What martial arts does Vegeta know?

Arguably, Dragon Ball is one of the biggest anime TV shows ever. It was also pioneering in showing off martial arts that featured a huge part in the shows fight scenes. As a result, this created a fanbase that is still alive and kicking today.

In our previous article, we gave an analysis on what martial arts style Goku uses in the show. This time, it’s time to look at what techniques Vegeta uses to fight. As ever with these styles of articles, it’s best to take things with a pinch of salt. Remember, Dragon Ball is purely fictional so please don’t take this too seriously.

Vegeta uses Karate

Perhaps the most common fighting style used by Vegeta is Karate. You could also add Taekwondo to this list too, seeing as the two are pretty similar. Here, Vegeta often uses his supreme athleticism to his advantage and can hit some pretty hard roundhouse kicks to the opponents head or body. As we often see, the power used in these kicks is literally otherworldly, Vegeta is an alien after all.

If you watch many of Vegeta’s fights, his starting stance often resembles those trained in Karate. This involves a lead leg with matching arm extended, with a crouching stance and resting arm in reserve.

It’s no coincidence that Vegeta priortizes this style either – seeing as the Dragon Ball writer Akira Toriyama claimed that he was inspired by 80s Kung Fu movies which would go on to be the main fighting style used in the anime. Remember, Karate may not be exactly the same as striking Kung Fu styles but it was at least heavily influenced by it.

Vegeta uses Muay Thai

Although not as commonly used as Karate, Vegeta also favors Muay Thai and has thrown his fair share of Teep kicks in his time as well. The Teep is designed to create distance when your enemy gets close. However, this isn’t always used defensively by Vegeta as he can generate enough power to use the Teep offensively too.

Unfortunately, Vegeta doesn’t use many elbows which are generally avoided within the DBZ universe for some reason. However, on occasion he has also thrown calf kicks as well which are big in Muay Thai. Overall, it’s good to mix things up and not be too reliant on his Karate. Even though Muay Thai and Karate are both striking-based martial arts, it’s also fair to say that they still have a lot of clear differences.

Vegeta uses Wing Chun

Another obvious fighting style implemented by Vegeta is the use of Wing Chun. In fact, Wing Chun features regularly in Dragon Ball. Aside from kicks, you could even go as far to say that Wing Chun is the most commonly used martial art within the anime. The reason for this is that everyone seems to have incredibly fast hand speed and most people are experts in trapping.

Vegeta is no different in this sense and many of his fights include lighting speed hand trapping and counter punches from a close range. In many of his earlier fights against Goku, the two are locked into a Wing Chun battle of epic proportions. Here, they use their forearms to try and counter each others movements and create and offensive opening. From a punching perspective, rarely will you ever see regular boxing in Dragon Ball as it favors more of a traditional approach. This may be why Vegeta is an expert at Wing Chun.

Vegeta uses Tai Chi

In Dragon Ball, Tai Chi is often used as fighters will rely on it to win bouts. This taps in to the chi element of Tai Chi which basically involves manipulating energy to your own advantages. In real life, no one has ever used chi to hurt someone as it’s physically impossible, at least in literal terms.

However, this is DBZ we’re talking about and chi is everywhere. You could argue that Vegeta’s spirit fission attack is the best example of this. Here, he uses the surrounding energy to charge up his attacks which result in his opponents taking some pretty big damage. This is an example of theoretically tapping into Tai Chi and using it to supercharge your attacks. Vegeta isn’t alone in this and we can often see the chi surrounding the fighters when their energy level is high.

Vegeta uses Judo

In some of the later Dragon Ball series, we can see the evolution of Vegeta’s fighting style and it’s clear that he’s incorporated new techniques. For instance, against Broly he pulls off a neat Judo throw. This shows the new chroreography used in the show and how it has changed over the years. Gone are the days when Dragon Ball was purely striking-based and although it’s rare, it’s clear that Vegeta does know some Judo at least. It will be interesting to see if he continues to develop his Judo in future series’.

Vegeta is a Street Fighter

At his heart, Vegeta is a street fighter and isn’t as formally trained as some of the shows other characters. For instance, we often see Goku train in a very formal way which may explain why his technique is so strong.

Whilst Goku was training on earth, Vegeta was off fighting around the galaxy and pressure testing his skills against tough fighters. Arguably, both learning styles are neither worse or better than each other. However, it does explain why Vegeta has more of a raw style compared to the likes of Goku.

In some cases, this may harm him as his technique isn’t as sharp. Having said this, street fighting can teach you dirty techniques that can be unexpected. As a result, fighting Vegeta is never going to be easy and his experience is massive.

At the same time, when we saw his classic fight against Broly, it’s clear that Vegeta was still incredibly skilfull. So, even though he has received formal training, it’s often combined with a hybrid style that implements plenty of real-life experience too.

Conclusion

Obviously, Vegeta is a very talented martial artist. Like many of his contemporaries, his style is also based on striking martial arts, as opposed to grappling. Whilst this could make him less rounded, it appears that grappling is mostly disregarded in Dragon Ball anyway. So, it’s not like it matters too much.

At the same time, Vegeta is still a master when it comes to striking. As he lives until hundreds of years of age, we should expect this anyway. In summary, Vegeta’s fighting style mostly favors Karate and Wing Chun – but is also complimented with a bit of Muay Thai and Judo as well.

If you’re a fan of Vegeta then check out this awesome Vegeta Funko Pop figure here.