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Turtle
Style Fighting
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Training Techniques
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Style-Specific Techniques
Originator of the style: Kamesennin
Style Masters: Kamesennin
Students of the Style: Gyuu-Mao [Time: Unknown; possibly c. 676], Son Gohan
[Time: Unknown; possibly c. 676], Son Goku [Time: 14th September, 749 to 6th
May, 750], Krillin [Time: 14th September 749 to 6th May 753], Yamcha [Time:
Some time between 12th May, 750 and 6th May, 753].
Training Techniques
In the Dragonball manga, we only get one
insight into what the training under the Turtle regimen comprises of.
Fortunately, it is a rather lengthy one, as it covers what the specific
timetable of training is for a whole 8-month training scheme. The two
students we see are Son Goku and Krillin, but Kamesennin assures us that
others have undergone the same training, when he tells Goku:
"What memories...! Long ago Son Gohan and Gyuu Mao delivered milk just as
you're doing now..." ~ Muten Roshi, to Goku, on the subject of the harsh
training regimen.
Before the actual training begins, though, Roshi has to gauge the abilities
of his students, in order to ascertain what level of training would be best
for them. First, he asks what sort of previous training the students have
had. In the instance we see, Roshi already knows that Goku has trained under
Son Gohan for a good deal of his life. Krillin has trained at 'Orin Temple'
for 8 years. Upon discovering that the two have the fundamentals down to
pat, Roshi tests their speed. Krillin runs first, and gets a time of 10.4
seconds [His record is actually 10.1 seconds]. Then Goku runs, and gets 11
seconds flat. However, this is due to his shoes being busted. So, after a
shoe change, he runs again, and gets a time of 8.5 seconds. Then, to show
that martial arts is all about 'overcoming the Human Wall', Roshi runs a
time of 5.6 seconds. He then tells the pair that they should get 5 seconds
or under once their training is complete.
Next, Roshi subjects the two to one more test. He takes a rock, writes the
Japanese symbol for 'Turtle' [Kame] on it, and hurls it off a very high
cliff. The object of this exercise is to find the rock. The winner gets
dinner as a prize, and the loser gets nothing. Also, Roshi states that if
neither person finds the rock in 30 minutes, neither person gets dinner at
all. Roshi rationalises his action like this:
"Don't flatter yourselves that retrieving an object is beneath you! It
requires quite a lot of mental power and concentration... Not to mention, in
this instance, a hardy constitution and plenty of stamina!" ~ Kamesennin, to
Goku and Krillin.
As it so happened, Goku found the rock, but Krillin stole it and returned it
to Roshi first. However, the three [Roshi, Lunch and Krillin] had
Puffer-fish for dinner that night, and it was improperly prepared. So, the
three had food poisoning for the next 3 days... however, they all recovered,
and so now we continue to where the real training is involved.
Roshi outlines the details of a single days' training.
First, the pupils [In this case, Son Goku and Krillin] are woken up at 4:30
in the morning to start their training with a dawn warm-up. This warm-up
involves a light jog to a milk depository on a big island. The island where
Roshi took Goku and Krillin to train was much larger than the Turtle Island.
In fact, there were 300 inhabitants. On this island, there is a milk run.
Traditionally, a person who looks like a cow gets in a helicopter and
delivers the milk himself, but Roshi instead had the pupils deliver the milk
on foot to everyone on the island.
The first house was stated by Roshi to be 2 kilometres from the milk
factory. Once the pupils had delivered the milk to the first lucky house,
they had to pick up the bottles and go on to the next house. The next house
was further on, and a long route had to be crossed. There was a long and
straight road straight to the next house, but to make Goku and Krillin run
further, Kamesennin led them on a zigzagging path across the road, in
between the conveniently spaced trees lining the road.
Once the road had been run, Goku and Krillin found that their next
destination was atop a very tall hill. In fact, the hill was so high that it
reached up into the clouds. I suppose you could call it a mountain, even.
However, there was a staircase [Long and winding, naturally] to climb.
Living atop that mountain/hill was a friend of Kamesennin. Once the milk was
delivered there, Kamesennin led his pupils on to other destinations in the
milk delivery route. These routes are shown in the images below, and what
Kamesennin intended to improve by means of these routes is also outlined...
First, Roshi takes his students over a log that stretches out over a ravine.
Falling off would be disastrous, which is why Roshi is teaching the two
students [Goku and Krillin, in this case] the art of balancing proficiently.
Roshi is trying to illustrate the art of speed over long distances when he
takes Goku and Krillin on a little journey past quicksand. He says to them,
"Keep it up! Walk slowly and you'll be swallowed up by the sand!"
Next, Roshi tries to teach Son Goku and Krillin the art of resistance and
endurance, and above all, strength. He does this by making them go through a
river with a strong current. The danger is readily apparent, as Kamesennin
states:
"Careful now! You don't want to get swept over a waterfall!"
Lastly, Roshi has the two students run a distance. Doesn't sound like much,
but it happens to be the home of a ravenous Tyrannosaurus Rex, which hasn't
had its breakfast this morning, or so it seems:
"Run!! Lose step and you'll be devoured!!"
After all this is done, the "Early Morning warm-up" is over. That's right;
all that is just a warm-up for the early morning routine that Roshi has in
mind for his pupils.
Here, the tough training begins...
The first thing that Kamesennin has Son Goku and Krillin do is plough
farmland using their bare hands. They have to till the soil of an entirety
of farmland. The idea behind using bare hands to plough farmland is this,
according to Kamesennin:
"This is exercise for your arms and hands, not just your legs! You'll plough
these fields barehanded! ~ Kamesennin, explaining the merits of ploughing an
entire field with bare hands.
As an added incentive to work hard and fast at ploughing the fields
barehanded, Roshi warns Son Goku and Krillin that if they take too long
about ploughing the fields, they will put off breakfast that little bit
longer. In other words, the longer they take about ploughing, the longer it
takes for them to receive breakfast.
As a result, the two mangle their hands on tilling the soil. However, 8
months of continuous hand mangling really built up their strength a great
deal. There is also the fact that Kamesennin had the two plough an even
larger patch of field from that day on, for the whole 8-month regime.
After that, the students eat breakfast, before settling down to their next
task under Roshi...
Another detail of Kamesennin's training was, as his words went, to read and
meditate on several passages that were written by 'the masters of martial
arts'. Krillin especially looked forward to this part of the training
[Seemingly designed to improve their fighting knowledge and wisdom -
something that is obviously evident in Kamesennin himself, as he is probably
one of the most knowledgeable fighters in all of Dragonball, Dragonball Z
and GT], as he was sure to be better at reading and meditating on the
passages than the decidedly less intellectual student, Goku. Well, that's
the impression you'd get from how Roshi phrases it, anyway. Actually, what
Goku and Krillin read are books involving 'adult literature'. Let's see an
example of what Goku reads on page 12 of the book...
"'Don't, Bob, please', moaned Margaret, 'Mama's coming home soon'. But Bob
only ran his hand down..." ~ Son Goku, reading from Kamesennin's book.
Master of martial arts or not, Kamesennin is still one gigantic perv.
Afterwards, Kamesennin and the students eat lunch, and Roshi then introduces
a 60-minute break in training for a sleep. This occurs at 12:30 in the
afternoon, and ends at 1:30 P.M. As Kamesennin himself says:
"Move well, study well, play well, eat well, rest well - that is the Turtle
master way!" ~ Kamesennin.
After this, Kamesennin ropes Son Goku and Krillin into doing construction
work as part of his training.
"You'll not only break a sweat and build your muscles, but you'll get to
earn a little money besides." ~ Kamesennin.
Yes, just like the farming with bare hands, the Public Service Work also
raises brute strength in the students of Roshi. Curiously, Son Goku and
Krillin were thought by the assigned workers to be 'Pretty good' at working
in the maintenance industry.
Yet another part of Kamesennin's training was to swim 10 lengths of a lake,
back and forth. It may sound simple enough, as far as people of Goku and
Krillins' abilities may go, but the reality of the situation is quite
different, for one reason in particular. This happens to be because there is
a large shark in the middle of the lake. So, in other words, Goku and
Krillin had to swim 10 lengths of a rather large lake with a shark trying to
eat them chasing them all the way.
Wait; It's still not over.
After the swimming has been completed, Kamesennin has one last thing for his
students to do. He ties them to a tree, and then causes unrest among a
nearby Beehive. Roshi then runs away, and the two students [Goku and
Krillin] are left to try to avoid being stung by the swarm of angry bees.
However, the first time they tried it, it didn't work out too well...
This particular exercise is put best in terms of what Kamesennin says it is
supposed to do for the pupils of the Turtle Style of fighting.
"You're to dodge the enemy's attacks within range of this rope!" ~
Kamesennin.
This was the first day of an 8-month training regime for Son Goku and
Krillin. Every day from then on, Son Goku and Krillin had to do the exact
same things for the entire day. The only difference was that the students
had to wear a Turtle shell on their backs. The weight of this shell was a
staggering 40 lbs. Also, 7 months into the training, Kamesennin had the two
strap 90-pound Turtle shells to their backs instead. At the end of the 8
months, the training is over.
Fighting Stances and Ideologies: There is no real Turtle fighting stance, as
such. Kamesennin outlines the main aim of the Turtle training, when he tells
Son Goku and Krillin that there is no real 'special technique' to the Turtle
style of fighting.
"All the basics of the Kamesennin School of martial arts are incorporated
within the training that you have been doing every day these past seven
months. It seems you haven't noticed it yourselves, but your eyes, your
fists, your legs - your entire bodies and even your minds have been forged
like steel swords! Martial art is no more than the application of those
abilities. ~ Kamesennin.
As we can see, the main thought behind the Turtle school style of training
is not one of learning endless reams of flashy moves and a full repertoire
of rigid stances that only work if used in a precise and exact fashion but
won't work any other way. The idea of the Turtle style is very laissez-faire
and advocates using the style and stance that is considered by the student
to be best.
The idea behind the Turtle style is to not only to gain experience through
fighting, but the main thing is to apply the experience. Only in that way
can a fighter truly find what they believe are the best specifics regarding
their technique, and what works best against what type of fighter. For
example, Goku's stance against an anonymous fighter is very different to his
stance against, say, Kamesennin. It's all a matter of applying the fighting
experience you gain.
As Kamesennin states, the Kamesennin style is supposed to be an all-round,
general teaching of the foundations of martial arts. It is not supposed to
be a complex and intricate style, but rather a style that allows for
modifications by the person using it.
For example, Son Goku's Turtle stance and Kamesennin's Turtle stance are
drastically different. Son Goku's stance has one fist outstretched forward,
and one fist outstretched backwards, whereas Kamesennin's stance has one
backhand outstretched forwards and the other outstretched to one side,
making it a very different style depending on who uses it. However, this has
a downward side to it, as those who do not know the intricacies of a
defensive or offensive stance in martial arts can really suffer from not
learning about it in the eyes of other martial artists, like Goku in the
21st Budokai:
"What a wretched defence... So full of holes..." ~ A fighter, commenting on
Son Goku's Turtle stance.
Also, there is no real fixed style to Kamesennin fighting. It allows for
different stances and styles that are not indigenous to the Turtle style in
essence, but can be adopted and used to meet the needs of the user. For
example, Kamesennin and Son Gohan both used the Tsui Ken in their Kamesennin
style of fighting. Son Goku, Kamesennin, and Son Gohan could all use, or had
at least experienced, the Jan Ken technique. Yet, these techniques are not
necessarily totally dependent on knowing the Turtle style. It's just a case
of what fits best for the fighter.
Also, the Turtle School of fighting does not advocate strength and the need
to win. Rather, it advocates the gaining of experience.
"In the Tenkaichi Budokai, do not be seduced by the improbable dream of
winning. Take it as an opportunity to test your ability and further focus
your training." ~ Kamesennin, to Son Goku and Krillin.
As this statement indicates, the Kamesennin style advocates getting the
basics down and then altering the style as needs be to suit your way of
fighting. For example, the fighting stances of Son Gohan and Kamesennin are
similar, just as the stances of Krillin [21st Budokai] and Yamcha [22nd
Budokai] are similar, but they are by no means the same. After all,
Krillin's influence for this obviously comes from the Orin Temple where he
first trained, whilst Yamcha's stance still bears similarities to his
original 'Wolf' stance that is showcased in the 21st Budokai and beforehand.
Also, the techniques within the style are very different, too. For example,
the Kyou Ken [Mad Dog Technique] that Son Goku made up to counter
Kamesennin's Tsui Ken [Drunken Fist] in the 21st Budokai was not a technique
of the Turtle School, nor was it a technique formulated by Kamesennin. It
was just a technique that Goku needed to use in order to make his style more
suited to his way of fighting. Yet, both he and Kamesennin were under the
general style of the Turtle School, with Kamesennin being the teacher, even.
However, having said that the turtle style of fighting is not rigid, more
perceptive masters of martial arts can decipher movements of certain
fighters, therefore seeing that the movements belong to the Turtle School.
For example, Karin notices that Son Goku's movements are similar to
Kamesennin's. Also, Roshi notices that the style of fighting that Chi-Chi
uses is similar to the Turtle school style. So, even though the style isn't
especially rigid, it can be seen that the movements of many students of the
style is somewhat influenced by Kamesennin's training.
The Turtle school does not highly advocate strength or speed, because those
are things that come naturally from the training and do not have to be
taught to be picked up by the students. But the things that the masters of
the Turtle School found that needed to be taught were principles. The main
ideology of the Turtle school and its version of martial arts are as
follows.
"One does not study martial arts in order to win a fight or have girls say
'Ooo, you're so strong!' One masters those arts for health in mind and body,
for the ability to live one's life as courageously, uniquely, and
energetically as one wishes! But! If there are any who seek to terrorize you
or any other decent people with undeserved power, you must defeat such
enemies with one mighty blast!" ~ Kamesennin.
As can be seen, the idea of the Turtle style is to gain as much experience
as possible and as much fighting wisdom as can be gathered. It also teaches
the honour of fighting and also adopts a laissez-faire attitude to the
specifics of martial arts, rather allowing the students to figure out for
themselves what is the best way to proceed with their style and skills, thus
making it the ideal starting point in learning martial arts and also the
best school of fighting theory for beginners.
One last ideology of the Turtle school is one to guard against becoming
complacent in training ad fighting. After all, that was the entire purpose
of Roshi entering the 21st and 22nd Budokai, as he explains to Namu and
Tenshinhan:
"If one of those little kids won the strongest-under-the-heavens title, it
would go straight to his head. He'd think he had nothing left to learn. But
with a little humility and determination...I could turn them both into the
greatest fighters ever! So I decided to enter as well, in disguise, to teach
them that no matter how great you are, there is always someone even better."
~ Roshi, to Namu.
"It's for the sake of my disciples. Let's say one of them wins the
strongest-under-the-heavens Martial Arts Tournament. He'll take on that 'I'm
the best in the world' attitude and stop working to improve. It's a
dangerous trap for youngsters." ~ Roshi, To Tenshinhan.
So, we see that the final ideology of the Kame school of Martial Arts is
that "No matter how great you are, there is always someone even better."
Weaknesses of the Style: The main weakness of this particular style is down
to the fact that it is so laissez - faire in its approach. What a student
gets out of the Kamesennin style of fighting is purely related to how hard
that student is willing to train. Kamesennin implies this in his fight with
Krillin:
"Maybe you did take your training seriously, after all..." ~ Kamesennin,
thinking about Krillin.
Here we see that Roshi did not expect Krillin to resist such a blow. He
obviously didn't take Krillin as someone who would take his training
seriously enough to gain enough benefit out of it. So we see that the Turtle
style is only as effective as the student is willing to make it. No real
training in this style means absolutely no benefits for the student.
Conversely, a more rigid style of fighting would doubtless gain greater
results for a less 'enthusiastic' student.
"The entire sluggish Turtle team survived!" ~ Tenshinhan, to Yamcha,
Krillin, and Son Goku.
Here we see, from a fighter that is trained extensively in endless reams of
techniques and stances, that the Turtle school of fighting does not rely on
such strenuous methods, hence Tenshinhan not being impressed by what he saw
of Yamcha and Krillin in the preliminary rounds of the Budokai.
"That's what makes Goku truly astonishing... not just his innate, wild power
and toughness... But his commitment... His ethics..." ~ Kamesennin, about
Son Goku.
Here we see that Goku is a rare exception among martial arts students - it
seems that most students are reluctant and unwilling - 'sluggish', as
Tenshinhan says. From this we can see that the Turtle style is not for those
who are not willing to commit all their time and energy to working on the
application of the style. This is another disadvantage to studying it,
particularly for those who are not willing fighters.
Another set of disadvantages to this style is highlighted by Shen [Kami -
Sama] in the 23rd Budokai, in his match against Yamcha. He points out a host
of problems with the style, particularly related to its' inferiority when
compared to a style such as his own, and also related to the inherent
complacency that comes with gaining such strength as a student of the Turtle
school. Here are a host of Self - explanatory quotes from Kami to Yamcha:
"You made assumptions about me based solely on my outward appearance.
Because of that, you failed to examine my inner power and subtler movements.
You'll never become a great martial artist that way." ~ after hitting a
complacent Yamcha hard.
"No! That's terrible! You've left your legs wide open!" ~ after kicking his
legs out from underneath him.
"Look at yourself! You make so many wasted movements that you leave yourself
wide open!" ~ after countering an attack.
"You mustn't jump without a reason. It makes it very difficult to dodge your
opponents' attacks." ~ after kicking an airborne Yamcha away.
"My, my, that truly was a great move, indeed. Unfortunately, your follow-up
wasn't so good. That's what they mean by 'false confidence is the greatest
enemy'." ~ after Yamcha is defeated.
Style-Specific Techniques
Having said that the Turtle style of fighting
is less rigid than others does not, therefore, mean that the style has
absolutely no techniques that can only be learned by students of the style.
Far from it; there are several techniques that are famous for belonging
solely to the Turtle style and to no others.
Kamehameha: The most obvious Kamesennin-style technique, the Kamehameha
translates literally to "Turtle Destruction Wave". Invented by the master of
the Turtle style, Kamesennin, the Kamehameha took him 50 years to perfect,
and up until Son Goku performed it, no one else had managed the feat of
copying the patented Roshi move from out of nowhere. The first time that
this technique is used in Dragonball was by Muten Roshi [AKA Master Roshi or
Kamesennin] when apprised of the situation of one of his old pupils,
Gyuu-Mao. He had a giant amount of treasure in his castle, but a great fire
spirit fell from the heavens and engulfed Gyuu-Mao's castle in flame.
Fortunately, he and his daughter were out having a picnic at the time.
However, this meant that neither Gyuu-Mao, nor his daughter, Chi - Chi,
could enter the castle themselves, thus being stuck at the base of Mount
Frypan [That's what it's called]. So, Goku decided to get the Basho Shen [A
magical fan that can raise a typhoon with one flap, a thunderstorm with two,
and a monsoon with three] to put out the flames, but Kamesennin had thrown
it away because he'd stained it [plus he wasn't aware it was the magic fan
when he did so] by the time Goku got to the island where Kamesennin lives.
So, Roshi decided to put out the flames himself. He charged all of his
energy into a giant Kamehameha that not only put out the flames, but also
destroyed the entire mountain. Goku managed to copy the technique instantly,
putting out a small Kamehameha of his own. Of course, Goku's Kamehameha was
nowhere near as strong as Roshi's at the time, but he soon powered it up to
match Roshi's by the 21st Budokai. The second person to copy this useful
little move was Yamcha, for the 22nd Budokai. Tenshinhan also copied the
Kamehameha after watching Yamcha do it. Krillin was the last to copy the
Kamehameha directly under Roshi's tutelage, performing it on the spot
against Chiaotzu in the 22nd Budokai. For the standard Kamehameha, The user
gathers ki whilst drawing back their hands into a cupped shape. They gather
their ki for a time on that spot in their hands, and say
"Ka...me...ha...me..." and when the blast is ready to launch, they finish
with 'Ha!' to show they've finished, before snapping their hands forward and
unleashing a bright blue blast of energy. The Kamehameha is a beam of energy
rather than a ball, and more and more power can be channelled into it to
make it stronger, which is not possible with a ball of energy without
outside stimulus.
Zanzouken: Known popularly as the 'One pattern technique' or 'Shadow
attack', this move also comes exclusively from the Turtle school of
fighting. For the Zanzouken, the user moves so fast that they leave an after
image behind, fooling their opponents. Kamesennin was the first to use this
technique in Dragonball, suckering Krillin into being knocked out in a
single blow in the 21st Budokai. Son Goku managed to copy the Zanzouken off
Roshi and use it himself in their fight. Then, Roshi countered that with a
double Zanzouken, which Goku countered with a triple Zanzouken. This is a
very useful move in terms of misdirection and tactics, as it also gives the
user time to pull off a more intricate move that needs time to enact.
Jan-Ken: Whilst I said this isn't a technique specifically devoted to the
Kame style of fighting, it is one that is known to, or used by, three of the
members of the school. Son Gohan told Son Goku once that it was his 'special
secret move'. Son Goku then adopted the technique for himself. However,
Roshi is fully aware of what the Jan-Ken is and how to counter it. Thus, it
could be said that it is a Kame-Style 'adopted' technique, as it has not
been proven to be used by any other school of martial arts in the Dragonball
world.
Mafuba: Unlike the other two techniques invented by Roshi, this technique
was invented by Mutaito-Sama. However, as Roshi is the only one who learned
it directly from Mutaito himself, it can be considered a Kamesennin style
technique. At the time when Piccolo Daimao ravaged the Earth, long ago, Lord
Mutaito knew that if he were to fight him, he would be defeated. As a last,
desperate attempt to rid the world of Piccolo's evil, Mutaito used the
Mafuba technique. Whilst this succeeded in trapping Piccolo Daimao in the
Denshi jar [the place where the incarcerated demon is supposed to be
directed by the technique - In reality, it's actually a rice cooker with a
mystic scroll on it to lend it supernatural properties], the nature of the
attack was so dangerous that it killed Mutaito instantly after he succeeded.
When Piccolo was set free from the jar by Pilaf, Kamesennin faced Piccolo
and attempted to use the Mafuba on him. However, he missed the Jar with his
final motion and died, and Piccolo remained free. Tenshinhan learned the
move [As he can learn from watching moves once thanks to his third eye], but
before he performed it, he noticed the jar was broken, and decided against
it; as to try would be futile. Years later, Kami tried it on the new Piccolo
in the 23rd Budokai, but Piccolo reflected the move, thus sending Kami back
to the Denshi Jar instead.
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