Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

[BLHarrison]

As in the traditional "Stand behind/near Boss" type. The bodyguard is armed, the martial art is for situations when a firearm is unavailable or otherwise contra-indicated

[Escafarc]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

Hwa Rang Do, Krav Maga, and simular styles.

[sinanju]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

Sinanju, of course. No need for firearms--or weapons of any sort, really.

 

The only thing is, hiring a Master of Sinanju as your bodyguard is fantastically expensive. (On the other hand, the last time the Master of Sinanju announced to the UN General Assembly that his services were once again available to the highest bidder, the room emptied out as ambassadors hurried to confer with their masters and arrange to make obscenely huge offers of employment...or try to assassinate the Master if they feared he'd be hired by their enemies instead.)

 

Remo: "They're trying to kill us!"

Chiun: "Yes, of course. They fear us!"

[BLHarrison]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

Sinanju' date=' of course. No need for firearms--or weapons of any sort, really. [/quote']

 

True, but the Boss in question could not afford long term rates for either of them, although maybe a 1 off assasisnation

[djkester]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

Sinanju, of course. No need for firearms--or weapons of any sort, really.

 

The only thing is, hiring a Master of Sinanju as your bodyguard is fantastically expensive. (On the other hand, the last time the Master of Sinanju announced to the UN General Assembly that his services were once again available to the highest bidder, the room emptied out as ambassadors hurried to confer with their masters and arrange to make obscenely huge offers of employment...or try to assassinate the Master if they feared he'd be hired by their enemies instead.)

 

Remo: "They're trying to kill us!"

Chiun: "Yes, of course. They fear us!"

 

I am not familiar with The Destroyer paperback. Is there any references with real martial artists. I love the quote though. Very cool idea.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinanju_%28martial_art%29

 

I studied Jujitsu when I was in collage and a few of my friends are still into it as well as a variety of forms of Karate etc... Some of them train police and prison guards. I think most body guards are Mixed Martial Artists. But for sure grappling, disarming and other counter weapon techniques would be included.

[djkester]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

Also: A great movie for martial arts actions for body guards is Taken. A great MA action movie.

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

When you say Boss, i'm thinking underworld. Is that correct? You may want to choose an art based boss. Example, Yakuzza might be karate, unless he hired a ninja. Traditional street bosses would have dirty infighting. A mercenary might have commando, or krav maga. A Russian boss might have sambo, etc.

[dmjalund]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

which martial art would be good against a sniper rifle?

[Stalin_McRally]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

"my nuts to your fist style" wielded by Wimp Lo in "Kung Pow"

[megaplayboy]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

Well, a bodyguard needs to put down opponents quickly, interpose themself between harmful attacks and their guardee, be knowledgeable regarding holds, throws and escapes, and be capable of taking weapons away in a pinch. Aikido, Jujitsu, the "trinity" of taijiquan/hsingi/pakuachan, or maybe some fusion of commando and MMA training.

[Vondy]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

Hwa Rang Do' date=' Krav Maga, and simular styles.[/quote']

 

Not to slam Krav Maga, but its really just a set of fast and dirty techniques for quickly teaching non-combatants and soldiers doing their mandatory service to defend themselves. Its not a heavily sophisticated system, or "art." This is not to say its not brutal and effective if you practice and commit fully to hurting your opponent. But elite units tend to incorporate sophisticated military knife fighting techniques, and serious martial artists, even if they love Krav Maga, tend to blend it with a more robust art. This is especially true since the Russian aliyah. Judo, Karate, Hwa Rang Do, and wrestling with Russian "tricks" thrown in are very popular in Israel. There are krav maga schools outside the military here, but its usually a course taught alongside something else.

[Vondy]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

Its a question of philosophy.

 

Anything that allows close in disarms, locks, breaks, throws, and pain-response techniques would be suitable.

 

On the other hand, Death Blow: 5d6 KA would also be good...

 

A body guard generally has a split second or two to disable a would be attacker or spirit their charge away. Duking it out is not tactically appropriate.

[Vondy]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

...the martial art is for situations when a firearm is unavailable or otherwise contra-indicated

 

I'm glad you said this, because Gun-Fu with fast draw and a home-brew "Gun Retention" maneuver is probably the best tactical option.

[clsage]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

The only thing is, hiring a Master of Sinanju as your bodyguard is fantastically expensive. (On the other hand, the last time the Master of Sinanju announced to the UN General Assembly that his services were once again available to the highest bidder, the room emptied out as ambassadors hurried to confer with their masters and arrange to make obscenely huge offers of employment...or try to assassinate the Master if they feared he'd be hired by their enemies instead.)

 

A little off topic but I am just curious, which book was this in ? My reading of the series faded a bit in the mid 1980's and I have only read a few titles since....Thanks.

 

-Carl-

[BLHarrison]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

I am not familiar with The Destroyer paperback. Is there any references with real martial artists. I love the quote though. Very cool idea.

 

According to the series (mentioned several times in various books) Sinanju is the sun-sourse of all other martial arts, all other are just pale reflections of the original.

 

So there is no accurate information as it isn't a real art.

 

I don't know how long the series ran (if it has stopped), when I stopped it was in the high 90's (I think)

[BLHarrison]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

When you say Boss' date=' i'm thinking underworld. Is that correct? You may want to choose an art based boss. Example, Yakuzza might be karate, unless he hired a ninja. Traditional street bosses would have dirty infighting. A mercenary might have commando, or krav maga. A Russian boss might have sambo, etc.[/quote']

 

The Boss in this case is a "Fixer" type, in his case he is not part of any "mob", and he does have some ligitamate business. I might give him some levels in HTH, but he knows it is best to leave it to his bodyguards.

[BLHarrison]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

which martial art would be good against a sniper rifle?

 

The art of not being seen

[sinanju]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

A little off topic but I am just curious, which book was this in ? My reading of the series faded a bit in the mid 1980's and I have only read a few titles since....Thanks.

 

-Carl-

 

I don't remember, exactly. It was one of the more recent ones (sometime in the early 2000s, I think). For various reasons, Chiun and Smith hadn't reached an agreement on renewing their contract, so for the first time in a long time, the Masters of Sinanju were free to accept bids for their service. Chiun naturally stalked into the UN and walked up to the podium and made his dramatic announcement. The rest of the book included repeated scenes of attempts to kill Chiun and Remo by agents of nations that knew they couldn't afford to hire them--and were afraid their enemies might. Remo was shocked--and annoyed .Chiun was thrilled.

 

The series is still being published. It relaunched recently (with a new publisher) as The New Destroyer. There've been a few changes. The series has finally acknowledged the decades that have passed since the series began in the 70s. Remo is a full Master now, and thanks to Sinanju looks younger now than he did when he began his trainging. Chiun is 100 years old. Chiun is nagging Remo to start looking for an apprentice of his own to start training. Chiun claims to be retired (as "Master Emeritus"), but still hangs around with Remo on jobs. Smith is getting really old, and has finally acquired an assistant, Mark...something, to assist him in running CURE. (Unlike other short-lived assistants from earlier books in the series, Mark appears to be a permanent addition.)

 

I doubt it will happen, but as they've established that Remo has a young daughter, Freya, somewhere...I want Remo to start training her as the first MISTRESS of Sinanju. That would give Chiun apoplexy (not just white, but female!) and provide fodder for another forty years of novels.

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

The Boss in this case is a "Fixer" type' date=' in his case he is not part of any "mob", and he does have some ligitamate business. I might give him some levels in HTH, but he knows it is best to leave it to his bodyguards.[/quote']

 

I asked, because I would then envision the bodyguards martial art to be a reflection of him, more than the boss. By fixer, I think you mean buisness/suit type? So I think that the bodyguard would be the best that money could buy. I'm thinking that the bodyguard would be ex-cia/special forces. So either commando or dirty infighting both which can be renamed, and add any manuevers which you feel are necessary. (You could do this for ninjitsu and its related package deal, again just rename it if you want. I.e. ninjitsu is now CIA package.)

[Ninja-Bear]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

which martial art would be good against a sniper rifle?

 

Gun kata of course! Or ninjitsu naturally.

[BLHarrison]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

I asked' date=' because I would then envision the bodyguards martial art to be a reflection of him, more than the boss. By fixer, I think you mean buisness/suit type?[/quote']

 

Not exactly, in cyberpunk this is the guy/gal who "arranges" things and/or the person who knows people who know people and can bring them together. In fact in the Cyberpunk 2020 system there was a specific role called "fixer"

[Beast]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

Best defense against any attack be it ranged or hand to hand

 

No be there

[Escafarc]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

Best defense against any attack be it ranged or hand to hand

 

No be there

I thought it was Nuke them from orbit it's the only way to be sure.

[Ice9]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

Not sure as to the entire style, but as far as specific manuevers:

* Grasping Block - To grab anyone that tries to attack your charge.

* Defensive Throw - For foes too dangerous to grab, this slows them down. This is a block, so you can use it on attacks against your charge.

* Flying Grab - Not just for foes, but to grab your charge and move them out of danger.

* Passing Throw - To quickly reach your charge and push them behind cover (or slow down pursuing foes without falling too far behind).

* Levels with Dive for Cover - To jump in the way of attacks.

 

Then you probably want some offense as well. Given that you've got a couple grabbing maneuvers, then something like Crush might be good, but really it depends on what circles you're moving in. For a bodyguard to a diplomat, Nerve Strike might be good, so that you can subdue protesters without hurting them and causing an incident. For an underworld type, Killing Strike/Throw or Joint Break may be good for the intimidation factor.

[Ethernaut]

Re: Best Martial Art for a Bodyguard?

 

One character in our campaign seems to like to protect others from harm. He does it with Martial Block by blocking for person adjacent to him. That seems to work for the bodyguard guy in our campaign, perhaps also in yours.