History Main / SuperNaturalMartialArts

* ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha {{ViVid}}'' introduced the "Strike Arts", a magic-augmented close-combat martial arts form. Later, a character appears with knowledge of the "Kaiser Arts", basically TheSameButMore from the Ancient Belkan era.

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[[AvatarTheLastAirbender http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/katara_water_whip.jpg]]
[[caption-width:320:Tai Chi is moving ''like'' water, not [[IThoughtItMeant actually]] [[MakingASplash moving water]].]]

One can achieve amazing things [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower by properly training the body.]] Many works give the mystic training of the East far more powerful effects. In the real world, if you want to blow up a city or fly, you're out of luck without a bomb or an airplane, but in these worlds, train [[TrainingFromHell hard enough]] and it will come. Often overlaps with MartialArtsAndCrafts and frequently includes the DangerousForbiddenTechnique.

Distinct from KungFuWizard, which is when someone has martial arts ''and'' magic, but they're separate abilities.

KiAttacks are a subtrope of this. DragonsUpTheYinYang are a common visual motif. Not to be confused with FullContactMagic, which is magic first, fighting second.

Compare CharlesAtlasSuperpower, where training, usually [[ShangriLa in the Far East]], can make you better than any human in real life at plausibly mundane feats.

A [[BrokenBase controversial]] way to counteract LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards.

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!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* ''DragonBall'': One of the best demonstrations of how it works was when Gohan was blackmailed by Videl to teach her how to fly. Trying to break it down for her, he found that she was able to learn to harness her own ki relatively quickly because of her own martial arts training.
* ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma ½]]'': Hard training will not only let you do KiAttacks, but give you SuperStrength, at the very least specific [[RapidFireFisticuffs forms]] of SuperSpeed, make you [[MadeOfIron inhumanly durable]] if not outright NighInvulnerable, [[HealingFactor massively amplify your recovery abilities]] and let you [[ImprobableWeaponUser use even the most ridiculous things as lethal implements of destruction]].
* One of the ''many'' ways chakra can be used in ''{{Naruto}}'' is to increase character's already [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower considerable]] physical abilities like the chakra gates or the Akimichi clan's [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever body expansion techniques]].
** Also [[TouchOfDeath Jyuuken (Gentle Fist)]]
* ''SaintSeiya''. Train hard, and you too can reverse a waterfall by kicking it.
* Ku Fei of ''MahouSenseiNegima'' is capable of killing demons barehanded.
** Not to mention Negi himself, who boosts his Kung Fu powers with magic.
* ''FistOfTheNorthStar'' rivals ''DragonBallZ'' for being so brazen about cranking this up.
* ''{{G Gundam}}'' 's elite martial artists Domon Kasshu and Master Asia can catch bullets and destroy Gundam size robots! And their own Gundams are able to receive certain powerups based entirely on the strength of their awesomeness.
* ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha {{ViVid}}'' introduced the "Strike Arts", a magic-augmented close-combat martial arts form. Later, a character appears with knowledge of the "Kaiser Arts", basically TheSameButMore from the Ancient Belkan era.
* ''YuYuHakusho'' explained that normal humans could never hope to match up with the tougher demons unless they learn to channel their spirit energy. Actual, physical strength has its limitations but spirit energy has none.
* ''TheBreaker'' ({{manhwa}}) has a [[TheMasquerade secret society]] of martial artists who are superhumanly strong due to their training to use their ki. Skills seen so far are KiAttacks, FlashStep, MegatonPunch, and some martial artists also have a HealingFactor.

[[AC:{{Comics}}]]
* Every single one of the many scions of the [[ImmortalIronFist Immortal Weapons.]]
* Oriental Heroes, late of Jademan Comics.
** WeaponsOfTheGods, likewise. There's a ton of Hong Kong comics revolving around supernatural martial arts, most of which have never made it to the US.
* In ''AmericanBornChinese'', The Monkey King acquires numerous abilities through the mastery of various kung fu disciplines.
* GIJoe When LarryHama is writing, ninja characters are nearly invincible. Storm Shadow can disappear from locked rooms with no windows.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* Half of all the Kung-fu movies ever made, especially {{Wuxia}}.
* ''CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon''.
* ''Film/{{Hero}}'' involves fighting off a [[RainOfArrows rain of arrows]] with their (granted incredibly long) sleeves. [[WireFu Amongst]] [[ArmorIsUseless other]] [[WalkOnWater things.]]
* ''KungFuHustle'' is a {{Troperiffic}} AffectionateParody and IndecisiveDeconstruction of all the over the top supernatural martial arts films to ever come out of Hong Kong.
* ''KungFuPanda''. Spoofed with the Wuxi Fingerhold in the final battle scene -- flexing a single finger causes a massive blast wave that may or may not disintegrate the target.
** There's also the paralyzing attack that causes breif flashes of light when hit, as well as Shifu's apparent airbending.
** It isn't airbending, he's just waving a staff around, which happens to cause the air to move. It's entirely realistic.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* ''TheGardellaVampireChronicles''.
* The little-seen [=ChayShan=] [[FunctionalMagic magic system]] in {{Elantris}}. WordOfGod says it looks like Tai Chi, but gradually getting faster as you go along.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* ''PowerRangersNinjaStorm'' and ''PowerRangersJungleFury'' both feature organizations that teach Supernatural Martial Arts: students of ''Ninja Storm'''s Wind and Thunder Ninja Academies can pull off [[ElementalPowers elemental]] effects, where the monks of the Order of the Claw in ''Jungle Fury'' are trained in the use of the AnimalBattleAura.
** The same also applied to their ''SuperSentai'' counterparts, ''NinpuuSentaiHurricaneger'' and, ''JukenSentaiGekiranger'', respectively.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]
* ''{{Exalted}}''. There is literally a [[MartialArtsAndCrafts Supernatural Martial Art]] for everything. Bondage Fighting? Laughing Wounds. Turning yourself into a living golem with extendible magic claws? Prismatic Arrangement of Creation. Whether it's drowning someone in their own blood, ripping someone's soul out of their body, or simply hitting someone hard enough to knock them out, there's a martial arts style dedicated to the concept. This includes hitting someone so hard they contract a supernatural disease... And so does everyone else in an 15 mile radius. And Charcoal March of Spiders: when you absolutely, positively have to punch out everyone on the ''continent'' twice in the same instant (or turn them into a duck, or erase them from Creation, or...), accept no substitutes. Probably the TropeNamer, as there the name is used in the game itself.
** Don't forget the one (I forget which one its called) which basically "I punch you, your girlfriend breaks up with you."
*** Border of Kaleidoscopic Logic?
*** Celestial Monkey could also qualify, although only if the target happens to be particularly brave. [[hottip:Explanation:One Celestial Monkey style charm permits you to make a called shot to the area that represents someone's primary virtue. Temperance is the head, Conviction the guts, Compassion the heart, and Valour the [[GroinAttack groin]].]]
** ''Exalted'' actually has a special metaphor for this: the Perfect Lotus. The soil it grows in is mundane martial arts like kung-fu and karate; they're a decent enough means of combat for mortals. The roots are the Terrestrial styles like Five Dragons, Seafaring Hero, Orgiastic Fugitive, Live Wire or Golden Exhalation. The stem is Celestial styles like [[KillItWithFire Righteous Devil]], Celestial Monkey, Laughing Wounds, [[ChainsawGood Thousand-Wounds Gear]] and the various Celestial Exalts' personal Hero Styles. The actual flower- described as completely separate from the soil from which the Lotus grows- is the Sidereal styles, such as Kaleidoscopic Border of Logic, Charcoal March of Spiders, Obsidian Shards of Infinity, Citrine Poxes of Contagion, and Prismatic Arrangement of Creation (most of which do something horrible to ''Exalted'''s already-wounded game balance - Obsidian Shards has moves that let you guarantee the future, while Kaleidoscopic Border has a move that gives you a mind-control stare).
* There's a whole {{Splat}} of these guys in the ''WorldOfDarkness'' game ''Mage: The Ascension'', the Akashic Brotherhood. They are (mostly) Asiatic monks with a specialty in Mind magic who weave their spells through various meditation techniques and practice a specific type of kung-fu magic called Do, which they claim is the martial art upon which all others are based.
** The spiritual successors to the Akashic Brotherhood in the new ''World of Darkness'' is the legacy of mages called the "Perfected Adepts". They harness spiritual energy in order to enhance their bodily performance. One of the {{Sourcebook}}s also has details of a magical fighting style known as "The Adamant Hand".
** ''WerewolfTheApocalypse'' includes the Stargazers who, in addition to being one of the more mystical werewolf tribes, invented a martial art, ''Kailindo,'' which incorporates a werewolf's shapeshifting abilities and bits of wind-magic.
* ''{{Shadowrun}}'''s Adepts can exemplify this as well; they can have any of a number of innate magical powers, many of which are linked to their combat skills.
* Western example, sort of: ''DungeonsAndDragons''.
** In particular, the Tome of Battle.
*** Especially the penultimate Diamond Mind maneuver, which allows you to slow time down by being really focused and good at hitting people with swords.
*** And the Desert Wind maneuver group, which creates fire (usually)
*** And the Shadow Hand maneuver group, which allows you to turn invisible, teleport, walk through walls, and create illusions by being really focused
** The [[http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/monk.htm monk]] from 3.5e has a rather eclectic collection of abilities stemming from what amounts to training hard and channeling ki. Said abilities include moving fast, surviving crazy falls, dodging fireballs, immunity to diseases and poisons, resistance to magic, teleportation, turning into a ghost, speaking with any creature with a language, killing people with a touch and ceasing to age. Train hard kids, and all this will be yours!
* Death Fist from ''{{GURPS}}: Martial Arts'' combines martial arts and chi powers then backs up all of that with magic that allows you to alter yourself and opponent. There's also Dragon-Man Kung Fu where you learn to breathe fire.
* ''FengShui'''s various fu powers allow a martial artist to do a variety of effects, like setting someone ablaze with your fists, creating a blade out of pure darkness, stopping bullets, and making spectacular flying leaps.
* WeaponsOfTheGods is all about this trope. Martial arts techniques at the low end let you do things like run up walls, freeze people with a punch, or turn nigh-invisible. At the high end, they let you fly for miles, wipe out a horde of {{Mooks}} with one attack, or kill someone nine times over.
* AnimaBeyondFantasy has a whole system for building from scratch any kind of Supernatural Martial Arts technique. The official techniques are a varied bunch; among the weirdest we find a Rose-themed style of fencing and a KillSat invoking martial art.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* The ''MortalKombat'' series of video games. Characters can hurl fireballs and even shoot lasers from Ki attacks. In ''Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance'', characters can still fight on despite having what looks like a giant World War 1 trench sword sticking out of them from an "impaling" move.
* ''JadeEmpire'', in addition to more conventional martial arts, has Ki-powered styles that involve throwing fire from your hands, bringing down storms of hail, and causing localized earth tremors, among other things. Even one of the "conventional" Martial Styles lets you grow Wolverine-like claws out of your knuckles.
** And don't forget the martial arts that turn you into various monsters.
* ''StreetFighter'' games let you throw fireballs, or even make your body a fireball.
* Starting with the [[FinalFantasyVI sixth game]], the ''FinalFantasy'' franchise makes its {{Bare Fisted Monk}}s as supernatural as its magic users, often granting them SuperStrength, SuperSpeed, and improbable agility.
** [[FinalFantasyVI Sabin Rene Figaro and Duncan Harcourt]] can punch hundreds of times per second, smash foes with beams of BattleAura, release fiery clones of themselves, shed their LifeForce to heal others, fling RazorWind with their hands, and split themselves into many copies to pummel an enemy from all directions. Oh, and [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome suplex runaway trains]].
** [[FinalFantasyVII Tifa Lockhart (and, probably, her master Zangan)]] can lift and toss HumongousMecha, and unleash gigantic explosions of BattleAura with a single punch.
*** Don't forget dolphins!
** [[FinalFantasyVIII Zell Dintch]] can crack open yawning chasms with a punch, turn himself into an energy missile that can go through enemies, somersault-kick enemies high up into the stratosphere, and run around the world in less than five seconds as wind-up for an explosive punch. He can also do the now-famous "lift and toss mountain-sized enemies."
** [[FinalFantasyTactics Monks in Ivalice]] can resuscitate fallen comrades with a shout, punch people without coming into physical contact, rend the earth, heal injuries or status effects with their BattleAura, or kill with a touch.
** [[FinalFantasyXII Basch]] is shown as being capable of punching ''reality'' with his {{Limit Break}}s. Makes one wonder how he managed to get captured so easily... Of course [[BigBad Vayne]] can do the same thing with a similar attack. Fran also has two {{Limit Break}}s but her's cause [[StuffBlowingUp explosions]] and a RazorWind.
** [[FinalFantasyXIII Snow]] doesn't even ''know'' any martial arts, but he can [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu beat]] ''gods'' to death by ''kicking and punching them''. And this is ''before'' he gets his phlebotinum powers.
* ''PhantomDust'' has the ki school as one of its five skill sets. In addition to basic punches and kicks strong enough to put holes in solid conrete walls, it allows the player to [[InASingleBound jump thirty feet in the air]], [[SuperSpeed dash at lightning speeds]], [[KiAttacks fire ki blasts]], enhance their strength and walking speed, brush aside speeding fireballs and laser blasts, regernate health, and apparently punch the memories out of their target, making them forget their skills.
* [[TheLegendOfZelda Ganondorf]] in ''SuperSmashBros''.
* In the online game, ''Urban Rivals'', the Fang Pi Clang is made up of many different martial artists.

[[AC:WebComics]]
* ''ElGoonishShive'': Anime-Style Martial Arts.
* Seeing how it's set in ''{{Exalted}}'''s Creation, ''{{Keychain of Creation}}'' naturally has this. There are plenty of more action-packed scenes over the course of the comic, but [[http://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0271.html this filler strip]] probably sums it up best in only three panels.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is something between this and FullContactMagic, as bending is basically regular, real-world martial arts moves used by people who can cause [[ElementalPowers movement of a certain element]] to utilize the element more efficiently.
-->'''Katara:''' [[InsistentTerminology It's not Magic]], it's ''Water Bending''.
* Don't forget ''KimPossible'''s Ron Stoppable and his Mystical Monkey Powers.
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** [[OlderThanTheyThink Actually...]]

* GIJoe When Larry Hama is writing, ninja characters are nearly invincible. Storm Shadow can disappear from locked rooms with no windows.

** 99% of the fighters use this.

* ''KungFuPanda''. Spoofed with the Wuxi Fingerhold in the final battle scene -- flexing a single finger causes a massive blast wave that may or may not disintegrate the target.
** There's also the paralyzing attack that causes breif flashes of light when hit, as well as Shifu's apparent airbending.
** It isn't airbending, he's just waving a staff around, which happens to cause the air to move. It's entirely realistic.

* Don't forget [[KimPossible Ron Stoppable]] and his Mystical Monkey Powers.

* In the online game, [[Urban Rivals]], the Fang Pi Clang is made up of many different martial artists.

* ''Hero'' involves fighting off a [[RainOfArrows rain of arrows]] with their (granted incredibly long) sleeves. [[WireFu Amongst]] [[ArmorIsUseless other]] [[WalkOnWater things.]]

* ''{{Shadowrun}}'''s Adepts exemplify this as well; they can have any of a number of innate magical powers, many of which are linked to their combat skills.

* Seeing how it's ''based'' on ''{{Exalted}}'', ''{{Keychain of Creation}}'' naturally has this. There are plenty of more action-packed scenes over the course of the comic, but [[http://keychain.patternspider.net/archive/koc0271.html this filler strip]] probably sums it up best in only three panels.

[[caption-width:320:Tai Chi is moving ''like'' water, not [[IThoughtItMeant actually]] [[MakingASplash moving water]].

[[caption-width:320:Tai Chi is moving ''like'' water, not actually moving water.]]

** [[FinalFantasyXII Basch]] is shown as being capable of punching ''reality'' with his {{Limit Break}}s. Makes one wonder how he managed to get captured so easily...

Compare CharlesAtlasSuperpower, where training hard, usually [[ShangriLa in the Far East]], can make you better than any human in real life at plausibly mundane feats.

** ''Exalted'' actually has a special metaphor for this: the Perfect Lotus. The soil it grows in is mundane martial arts like kung-fu and karate; they're a decent enough means of combat for mortals. The roots are the Terrestrial styles like Five Dragons, Seafaring Hero, Orgiastic Fugitive, Live Wire or Golden Exhalation. The stem is Celestial styles like [[KillItWithFire Righteous Devil]], Celestial Monkey, Laughing Wounds, [[ChainsawGood Thousand-Wounds Gear]] and the various Celestial Exalts' personal Hero Styles. The actual flower is the Sidereal styles, such as Kaleidoscopic Border of Logic, Charcoal March of Spiders, Obsidian Shards of Infinity, Citrine Poxes of Contagion, and Prismatic Arrangement of Creation (most of which do something horrible to ''Exalted'''s already-wounded game balance - Obsidian Shards has moves that let you guarantee the future, while Kaleidoscopic Border has a move that gives you a mind-control stare).

* ''TheBreaker'' ({{manhwa}}) has a [[TheMasquerade secret society]] of martial artists who are superhumanly strong due to their training to use their ki. Skills seen so far are the basic KiAttack, FlashStep, MegatonPunch, and some martial artists also have a HealingFactor.