%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1319644677082200100
%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.
%%
[[quoteright:350:[[Film/KungPowEnterTheFist http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/KungPowKick_9242.jpg]]]]

-> '''Elder:''' My, my, [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall it's like they're filming a movie!]]
-> '''Sakaki:''' I agree, these kids have too much excessive movements!
-->-- ''Manga/KenichiTheMightiestDisciple''

Think {{Flynning}}, but with martial arts instead of swords.

This page is dedicated to all of the 'amended' martial arts that populate {{Martial Arts Movie}}s, {{manga}} and {{anime}}, especially high-flying spinning kicks and other telegraphed moves. Lots of times, this comes from the directors following the RuleOfCool, but many other times, they just didn't bother with the research. If there is a HandWave coming up, appeals to ScrewTheRulesIHaveSupernaturalPowers may be thrown in - after all, a "highly telegraphed" multi-spin roundhouse is a lot less easy to counter [[SuperSpeed when your foot meets your opponent's face in the time it takes for him to blink]], and if you can [[NighInvulnerability shrug off a tonne of hits]] and [[SuperStrength kill the one guy with one]] then a punished whiff is not as critical.

Even in the more realistic video games, you will find at least one attack at this absurd level among the movelist of {{Shotoclone}}s. Usually it will be the HurricaneKick SubTrope, alongside its buddies the KamehameHadoken and {{Shoryuken}}. They look great and all in video games, but would be needlessly showy in real life.

This trope can apply to as minor a grievance as an inefficient move or as major a martial insult as 80s ninja films.

Fun game: Take a martial arts scene. Now, ask yourself; "Would this move work in MixedMartialArts?" If the answer is no, it's likely under this trope.

These days it seems to be less prevalent, particularly with the rise in popularity of fighting systems such as MixedMartialArts or [[CombatPragmatist Krav Maga]].

Compare MartialArtsAndCrafts, ChopSockey. Contrast WhatTheFuAreYouDoing.

Note that this is for works that are presenting a move or martial art as serious or an AcceptableBreakFromReality. If it's intentionally being PlayedForLaughs, it would be IKnowKungFaux.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: General]]
* Flip, flip, flip, flip. Everywhere you look in fiction you see martial arts depicted as being at least 1/3 acrobatics. In real life moves like flips and handsprings are excessively dangerous unnecessary show-off moves to use in a martial arts match, and the few martial arts moves which do include such spectacular gymnastic feats tend to be very high risk maneuvers. Flying kicks, broadly, fall in the same category. One issue is that once you leave the ground, you have no control over your path, which will be towards the opponent. Martial artists (as an overgeneralization) train these moves because they are a good way of working on balance, control, and fitness, which will then translate to simpler moves, but it's incredibly rare to see anyone sparring with a flying side kick.
* You can sum up about 90% of this trope in anime (and movies too) with a single point: an efficient strike is ''not'' telegraphed. Each time you see someone preparing his punch by putting his arm far BEHIND him to get more momentum, it's just for show. Used a lot because it makes the strikes more impressive and make them feel stronger, but it's just ''bad'' in a fight, where a smart opponent will simply crush your face with a less impressive, but much faster and more efficient, direct strike.
** However, Italian school of swordplay has moves that are supposed to be big and telegraphing. Those are feints and designed to make you opponent flinch in the way that you want and create an opening.
* CrossCounter: Depending on the martial art, in a real fight you always keep your guard up when you punch (with your free hand) or kick (with both hands). This is done, precisely, to avoid your opponent's counter strikes. This is less typical amongst grapplers.
** Also, if you see them keeping their arms up to guard right next to their body, it is just as wrong. The reason for a guard is to protect the vital parts of the body by preventing the opponent from being able to hit them. If the guard is up against those parts of the body, most of the power of any strike to those areas goes through the arms, almost as if the guard wasn't there.
** Dan Hardy [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CSq4j10f2I demonstrates why]] keeping your non-punching hand up is a good idea. His opponent, Carlos Condit, made the same mistake but had the better chin.
* Any time a martial artist fights off two, three or more people at once, this trope is being invoked. Even an excellent fighter would be considered lucky to defeat or even get away from two people attacking at once.
** It is possible to fight multiple opponents if you maintain techniques to control the fight and keep it close to one-on-one. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-kw1KBU2ps This video]] shows an example of it; it just doesn't look as impressive as a frontal assault. Notice how he keeps backing up so he only takes on one of his opponents at a time.
* Breaking is a complicated subject. Not all martial arts styles include it at all, and those which do can do things that would certainly surprise most people. On the other hand, generally breaking is performed on materials which are fairly weak under tension (brick, concrete, wood broken with the grain [[note]]That is, with the grain in one of the short directions, the way that lumber is not usually sold for very good reasons aside from trees not growing sideways[[/note]]), and also supported only at the ends. It also requires careful training of the impact area (especially knuckles), which can leave it looking fairly ugly. If someone is breaking most of these rules (kicking a hole in a chain-link fence with a move they saw an older student doing once), this trope is probably being invoked.
* {{Ninja}} are almost never portrayed realistically. (Hollywood tends to go for the HighlyVisibleNinja Trope, which is an big Artistic License.) Real practitioners of ''Shinobi'' usually wore disguises, and weren't the type for a fair fight (if they fought at all; some were simply spies). A Ninja who wanted to kill someone usually struck by ambush, fleeing after he made the strike (successful or not). They were ''never'' seen in public wearing or using anything that would identify them as such.
** While something the people of the time would call "ninja" or "shinobimono" ''certainly'' existed in the Sengoku era, they were more or less just the commandos of their militaries—some of them were samurai-caste (''buke''), some of them were commoners, many of ''both'' were essentially mercenaries—and often may not have been specialists (that is, people who were otherwise just rank-and-file, or ordinary samurai, might be called ''shinobimono'' if they were doing what we'd call a covert operation, just like a guy sharpshooting from far away and behind cover might be called a sniper even if that's not his official billet). The idea that ninja were something separate from the rest of Japanese society came about during the Edo period, after Tokugawa Ieyasu became shogun and unified the country. Edo-period samurai started assuming the values of the court-aristocracy, while simultaneously resurrecting centuries-disused aspects of the samurai honor-code from before the Mongol invasion, and didn't like to talk about ''actual'' warfare—they also pretended they were primarily swordsmen, when the samurai's main role was actually horse-archers.
*** There was also the O-Niwa-Banshu or "Garden Squad", the shogun's bodyguards and probably spy network, who, in the former role, were undercover as gardeners (hence the name). It wasn't disbanded until the 1870s, but since its leaders were a cadet branch of Tokugawa's clan, there still isn't actually a hard distinction between samurai and "ninja".
** Female Ninja (known as ''kunoichi'') are even less realistically portrayed. These assassins did exist, but while some of them may have been skilled martial artists, they only used such skils if they were in danger of being caught. Typically, a kunoichi's MO was to get close to a victim wearing a disguise that made her look harmless (like that of a farmer, peasant girl, or prostitute) and then strike with a small, bladed weapon that was laced with poison.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Suzaku Kururugi of ''CodeGeass'' is ''infamous'' for [[HurricaneKick these]], hence the FanNickname, "Spinzaku". His trademark gravity-defying attack allows him to run up walls, destroy machine gun turrets (while dodging their fire), disarm pistol-wielding opponents from across the room, fall great distances, shatter steel weapons, and send guards flying. Naturally, his personal mecha can do this, too, with the added benefit of his opponents ''exploding''.
** Any other martial artist would do a lot ''less'' than 720 degrees before his leg connects. For Suzaku it's more like 1080 degrees.
** Wonder where those song lines came from? Take a look at [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdDpP7NM-M8 this]]. In the actual episode, Suzaku merely spin-kicks ''three times in midair''... [[JustHitHim before even reaching his target]]. [[MundaneMadeAwesome Then he punches Lelouch instead of kicking]].
** They were supposed to explain how he got his CharlesAtlasSuperpower but they end up suffering ExecutiveMeddling in season 2.
* Although martial arts are [[ShownTheirWork mostly portrayed accurately]], ''[[KenichiTheMightiestDisciple History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi]]'' has some instances:
** One character starts spinning in place a few times before planting an outside crescent on Kenichi, while he gawks in disbelief. Try that in the UFC.
** And then there's AttentionWhore Rachel "Castor" Stanley of YOMI. She specializes in Luchadore wrestling moves, and considers keeping the audience's attention more important than actually winning the fight (though she has yet to lose a fight in the series). She and her YAMI master "Laughing Fist" Diego believe that using AwesomeButImpractical moves to win fights is the way to go.
** Averted in ''Historys Strongest Disciple'' (no Kenichi), the manga ''[[KenichiTheMightiestDisciple History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi]]'' was based on. It's ''[[KenichiTheMightiestDisciple History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi]]'' with more realistic martial arts, more realistic training, more realistic gangs, and ending right before ''[[KenichiTheMightiestDisciple History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi]]'' introduces Yami.
** Chapter 134 has an aversion and LampshadeHanging (starting [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/history_s_strongest_disciple_kenichi/v15/c134/14.html here]]), where [[spoiler: Hermit is fighting Berserker]], who doesn't actually knows martial arts. [[spoiler:Berserker]] winds his fist way back to launch a finishing blow, creating a massive opening that [[spoiler:Hermit]] takes advantage of to turn the fight around.
** It is also lampshaded in chapter 136, as shown above in the page top
* Averted in every single ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'' incarnation. This might sound odd in a "mon" show, but whenever humans need to fight, they either get their ass handed to him (most of the time), employ [[Anime/DigimonXrosWars judo moves]], use [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7Ve1lV1bk8&feature=player_detailpage#t=476s 4 moves in 4 seconds]] (in order, making an opening, flipping the opponent to the floor, making an opening in the next opponent sideways, uppercut). The last example was taken from tai-chi, apparently. Flashy moves are ''only'' used after the opponent is stunned and maximum force of impact, with a giant mecha, is needed.
* ''DragonBall'' in general is full of this, but there are two particular points that deserve mention:
** Whenever the characters do any form of side kick, they throw their hands above their heads or out to the sides. This is a ''bad idea'' in real life, as it leaves the vital areas wide open.
** There was a scene in the original ''DragonBall'' series where Yamcha remarked that Goku was leaving no part of his body unguarded. Goku was standing face-on to his opponent, with his hands held downward at his sides. His head, torso, and groin were all wide open to attack.
* As {{Bruce Lee Clone}}s, Rock Lee and Might Guy from ''{{Naruto}}'' also use a lot of flying kicks (KONOHA DAI SENPUU!).
** Granted, leaving an opening isn't that big of problem [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower when you can move and attack several times faster than most of your opponents]]. And the DynamicEntry involves distracting your opponent first. It can also be noted that Rock Lee is often described as having 'average taijutsu' despite his super speed and strength. Meaning despite clear physical superiority most of the time, his actual movements are rarely better than basic punches and kicks.
** Most Taijutsu in Naruto is impractical, especially attacks that involve using the heel of the foot to kick downward from eye level. Besides having bad leverage, this attack would be ''extremely'' painful to the users, almost all of which seem to be male. This kick is often done by spinning in midair, which is also physically impossible.
*** Hand-waved in-universe because most of these folks are augmenting their martial arts abilities with [[AppliedPhlebotinum chakra]], making those impossible moves possible and/or allowing them to hit far harder than should be possible.
* The [[Film/TheKarateKid Crane]] stance is done as well with complete seriousness in ''FistOfTheBlueSky'' by Zhāng Tài-Yán (except with his hands together), as well as Falco early in the second half of the ''FistOfTheNorthStar'' manga; just to make it more mind-boggling, the leg he was standing on was [[spoiler:his prosthetic leg]].
** Daniel Russo's leg had been swept pretty hard and was unable to apply any pressure to it. The Crane Kick was used as a last resort.
** It's the grandfather of [[RuleOfCool "Impossible But Cool"]] martial arts. The titular martial art, Hokuto Shinken, uses a fictionalized version of the Meridian/Dim Mak acupressure points called the ''keiraku hikou'', of which there are over 708 on the human body according to the story. Depending on how much force they're struck with, they can be used to destroy or heal one's body.
*** He MAKES YOU BLOW UP! Several seconds ''after'' he hits you.
*** There are other martial art styles in the series as well which are just as exaggerated. The main rival style, Nanto Seiken, uses sheer force to slice and stab the opponent's body.
* ''Manga/AirMaster'': ''Gymkata'' in Anime form!
* In one of the title sequences of the anime ''Manga/DeathNote'', L performs some rather implausible spinning kicks which, depending on your point of view, either look downright amazing or downright hilarious.
** This is stated at various bits of the canon to be Capoeira. See the entry below on it.
*** In a real fight, capoeiristas mostly kick, head-butt, or use elbow-strikes, like any other martial artists. Or else they use techniques collectively known as "[[TryingToCatchMeFightingDirty playing in the street]]"—throat-punching, eye-gouging, slapping the opponent's ears with cupped palms...
** Besides, if L can [[MemeticMutation outsmart food]], why not gravity?
* Even ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' has them! At least the martial art/super robotesque stepchild, [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam G Gundam]]. How'd you call their fighting techniques otherwise?
* Averted in ''{{Holyland}}'', which is all about realistic fighting. When dangerous moves like high kicks come up, the narrator even notes how one should distract the target first rather than try to use them off-the-cuff when the enemy can prepare a counter.
* HajimeNoIppo mostly shows realistic depictions of the sport of boxing but some characters use moves that are clearly flat out impossible to do in real life. The most blatant examples are Takeshi Sendo's Smasher (A leaning full body side uppercut), Eiji Date's Heartbreak shot (A corkscrew punch aimed at the heart, capable of freezing opponents on their feet) and Masaru Aoki's Frog Punch (A full body uppercut). And there's Woli, a boxer who does high flying stunts WHILE fighting.
** Sendo's Smash punch is based on Canadian boxer Razor Ruddock's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNo8nXD3xoc signature punch]]. Not nearly as impossible as it looks, but Sendo's version leaves him far more open to getting tagged with a counter.
** The frog punch was Japanese boxer Koichi Wajima's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koichi_Wajima specialty]].
** Also, the Dempsey Roll. Now this is a perfectly normal (if risky) technique for fighters of small build, and is named after its most famous practitioner. The artistic license comes from the fact that Ippo maintains it on his opponent for a good 8 seconds straight. If that was done in real life, there would be 2 outcomes: either the opponent would counter it somewhere in that time frame (since the Roll puts out so much offense that it leaves next to no defense), or they were knocked flat on the ground from its beatdown long before 8 seconds had passed.
* ''RikiOh'': The whole thing really.
* RurouniKenshin: In real life, sheathing your sword in the middle of a fight is a bad idea; for Kenshin, it's required for his finishing move. Saito's ''gatotsu'' doesn't have the advantages a left-handed thrust has in real life, surprise and an accompanying extended reach.
** Enishi, the series' final BigBad, utilizes a sword whose design is based on the tachi, a weapon whose blade was traditionally anywhere between 70 and 80 centimeters long. Enishi is shown to be quite capable of wielding his sword in one hand, even twirling it around between his fingers at one point to demonstrate his skill; in real life, the tachi was used primarily by cavalrymen, and while it could be used for ground combat it was more awkward to wield than if the swordsman was still on his horse. (It may be somewhat justified in Enishi's case, however, as his sword's particular design consists of a traditional Chinese sword handle and a Japanese blade, and Chinese-made swords are designed to be significantly lighter and more flexible.)
* ''Science Ninja Team Gatchaman'' occasionally averts this trope (such a straight elbow to the guts of someone trying to be sneaky) but more usually plays it very straight. Bad enough with the rank-and-file (who tend to be slow and dumb as bricks), but when the SNT and the EliteMooks go up against each other, both sides are very guilty of this trope. Partially justified in that both sides have [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum help]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Since the comic medium is drawn by artists who usually know little about hand-to-hand combat and [[TheyJustDidntCare wouldn't usually care anyway]] due to RuleOfCool, almost every comicbook martial artist fights in a grandiose manner that would not fly in real life.
* Lampshaded, in all places, in the first ever ''GrooTheWanderer''. A soldier comments on Groo carrying his swords on his back, only to have Groo pull out a sword and put it up to his nose before he even finishes his sentence.
* When FrankMiller draws martial artists in SinCity, he loves having them perform some weird split kicks that look like they would be awkward in RealLife.
* JohnByrne once said, since he did not know Kung-fu, he would draw [[ImmortalIronFist Iron Fist]] pulling off fighting moves that simply looked cool and didn't care about how real it looked. Since Iron Fist learned how to fight in another dimension, it does make some amount of sense.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* StevenSeagal's earlier films such as ''Film/OutForJustice'' and ''Film/UnderSiege'' have some pretty realistic techniques. On the other hand, the most recent ones, where he can't even run, reflect this trope perfectly.
* In spite of his reputation as the world's greatest martial artist, BruceLee's movies feature a lot of this. He admitted that jumping high kicks were only good for movies, and he would never use them in a real fight.
* JackieChan's films. Chan was schooled in Peking Opera from childhood to perform stage fighting and acrobatics. He and his fellow opera school graduates such as Sammo Hung excel at creating fighting scenes that indulge fully in the RuleOfCool. He can still kick your ass.
* The {{wuxia}} genre of films, such as ''{{Film/Hero}}'' and ''CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon'' are based on mythic stories of supernatural swordsmen. As such, their reputation of combat features a great deal of magic.
* ''{{Gymkata}}''.
* The first "Best of the Best" film features a group of martial arts experts sent to Korea to compete in a World Karate competition. And certainly, the martial arts on display resemble karate, with an even mix of punches and kicks and even some judo throws for good measure. All in all, a mild example since the 80s were chalk full of karate films, if not for the fact that Korea has no karate tradition and, in fact, is the birthplace of the tae-kwon-do martial art. And the film makes it so blindingly obvious that the plot is meant to fixate on tae-kwon-do that it goes beyond LimitedReferencePools into willfull disregard.
** Despite what some Korean nationalists will claim, taekwondo ''is'' karate, except with an ethos borrowed from the legendary Hwarang. Korea's native martial arts are taekkyeon, a "martial game" that looks more like capoeira, and ssireum, a form of wrestling not unlike sumo.
* The "Crane Kick" from ''Film/TheKarateKid''. It doesn't come from any actual martial arts tradition. The filmmakers invented it simply to look impressive.
** Someone forgot to tell [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M-H5Ijv3rM&feature=related Lyoto Machida]].
** There is a Crane Kick in, unsurprisingly, Crane Kung Fu, but it is simply a head-height front kick performed from a standing position. It's effective if you can nail your opponent on the chin, but you're vulnerable to having your leg grabbed.
** A similar stance exists in some forms of kenpo, but it isn't meant to be used in a fight. It's used in training to develop balance. Using it in a fight will result in everyone laughing at you for being an idiot.
** There ''is'' a "jump kick" in several martial arts, but the idea is that both legs leave the ground.
* Bud Spencer's trademark move, called the "pigeon." It's a fist bash to the top of the head, the hardest spot on the human body.
* In ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', Inigo Montoya not only blocks an attacker's blade behind him but stabs him to death back there as well, ''without looking''. [[MasterSwordsman He's just that good.]]
* In Creator/DavidMamet's ''{{Redbelt}}'', one character applies a standing rear naked choke, then the other one ''runs up a wall and does a backflip over him'' to escape. UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts competition does sometimes feature a "wall walk" to get out of submissions, but they're always used while grappling on the ground. Fighters who apply a rear naked choke will wrap their legs around their opponent's thighs, "getting the hooks in," to prevent their opponent from using their lower body to escape.
* ChristianSlater in UweBoll's ''Film/AloneInTheDark2005'' movie manages to initiate a somersault kick while lying on his back, violating several different laws of physics in the process.
* In the second ''KillBill'' movie the Bride is buried in a wooden coffin and uses a one inch punch to break it. The one inch punch gets all its power from the stance and hip movement and is thus impossible to do when lying an the back. Since the Bride had to do it over and over again, it's possible that the only help she got from her training was toughened knuckles.
* JeanClaudeVanDamme's "spinning splits jumpkick," displayed most prominently in ''Film/{{Bloodsport}}'', is telegraphed years in advance, and it's only the use of slow-motion and very low camera angles that make it look like a head-height attack instead of the chest-height hop it actually is.
* In a weird variant of the trope, ''TomYumGoong'' has Tony Jaa take a full-speed/full-power meia lua de compasso from significantly heavier-looking Lateef Crowder squarely on the jaw. Suffice it to say, if you actually do that in real life you won't be waking up for a good while - and once you do, you'd probably wish you hadn't.
* An early scene in ''YouDontMessWithTheZohan'' had Creator/AdamSandler's character dealing with a ignorantly racist businessman in New York City. The two are standing about a foot apart the entire time. Through the use of camera shots and props, Zohan starts kicking the guy in the face, alternating between both feet, before grabbing his nose with ''both'' feet and starts twisting it. ''Standing perfectly eye-level with the guy the whole time.'' This is all for the RuleOfFunny.
* Subverted in an early scene in ''NinjaCheerleaders''. Some unfortunate orange-belt (a low rank in Karate) utterly fails to impress April with his backflips...and gets his arse handed to him.
* Parodied all over the place in ''KungPhooey!'' One particular scene has the hero blocking a series of punches with his legs in an anatomically impossible fashion. Then the camera pans back and it turns out he was using his arms, but had shoes over his hands for some reason.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Writers of Chinese Kung fu epics have been doing this for decades if not longer. It's also translated into the television series based on the book. One of the most popular examples being the epic "Condor Heroes."
* In ''TheDestroyer'', Sinanju gives you superhuman strength and speed, and it might make you the hero of prophecy and the Avatar of Shiva, the Destroyer. It also lets you fall from airplanes without injury, detect snipers with the hairs on your upper arms, perform chiropracy on dinosaurs and redirect electronic signals to hack door locks.
* In Literature/TimeScout, AuthorAppeal distorts the depiction of martial arts.
* Played with in Nick Harkaway's ''TheGoneAwayWorld'' when discussing the so called martial arts secrets that obviously must exist, since every single ChopSockey film has made use of them. The master of the main character says that there are no such things as the Inner Teachings or any such nonsense. Then he makes one up on the spot as a joke just so that the students can say they have some to other martial artists. [[spoiler: Later the protagonist realizes that the teacher's secret teaching was legit, and proceeds to use the Ghost Palm of the Voiceless Dragon... [[OneLiner fucker]].]] The zig zag moment comes when the narrative completely justifies the use of the secret: [[spoiler: the protagonist spends some time getting his older opponent's heart rate up by forcing him to expend a lot of effort in using a hard style martial arts. Then when the opponent's heart is racing along at 190 bpm, the protagonist lays a nice solid palm strike to his sternum, causing cardiac arrest.]]
* ''Literature/TheAvenger'''s sidekick Nellie Grey knows jujutsu, which allows her to throw men three times her weight around like tenpins if they so much as extend an arm in her general direction.
* ''TheKingkillerChronicle'' introduces the Adem, a culture of warrior-philosophers who practice a martial art that is so powerful that 10-year-old girls can defeat grown men. The discipline is based on an understanding of morality in addition to athletics. Because women are morally superior to men (!), women are better fighters than men.
* Subverted in the first ''ArtemisFowl'' book. Artemis asks [[BattleButler Butler]] to create a distraction. Butler insults a bunch of drunken longshoremen and defeats them using flashy kicks and punches. The subversion comes in because he's purposely using such moves to make the fight last longer and to stand out more, giving Artemis his distraction. In his inner monologue, Butler cringes at some of the moves he performs, because they're so inefficient. He defeats multiple opponents mostly because they were all drunk and enraged.
** Lampshaded by Artemis immediately after: "Your sensei must be spinning in his grave. A spinning kick? How could you?"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'' features a few moves of dubious authenticity.
** The chopping blows to the base of the neck or elsewhere, sometimes remembered as "Judo chops," though Judo is a grappling art that does not allow strikes, much less strikes to the neck. The principle behind "chopping" strikes is that the "blade" of the hand has a smaller surface area, and has been recommended in a few real-world fighting systems.
** The famous Vulcan nerve pinch, in which the base of the neck is pressed with the fingers and induces instantaneous unconciousness. Creator/LeonardNimoy invented the move on the spot when he decided that simply clubbing an opponent with a phaser didn't seem very Spock-like. The original concept was that Spock produced a bio-electric shock through his fingertips, turning his hand into a taser. When Spock uses it in the Original Series, he simply touches the necks of his opponents. However, the move was misinterpreted as a nerve pinch, and remained this way through future incarnations of the series.
** Kirk used a horizontal jump kick so often that when Creator/WilliamShatner nearly got into a RealLife fight, he realized that he was instinctively planning on using it. After a moment of consideration, he realized that flopping onto the floor at the beginning of a real fight would go very badly for him, so he walked away.
** Hand-to-hand fight scenes in every series almost invariably feature a two-fisted hammer punch that's been dubbed the "[[FanNickname Kirk special.]]"
*** Worse still, the {{Spin Off}}s tend to use it. Seems it's part of Star Fleet basic training.
** The "style" is sometimes known as "[[FanNickname Kirk-fu]]".
* The long-running ''Pili'' series from Taiwan. What's that, you ask? Kung Fu puppets with wire-fu, precision-guided swords and CG special effects. It just doesn't get any more awesome than that. Despite how implausible the series sounds, give it a watch, it's great. It's a continuation of the tradition of Chinese puppet theater, and there's a reason why it's been running since 1985. Unfortunately, the English adaptations are pretty bad and the subtitled versions make no sense. Still, wire-fu puppets is just made of win from the get-go.
* Phoebe on ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' has done this. Justified in that levitation actually ''is'' one of her powers.
* When the Canadian science fiction channel Space still used the "Space Bar" intros to its regular "Movies From Space" segments, one [[RubberForeheadAlien character]] demonstrates a traditional martial arts kata of his people; it looks utterly ludicrous. The bartender asks if it actually works. The alien says it works very well; their opponents laugh long enough for them to run away. The character's people are ''extremely'' good at ObfuscatingStupidity, to the point where they're not entirely sure if their stupidity is in fact obfuscating...
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''... some of the early fights are alright, but very quickly, it turned into ''{{Gymkata}}: the Series''.
** However, [[HandWave the Slayers have superhuman powers, as do the demons]].
** In one episode, Buffy and her friends are watching a martial arts film and Buffy comments on how unrealistic the fight scenes are.
** In early seasons Buffy's stunt double actually knew martial arts, leading to fairly realistic combat with a few exaggerations easily explained by her super strength. Later, the actress lost so much weight that only gymnasts could fill in for her without the switch being obvious, leading to a lot more wire-fu and gymkata.
* [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig Zagged]] in ''{{Chuck}}''. One confrontation with [[MonsterOfTheWeek villain of the week]] starts with him showing off in a series of backflips and high-acrobatic martial arts. It's justified, as his backstory includes competitive gymnastics but no actual combat, which means he's the kind of person who could do backflips ''and wouldn't realize it's a bad idea''. So a martial arts fight is set up, but then Sarah just [[CombatPragmatist shoots him in the knee.]]
* In ''Series/DoctorWho'' the Third Doctor's Venusian Aikido pretty much counts as this; it seems to have mostly been designed to make Jon Pertwee look good in a cloak.
* In the Spanish adventure series ''AguilaRoja'', Gonzalo, the main character dresses and moves like a ninja, armed with a katana to boot. However, his backstory reveals that he was trained in China, not Japan. Plus his swordsmanship, not only has way too much WeaponTwirling, but it's obviously based in Western rapier fencing, not Japanese kenjutsu.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* The medium, or at least the actual matches. Even the simplest of punches is painfully slow, clear to the opponent weeks in advance and aimed at low-damaging areas, frequently the opponent's massive pecs. And that's not even considering the more ludicrous maneuvers detailed below.[[hottip:*: The reason is that they're only trying to put on a good show, not actively trying to kill each other.]]
* The RingOfHonor pro wrestling promotion had one of its early pro wrestling matches use this trope: Amazing Red brought the flips, Low Ki brought the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDIq3rUmnxw#t=1m00s high-impact kicks.]] However, ROH also occasionally subverts the trope; both Kevin Steen and Samoa Joe have countered acrobatic attacks by simply walking away rather than standing and waiting for the move to complete.
* The Irish Whip is extremely common. It involves swinging someone around by the arm to send them sprinting across the ring, bounce off something springy, and sprint back towards you to receive a follow-up attack. While certain joint locks and such can give you control over an opponent's movement, The Irish Whip takes it to absurd levels.
* "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith was sued for assault, the plaintiff claiming that the wrestler had attacked him and powerbombed him. Smith's entire defense was demonstrating that the powerbomb was impossible to do without the 'victim's' cooperation. [[ViewersAreMorons The court found for the defendant]]. Oddly enough, UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts matches have occasionally seen powerbombs when one fighter is attempting a triangle choke with his legs wrapped around his opponent's head, leaving him vulnerable to slams. Rampage Jackson famously knocked out Ricardo Arona this way.
* The Canadian Destroyer (a flip piledriver), which is actually physically impossible (the 'victim' does all the work). This was highlighted when Kota Ibushi received a series of Canadian Destroyers from YOSHIHIKO, a blow-up doll.
** Even though the "victim" does do all the work in this example, there's always that one-in-a-million [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpoD-tF6TwM chance]]...
* The RKO, which, despite inheriting the People's Elbow's Most Electrifying Move title, is a move where the victim does about half the work and then pretends to be out of it. Even if it was real, it'd be the kind of move that only stuns for a few seconds. Also, Piledrivers are mostly fake, as, if done the way they seem to be done, they'd be mostly lethal (As [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8YzeJhOmq0 these two found out]]), or at least crippling (an unprotected piledriver broke Stone Cold's neck).
* Performing a stunner on a hard floor might just break your opponent's neck or back. You'll probably also break your tailbone.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''StreetFighter'' (even discounting the KiAttacks) throws everything about martial arts out of the window with such impossible moves as the HurricaneKick. Oddly enough, some of the attacks ''do'' bow to reality - if a [[{{Shoryuken}} Dragon Punch]] misses, you can smack the user out of the air with anything.
** Guile's upside-down kick gets bonus points; it breaks the laws of physics and it's not even a special move. It's like they ran out of space for the sprites, and decided to just flip an existing one vertically.
** Hilariously, the game developers still try to make people believe the fighter's arts are based on real life martial arts. Never mind that Kung Fu doesn't work that way, or, in the case of newly introduced fighter Juri, that being a Taekwondo master doesn't mean you can spin vertically in mid-air multiple times.
*** [[RuleOfFun They never were trying, really.]]
*** ''Based on''. If only a single stance or {{Kiai}} is taken the developers can still claim a connection.
** Just be honest here: if you're a FightingGame developer, you've long since used this trope by starting your project. Even in more realistic series like ''VideoGame/VirtuaFighter'', characters can still do ridiculous things (Sarah Bryant executing a perfect backflip kick in the heat of battle, for instance). If you want to make a game that actually simulates a real fight between trained martial artists, you'd probably end up with something like ''UFC Undisputed''.
* Virtually any ''Kunio-kun'' game. Especially RiverCityRansom, its "sequel", and remake. Mainly because it's both awesome and funny at the same time. Running in mid-air indefinitely is only one of the examples.
* ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon II'' was one of the earliest games with a Cyclone Kick, and it was way more effective than it realistically should have been (maybe enemies are just too impressed with your ability to briefly deny the laws of physics).
** The 2-Player mode in ''Double Dragon III'' (in both, arcade and NES version) allows both players use a Double Cyclone Kick, the strongest attack in the game. Luckily no one ever shot you down when you tried it. The arcade version allowed any pair of characters to do it, but in the NES version only Billy and Jimmy could perform the Double Cyclone Kick together.
* Subverted in ''GodHand''. While there are flashy, showy moves, trying to abuse them will generally get your ass kicked and it is better to stick to the simple stuff. Those that you can get away with are almost all {{Limit Break}}s. Also upheld at the same time, though, as [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard mooks - not least the kung fu practitioners - can and will get away with over-the-top stuff that Gene usually gets punished for.]]
** That thing in ''general'' about fighting more than one opponent? Play this game for thirty minutes and you will learn why that is.
** Also, as much as the mooks will punish you for using flashy attacks, ''you can punish them right the hell back with enough practice''. [[SchmuckBait Go on, launch yourself into a long combo, mook.]] [[SarcasmMode It's not like I can]] [[CombatPragmatist do anything about it.]]
* Righteous Fists, the basic attack of Unarmed Martial Arts in ''{{Champions}} Online'', apparently consists of teleporting between several poses, striking them in mid-air.
** With a high enough frame rate, one can see they DON'T teleport, just change direction and momentum faster than would be humanly possible. As this is a superhero MMO, this is understandable.
* The Martial Arts power set from ''CityOfHeroes'' is way too flashy to be genuinely useful, one of your most used moves is a flying spinning kick that a real fighter would see coming a mile away. Though it's probably justified- [[strike: most]] all heroes can take bullets without flinching, so they probably don't care about leaving an opening if they can get a stronger attack from it.
** Subverted with the recent inclusion of alternate animations (which added more punches to the Martial Arts set, and allowed more street-brawly looks for Super Strength attacks). "Storm Kick's" alternate animation is a much less telegraphed palm strike to the gut.
* BujingaiSwordmaster takes this trope UpToEleven, using {{Wuxia}} as a motif. Apparently in the demon-infested future of Japan, martial arts will let you run up and leap off of walls, do a spinning backflip kick while DualWielding swords, and ''fly''!
* Largely averted in both ''BushidoBlade'' games where characters couldn't jump more than a foot or two vertically, sword strikes can kill you in one hit, and the few scenarios involving more than one mook opponent seriously challenge the characters.
* Double subverted by Toribash, a fighting game that's -- surprisingly -- based on strategy instead of fighting game skill. Despite the relatively unrealistic start of a match, it maintains a fairly realistic approach to martial arts (for a video game), allowing the player to control individual joints and body parts, with matches playing out in intervals of 0.1 seconds. There are even play styles that take queues from real martial arts (Judo and Aikido, for example). Subverted again when you start dueling higher ranking players who will remove body parts with kicks and throws, or even ''literally'' tear you to pieces, then top it off by finish the match in a flashy pose.
** The subversion could be summed up by this: The method of control for realistic moves. The game engine allows for some oddball moves. There is, for the most part, more realism in the game even when you're being dismembered because, for example, a hurricane kick is a pain in the ass to pull off, and isn't as effective as another kick you could have done in the time, and in order to access the odd stuff you ''have to learn what motions would deal damage in real life''.
* To this day, Mestre Marcelo Caveirinha, who was the mo-cap model for [[{{VideoGame/Tekken}} Eddy Gordo]], gets crap from other capoeiristas over Eddy (and later Cristie) not doing the ''ginga'' right. It's not his fault, though; ''ginga''—capoeira's distinctive guard, consisting of "[[YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord swinging]]" back and forth from the opponent, with one arm up to guard your face—is counterintuitive for many non-capoeiristas, especially if they've also done an Asian martial art. Making a proper ginga a base for a good fighting-game move-set is even more challenging.
* In line with ''StreetFighter'' and other 2D fighting games, ''FatalFury'' and ''TheKingOfFighters'' use this trope a lot. Mai Shiranui offers a notable example in having a move that, were it to be performed in real life, would probably hurt her much more than her opponent: her ''musasabi no mai'', which has her dive headfirst towards her opponent; she doesn't even use her head to hit, but ''her face''. The first version of this move (back in ''Fatal Fury 2'') was different but not much better; its sprites strongly implied that she was attacking with her ample bust (ElectronicGamingMonthly even dubbed the attack "Mai's swan dive").
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Subverted and Lampshaded in ''{{SSDD}}''. Subverted in that, when ActionGirl Tessa tries to use a Bruce Lee-style jumping kick in a CQC sparring-match, she gets [[http://www.poisonedminds.com/d/20060801.html a pair of cracked ribs]] for her trouble. Lampshaded in that her opponent immediately realizes that [[http://www.poisonedminds.com/d/20060807.html she threw the match]] by giving him a huge opening. Although that strip also provides an example. Taking the full force of that in a direct block would break your arms, and knock you flat on your ass
* In ''SluggyFreelance'' Oasis is fond of doing unnecessary gymnastic showmanship moves while fighting people, though admittedly she saves the big poses until ''after'' she strikes a critical blow. She's also clearly superhuman, so perhaps it would really work for someone like that.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* A short film by the [[http://www.zgmain.com ZeroGravity]] stunt team, "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWQI8Ya0ZIs US vs HK]]," manages to parody it ''both'' ways by playing the same fight scene as both Hollywood and Hong Kong martial artists would do it. The US version is a FightSceneFailure played for laughs. The HK version is CrazyAwesome, played for laughs and jaw-dropping.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Some of the earlier fights in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' had poor choreography on Robin's part. Several times he backflips ''away'' from the enemy to kick them. Fortunately he cleaned up his act in later seasons.
* In real judo, a "throw" is any maneuver that knocks an opponent off his feet. In an episode of ''TheFlintstones'', however, Wilma used judo to throw an intruder all the way into the next room and out the door.
** Lifting and throwing an opponent several times larger and heavier than you happens in nearly every single piece of Western Animation which deals with one of the characters learning some sort of Martial Art.
*** Which isn't wholly unrealistic, since among the first things a beginning judo (or jujutsu, judo's antisocial older brother who just got out of prison) practitioner will be taught is that proper leverage is crucial even if the opponent doesn't have you outmassed by a factor of three (but if he does, proper leverage can still let you heave him around pretty good). The unrealistic part is when they can turn a friendly handshake into a mugger-eliminating throw.
* Since the Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles couldn't use their weapons to shed blood in the cartoons, they went all out on the martial arts instead.
** Speaking of the Turtles, Master Splinter's portion of the title sequence sees him demolishing a wooden tower by breaking individual boards with a sequence of moves ''while falling through it''.
* In the ''Double Dragon'' animated series, Jimmy Lee has what Billy called "deadly Shadow Moves", which one of the kids learned when he watched Jimmy practice.
[[/folder]]

----