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What martial arts does Goku use in Dragonball?

Whether you’re in your 40s or are a young kid, the probability is that you’ve seen at least one episode of the popular anime series, Dragonball. Here, the show follows Goku who is the main character and is an expert martial artist. Throughout the show, he partakes in martial arts competitions, as well as bigger fights against life-threatening enemies. Whilst his skills on the show may be exaggerated, it’s also fair to say that most of his fights have genuine foundations in martial arts. That is, what moves and techniques you see him use, are actually realistic to an extent and work outside the script of an anime show.

Although this is purely fictional and doesn’t relate to reality, it’s also good to look into the world of Goku and see what fighting styles he uses. It’s fair to say that he’s well rounded and possesses a number of attacks and is a great striker. However, one glaring weakness of Goku is that he’s not a fantastic grappler. Throughout the show, he rarely relies on wrestling or Judo. This is fine though, as it seems that almost all of the fighters in the Dragonball universe lack in this area too. Read on for an in depth review of what martial arts Goku uses whilst fighting.

Karate and Kung Fu

Throughout the show, Goku’s main fighting style depends on his Karate and Kung Fu. It should be noted that Karate is descended from Kung Fu so the pair have a lot of similarities. That is, they are both parts of Wushu, the Chinese martial art. However, they are also separate arts as well. When it comes to starting a fight, Goku will often adopt a Karate and Kung Fu stance.

This means he has a lead leg with his arm extended on the same side. Whilst doing this, Goku also uses a low base and has his resting leg at a 90 degree angle for base. His resting arm is also retracted to his chest which makes him ready to pull punches from the chest at any moment. Sometimes, Goku will even chop his opponent, which is a homage to Kung Fu where chops originated from.

Supposedly, his gi is also based on a Karate outfit. Having said this, Goku’s gi has short arms whereas a traditional Karate gi uses long sleeves. He also wears boots that aren’t legal in Karate and sports a blue belt. It’s safe to say that his skill level is far above that of a blue belt though! Interestingly though, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu founder Helio Gracie wore a blue belt in his later years to show that he was still a student of the art, so Goku’s belt may be a nod to wider martial arts culture.

Stick Fighting and Bojitsu

In the earlier seasons of the show, Goku is also well versed in the art of stick fighting. Here, Goku would practice with his Power Pole as a child and as a young adult. This pole was basically a Bo, which is commonly used in various martial arts such as Karate and Aikido. The Bo is a long wooden staff that is held in both hands and is thin and relatively lightweight.

Here, the Power Pole would often be used to train with and Goku rarely used this whilst fighting serious enemies. The idea of Bojitsu is to use the pole to defend and attack with. Here, it can be held like a shield to block strikes from fists or other weapons, and it can be lunged and struck with to hit enemies. Sadly, as the series developed the Power Pole featured less and less screen time. Nonetheless, there’s enough evidence to show that Goku was very good at stick fighting and was more than capable of handling himself.

Kickboxing and Taekwondo

Throughout the show, Dragonball has often used kicks when fighting and this is one of Goku’s main skills. Here, he uses a combination of Karate, Kickboxing and Taekwondo. Often, you will see him perform a variety of high kicks such as the Roundhouse and even Teep kicks, meaning that he’s also dabbled with Muay Thai.

Further evidence of his use of Muay Thai is his ability to knee opponents which are also used in the Thai art. Having said this, we don’t really see him use his elbows that much. In brief, Goku is very skilled with kicks and alongside punches, these are often his main form of attack.

Due to the insane speed and flexibility of Goku’s kicks, it’s also fair to assume that he’s a black belt in Taekwondo. Most of the time, his kicks require a high level of athleticism and aren’t low on the body either. If this was a real show, then arguably Goku would also develop a bigger range of low kicks to mix up his attack and become more versatile. Nonetheless, calf kicks simply don’t look as cool as spinning kicks do on TV.

Wing Chun

A massive part of Goku’s game is Wing Chun. Here, Goku will often engage in close combat against his enemies and use his Wing Chun game. Looking at Dragonball in its entirety, it looks like a large part of the show is based on Wing Chun. Often whilst fighting in the sky, fighters will rapidly block and counter punch their opponents in close range. These punches are usually short and snappy and lack range. In other words, you won’t see Goku throwing haymakers like a boxing champion. Instead, he likes to trap like in Wing Chun and throw short but snappy punches to the face.

Within the Dragonball world, it’s fair to say that if you are poor at Wing Chun, then you will suffer massively. The reason for this is that a large part of the fighting involves blocks and lots of quick upper body movements. This means that Wing Chun is essential for Goku and any other serious fighter when it comes to Dragonball. Elsewhere, blocks are also used with the legs too, which is more Karate based.

Ninjutsu

Ninjutsu is a martial art that involves ninja-like training. One big part of this training involves dodging which is used a lot in Dragonball, and not just with Goku. A good example of this is his ability to dodge punches and kicks, and create enough speed to get out the way before a strike is landed. This is the benefit of learning Ninjutsu as it can improve speed that can be used to escape heavy hits.

An example of this is when Goku faces Cell. Here, the pair often try to land strikes whilst the other dodges these attacks by quickly getting out of the way. In terms of dodging by using head movement, you could also add boxing to this list too.

Tai Chi

Perhaps the biggest and most important part of Goku’s style relies on Tai Chi. The reason for this is that he often uses Chi energy to his benefit. An example of this is building a spirit bomb or generating the energy to do a Kamehameha. This energy is generated by Goku and comes from within his internal body. Apparently, such is his inner power and strength, that it can manifest into a physical ball of energy that can hurt and kill his opponents.

According to the art of Tai Chi, this is what Chi is. Chis is found within your body and flows throughout the planet. It is everywhere and can be harnessed to generate power and absorb attacks. As the show advanced, these moves became more and more commonplace. As a result, Tai Chi has a huge role in Dragonball.

It should also be added, that this is probably the one skill set that is not really taught in real life. All of the above categories are legitimate and have their place in traditional and modern day arts. However, these days most people don’t believe that Tai Chi is capable of creating strong, external energies. Saying this, the Chi used in Dragonball sure does look awesome and the show would not be the same without it.

Other martial arts styles used in Dragonball

Trunks uses Kenjutsu

In Dragonball, the character Trunks uses Kenjutsu. This is a martial art that uses swords, and usually this involves katanas as it originates from Japan. Typically, these swords aren’t as big or heavy as those found in Kendo, nor are they as thin and light as those used in Kendo. In the show, Trunks is probably the only character who is skilled with a sword. Famously, Trunks used his sword and Kenjutsu skills to slice and kill Frieza.

Frieza Force soldiers use Firearms

This may be stretching it a bit, but Frieza soldiers use firearms to kill their opponents. In Dragonball, these guns are called arm cannons, because they’re attached to the users arms. Friezas henchmen such as Iru were known to use these weapons. These days, firearms are sometimes taught in a martial arts setting. This involves how to handle guns correctly and avoid getting disarmed, to disarmament yourself to help save lives against attackers.

Master Roshi uses Staff Fighting

Staff Fighting is similar to stick fighting, but typically uses a more elongated stick instead. Master Roshi is the old man who often carries his staff with him as a walking aid. However, he is also known to be able handle this staff correctly when using it to fight. Visually, his staff looks similar to a shillelagh which is used in Irish martial arts. The shillelagh doubles up as a walking stick as well as a club that can be used to strike if needed.

Conclusion

In summary, Goku uses a variety of traditional martial arts to aid his fighting. Even though this is only a TV show, the good news is that it also translates to reality as well. Here, arts such as Wing Chun and Karate are still very much alive and kicking in today’s society. So, if you plan on becoming your own version of Goku then there’s good news, as with enough training you can mimic his styles and apply them to reality.

Overall, Goku is certainly an accomplished martial artist and against most people in real life would surely be able to handle himself and win fights with relative ease. As a result, you could even go as far as to call him a martial arts grandmaster.

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