Favorite martial arts of each character

[Scandia]

Ninjitsu is not one specific martial art. The Turtles and the other characters seem to know skills from a lot of different martial arts.

Which martial arts discipline do you think each character prefers? Not just the Turtles- can include their friends, as well as the enemies.

This can include martial arts from any country, as well as styles with or without weapons.

[Buslady]

Raph studies saijutsu.
good enough for me.

[Kendamu]

Looking at various Vol. 1 comics, we can assume that:

1) The Turtles have working knowledge of Okinawan weapons.
2) The Turtles have working knowledge of Shuriken and Shuko.
3) The Turtles have working knowledge of hand-to-hand combat.
4) The Turtles have working knowledge of stealth and disguise.
5) The Turtles have taken notes from the Tao of Jeet Kune Do and the Book of Five Rings (it was on their bookshelf at the beginning of TMNT Vol.1 #2).

As for what I can particularly remember for each individual Turtle, things do slightly vary:

Leonardo, while his Katana are likely to be Ninjato (as seen in the Iga Ninja Museum in Japan) or Wakazashi (as instructed in the Ninja text "Shoninki" which is about Kishu Ryu Ninjutsu; a branch of Iga Ryu Ninjutsu), are carried in pairs instead of as single weapons. This could be an influence from Miyamoto Musashi's Ni-ten Ichi Ryu Kenjutsu that came from their copy of the Book of Five Rings in the lair. He has been seen carrying more traditionally shaped Katana in Vol. 1 #9, but it's likely also to be a Wakizashi considering how big it is relative to his size. Due to Leonardo's dedication to his martial arts study, it can be assumed that Leonardo knows certain Ninja tricks that can be done with a sword, but with the way he carries the swords it doesn't seem likely that he would use those tricks too often. So, while carrying swords that Ninja would carry, he uses them more as weapons than tools.

Raphael seems to have picked up the use of the Sai rather easily. There's really no specific evidence that the Sai were ever used by the Ninja, but similar weapons have been known to have been used. Raphael doesn't really seem to do too many flashy things with his Sai and, beyond throwing them or changing his grip, generally sticks to using them to augment movements that could easily be effective while empty-handed. It can also be noted that Raphael has taken the Ninja skill of concealing weaponry and mixed it with his Sai skills. It can also be said that Raphael has skill with the Katana, the Butterfly Swords, and the Tonfa. I can't really come up with a decent theory as to how Raphael got interested in the use of Okinawan weapons and Chinese weapons as opposed to Ninja weapons, though.

Michelangelo, while not necessarily taking their copy of Tao of Jeet Kune Do (comprised of Bruce Lee's notes) into consideration because the Nunchaku weren't really addressed in the book, could've gotten the idea by seeing a Bruce Lee movie on TV after reading Tao of JKD. Nunchaku weren't a Ninja weapon, either. So, that's why I think there's some kind of outside influence and because of his personality I think pop culture may have had something to do with it. Michelangelo has also been seen using the Manrikigusari (a Ninja weapon). It can also be guessed that Michelangelo, being the most coulinary or the Turtles, might've come up with some things that are at least similar in spirit to the Ninja diet (millet, whole-grain rice, wheat, other grains, potatoes, mushrooms, mulberries, oleaster, chestnuts, sweet chestnuts, nutmeg, pine nuts, and quail eggs) and Ninja travel rations as per Iga Ryu or the Ninja text "Bansenshukai" as per Splinter's orders.

Donatello is the only other Turtle to have a trademark weapon that was actually to have been used by Ninja. Of course, being such a simple weapon, Donatello could've also picked up staff techniques from other martial arts. For the sake of siplicity, I'm just going to only specifically mention the Ninja aspects. Along with his Ninja weapon, it can be assumed that Splinter encouraged Donatello's interest in technology and science not only because it's good to have those kinds of smarts, but because in ancient Japan the Ninja had similar knowledge that applied to how a lot of things worked in their times. Ninja were known to have working knowledge of explosives, lockpicking, breaking and entering, meteorology, psychology, making their own weapons, etc. Of course, a lot of the traditional Ninja versions of those things are either now useless or just a bit out-of-date compared to our modern understanding of the same things. So, Donatello's skill in similar areas more than makes up for it since the Turtles are living in modern New York City rather than ancient Iga or Koga.

I could go on forever in what I personally think might apply to the Turtles in terms of traditional Ninjutsu and things they've picked up along the way, but the deeper I get into it the more I move away from TMNT comic canon and into the realm of theory based upon the real world and the historical Ninja. Eventually, things'll get really blurry and I'll have to start providing real examples of what I mean and I just don't feel like going through my entire comic collection and summaries from the official site to make citation for what I'm going on about.

[Raphael_]

RAPH THROW SAI

No seriously, what is it with that in 2K3?

[Buslady]

RAPH THROW SAI

No seriously, what is it with that in 2K3?

Sai were made to be thrown, he's using them as designed.

[Scandia]

But I wonder which Turtle would best like:

- Karate
- Tae Kwon Do
- Judo
- Aikido
- Kendo
- Capoeira
- Kung Fu
- Tai Chi

and any other style of martial arts.

[Kendamu]

But I wonder which Turtle would best like:

- Karate
- Tae Kwon Do
- Judo
- Aikido
- Kendo
- Capoeira
- Kung Fu
- Tai Chi

and any other style of martial arts.
Leo - Kendo
Mike - Capoeira
Don - Aikido
Raph - Judo

[Scandia]

Yup, I imagined Mikey for Capoeira. The movements are very monkey-like, and it can be quite animated.

But why would Raphael like Judo? It is the "gentle way" or "soft way"- and I can imagine Raphael liking to punch and strike more.

[Kendamu]

Because Judo's only gentle while you're in the middle of being thrown. Hitting the ground hurts when you have no mat and/or don't know how to fall!

That, and I see Raph as more of an "in-fighter" who would enjoy throwing people around more than he would standing in a very structured stance throwing hip punches or something.

[Buslady]

Nah, Aikido....give Raph Aikido. :P And Tae Kwon Do

Mikey: Kung Fu -he'd do all that funky Bruce Lee stuff

Donnie: Tai Chi cos he's mister pacifist ninja

Leo: Judo, Tae Kwon Do

[Kendamu]

I hope you're joking about Raph and Aikido. If anything's pacifist, it's Aikido. Plus, why would such a pacifist Ninja like Don want to study an art called the "Supreme Ultimate Fist"?

I could see Mikey doing Kung Fu. But if Bruce Lee's where you're going with it, I'd say Jeet Kune Do instead. More freedom in it.

[drasgow]

mikey northern shaolin, capoera, bagua all for sort of athletic jumping and flamboyant styles.

raphael brazilian jiu jitsu and wing chun aggressive close fighting

donatello hung gar, shotokan... i mostly read the old mirage comics and in those he was the biggest guy(officially as per the palladium rpg) plus he seems to be the least acrobatic, so i thought he should go for the hard hitting most bang for the buck hits.

leo, i'm not really sure. something super efficient with no wasted energy