Post by Lute on Oct 28, 2018 15:21:54 GMT -5
KI THEORY
Ki can be called by any number of names - energy, spirit power, life force, latent strength and fighting power, to name but a few. All of these terms, however, are talking about the same thing; the power which distinguishes a true warrior from a normal person.
Ki is composed of three elements. The precise blend of those elements differs from fighter to fighter and it is unusual to find a warrior who strikes a perfect balance between all three. That said, it is also rare to find a warrior who has absolutely no ability in any of the three areas. Almost everyone has all three of these elements to a greater or lesser extent; even those who never advance their potential still need a small amount of Ki just to live.
ENERGY (GENKI)
Also thought of as 'natural fighting potential', this is the innate power that a body can generate. Training tends to increase and sharpen this power, and transformations bring it out to its full potential. Warriors who rely strongly on their natural energy tend to fight in a very naturalistic way, using whatever the instinctual response is to a given situation and relying on their reflexes to get through a situation. A good example of a character with extremely strong Energy is Frieza; a good example of a character with almost no Energy is Jako.
COURAGE (YUKI)
The will to fight! Having Courage makes one stubborn, unwilling to give up, and carry on even in the face of overwhelming odds, Courage can give a warrior the ability to continue when their body should collapse from the wounds taken. Courage is the most difficult aspect to quantify, but nobody can deny that it is a vital component in a fighter's arsenal. Without Courage, people falter and fall into despair at the first hurdle. Warriors who favor Courage over the other aspects have extremely deep reserves, and can shrug off the effect of attacks that would cripple or even kill less Courageous fighters. A good example of a character with extremely strong Courage is Goku; a good example of a character with almost no Courage is Kid Gohan... but he grew out of it.
MIND (SHOKI)
The ability to think, plan and strategist. Warriors who favor Mind tend to be able to create interesting and unique techniques with strange properties which do a lot more than just blow up their opponents. Traditional martial artists, who focus on the importance of technique and martial prowess, also tend to favor Mind. A warrior who is able to out-plan his opponents to overcome a big power gap, or make the best use out of the abilities of his teammates, is probably a warrior whose ki is largely based on the power of his Mind! A good example of a character with an extremely strong Mind is Piccolo; a good example of a character with almost no Mind is Buu.
Note that even warriors who only use their physical body - punches, kicks, grapples and so on - are still using ki! Without the power of their spirit to augment their martial arts, they wouldn't be able to cause any real harm to an opponent with even a small grasp of the power of ki, and their power level would remain pitifully low. A person with a Power Level of more than a few hundred is someone who uses ki in some form – although sometimes they might be ignorant of that fact themselves. Many martial artists never learn to unlock the secret of their power and assume that it is all muscle and muscle alone.
Some people find it helpful to focus their power through equipment – using weapons, armour or even ‘magical’ devices – but no matter what form that extra bit of help takes, it is still ultimately drawing on the same inner power used by all fighters.
AURAS
When a warrior who has learned to use ki manifests their power, they are usually surrounded by a glow or 'aura' of power. This can take many forms; any colour in the rainbow, really! Though the choice usually says something about the individual in question, their emotional state, or their personal philosophy. More benevolent fighters tend towards brighter, lighter colors where darker souls tend to have auras in menacing reds and purples. This is not a given, though, and if they care to do so a fighter can choose to change the color of their aura from the one which comes ‘naturally’.
As fighters become stronger, more dramatic effects become possible; auras suffused with lightning or fire, changing the weather, shaking the earth to pieces, causing debris to levitate and break apart... anything that is an expression of the warrior's inner spirit forcing itself on the physical world! The aura of a powerful warrior can be an intimidating and menacing thing all on its own!
ABILITIES
There are certain abilities that almost every ki-powered warrior will probably learn over the course of their career.
First is the ability to fly. If you can't deny gravity, you are at a significant disadvantage compared to any warrior that can.
The ability to throw energy blasts is usually learned around the same time; projecting your power into the world is a vital step in learning to control ki, even if it isn't something that you wind up focusing on in your particular fighting style. If you can’t learn how to project that force it is impossible to progress further along the path to mastering energy.
Then comes the ability to sense energy. You can sometimes get a sense for something about the person from their aura; some people wear their emotions openly, and appear as either ‘Good’ or ‘Evil’, but that is highly dependent on the individual in question (asking your partner how they like to imagine their character’s energy ‘feels’ is perfectly acceptable!). Getting some vague sense of where you stand compared to the power in another is usual easy so long as they aren't holding back, particularly if you are actually fighting them actively. Not everyone learns how to sense energy at all, as this requires a knowledge of ki beyond just how to use it physically.
Finally, there's the ability to suppress your strength; keep your ki suppressed so that you can fight others on an equal footing, or else hide your power from others entirely. This is a difficult ability to master and usually implies a deep knowledge of how ki functions.
Ki can be called by any number of names - energy, spirit power, life force, latent strength and fighting power, to name but a few. All of these terms, however, are talking about the same thing; the power which distinguishes a true warrior from a normal person.
Ki is composed of three elements. The precise blend of those elements differs from fighter to fighter and it is unusual to find a warrior who strikes a perfect balance between all three. That said, it is also rare to find a warrior who has absolutely no ability in any of the three areas. Almost everyone has all three of these elements to a greater or lesser extent; even those who never advance their potential still need a small amount of Ki just to live.
ENERGY (GENKI)
Also thought of as 'natural fighting potential', this is the innate power that a body can generate. Training tends to increase and sharpen this power, and transformations bring it out to its full potential. Warriors who rely strongly on their natural energy tend to fight in a very naturalistic way, using whatever the instinctual response is to a given situation and relying on their reflexes to get through a situation. A good example of a character with extremely strong Energy is Frieza; a good example of a character with almost no Energy is Jako.
COURAGE (YUKI)
The will to fight! Having Courage makes one stubborn, unwilling to give up, and carry on even in the face of overwhelming odds, Courage can give a warrior the ability to continue when their body should collapse from the wounds taken. Courage is the most difficult aspect to quantify, but nobody can deny that it is a vital component in a fighter's arsenal. Without Courage, people falter and fall into despair at the first hurdle. Warriors who favor Courage over the other aspects have extremely deep reserves, and can shrug off the effect of attacks that would cripple or even kill less Courageous fighters. A good example of a character with extremely strong Courage is Goku; a good example of a character with almost no Courage is Kid Gohan... but he grew out of it.
MIND (SHOKI)
The ability to think, plan and strategist. Warriors who favor Mind tend to be able to create interesting and unique techniques with strange properties which do a lot more than just blow up their opponents. Traditional martial artists, who focus on the importance of technique and martial prowess, also tend to favor Mind. A warrior who is able to out-plan his opponents to overcome a big power gap, or make the best use out of the abilities of his teammates, is probably a warrior whose ki is largely based on the power of his Mind! A good example of a character with an extremely strong Mind is Piccolo; a good example of a character with almost no Mind is Buu.
Note that even warriors who only use their physical body - punches, kicks, grapples and so on - are still using ki! Without the power of their spirit to augment their martial arts, they wouldn't be able to cause any real harm to an opponent with even a small grasp of the power of ki, and their power level would remain pitifully low. A person with a Power Level of more than a few hundred is someone who uses ki in some form – although sometimes they might be ignorant of that fact themselves. Many martial artists never learn to unlock the secret of their power and assume that it is all muscle and muscle alone.
Some people find it helpful to focus their power through equipment – using weapons, armour or even ‘magical’ devices – but no matter what form that extra bit of help takes, it is still ultimately drawing on the same inner power used by all fighters.
AURAS
When a warrior who has learned to use ki manifests their power, they are usually surrounded by a glow or 'aura' of power. This can take many forms; any colour in the rainbow, really! Though the choice usually says something about the individual in question, their emotional state, or their personal philosophy. More benevolent fighters tend towards brighter, lighter colors where darker souls tend to have auras in menacing reds and purples. This is not a given, though, and if they care to do so a fighter can choose to change the color of their aura from the one which comes ‘naturally’.
As fighters become stronger, more dramatic effects become possible; auras suffused with lightning or fire, changing the weather, shaking the earth to pieces, causing debris to levitate and break apart... anything that is an expression of the warrior's inner spirit forcing itself on the physical world! The aura of a powerful warrior can be an intimidating and menacing thing all on its own!
ABILITIES
There are certain abilities that almost every ki-powered warrior will probably learn over the course of their career.
First is the ability to fly. If you can't deny gravity, you are at a significant disadvantage compared to any warrior that can.
The ability to throw energy blasts is usually learned around the same time; projecting your power into the world is a vital step in learning to control ki, even if it isn't something that you wind up focusing on in your particular fighting style. If you can’t learn how to project that force it is impossible to progress further along the path to mastering energy.
Then comes the ability to sense energy. You can sometimes get a sense for something about the person from their aura; some people wear their emotions openly, and appear as either ‘Good’ or ‘Evil’, but that is highly dependent on the individual in question (asking your partner how they like to imagine their character’s energy ‘feels’ is perfectly acceptable!). Getting some vague sense of where you stand compared to the power in another is usual easy so long as they aren't holding back, particularly if you are actually fighting them actively. Not everyone learns how to sense energy at all, as this requires a knowledge of ki beyond just how to use it physically.
Finally, there's the ability to suppress your strength; keep your ki suppressed so that you can fight others on an equal footing, or else hide your power from others entirely. This is a difficult ability to master and usually implies a deep knowledge of how ki functions.
Written by Pepa