No weapons...

[Sage Ninja]

For as long as I have watched the TMNT I have always enjoyed the way they fought and handled themselves in battle. From the Classic toon to the New one I've always liked seeing them spar with each other, it was always visually entertaining.

However one thing that always bugged me was the fact that the turtles never fought with out there weapons in hand to hand combat. It always made me wonder if they knew how too. You very rarely see them fight (even while sparring) with out there weapons and that has always annoyed me just a little.

I mean I understand that while in battle they need their weapons, but I have always wanted to see one time where they didn't fight with their weapons and just fought free hand. I know this rarely happened in the classic cartoon except for a few instances where they are sparring but other than that I can't think of a time when they would fight with out them, same goes for the new toon.

When ever the turtles where put into a situation where they wouldn't have their weapons I would get all excited because I thought I would be treated to some hand to hand fighting, but the turtles would almost always try to find substitutes for their weapons and wouldn't even try to fight with out them, and that always saddened me

Am I the one who has felt this way?

[zkarlette]

Yep.. even on the movies that happens .. but I guess that finally were getting to see some action on the New toon.... I guess they just do it to keep the TMNT child friendly but it is kind of annoying

[Ra]

I'm dead certain they feel naked without their weapons. Well....so what that they are pretty much already naked? Stop laughing! Seriously, their weapons are like extentions of their bodies. Like extendable hands or something. I think they know how to fight with their fists, but they are so comfortable with weapons that they need them like clothes. It's a part of who they are. Their idenity...sorta... Really, can you see Leo weilding sai instead of Raph? Instead of his katana, I mean

I'll stop rambling now until I figure out how to put my feelings into words *sighs* So tired...

[Coola Yagami]

The newer TMNT seem more capable of defending themselves without weapons (don't know if they ever did though). The old toon always made it seem like 'Oh noooosss!!! The TMNT lost their weapons, they're D0000M3D!!!111')

[Weapon X]

I just hated how one shot would show them with their weapons and the next without....it's one of those double take "'the hell" thing's.

[zkarlette]

well the old toon was full of "the hell" scenes even with the multicolor bandannas

[Sage Ninja]

Actually I saw quite a few instance where the turtles didn't fight with out there weapons in the classic cartoon. Except that it was always when they where sparring. I don't think I've witnessed a scene in the new toon where the turtles sparr with out there weapons. But Yes, I think in evebn the classic cartoon the turtles where fully capable of fighting with their fists. They just didn't show it to often.

And I've noticed in even the new toon, that the turtles sometimes appear hindered when they don't have their weapons and don't as well.

I'm dead certain they feel naked without their weapons. Well....so what that they are pretty much already naked? Stop laughing! Seriously, their weapons are like extentions of their bodies. Like extendable hands or something. I think they know how to fight with their fists, but they are so comfortable with weapons that they need them like clothes. It's a part of who they are. Their idenity...sorta...

hemm...you make a good point about that maybe since the turtles typically don't wear clothes thier weapons sort of represent that. Perhapps they feel exposed when they don't have their weapons on them. I mean in any continuity I've seen, they don't even take them off when they are just sitting around the lair...(or their bandannas or padding for that matter). But still I wish they would have an instance where they fight with out their weapons just to make things interesting

[sdp]

i take martial arts and it is a lot easier to do moves without weapons, so if they mastered weapons they mastered without them, but seeing a turtle doing ninjitsu doesn't seem as logical for some reason, since their hands and shape is different.

maybe turtle fists are really weak.

[Turtle Dove]

Originally Posted by sdp

i take martial arts and it is a lot easier to do moves without weapons, so if they mastered weapons they mastered without them, but seeing a turtle doing ninjitsu doesn't seem as logical for some reason, since their hands and shape is different.

maybe turtle fists are really weak.

Logicaly yes......but it's fantasy I say whatever makes them great is cool with me.

hEy anyone remember in the old show they could pop their head into their shells? Why don't they in the new cartoon.

[Fledermaus]

You know, I was thinking of starting a topic like this myself. It bugs me too that the turtles almost never engage in hand-to-hand combat... and that's some of the most interesting kind of martial arts... Oh, I guess that would mean the storyboarders/choreographers would have to do some heavy research. If you just use weapons, it's easier fight choreography.

Still, I wish there were more hand-to-hand stuff.

[Masked Ninja]

I agree... that would rock. I'd like to see some of that for the video games too.

As for the heads into the shell... they've mutated so that isn't possible anymore. As far as anatomy goes they're pretty much "humans" with shells on their backs. We don't have room to shove our heads down that way. The old toon was silly and comedy... it probably served a comedic purpose, but it's not feasible. (That's when you have to shrug it off and say "it's a cartoon.")

[Buslady]

I think there was costume technicalities preventing them from going empty hand.

The head pulling trick normal turtles do is a physical phenonomenon (ok i spelt that wrong) that the TMNT lost because of their mutation. Their shoulder girdle was lost to mutation and formed a more human structure with full on normal shoulders. What doesthis gotta do with a shoulder girdle? Well the skeletal structure of the turtle enables them to pull their heads in, there's a wide space inside, between the girdle enabling them to pull them in...and a loooooong neck vertebrae..it actually curls into a S shape when they pull them in, the TMNT dont have long neck vertebrae, but human necks. and im rambling too much about it...

[Turtle Dove]

*giggles* heheh...you know what that means....

[Benetello]

i thought they didnt use there weapons a all in secret of the ooze, except leo on a few occasions

[Sage Ninja]

Originally Posted by sdp

i take martial arts and it is a lot easier to do moves without weapons, so if they mastered weapons they mastered without them.

Yes that sounds interesting, but it seems like they are hindered when they don't have a weapon. Maybe they've come to rely on their weapons to often, because in both new and old toons, even when they are up against an oppentent (spelling ) that is unarmed and they still go fight with their weapons

example would be in the new toon Touch and Go when Mikey had the big guy enveloped in smoke and he was unarmed, he still bothered to go get his nunchuckes and fight with them, instead of just getting it on hand to hand. i remember being slightly disapointed.