Comparing the different fighting styles of MCU characters.
Oct 23, 2018 21:34:10 GMT
President Ackbar™, taylorfirst1, and 5 more like this
Post by Skaathar on Oct 23, 2018 21:34:10 GMT
I'm bored so I decided to just write down some random thoughts. I wanted to match what kind of martial arts and fighting style each MCU character used and compared them with each other. Of course, this is all written in my opinion. Feel free to agree, disagree and comment.
1. Captain America - looks like kickboxing mixed with parkour. He rarely uses open-hand strikes, normally utilizing a boxer's punches. His kicks are almost always single-movement kicks - meaning his foot leaves the ground, does a single kick then comes back down to the ground. This is commonly seen with kickboxers and Muay Thai fighters, whereas martial arts like Taekwondo, Karate and Chinese arts will sometimes chain 2-3 kicks together before their foot comes back to the ground. Unlike Muay Thai however, Cap doesn't seem to use knee/shin blocks that much and his stance still resembles kickboxing more than MT. Then you mix in some high intensity acrobatics and that's what Cap looks like. Reminds me a lot of The Transporter actually. Has a bit of grappling skill but is generally more of a striker.
2. Winter Soldier - has a similar style to Captain America but uses less kicks and less acrobatics. His moves are a lot more straight forward, does not dodge around as much as Cap but instead blocks and preempts strikes more. Usually goes for maximum aggression to get the job done instead of finesse. I do think Bucky hits harder than Cap but isn't quite as skilled.
3. Black Panther - seems like a combination of Taekwondo and Capoeira on steroids. Remember how I said Captain America usually uses single-movement kicks? Black Panther is the opposite, usually chaining multiple kicks into a single attack. Remember that whirling triple kick he did in the airport? When he's not doing high-flying maneuvers he fights low to the ground, like he did against M'Baku, showing a Capoeria-like fighting style. Seems to be a successful grappler as well, probably the best ground fighter among the MCU, though usually still prefers to fight standing up. He looks a lot more agile than either Cap or WS, probably more skilled than them, but his strikes don't seem to have as much oomph as the other two super soldiers.
4. Thor - Thor is hard to peg. At it's core, he looks like a combination of a boxer and a professional wrestler. He uses a boxer's punches, though unlike Cap he uses powershots more than combinations, and bobs and weaves like a boxer (see his fights against Hulk). Actually, I think he's the only MCU fighter I've seen use a proper bob and weave. But then he has a drop kick somewhere in there, a kick that looked like a big boot (WWE style), an overhead press slam, pseudo choke slam, a fireman's supplex, standing rear naked choke, even the elbows and knees he uses look more at home in the WWE than in other martial arts. Actually does a lot of grappling, though he's a stand-up grappler instead of a ground fighter. Thor fights in a very straight forward manner, using power moves more than combinations, but can be deceptively quick and agile as well proven by how he easily evades shots from an Ultronbot at point blank range or how he dodges around Hulk's and IM's blows.
6. Black Widow - probably the hardest one for me to figure out. Her kicks remind me of Taekwondo but her other strikes are more Krav Maga. Then she has these weird moves like her hurricanrana and other crazy leg take-downs. When I think about it, she might just actually be the most grapple intensive fighter here due to all those leg-lock takedowns. After re-watching her fight scenes I've come to the conclusion that she actually has the most unique fighting style but because she keeps repeating the same moves over and over again, she ended up looking pretty generic.
7. Iron Fist - he's definitely Kung-fu, just not sure which style. Not Tai Chi, not Wing Chun and not Northern Shaolin. Probably Wushu? The problem with Ironfist is that I feel like they want to show him using kung-fu but the stuntman they got has a more karate/taekwondo background. That's why his stances, movements and even his punches are not consistent. Danny usually shifts between the fluid, circular motions of kung-fu to the pop-n-lock, linear movements of karate.
8. Daredevil - Daredevil, to me, always seemed like Captain America lite. They have very similar techniques, just doesn't hit as hard as Cap and makes up for it with more acrobatics instead. I was a bit disappointed with this because I was hoping he'd display ninjutsu... but oh well. Something interesting about DD is that at times he looks extremely skilled, using ridiculous sommersault kicks, and then at times becomes a brawler, simply launching punch after punch. It's a weird combination but it kinda works, making him seem skilled, ferocious and vulnerable all at the same time.
9. Thanos - we don't see Thanos kick all that much and he uses standard boxing punches but a lot of his hand skills remind me of karate. The way he uses hand traps, arm blocks, nerve strikes, reverse fists and open-hand strikes... all pretty much karate. It was an interesting take, since I wasn't expecting someone that big to show such dexterity. I'm really hoping we see more h2h combat from him in the next movie because he has one of the more distinct styles that I've seen in the MCU.
10. Bushmaster - this one's easy. He's Capoeira through and through. Don't really know what else to say.
11. Punisher - probably the most no-nonsense fighter out of any trained fighter in the MCU (not including untrained fighters like Hulk and Jessica Jones). Pretty much your standard, military h2h combat. Comes in different names, Systema is the most common name I believe but is close to Krav Maga as well. Doesn't do high kicks, knows how to throw punches, uses whatever's necessary to get the job done without being fancy. Also makes up for a lack of skill by his pure ferociousness. You can include Rumlow here as well, though he's nowhere near as rabid as Frank.
12. Daisy Johnson - Quake's h2h fighting style is nothing special, pretty much your standard female action fighter, same with Melinda May. Their base is mostly kickboxing but they'll have a lot of krav maga and systema worked into it. It's slightly different from Black Widow because they don't use leg take downs as much but have more disabling maneuvers (kicking knee caps, finger and wrist locks, palm strike to the nose, etc). But what really distinguishes Daisy Johnson is her gun-fu. She has some of the best gun melee fight sequences since John Wick.
13. Agent Ward - Grant Ward is the closest MCU character you'll get to Jason Bourne. He doesn't do high kicks or acrobatics but he'll punch, kick, knife-hand, knee, headbutt and elbow opponents all done with high skill and high intensity. What's more, he has a mean streak second only to Frank Castle, willing to torture, fight dirty (break thumbs, eye pokes, groin shots, etc.) and has a penchant for using any equipment nearby as a weapon from pens to plates to billiard balls.
14. Spiderman - Spiderman is what I would imagine if a gymnast or free-runner ever learned how to fight. There's nothing technical about the way he fights, he pretty much just uses his insane acrobatics and superior strength, speed, agility and dexterity to take down opponents. I'm actually tempted to call him an acrobatic brawler.
Honorable mentions:
The brawlers - Hulk, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones fall here. Brawlers generally tend to stick with plain punches and maybe a few simple kicks and grapples. Luke Cage is the most skilled among them, proven by how he beat Bushmaster. Hulk is the most athletic, with an animal-like instinct in the way he fights. Jessica Jones, I'm sorry to say, is just a crappy fighter. Crappy... but scrappy.
The generic skilled fighters - Hawkeye, Gamora, Drax, Elektra, Falcon, Loki, Valkyrie, Ronan and Wasp. All of these fighters are obviously skilled but nothing they do really stand out for me to comment on. Hela probably belongs here as well. She's distinctive because of how powerful and badass she is but I can't really point to any individuality with her fighting style other than she's good at it. Same is true for the rest. They're all good fighters, just no distinctive style that I can detect.
1. Captain America - looks like kickboxing mixed with parkour. He rarely uses open-hand strikes, normally utilizing a boxer's punches. His kicks are almost always single-movement kicks - meaning his foot leaves the ground, does a single kick then comes back down to the ground. This is commonly seen with kickboxers and Muay Thai fighters, whereas martial arts like Taekwondo, Karate and Chinese arts will sometimes chain 2-3 kicks together before their foot comes back to the ground. Unlike Muay Thai however, Cap doesn't seem to use knee/shin blocks that much and his stance still resembles kickboxing more than MT. Then you mix in some high intensity acrobatics and that's what Cap looks like. Reminds me a lot of The Transporter actually. Has a bit of grappling skill but is generally more of a striker.
2. Winter Soldier - has a similar style to Captain America but uses less kicks and less acrobatics. His moves are a lot more straight forward, does not dodge around as much as Cap but instead blocks and preempts strikes more. Usually goes for maximum aggression to get the job done instead of finesse. I do think Bucky hits harder than Cap but isn't quite as skilled.
3. Black Panther - seems like a combination of Taekwondo and Capoeira on steroids. Remember how I said Captain America usually uses single-movement kicks? Black Panther is the opposite, usually chaining multiple kicks into a single attack. Remember that whirling triple kick he did in the airport? When he's not doing high-flying maneuvers he fights low to the ground, like he did against M'Baku, showing a Capoeria-like fighting style. Seems to be a successful grappler as well, probably the best ground fighter among the MCU, though usually still prefers to fight standing up. He looks a lot more agile than either Cap or WS, probably more skilled than them, but his strikes don't seem to have as much oomph as the other two super soldiers.
4. Thor - Thor is hard to peg. At it's core, he looks like a combination of a boxer and a professional wrestler. He uses a boxer's punches, though unlike Cap he uses powershots more than combinations, and bobs and weaves like a boxer (see his fights against Hulk). Actually, I think he's the only MCU fighter I've seen use a proper bob and weave. But then he has a drop kick somewhere in there, a kick that looked like a big boot (WWE style), an overhead press slam, pseudo choke slam, a fireman's supplex, standing rear naked choke, even the elbows and knees he uses look more at home in the WWE than in other martial arts. Actually does a lot of grappling, though he's a stand-up grappler instead of a ground fighter. Thor fights in a very straight forward manner, using power moves more than combinations, but can be deceptively quick and agile as well proven by how he easily evades shots from an Ultronbot at point blank range or how he dodges around Hulk's and IM's blows.
6. Black Widow - probably the hardest one for me to figure out. Her kicks remind me of Taekwondo but her other strikes are more Krav Maga. Then she has these weird moves like her hurricanrana and other crazy leg take-downs. When I think about it, she might just actually be the most grapple intensive fighter here due to all those leg-lock takedowns. After re-watching her fight scenes I've come to the conclusion that she actually has the most unique fighting style but because she keeps repeating the same moves over and over again, she ended up looking pretty generic.
7. Iron Fist - he's definitely Kung-fu, just not sure which style. Not Tai Chi, not Wing Chun and not Northern Shaolin. Probably Wushu? The problem with Ironfist is that I feel like they want to show him using kung-fu but the stuntman they got has a more karate/taekwondo background. That's why his stances, movements and even his punches are not consistent. Danny usually shifts between the fluid, circular motions of kung-fu to the pop-n-lock, linear movements of karate.
8. Daredevil - Daredevil, to me, always seemed like Captain America lite. They have very similar techniques, just doesn't hit as hard as Cap and makes up for it with more acrobatics instead. I was a bit disappointed with this because I was hoping he'd display ninjutsu... but oh well. Something interesting about DD is that at times he looks extremely skilled, using ridiculous sommersault kicks, and then at times becomes a brawler, simply launching punch after punch. It's a weird combination but it kinda works, making him seem skilled, ferocious and vulnerable all at the same time.
9. Thanos - we don't see Thanos kick all that much and he uses standard boxing punches but a lot of his hand skills remind me of karate. The way he uses hand traps, arm blocks, nerve strikes, reverse fists and open-hand strikes... all pretty much karate. It was an interesting take, since I wasn't expecting someone that big to show such dexterity. I'm really hoping we see more h2h combat from him in the next movie because he has one of the more distinct styles that I've seen in the MCU.
10. Bushmaster - this one's easy. He's Capoeira through and through. Don't really know what else to say.
11. Punisher - probably the most no-nonsense fighter out of any trained fighter in the MCU (not including untrained fighters like Hulk and Jessica Jones). Pretty much your standard, military h2h combat. Comes in different names, Systema is the most common name I believe but is close to Krav Maga as well. Doesn't do high kicks, knows how to throw punches, uses whatever's necessary to get the job done without being fancy. Also makes up for a lack of skill by his pure ferociousness. You can include Rumlow here as well, though he's nowhere near as rabid as Frank.
12. Daisy Johnson - Quake's h2h fighting style is nothing special, pretty much your standard female action fighter, same with Melinda May. Their base is mostly kickboxing but they'll have a lot of krav maga and systema worked into it. It's slightly different from Black Widow because they don't use leg take downs as much but have more disabling maneuvers (kicking knee caps, finger and wrist locks, palm strike to the nose, etc). But what really distinguishes Daisy Johnson is her gun-fu. She has some of the best gun melee fight sequences since John Wick.
13. Agent Ward - Grant Ward is the closest MCU character you'll get to Jason Bourne. He doesn't do high kicks or acrobatics but he'll punch, kick, knife-hand, knee, headbutt and elbow opponents all done with high skill and high intensity. What's more, he has a mean streak second only to Frank Castle, willing to torture, fight dirty (break thumbs, eye pokes, groin shots, etc.) and has a penchant for using any equipment nearby as a weapon from pens to plates to billiard balls.
14. Spiderman - Spiderman is what I would imagine if a gymnast or free-runner ever learned how to fight. There's nothing technical about the way he fights, he pretty much just uses his insane acrobatics and superior strength, speed, agility and dexterity to take down opponents. I'm actually tempted to call him an acrobatic brawler.
Honorable mentions:
The brawlers - Hulk, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones fall here. Brawlers generally tend to stick with plain punches and maybe a few simple kicks and grapples. Luke Cage is the most skilled among them, proven by how he beat Bushmaster. Hulk is the most athletic, with an animal-like instinct in the way he fights. Jessica Jones, I'm sorry to say, is just a crappy fighter. Crappy... but scrappy.
The generic skilled fighters - Hawkeye, Gamora, Drax, Elektra, Falcon, Loki, Valkyrie, Ronan and Wasp. All of these fighters are obviously skilled but nothing they do really stand out for me to comment on. Hela probably belongs here as well. She's distinctive because of how powerful and badass she is but I can't really point to any individuality with her fighting style other than she's good at it. Same is true for the rest. They're all good fighters, just no distinctive style that I can detect.
