What martial arts does Arya Stark know?

Arya Stark is one of the most ruthless characters in Game Of Thrones and is also well trained in martial arts. After seeing her father Ned Stark get beheaded in Kingslanding, she went on a mission of vengeance. To achieve her goals, Arya began training martial arts from a young age and undertook years of intense training. In fact, during those years – she devoted her life to training and arguably became the best martial artist in the entire Game Of Thrones universe. So, what did she learn, and how good was she at fighting? Read on for more information.

Kyudo

Whilst living with the Brotherhood for a short while, Arya trains archery and becomes pretty good at it. She can be seen firing arrows into a makeshift dummy and hits the target every time. During this scene, she is trained by a Brotherhood member who says “The eye goes where the arrow wants to go.” Although Arya starts out cocky during her archery training, she is eager to learn and listens carefully to this man to enhance her technique.

This is a key skill of any martial artist and the learning and listening process is never-ending. Although forms of archery have been around for thousands of years in most cultures, the art of Kyudo is the most famous. This comes from Japan and teaches people how to be proficient in firing arrows. It’s a good skill for any assassin in Kingslanding.

Kenjutsu and Fencing

Arya is also a master sword fighter and is taught by the legendary Syrio Forel. It’s understood that Forel is one of the best swordsmen in Game Of Thrones and is also a great teacher. In fact, when he is eventually killed, it takes three elite soldiers with superior armour to defeat him. It is insinuated that Arya trained for years under Forel and this is where her swordsmanship really took off.

Here, she used her ‘needle’ sword which was short but incredibly sharp, and literally became a trained killer. She would go on to kill many with this sword and can be seen adopting a fencing type training regime that prioritized avoidance from the foe whilst still posing a threat. Kenjutsu is again from Japan and is an umbrella term that has many sword fighting arts under its banner. Obviously, Japan doesn’t feature in Game Of Thrones, but you get the point.

Ninjutsu

One of Arya Stark’s biggest advantages as an assassin is her reliance on Ninjutsu. This was a martial art used in Japan by Ninjas, who would use a variety of ways to kill their enemies. This is a broad term that has a lot of qualities under it. For instance, whilst it does teach physical fighting skills, a lot of the training is based on the art of espionage and deception.

Obviously, this is a skill taught to Arya by Jaqen who is also known as The Faceless Man. For instance, when Arya kills the likes of Meryn Trant and Walder Frey, and Waif she does this by using Ninjutsu. This involves sneaking around, educating herself on her enemies’ whereabouts, and then using this knowledge to kill them. It is understood that Arya trained extensively under Jaqen for years and gained a fearsome reputation because of this. All the skills taught by Jaqen were founded by Ninjutsu.

Eskrima

When filming for the final season, actress Maisie Williams trained Eskrima and Kali which are Filipino martial arts based on stick fighting. This involves using smaller blades such as daggers to both attack and defend. The clearest example of Arya using this martial art is when she eventually kills The Night King. Here, she comes out of nowhere to jump on him (using her Ninjutsu to sneak around) bus is then thwarted. She then switches the dagger to her other hand to deliver the killing blow.

Arguably, this is her greatest skill on the show as it defeats evil, and whilst her other skills are very important, without Eskrima she would not have saved Kingslanding. It should also be noted that whilst using Needle, Arya also depends on her Eskrima skills.

So, what is Arya Stark’s fighting style?

Overall, it’s clear to see that Arya Stark’s character is heavily influenced by various, traditional martial arts. Kyudo, Ninjutsu, and Kenjutsu all stem from Japan and were all very useful skills before the industrial revolution. As Game Of Thrones is set in feudal times, it makes sense that she is skilled in these areas. Of course, she is also reliant on Eskrima which plays a very important role when closing the plot.

These skills are very typical of the age that she lives in. Whilst it’s not shown that she can grapple or strike much, the truth is she doesn’t really need to. This is because she is almost always armed which levels the playing field when thinking about her physical size. Another massive attribute to her skill set in Ninjutsu. Without this, she would be useless as she learns to be a master in cunning and deception. From early on with Jaqen, she understands the importance of this and it saves her life on more than one occasion.

What should also be noted is the mental intelligence of Arya which is another important aspect of growing as a martial artist. Motivated by vengeance, she seeks out various trainers and is open to differing fighting styles and philosophies. The result is that she becomes incredibly well rounded and talented as a fighter which couldn’t happen with a closed mind. In summary, Arya uses Japanese martial arts and is often reliant on weapons to achieve her goals.