Writer

I liked Remo the movie. My old roommate read everone of his books. Much of my character's action sequences don't involve MA, per se, just pure athleticism. I finally went with ninjitsu as I recall and threw in a little about underground circuits in southeast Asia. It was just mentioned in dialogue to add a little beef to the character. But I don't want the reader to know too much about her. I like the idea that nobody knows for sure just what makes her so damn good. Is she even human? Had she been genetically altered before conception? In any case, unless someone has an incredibly hot MA that's very "in" (something mind blowing like when Kato hit the scene on the Green Hornet), I think we can consider the topic closed. It's been nice chatting and thanks for all the suggestions!

A person can be perfect in image and have flaws in other ways, or just be enigmatic. Star Wars wouldn't have been the same if Princess Leia had had a big wart on her nose. Cynthia Rothrock never did it for me. She's very plain looking and her career stayed in the video stores (although she could have used some better choreography ala Jackie Chan. Guess she studied the wrong kind of MA to be a movie star. I think we'll see a rebirth of the ninja. They'll just have to quit covering their faces (unless someone wants to create a ninja mummy).

"Valley" was good, but True Romance was art. Rereading everything, turns out there were a number of good suggestions. I think I'm going with Ninjitsu and Aiki Jujutsu. Ninjitsu seems to be more underground and dirty, as well as geared toward assassins. I Might throw in references to bones, because the scene where she stomps on the guy's forearm worked out beautifully. She does a little of everything and the way she takes out the other two wrestler/fighters is unique and impressive. I like the in-close fighting verbage too. Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll still listen to anythiing else. By the way, Drunken Monkey, I'm not writing this bood around somebody's MA style. I'm writing it around the actions this person has to take to survive and just looking for a style that loosely fits. Either method is valid in fiction.

Believe me when I say this ain't your average SWAT unit. I can't say any more than that. The book's half done and once finished it will probably be another year before its on the shelves. That sucks, but thats how the business goes. Perhaps I'm delusional, but I think you'll be hearing about it. The visuals will be mind blowing and the characters are memorable. As a rule, I don't go for pure action movies or stories, and that's another reason that the type of MA isn't all that important, I just needed something fairly ominous sounding to build on. I got tired of Jackie Chan pretty quickly, and most of Jet Li's stuff is mediocre. They tend to have way too much action and not alot of plot or character development. But Kiss of the Dragon was top notch from start to finish with only a couple of flaws. And, kicking a billiard ball into someone's head aside, the movie was pretty believable. Li got banged up pretty well in that one. By the way, if you want to see a really good movie with everything, action, romance, dialogue and plot, go check out True Romance. Sleeper of all time.

Okay, so you don't think ninjitsu is so hot, or at least not the hottest. So what about Jet Li? What are his MA roots? Speaking of going into a lot of detail about training, did they do that in Kiss of the Dragon? No. It just isn't necessary to attract a large audience. And that was a kick * movie! Anyone who doesn't think so probably didn't see it on the big screen.

By the way, regarding her imperfections: she has demons of sorts. She's alone. She delivers final justice without trials, and it bothers her. And she's starting to fall for, of all people, a corporate computer geek (who is actually pretty cool). Just how good she is is revealed as the story goes along. I don't think anyone will be bored.

First of all, this story moves alojng pretty fast, so there isn't time to go back and review at length this person's past. Sometimes doing something like that can detract from the effect. Sometimes a little mystery about someone's past is good. What did you know about Decker's background in Blade Runner? He had some old photographs. (I'm still convinced he was actually a cyborg). Anyhow, I'm not trying to bring a MA style to life here. The actions she takes are more predicated by the situations she's in and what will tickle the reader's (or George Lucas') fancy. I just want to mention that she had training in the deadliest, most kick-* MA known to man. In fiction, if you work hard enough, you can make anything believable. A person doesn't have to have to be brought up in a hovel to get into underground fighting. She could be a rich person who rebelled against her family's values. FYI, the future will be much like it is today. Winners and losers in the game of life. Plenty of each, all trying to make ends meet. There are new technologies which effect our everyday lives. Good guys, bad guys and interesting situations. Things happen, people get thrown together and fall in love and/or die.

I think "underground" carries great romanticism. The idea of chain link cages; battles to the death, no-holds barred fights, dark, smoky arenas and dangerous surroundings fits well with this character. Who's to say what will be underground 300 years from now, but with the world's population approaching ten billion (or whatever), there will probably be some pretty bad places. Imagine a beautiful 20 year old chick in this setting. Cool, understated, waiting to explode.I don't like the squeaky clean MA champions like Norris or Jeff Wincott. You're right about kung fu. Too pedestrian. Jeet Kun Do has a ring. What is it, an offshoot? Forget government training. She grew up learning things they can't teach you in a big beauracracy, which is why she's the best we've got.

Nice PAI. I like that alot. As it turns out she did go underground two years earlier after taking out a terrorist organization. But she could have a past. Chin-na is interesting sounding but too obscure for the average reader. Seven Star - why only a brown belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu? "Jiu jutsu" I take it is the more proper term aka "jiu jitsu?" It sounds pretty good. Muay Thai won't work, sounds too much like a mixed drink. I definitely like the underground champion idea better than formal contests. This chick is pretty cool, by the way. Unshakable, dark hair, blue eyes. Likes fast motorcycles. So lets say she's in a ring with a couple of bad *. The one she just took down is laying behind her, the toughest is in front of her. The guy on the mat behind her grabs her ankle. What's the coolest way to break his forearm? Just stomp down on it with her free foot with lightning speed?

Ninjitsu sounds pretty ominous, which I like. This chick does alot more than martial arts. She's a jedi of sorts (only a couple of hundred years in America's future). But she's very fast and athletic (perfect balance on ice, perfect spatial memory, etc). When she does go hand to hand, I wanted the reader to think they know just a little something about her training, that's all. It should sound authentic. She's one of two or three main characters, and probably the most interesting. So I don't need to read a treatise on martial arts. Maybe I'm wrong and a fool, but I don't think I'm gonna have to post it on the web. Some of the ideas and effects are very original and someone will bite on this. In any case, someone in the government will be scanning her resume, he's impressed, and say something like: "Ninjitsu, sixth degree black, regional titles." But I'm still open on exactly what the guy says. So if any of you have a suggestion (funny or otherwise) here's your chance.

I'm a writer and if all goes well, one of my characters could become one of the most kick-* heroines of all time. She is a SWAT specialist and she finds herself in several predicaments where she beats the bejesus out of some very worthy opponents (not all of whom are human). She's a street fighter and can use legs, fists, elbows. She's probably quite capable of using that thumb hold that seems to incapacitate people for Jet Li. At some point I need to describe her martial arts training, probably in about ten words (preferably fewer). Maybe a few of you would like to take a shot at it. There are a couple of requirements : 1. It must be the most deadly form of martial arts known to man 2. It has to be fairly recognizable (i.e. saying it is the hoy palloy school of kee gan do isn't going to cut it. I'm thinking kung fu, tkd or kenpo karate, but want it to sound awesome. 3. I need a level of training (i.e. eighth degree black. Saying 4th DAN won't cut it because nobody outside of martial arts has ever heard of a dan) 4. Some combination of martial arts is okay if easy to state such as "fifth degree black in karate with tae kwon doe underpinnings." or "expert level (whatever that is) kung fu, won junior state title, tae kwon doe at age 15". Finally, what the heck does Jet Li use? Excuse my spelling of these martial arts. Good luck and thanks in advance. P.S. Don't reply if you think you are due any royalties, because you aren't.