SYSTEMS FROM ALL CULTURES Second By C. J. Carella Additional Material by J. C. Conners, Geoffrey E. Fagan, Burnie Fox, Lee Gold, Steve Jackson, Steffan O' Sullivan, Michael Phyillaier Jr., Scan and Charles Wheatly Edited by Scan Punch and Lillian Butler Cover by Jeff Koke Illustrated by Dan Smith and Guy Burwell Additional Art by Shea Ryan GURPS System Design by Steve Jackson Alain H. Dawson, Managing Editor Sean Punch, GURPS Line Editor Michael Bowman, Errata Coordinator Page Layout and Typography by Lillian Butler and Jeff Koke Interior and Color Production by Jeff Koke Production Assistance by Joey Janisheck Print Buying by Russell Godwin Art Direction by Lillian Butler Ross Jepson, Sales Manager

Playtesters and useful comments: Lynette R.F. Cowper, Peter Fleming, Lan Kelly, Kromm's Victims (Graham Cross, Terry Fong, Eric Leonard, Bill Letourneau, Bonnie Punch and Patrick Salah), Jason Levine, Paul Wrider, Earl Dana York and everyone else on the GURPSnet mailing list or rec. games. frp.gurps who took the time out to comment. GURPS and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Pyramid and Illuminati Online and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license. GURPS , Second Edition is copyright © 1996, 1998 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. ISBN 1-55634-314-0 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 STEVE JACKSON GAMES

Escrima ...... 80 Running Amok ...... 80 French Fencing ...... 80 Goju Ryu ...... 81 Amok Adventure ...... 81 ...... 8 2 Hashishin Style ...... 82 Rashid ibn Hasan al-Alamut . . . . .82 Hsing-Yi Chuan ...... 83 External vs. Internal, Hard vs. Soft ...... 83 Isshinryu ...... 84 Chi ...... 84 Italian Rapier Fencing ...... 84 ...... 85 ...... 85 Martial Arts and Psionics: Optional Rules ...... 85 ...... 86 Kalaripayit ...... 86 ...... 87 Miyamoto Musashi ...... 88 Kempo ...... 8 8 ...... 88 ...... 88 Kobujutsu ...... 89 Kuk Sool Won ...... 90 Kung Fu ...... 90 ...... 91 (Sgt.) Sergei Mikoyan ...... 91 Kyudo ...... 92 Military Hand-to-Hand ...... 92 . ...... 92 Ninjutsu ...... 93 The Ninja Costume ...... 93 Pakua ...... 94 Pancratium/Mu Tau ...... 94 Pontius Pertinax ...... 94 Pao Chuan ...... 95 Pentjak ...... 96 Silat Grading System ...... 96 Pentjak Silat Uniform ...... 96 Police Hand-to-Hand ...... 97 Praying Mantis Kung Fu ...... 97 Professional ...... 98 Professional ...... 98 Reina Queen ...... 98 Professional ...... 99 ...... 99 Savate Grades ...... 99 Savate Costume ...... 99 Self-Defense Hand -to - Hand ... .100 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ...... 4 About the Authors ...... 4 About GURPS ...... A 1 HISTORY...... 5 ...... 6 Bodhidharma ...... 6 Taoism ...... 1 Japan ...... 9 Buddhism (Zen Buddhism) ...... 9 Miyamoto Musashi ...... 10 Bruce Lee ...... 1 1 Korea ...... 1 3 Martial Arts and the Law ...... 1 3 The Indonesian Archipelago . . . . . 1 4 MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS ...... 14 Women in the Martial Arts ...... 1 5 Partial Injuries ...... 50 Example of Martial Arts Combat .51 Optional Rule: Combinations ... .54 Competition Types ...... 55 Cinematic Combat: Night of the Skull ...... 57 CINEMATIC MANEUVERS ...... 5 7 Faster Combat ...... 59 Optional Combat Rules ...... 60 TOURNAMENT COMBAT ...... 61 Replaying Tournaments ...... 62 CINEMATIC Nonhuman RULES Foes ...... 63 6 4 Chambara Fighting ...... 64 Multiple Attacks ...... 65 Multiple Attack Rules ...... 65 Initiative ...... 65

2. Point Cost ...... 1 8 Beginning Students as PCs ...... 1 8 Choosing a Style ...... 19 CHARACTER Reality-, Realism, TYPES . and . . . Fantasy ...... 1 .20 9 Saburo: Ninja Assassin ...... 20 Controlling Multiple Attacks .... .66 Damage and Recovery ...... 67 More Optional Rules For Stun Points ...... 68 UNARMED CRITICAL Miss TABLES .. .68 Striking & Parrying ...... 68 , Locks & Throws .... .69 The Skull: 1930s Crimefighter . . .22 ADVANTAGES, & SKILLS DISADVANTAGES ...... 25 ADVANTAGES NEW ADVANTAGES . . . . (REALISTIC) ...... 25 .26 NEW DISADVANTAGES ADVANTAGES . . (CINEMATIC) ...... 28 .27 NEW SKILLS DISADVANTAGES ...... 3 .30 1 NEW SKILLS (REALISTIC) ...... 32 NEW SKILLS (CINEMATIC) ...... 36 FOUR-COLOR MARTIAL ARTS ...... 40 Super Martial Artists ...... 40 Martial Arts Magic ...... 40 4. SKILLS STYLES...... 7O ...... 7 1 Primary, Secondary and Optional Skills ...... 71 Creating New Styles ...... 71 Developing New Styles During Play ...... 72 Cinematic Skills ...... 73 MANEUVERS ...... 7 3 Cinematic Maneuvers ...... 74 STYLE COST ...... 7 4 COMBINING STYLES ...... 7 5 Cinematic Abilities & Prerequisites ...... 75 3. MANEUVERS The Martial Arts ...... Record Sheet . . .42 .42 Learning Maneuvers ...... 42 Creating New Maneuvers ...... 42 Dirty Tricks in a Campaign ...... 43 Concentration and Martial Arts: An Optional Rule ...... 44 Maneuvers and Combat/Weapon Art or Sport Skills ...... 45 Fright Checks & Martial Artists . .47 The Contest of Wills ...... 48 Vital Organs ...... 49 Martial Arts Uniforms ...... 76 Uniforms ...... 76 HISTORICAL AND MODERN STYLES .. .77 Aikido/Aiki-jutsu ...... 77 An Ch'i ...... 77 Grading Systems ...... 77 Okinawan Ranks ...... 77 Bando ...... 78 Life After the Black Belt ...... 78 Bando Animal Forms ...... 78 ...... 79 Style versus Style ...... 79 Na ...... 79

The Shaolin Initiation ...... 100 ...... 101 Shaolin Uniform ...... 101 Streetfighting ...... 102 Tommy Kwong ...... 102 ...... 1 0 2 ...... 103 Sumo Dress ...... 103 Tae Kwon Do Ranks ...... 104 T'aiChiChuan ...... 104 UechiRyu ...... 104 White Crane Kung Fu ...... 105 Kung Fu ...... 105 Master Yi ...... 105 Wudong ...... 106 Sha-Shan ...... 106 Wushu Kung Fu ...... 106 FICTIONAL STYLES ...... 1 0 7 Arlah ...... 108 ALIEN STYLES ...... 108 Engaijutsu ...... 108 Kronin Karate ...... 109 Swooping ...... 109 FANTASY STYLES ...... 109 Aerie Fighting ...... 109 Dragon-Man Kung Fu ...... 110 Sister Magrethe Demonslayer . . .110 Smasha ...... 111 Staff Vault ...... 112 Taurelen Laureril...... 112 Sylvan War Lore ...... 112 FUTURISTIC STYLES ...... 113 Cyberninjutsu ...... 113 Force- ...... 114 Kaa Martial Art ...... 114 Spacer Kung Fu ...... 115 5. Weapons & equipment...... 11e CHINESE WEAPONS ...... 1 1 7 Swords ...... 1 1 7 Knives ...... 1 1 7 Staffs and Polearms ...... 117 Flails ...... 118 Whips ...... 118 JAPANESE WEAPONS ...... 118 Swords ...... 1 1 8 Knives ...... 118 Axes...... 118 Clubs and Staffs ...... 118 Polearms and Spears ...... 1 1 8 Flails ...... 118 Ranged Weapons ...... 1 1 9 Other Weapons ...... 119 NINJA EQUIPMENT ...... 119 WEAPONS ...... 1 1 9 Swords ...... 119 Polearms ...... 119 Blowpipe ...... 1 1 9 Ranged Weapons ...... 1 1 9 Special Weapons ...... 119 SPECIAL EQUIPMENT ...... 120 Explosives ...... 120 Enhanced Weapons ...... 120 Poisons ...... 1 2 1 Delivery Methods ...... 121 OTHER GADGETS ...... 122 Bamboo Snorkel ...... 122 Disguised Weapons ...... 122 Climbing Spikes ...... 122 Gliders ...... 122 Grapnel and Rope ...... 122 Inflatable Shoes ...... 123 INDIAN WEAPONS ...... 1 2 3 Swords ...... 123 Staffs and Clubs ...... 123 INDONESIAN WEAPONS ...... 1 2 3 Knives ...... 123 Swords ...... 123 Staffs and Clubs ...... 123 Polearms ...... 124 Ranged Weapons ...... 124 KOREAN WEAPONS ...... 124 Swords ...... 1 2 4 Staffs and Clubs ...... 124 Special Weapons ...... 124 PHILIPPINE WEAPONS ...... 124 Knives ...... 124 Swords ...... 124 Staffs and Clubs ...... 124 EUROPEAN FENCING WEAPONS ..... 125 Swords ...... 125 Knives ...... 125 Cloaks ...... 1 2 5 MODERN WEAPONS ...... 126 Staffs and Clubs ...... 126 Flails ...... 126 ULTRA-TECH WEAPONS ...... 126 Clubs ...... 126 Swords and Knives ...... 126 Whips ...... 127 Ranged Weapons ...... 127 Cybernetic Weapons ...... 127 Special Weapons ...... 128 Training Equipment ...... 128 Rubber Weapons ...... 128 Electronic Foils ...... 128 Digital Weapons ...... 128 Digital Armor ...... 128 Virtual Reality Sparring Armor ..128 Wing Chun Wooden Dummy . . .129 ARMOR ...... 129 Ancient Chinese Armor ...... 129 Ancient Japanese Armor ...... 129 Kendo Armor ...... 129 Ninja Armor ...... 129 Boxing Gloves ...... 129 Modern Body Armor ...... 129 WEAPON TABLES ...... 130 6, CAMPAIGNS ...... 136 CINEMATIC vs. REALISTIC CAMPAIGNS ...... 137 The Secret Abilities Campaign . .137 Different Worlds ...... 138 Japan ...... 138 CAMPAIGN SETTING ...... 139 China and Korea ...... 139 China ...... 140 Fantasy: The Land of Yrth ...... 140 Adventuring in Yrth ...... 140 Special Ops ...... 141 Japan ...... 142 Cliffhangers ...... 142 Other Settings ...... 143 Horror ...... 143 Swashbucklers ...... 144 Old West ...... 145 Time Travel ...... 146 Campaign Themes ...... 146 Survivors ...... 147 Adventure Seeds ...... 148 Martial Arts in Other GURPS Backgrounds ...... 150 Creating NPCs for Martial Arts Campaigns ...... 152 The Quest for the Master ...... 153 Silly Rules ...... 154 Kung Fu for Laughs ...... 154 GLOSSARY .155 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 156 RECORD SHEET...... 157 PLAN ...... 158 ...... 159

The ABOUT GURPS Steve Jackson Games is committed to full support of the GURPS system. Our address is SJ Games, Box 18957, Austin, TX martial arts, in all their many forms, have captured the imaginations of generations. As a spectator sport, a mystic discipline or a way to shape the human body into a finely honed weapon, the skills of hand-to-hand combat and physical and mental conditioning are fascinating. 78760. Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) any time you write us! Resources now available include:

Pyramid (www.sjgames.com/pyramid). Our online magazine includes new rules and articles for GURPS. It also covers all the hobby's top games - AD&D, Traveller, Fantasy and adventure fiction have been deeply influenced by the martial arts. The unyielding samurai, always ready to lay his life on the line, has become the epitome of the warrior spirit. Dark-clad ninja noiselessly moving in the night have become classic villains - and occasionally heroes. The "code" of the martial arts master, who acts only in self-defense or in defense of the help- World of Darkness, Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun and many more - and other SJ Games releases like In Nomine, INWO, Car Wars, Toon, Ogre Miniatures and more. And Pyramid subscribers also have access to playtest files online, to see (and comment on) new books before they're less, serves as a worthy guideline for any hero. This worldbook is dedicated both to the GMs and players who want to role- play in the martial arts world of the past and the present, and to those who wish to explore the cinematic universe of Brace Lee and Chuck Morris. I hope you will find martial arts history as rich and exciting as its fantasy, and that both can released.

New supplements and adventures. GURPS continues to grow, and we'll be happy to let you know what's new. A cur- rent catalog is available for an SASE. Or check out our Web site (below). Errata. Everyone makes mistakes, serve you well for roleplaying. This book may enrich other campaigns as well. A martial arts character can fit in any background (see Chapter 6); after all, they have been around for thousands of years, and have touched every corner of the world. GMs and players who enjoy mixing different backgrounds and settings should remember the TV series Kung including us - but we do our best to fix our errors. Up-to-date errata sheets for all GURPS releases, including this book, are always available from SJ Games; be sure to include an SASE with your request. Or Fu, where a Chinese monk traveled through America's western frontier. So put on your gi, tighten your obi, pack your katana and nunchaku, and enter the world of GURPS Martial Arts! download them from the Web - see below. Q&A. We do our best to answer any game question accompanied by an SASE. Gamer input. We value your comments. We will consider them, not only for new products, but also when we update this book on later printings! Internet. Visit us on the World Wide Web ABOUT The AUTHORS C.J. Carella has finally worked his way up from being an amateur starving writer to becoming a professional starving writer. Born in New York, C.J. has lived in Peru, Venezuela and Connecticut, in that order. His realistic martial arts experience comes from the study of Karate-do Shitoryu. His cinematic martial at log, www.sjgames.com errata and updates, for and an online hundreds cata- of pages of information. We also have confer- ences on CompuServe and America Online. GURPS has its own Usenet group, too: rec.games.frp.gurps.

GURPSnet. Much of the online discus- arts background includes a few million hours of exposure to martial arts fiction in all possible mediums, from books to movies to video games. He has a B.A. in Medieval History from Yale University. His hobbies/ obsessions include science fiction and fantasy, comic books and gaming, all of which he calls "research material." sion of GURPS happens on this e-mail list. To join, send mail to [email protected] with "subscribe GURPSnet-L" in the body, or point your World Wide Web browser to: www.io.com/~ftp/GURPSnet/www.

The GURPS Martial Arts web page is at www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/martialarts. His love affair with GURPS began with the publication of the Man to Man. His writing credits include GURPS Imperial Rome, GURPS War Against the Chtorr and GURPS Voodoo for Steve Jackson Games, as well as Pantheons of the Megaverse and Rifts Mercenaries for Palladium Books. He is now working full time as a game designer in Detroit, Michigan; his last surviving cat is cur- Page Rules References

and statistics in this book are specifically for the GURPS Basic Set, Third Edition (Revised). Any page refer- ence that begins with a B refers to the GURPS Basic Set - e.g., p. B102 means p. rently in exile. Sean Punch is a former particle physicist who now works as GURPS line editor and overall system guru for SJ Games. He considers his change in careers to be a step up. He currently works via the Internet, where he is better 102 of the GURPS Basic Set. A P reference means means GURPS GURPS Psionics. Japan. A A SU J reference reference means GURPS Supers. known as Dr. Kromm. He has been a fanatical gamer since 1979. Sean and his wife, Bonnie, presently live in Montreal, Quebec with their three cats and one bird. INTRODUCTION

Think about the term "martial arts." One envisions fighters leaping high in the air to deliver devastating , or smashing bricks to pieces with their bare hands ... a lone, small man defeating a hand- ful of enemies in a few seconds . . . strict lessons in a dojo or school, following ancient rituals and teachings . . . and moral and spiritual advancement that matches or surpasses mere physical abilities.

This mythical Indian priest is reputed to be both the founder of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism in China and the creator of Shaolin Chu'an, known today as Shaolin Kung Fu - see p. 101. Bodhidharma was born around 448 A.D., the youngest son of a Brahmin king; he joined the Buddhist priesthood in India and rose high in its ranks, until he decided to teach his brand of Buddhism to the Chinese people. According to the legend, he walked all the way to China, surviving countless dangers. Upon arriving, he offended the Chinese emperor by dismiss- ing all his great works as "mundane" and therefore worthless (see Buddhism, p. 9). After leaving the Chinese capital, he trav- eled to the Shaolin temple, which at the time concerned itself mainly with translat- ing Indian sacred documents into Chinese. Bodhidharma was at first refused admit- tance to the temple; he sat down in a med- itation trance for nine years, doing nothing but staring at a cliff wall. Eventually, leg- end says, his intense gaze actually bored a hole in the cliff! After that, the leader of the temple relented and welcomed Bodhidharma, who became the spiritual leader of the monks. Bodhidharma decided that the monks needed some sort of exercise regimen, as they were so out of shape they fell asleep during meditation. From the set of exer- cises that Bodhidharma devised, Shaolin Kung Fu was eventually created. It is not certain whether Bodhidharma himself developed the combative aspects of the style. Being a nobleman, he probably had some military training, including wrestling techniques, so it is possible that he helped the monks to devise a system of self-defense (always desirable in remote areas fraught with bandits) as well as exercise. Another aspect of Bodhidharma's teachings had a powerful impact on the martial arts as a whole. The priest taught his monks about the development of the Chi (see sidebar, p. 84) through breath exercises and meditation techniques. Since Chi is one of the fundamental prin- ciples of most Chinese and Japanese mar- tial arts, this is perhaps Bodhidharma's most important legacy. Since the beginning of civilization, different cultures have developed and formalized combat skills. The Romans and the Greeks had systematic tech- niques for both weapon use and unarmed combat. Medieval warriors were trained in wrestling and swordsmanship. Fencing was a highly stylized art which eventually became a sport. Nowadays, however, the term "martial arts" is most strongly associated with the Asian styles of combat. Since the end of World War II, and especially as what has come to be known as "kung fu cinema" became popular, people in the West have become fascinated with the skills of the East. Myth and fact have become irrevocably mixed in the popular mind, thanks mainly to the film indus- try; the truth is less spectacular but considerably more complex. The Eastern martial arts are primarily forms of self-defense, usually created by people who were unable to use conventional weapons and tactics to defend themselves. Some styles were also used as part of the training of soldiers, partic- ularly elite units. Finally, many arts began as exercise or meditation methods for Asian monastic and philosophical systems. To better understand the origins of the martial arts (and the various styles), here is a brief look at important eras of martial arts development. For more information about the history of particular schools and styles, see Chapter 4. In many ways, China is the cradle of the martial arts; the most ancient styles trace their origins to there. The earliest mention of martial arts in a historical document dates back to