniques and styles with moves from aerobic and dance classes. This resulted in the creation of what would later become known as "fitness arts." Practitioners of these styles are primarily interested in the workout effects of their training and waste little to no thoughts on self-defense -- though there have been some tragic cases of delusional belief in the actual combat value of their chosen sport. The second major direction was somewhat classical: self-defense.
Especially in areas with a strong tradition of strict gun control, many citizens felt the need to learn some ways to protect themselves against physical violence. Like in the latter half of the 20th century, most dojos draw paying customers by offering a variety of "quick and dirty" (or often just quick) self-defense courses, which in turn were derived from certain techniques of the dojos main martial arts (often some form of Karate, Jujutsu, Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, Escrima, Kickboxing, or Wing Chun).
"Serious" practitioners of traditional martial arts still existed, and often made their living by teaching those self-defense courses, but new styles of any significance were not developed in this environment.
Invention and creativity, however, could be found in the third important area of martial arts development in the 21st century: full-contact blood sports. Born out of the Mu Tau and "Mixed Martial Arts" bouts of the 1990s, such "meatfights" became more and more popular all over the globe between 2010 and 2020 -- even if they were still illegal in many areas. Since many fighters in those days came from a criminal and/or streetfighting background the "creativity" shown in their fights was of a rather primal and brutal conviction, thus keeping the lessons from those tournaments out of any "real" dojo for decades to come. Some of those techniques came full circle during the 20s, 30s, and 40s when civil unrest and wars in various parts of the world -- but especially in Central Africa -- saw the reintroduction of those brutal fighting maneuvers to the urban battle fields of the 21st century.
The true motors of inspiration for the martial arts in the 21st century -- manned space travel, the colonization of deadly environments with non-standard gravitation, and life in small pressurized habitats -- needed almost 50 years for ignition and lift-off. Then, between 2040 and 2080, dozens of new styles seemed to appear all across the solar system, though only a handful of them were really successful on this scale. Many of those styles were also born out of social and political unrest, mainly on Mars and beyond. The Ares conspiracy, the Duncanites, and the bloody history of the Martian Triads are probably the most widely known of these conflicts.
Today, at the dawn of the 22nd century, the "fitness arts" of the 21st have almost completely vanished: thanks to modern biomods citizens of 4th- and 5th-wave nations no longer have any need for them, and those living in poorer areas of the world usually have more urgent needs. Also classical martial arts tournaments in styles like boxing and kickboxing went the same way out like almost all other spectator sports when confronted with upgraded, uplifted, or biomodified contenders. Martial arts as "arts" like many forms of T'ai Chi and kata demonstrations in karate, however, are alive and kicking - as are the deadly and illegal blood sport fights that can be found almost anywhere in the solar system. Dojos that teach martial arts for self-defense still exist but are more common on Mars and in 3rd and 4th wave nations than in the secure and wealthy 5th wave areas of Earth. However, the military forces of the solar system all teach martial art techniques to certain units, and all professional law enforcement personnel -- be it on Earth or beyond -- can be expected to know some form of hand-to-hand combat.
Cinematic Martial Arts in Transhuman Space
Cinematic martial arts are canonically non-existent in Transhuman Space. The martial arts have always had legends of special abilities attached to them. In the past, masters had many powers attributed to them. Due to the nature and inherent limitations of modern media the public awareness of the distinction between cinematic and realistic martial arts techniques has grown significantly over the past few decades. While InVid productions often feature more outrageous stunts than even the most extreme wuxia movies of the early 21st century, the popular slinky recordings of bloody meat fights are forced almost by definition to present the utmost in realism. A realism that, if rumors are to be believed, results in a small-but-profitable black market in "death match" slinkies. However, even when faced with bleeding facts, humans like to believe the improbable, so that legends and urban myths about "secret techniques" of classic and modern martial arts are still strong and widespread memes. The Cinematic Skills and Cinematic Maneuvers listed can be used for inspiration about the legends ascribed to these new styles. Perhaps in some Transhuman Space campaigns, some of these fictional depictions are true . . .
The Styles
The following styles are a sampling of the more important and widespread styles in the early 22nd century as well as a couple of the more unique. This is not a complete listing -- many styles, sub-styles, and syncretions of 20th century styles have emerged.
Bantu Boxing (Bantujutsu) -- Warriorstyle
16 Points
Primary Skills: Boxing, Judo.
Secondary Skills: Body Language, Breath Control, Law, Tonfa, Staff.
Optional Skills: Karate, Meditation (M/H), Autohypnosis, Style Analysis, Sumo Wrestling, other weapon skills.
Maneuvers: Arm Lock [2], Breakfall, Choke Hold, Finger Lock, Ground Fighting (Judo), Head Lock, Hit Location (Boxing), Jab, Neck Snap, Piledriver, Riposte (Boxing), Roundhouse Punch, Slip.
Cinematic Skills: none.
Cinematic Maneuvers: none.
Common Advantages: Combat Reflexes, High Pain Threshold, Toughness.
Common Disadvantages: Intolerance (racial)
Useful Biomods: Bio-Booster, Bone Stimulation, Cell Regeneration, Jointwork, Muscle Reinforcement.
Bantu Boxing -- Chiefstyle
16 Points
Primary Skills: Staff, Short Staff, one of Axe/Mace, Broadsword, Main-Gauche or Tonfa.
Secondary Skills: Body Language, Breath Control, Law, Throwing, one weapon skill not chosen as primary skill.
Optional Skills: As for warriorstyle.
Maneuvers: Aggressive Parry (for two primary skills), Back Strike (Staff), Close Combat (for two primary skills), Feint (Staff), Hit Location (for all primary skills), Off Hand Weapon Training (for Short Staff and the other one-handed primary weapon skill), Retain Weapon (Staff), Sweeping Strike (Staff).
Cinematic Skills: None.
Cinematic Maneuvers: None.
Common advantages: As for Warriorstyle.
Common Disadvantages: As for Warriorstyle.
Useful Biomods: As for Warriorstyle.Bantujutsu was founded by the famous African martial artist Charles "Croc" Makombo in the 2030s and 40s. He was born somewhere between 1990 and 2000 in Paris. He migrated to NYC in 2018. After a very promising career start in professional Boxing and Mu Tau, he astonished the fans by joining the Central African rebel forces of Colonel Thomas Lefevre in the Congo crisis of the 2020s. He soon became one of the leading figures of the war and was the trainer and commander of Lefevre's personal guard, the Simba. It was thought that he died with the rest of Lefevre's troops in an ambush in 2029, but he reappeared in Montreal in 2041 where he opened a dojo. In 2072 he moved to Marseille, where he opened his second dojo. Over the next 30 years he taught and perfected his new style, which he forbid to be taught to whites or Asians.
On August the first 2086 Makombo retired and left the dojos and his martial art to his nephew Anthony Proudhomme. On August the third 2086 Makombo apparently died while swimming in the Mediterranean sea, but his body was never found. Anthony Proudhomme opened the dojos to students of all ethnic backgrounds, including whites and Asians. Some of Croc's senior students still grumble about this "perversion" and "selling out of" the style to this day . . .
The Chiefstyle version of Bantujutsu will only be taught to advanced students (First Dan or higher) of the Warriorstyle. Bantujutsu is a style that emphasizes physical power, and as such tries to take advantage of a combatant's larger size, body mass, and sheer strength whenever possible. As a result many practitioner's of this style possess a very powerful physique -- either by birth, training, or design.
Among Bantujutsu students exists a rumor about a secret third Bantujutsu style, the Witchdoctor, or Shamanstyle. If this style exists -- and what it consists of -- is left to the GM.
Freefighting
10 Points/29 Points
Primary Skills: Brawling, Free Fall, Judo, Vacc Suit.
Secondary Skills: Acrobatics, Jumping, Shortsword.
Optional Skills: Climbing, Fast-Draw (Knife or One Handed Sword), Karate, Knife.
Maneuvers: Arm Lock [2], Disarming, Knee Strike.
Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting.
Cinematic Maneuvers: Binding, Enhanced Dodge, Roll with Blow, Sticking.
Special: Normally, vacc suits give a -1 to all DX- based skills and DX rolls. This training includes combat- familiarization which eliminates the penalty to all combat-oriented rolls and the Free Fall skill; the cost is 2 character points.
Common Advantages: G-Experience, 3-D Spatial Sense.
Useful Biomods: Bone Stimulation, Jointwork, Prehensile Tail Graft, Tenjin Biochemistry, Testicle Tuck."Freefighting is a simple style meant to tie up and immobilize an opponent. You don't want them drilling a hundred holes into the computers on the bridge with his gun while you tumble around doing jump kicks -- take his weapon away and make him stop!"
-- Sgt. Donald Oldham, US Marines Force Recon HTH instructor"Freefighting" developed during the mid-21st century amongst long-term low- and no-gravity dwellers. Emphasis in this version of the style is the ability to tie up an opponent quickly with an aim to subduing. Basic punching and kicking techniques are included, and combinations often have strikes aimed at stunning a foe long enough to allow a solid hold to be gained. Training in taking away dangerous weapons -- specially those dangerous to sensitive components -- is emphasized.
Some variations include training with knives to get a quick disabling strike. Shortsword covers use of the baton; advanced stick-fighting techniques are eschewed in favor of simple strikes. Many variations on freefighting exist, much as the name itself implies. "Freefighting" variations on many major martial arts (including especially Escrima, Jujutsu, and Pao Chuan) and fusion styles have also been developed. An interesting fact of this specific style of Freefighting is that a small (but skillful) group among its students, who live permanently in microgravity, had their legs replaced by an additional pair of arms. Those practitioners replace Knee Strike with the special Shuto (lower arms) maneuver (detailed below). This additional maneuver must be learned separately from and in addition to Shuto.
This style does not contain a large body of cinematic techniques, although legends about fabulous moves pulled off by practitioners of the style are common in popular entertainment. This maneuvers often emphasize the practitioner dodging and weaving with ease -- often using spectacular low-g acrobatics -- while tying up foes with handy cable or cable ties, all the while never losing contact with the foe. Optionally, instead of the Cinematic Maneuver "Binding," a practitioner can pick up the Handcuffing maneuver (see p. C59).
Hishôjutsu ("Flight Art")
13 Points/22 Points
Primary Skills: Acrobatics, Freefall, Jumping, Karate.
Secondary Skills: Shortsword (for Boomstick), Judo, Vacc Suit.
Optional Skills: Short Staff, Performance, Brawling.
Maneuvers: Drop Kick, Feint [2], Hit Location (Shortsword or Karate), Jump Kick, Kicking [2].
Cinematic Skills: Blind Fighting, Flying Leap, Light Walk, Power Blow, Push.
Cinematic Maneuvers: Acrobatic Kick, Flying Jump Kick, Roll with Blow, Springing Attack.
Special: Practitioners of this style suffer no DX penalty on Free Fall and combat skills while wearing a spacesuit. This is worth 2 points, calculated into the cost of the style. They may also base their Feint maneuver on their Acrobatics skill, if it is higher than their Karate skill.
Note: It is highly recommended to allow Hishôjutsu practitioners access to the styles' cinematic maneuvers, even in a realistic campaign, at least if they are fighting in free-fall or in an environment with less than 80% of their home gravity. This raises the "realistic" cost of the style to 17 points.
Common Advantages: Combat Reflexes, Increased G-Tolerance, G-Experience
Useful Biomods: Jointwork, Nerve Boosting, Tenjin BiochemistryThis style was founded in the 2060s by Paul Sayama, a young master of mixed heritage (his father was German- Japanese, while his mother was of Chinese-Brazilian heritage), who practiced Shorinji Kempo, Wushu, Capoeira, and Savate. He lived on Mars since 2056 and opened his school in Port Lowell in 2063. He worked as a farhauler until 2061, which, together with the increasingly tense situation on Mars since 2058, inspired him to develop techniques to take advantage of the possibilities of a low-g environment. Hishôjutsu in action is a very spectacular style, with lots of wide-ranging jump kicks, somersaults and leaps -- but the training also includes the use of tools as improvised weapons, precise attacks on vulnerable parts of the body (or a vacc suit) and the use of the boomstick, a short rod with an explosive charge at the tip. His style became an almost immediate success, and while there are still martial artists on Earth, who like to belittle Hishôjutsu as a "circus style," today there are enough practitioners of Sayama's art from Luna to the Belt, who will gladly show them that on their turf Hishôjutsu reigns supreme.
Military Zero-G
19 Points
Primary Skills: Free Fall, Karate, Knife, Judo, Shortsword, Vacc Suit.
Secondary Skills: Climbing, Jumping.
Optional Skills: Garrote, Short Staff, Stealth.
Maneuvers: Arm Lock, Aggressive Parry Kick, Choke Hold, Close Combat (Knife), Disarming [2]; Head Butt, Head Lock, Knee Strike, Neck Snap, Retain Weapon (One of Pistol, Rifle, or Knife).
Cinematic Skills: None.
Cinematic Maneuvers: None.
Special: Normally, vacc suits give a -1 to all DX- based skills and DX rolls. This training includes combat- familiarization which eliminates the penalty to all combat-oriented rolls and the Free Fall skill; the cost is 2 character points.
Practitioners of this style can learn the other two Retain Weapon specialties at their discretion.
Common Advantages: G-Experience and Combat Reflexes.
Common Disadvantages: Since this style is taught to special operations troops, disadvantages common to Special Operations troops such as Fanaticism or Sense of Duty are common. See GURPS Special Ops pg 50 for other appropriate disadvantages.
Useful Biomods: Bio-Booster, Bone Stimulation, Muscle Reinforcement, Nerve Boosting, No-Shock Glands.Military Zero-G developed out of standard military hand- to-hand training as a pragmatic style meant as quick-and- dirty elimination techniques for use in low- or no- gravity situations. Practitioners are expected to close with and attack opponents with great aggression. The style assumes the stylist will be attacked while closing the gap -- kick-jamming techniques, arm locks, and leg grappling are taught to counter such moves. There is no body of cinematic techniques associated with this style. The entire style is centered on getting in tight with your opponent and hammering him or choking him into submission -- or death. The style includes knife, stick, and "boomstick" techniques and counters. The style above is the form used in the US Special Operations community -- variations or similar styles are used by many other military and security forces. Those units and forces without the time to dedicate to this level of training often use Freefighting instead. Some styles still teach limited "sentry removal" techniques, but these are largely legacy maneuvers in an age of high-tech surveillance.
Shan Chuan (Killer Fist Kung Fu)
23 Points/27 Points
Primary Skills: Brawling, Boxing, Karate.
Secondary Skills: Body Language, Physiology, Wrestling.
Optional Skills: Lifting, Running, Stealth.
Maneuvers: Aggressive Parry (Boxing, Brawling, or Karate), Aggressive Parrying Kick, Axe Kick, Eye Gouging [2], Ear Clap, Ground Fighting (Brawling or Karate), Head Butt, Hit Location (Brawling or Karate) [2], Hook Kick, Jab, Knee Strike, Rabbit Punch, Riposte (Karate or Boxing), Roundhouse Punch, Shin Kick, Shuto, Slip, Stamp Kick.
Cinematic Skills: Breaking Blow, Power Blow, Pressure Points, Pressure Secrets.
Cinematic Maneuvers: None.
Common Advantages: Combat Reflexes, High Pain Threshold, Toughness.
Common Disadvantages: Bloodlust, Bully.
Useful Biomods: Bio-Booster, Bone Stimulation, Cell Regeneration, Muscle Reinforcement.It is hard to find the true roots of this style -- which includes dozens of schools today. It probably developed out of Muay Thai, Bando, some "external" Kung Fu forms, as well as some modernized Pancratium schools and simple Streetfighting techniques. The school described above was founded during the 2040s and 2050s by Dr. John Yueh, an American-Chinese physician. Shan Chuan -- sometimes called "Kill Fu" by both fans and detractors alike -- concentrates solely on the quick and dirty infliction of a maximum amount of damage to the opponent. Students even study anatomy to learn about the best ways to cripple and kill their foes. Students also show a marked preference for speed- and strength enhancing biomods.
There are also schools which concentrate on the use of body-mass and wrestling techniques (Wrestling becomes Primary, Sumo becomes an optional skill, add Choke Hold, Head Lock and Neck Snap to maneuvers, and add Piledriver and Immovable Stance to cinematic maneuvers and skills), or on devastating kicks (drop Riposte, Rabbit Punch, and Roundhouse Punch, add Kicking, Jump Kick and Sweeping Kick to maneuvers).
While most "legit" practitioners of "Kill Fu" use their skills only in meat-fighting contests, there are also those who have certain real-life applications for this style. Rumor has it that some families of the Maple Syndicate keep teams of Shan Chuan trained Spartan bioroids as enforcers and personal bodyguards . . .
Equipment
Spacer Boomstick [Shortsword or Short Staff]
Type
Malf
Amount
Reach
RoF
Shots
Wt.
Cost
LC
cr
sw
1
1.2
$50
1
cr
thr
1
expl.
14
4d(10)!
1
1
1
! plus 1d concussion damage, doubled for direct contact.
This is the basic boomstick: a short rod, similar to an Escrima stick, with a small impact-detonated explosive charge at the tip. These types of boomsticks are often improvised by terrorists and belters, who like to use some steel pipes with slightly modified (roll Armoury-3) 15mm HEAT ammo from recoilless rifles to build them.
Spacer Panzerstick [Shortsword or Short Staff]
Type
Malf
Amount
Reach
RoF
Shots
Wt.
Cost
LC
cr
sw
1
1.3
$100
0
cr
thr
1
expl.
ver(c)
8d(10)!!
1
1
1
!! plus 8d concussion damage, doubled for direct contact.
These are professionally made boomsticks, of a type used by -- among others -- the Foreign Legion. They can also be had (for $140) in a Limpet version with a dial at the lower end of the stick to select detonating times (0 to 11 seconds).
Spacer Burnstick [Shortsword or Short Staff]
Type
Malf
Amount
Reach
RoF
Shots
Wt.
Cost
LC
cr
sw
1
1.1
$50
1
cr
thr
1
spcl.
ver(c)
spcl
1
1
1
These nasty variant of the boomstick is useless against heavily armored opponents, but can come quite handy against unarmored foes, if you don't want to kill them outright (or fast): the heads of these sticks are filled with a dose of Nanoburn (THS p. 158) , which will affect only the person hit by the stick. The can also be had with other type of nanogas -- just change cost and LC accordingly.
Rolling Your Own: Freefighting Concepts
Many styles have been modified into a Zero-G or "Freefighting" variant. The extant term for this is "using Freefighting Concepts." A bewildering variety of styles have had such variants developed, ranging from Chin Na and Escrima to Tae Kwon Do and Wing Chun Kung Fu.
The simplest way to make a Freefighting variant is to add Vacc Suit and Free Fall to the Primary Skills of a style, increasing the cost by 2 points. However, some maneuvers may be less useful against a Vacc Suited foe or in a low- or no-gravity situation. For example, Freefighting styles can make use of grappling -- indeed, "standing" grappling techniques are excellent in Zero-G situations -- but the Ground Fighting maneuver is usually omitted. Other maneuvers that are often omitted include Cat Stance, Eye-Gouging (less useful against Vacc Suit or Goggled foes), and Face Attacks. Maneuvers such as Drop Kick and Jump Kick are sometimes added, as they are more useful in situations where the risk of a painful fall is practically eliminated.
Other New Styles
"Sifu Bruce Lee once said '. . . unless a human being has three arms and four legs, there can be no different form of fighting. Basically, we have only two hands and two feet.' In the 22nd century, I'm a afraid this is something a fighter can no longer safely assume."
--anonymous JKD instructor.As Bantu Boxing and Shan Chuan demonstrate, the 21st century is also rife with "new" styles -- often deliberate syncretions of multiple older styles. Styles that take advantage of new biomods, unique abilities of bioroids and bio- or even cybershells may have developed. In addition, after a century many styles developed only recently in the 20th century may have developed in new and surprising ways in the 21st century. For example, instructors staying true to Bruce Lee's concept of Jeet Kune Do will likely have turned it into a very different style to accommodate biomods and variable gravity.
Rules
Shuto (Lower Arms)
Designed for spacers who have replaced their legs with additional arms, this maneuver is identical to the Shuto maneuver (see MA54) however it is executed with the lower arms. Shuto (lower arms) has an additional -1 to Parry (total -3); however Parrying Kicks are executed normally against them (no penalty). This maneuver is distinct from the Shuto maneuver and must be learned separately from it. Very few styles use this maneuver, and finding an instructor can be very difficult. On the bright side, spotting which instructors will not know the maneuver can be rather easy.
Retreating in 3-D
Retreats can be executed in three dimensions in micro- or zero-gravity environments. This means a combatant can retreat "up" or "down" as well as back or the side. This technique is a basic part of Free Fall training. The defender must still move away from the attacker, but can move "up" or "down" a hex as well as moving back -- thus bringing the number of potential retreat hexes from 3 to 9. There is no roll required, but this cannot be attempted with a default Free Fall. All normal limitations on Retreating apply. This can be combined with Acrobatic Dodge (p. B108).
Article publication date: March 5, 2004
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