Thread:Saris Khan/@comment-24384232-20141211031559/@comment-24384232-20141211195251

Those are all excellent points but how would you actually use these principles and techniques in a roleplay? That has always been the biggest hurdle in using any kind of martial art in a roleplay environment. You can target pressure points, you can target vulnerable areas of the body to hit organs or what have you, but it seems a rather pointless gesture. Generally speaking of course. The biggest difference, I've found between Kido and Zanjutsu/Hakuda is that Kido is rather non-specific, and this is what makes it so useful and powerful. If I cast a Shakkaho, its going to burn and possibly injure you no matter where it hits. I don't specify that I'm aiming for the lower part of your left leg. Its superfulous, because damage like that is damage. Whereas with a Zanjutsu/Hakuda technique in accordance with what you have laid out I'll have to specifiy. Rather than having to protect any and all parts of my body, I can concentrate and focus defenses on just the one part. With that sort of mindset defending against these kinds of attacks is infinitely simplier. Which in turn weakens their overall power. In my Combat Blog I addressed this briefly and came to the conclusion that in order to make Zanjutsu/Hakuda work effectively, you have to remove the specificity of where you're attacking, and treat any blow used by the practitioner in the same manner as you would a kido. Regardless of where it hits, its going to hurt, badly. So given the above how can we reconcile these differences? Do you know of another way? How have you used Zanjutsu in your own roleplays and what were the results?