What martial arts does Elektra use?
Elektra Natchios is a Marvel superhero who was born on a Greek island and is known for her energetic fighting style and use of weapons. Although Elektra has been a hit comic book for many years, sadly the 2005 movie remake featuring Jennifer Garner didn’t quite hit the audience’s attention. Nonetheless, it’s fair to say that Elektra is certainly a skilled martial artist in her own right and has a pretty unique but effective fighting style. Read on for more information.
Table of Contents
Okinawan Sai
By far, the martial art style that Elektra relies most upon is the Okinawan Sai. This is a three-pronged blade that can be held in your hand like a claw and is easily recognizable as Elektra’s most commonly used weapon. Usually, she carries two Sai’s, using one for each hand. Her skills including spinning these, throwing them like darts, slashing, and blocking other blades with them. In short, she is definitely the most skilled superhero in terms of using the Sai and her technique is second to none.
As their name suggests, these originated from the Okinawa island of Japan and are sometimes used in martial arts such as Karate and Hapkido. Although they’re less commonly used these days, the Sai is still a deadly weapon and takes years of training to master in terms of technique.
Kenjutsu
Perhaps Elektra’s second most used weapon is the sword – or more specifically the Katana blade. Again, this was probably taught to her as a child when she received formal martial arts training. Due to her assassin skills, she has also used Katana’s on occasion and has been known to drop from a height and slash her enemies whilst falling.
In short, this ties into the image of Elektra being very skilled when it comes to brandishing blades. Although the Katana isn’t as popular compared to the Sai, Elektra is still very handy with it and knows exactly what she’s doing. Obviously, using a Katana has different tactical implications compared to the Sai which are better from close range, whereas the Katana is good for distance and has other uses.
Ninjutsu
It’s no secret that Elektra is an assassin and even had a brand of comics aptly named, ‘Elektra Assassin’. This is why it’s important that she knows Ninjutsu. One of her biggest attributes is the ability to sneak around and go unnoticed. In the film, we can see this play out when hunting down her enemies and this also strikes fear into them.
Ninjutsu may be an old practice, but today it translates well into spy culture. Basically, it’s a skill to go unseen and avoid drawing unwanted attention on yourself. This is where Elektra excels and is one of the reasons why she doesn’t really use guns. Of course, she has experience with firearms but a combination of sneaking and her Sai’s is usually good enough.
Bojutsu
Another influence from Okinawa is Elektra’s use of the Bo staff. This is a long staff that is typically in the form of a long, wooden stick and is used to strike opponents, as well as the ability to do swinging kicks from. In the movie, Elektra is seen sparring with the Bo and makes it look easy. With this in mind, it looks as though she was taught a lot of Okinawan martial arts by her teacher and is very skilled in them.
Having said this, usually when on a mission – Elektra won’t opt for the Bo and it’s rarely seen. This makes practical sense as it’s much easier to carry Sai’s and a Katana with you which aren’t as long or bulky as the Bo. Nonetheless, if needed then she will use the Bo which she is very technical with.
Taekwondo and Kung Fu
When unarmed, Elektra opts for a combination of Taekwondo and Kung Fu. It’s fair to say that she’s a very athletic fighter who has amazing speed and timing. This can be seen during her fights with her lover Daredevil. Here, she uses spinning roundhouse kicks to show off her flexibility and speed, as well as Kung Fu techniques to block punches from close range and counter with ones of her own.
In this setting, it almost looks as though she also knows a bit of Wing Chun and is good at trapping punches from close range. Overall, her blocking skills look very high level, as do her kicks. Therefore, it’s easy to assume that she has a black belt in Taekwondo and the equivalent in Kung Fu.
Conclusion
Elektra’s biggest skills lie in her use of weapons and it’s fair to say that she’s very comfortable with the Sai and also the Katana. If you’re unlucky enough to fight her whilst she has these weapons then you’re in trouble. Away from her weapon skills, she’s also very smart and uses Ninjutsu to scope out her enemies and pick them off as efficiently as possible. Lastly, if Elektra doesn’t have weapons then she’s still incredibly skilled at striking and uses a combination of Kung Fu and Taekwondo to kick and punch her opponents into submission.
Overall, it’s fair to say that Elektra is a very skilled martial artist and blends traditional Japanese weapons and old fighting styles with more modern disciplines such as TKD. As a result, this is the reason for Elektra’s fearsome reputation and is why she’s so successful in combat.
Want to learn more about the Sai? Check out this DVD which is over 4 hours long.
Have to disagree with certain elements of your analysis. According to the Marvel database, Elektra has mastered martial arts from China, Japan, and Thailand. So while your assumption that she practices kung fu is correct, she does not practice Taekwondo. In my opinion, TKD’s flashy and often impractical kicks are ill-suited for an assassin who has to dispatch their targets with subtly.
The arts of Thailand, however, offer a better arsenal of techniques. Muay Thai and Muay Boran emphasize low-line kicks, close range elbows and knees, and sweeps and takedowns from the clinch — all which work well for an assassin who gets close before you notice. Krabi Krabong is a weapons-based art that emphasizes the use of a sword in each hand, which would enhance Elektra’s abilities with her Sai and twin katanas.