User blog:Silver-Haired Seireitou/Revisiting Hakuda

Alright, so, if some of you remember way back when, I started a blog called Guide to Hakuda, which was meant to be... well, as the name suggests, a "guide" on Hakuda. But I eventually turned it into a guide to martial arts. And I never could finish it. Why was that? Yes, it was partially due to my laziness, but also that to write a guide on martial arts as a whole would be a tremendous pain in the ass because there is so many topics to discuss. So many directions to go in, so many different practical and cultural perspectives to discuss and analyze, and while I would love to go through them all, it really wouldn't accomplish anything when it comes to the Bleach series and Hakuda itself.

Therefore, I would like to revisit my blog and instead, create what I would like to consider a "true" Hakuda Guide. One that will focus on Hakuda itself, rather than everything about everything in martial arts, and martial arts in other series and fictional works. I want to focus on Bleach as much as possible, so that everything here will be applicable.

But here lies the problem. As of right now, I can see two different camps of thought on BFF: the camp that sticks as close to the canon and series material as possible, and the camp that tries to stray as far as it can go from the canon foundation before it starts sounding ridiculous. This disagreement had led to many heated discussions arising on recent blogs that feature new ways of thinking. And while I want everybody to contribute their ideas, both in agreement to my ideas and in opposition to my ideas, I ask that you do so without aggression. I want this blog to cater to both camps as much as I possibly can, and as such, I will start by focusing as much as I can on analyzing canon and other material from the series first, and then bring out my own wacky theories and ideas.

Above all else, no matter what I write here, this is all born from my own perspective and my own theories, and as such, as much as I want everybody to think these are brilliant ideas and will apply them to their characters' Hakuda in the future, you should still take everything I say with a grain of salt. Please do not disregard them as being ludicrous, as experience and research did go into writing this blog, but please do not blindly follow them to the letter either. If anything, please let this blog inspire you guys to explore Hakuda on your own terms.

Without further adieu, let's begin.

Hakuda, the Term
Let's look at the term "Hakuda" for a moment.

Hakuda is composed of the kanji, 白打, which Bleach Wiki translates as being "White Hits". Haku (白), which also reads as "Shiro", does indeed mean white. Da (打) literally means "hitting" or "to hit". If you look up the "Da" kanji on Google, you will get a bunch of picture results that show people hitting and whatnot, which further proves this point.

Together, "white hitting" gives us some idea as to what Hakuda is supposed to mean.

As we've seen, Hakuda is used by the Shinigami to deal with Hollows when they are disarmed. On a normal Hollow's body, the only white part is their mask. And Shinigami train to strike the mask because it is the most effective way to dispatch and kill a Hollow. "White hitting" can mean that Hakuda's original purpose was to offer an unarmed method at dealing with Hollows. And as we've seen...

Of course, the white aspect of Hakuda can also refer to spirits and whatnot; there's a lot of ways to translate the name's meaning.

But here's why I bring up the name.

There seems to be a difference of opinion among the fanbase as to where Hakuda is an actual martial art of its own... or is a blanket term referring to all martial arts in general.

Now, where do I stand on this issue? I am a proponent of the latter view. Hakuda is not its own martial art, but rather, it is what the Shinigami refer to as "martial arts".

Different nations and cultures have used their own terms to describe martial arts in general. The Japanese use Budō, the Chinese use Gongfu (Kung Fu), the Koreans use Musul, and so on. Now, many like to believe that when the Chinese, for instance, use the term "Kung Fu", they are referring only to Chinese martial arts. I've had talks with many experienced masters from different schools whenever I attend demonstrations in the city or go to different competitions as either a spectator, participant, or coach (yes, I do coach; I lead my own Taekwondo competition team), I try to strike up talk with other instructors and masters who attend with their club/team/school.

And the general consensus seems to be that when those cultures use these terms, they are not specifying "Japanese martial arts" or "Chinese martial arts" but martial arts itself. Wikipedia tends to ignore this, which is another reason for why it isn't the most reliable source for research on martial arts. Remember that for a lot of these cultures, they remained isolated from other countries. Japan, for instance, only recently opened up relations with other countries in the last couple centuries. But martial arts has existed in Japan for countless centuries, if not many many millennia.

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To me, Hakuda can't be "just a martial art" because it encompasses a variety of styles and techniques which differ with each person's fighting style. Hard elements are used by Soifon and Yoruichi, but Soifon employs a more graceful leg-based striking method which reaches out while Yoruichi's style is more compact and as close to the body as possible. Urahara employed a more softer style when he visited the Maggot's Nest, throwing his opponents and using their force against them. Kensei is a direct brawler type, And yet all of these individuals are known as "Hakuda Masters" and specialists for that matter, yet their method of fighting is so radically different on a fundamental level. How can you call that a single martial art?

You can say Hakuda is a martial art that unifies all martial arts, but at that point, we're just splitting hairs.

Core of Hakuda
So, if we accept that Hakuda is actually what Shinigami simply refer to as the "martial arts", does this mean there is no focus? Not necessarily.

Hakuda is what I consider to be a "perspective" of martial arts. When the Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and so on, refer to martial arts by their own terms, they aren't simply calling it "martial arts" but rather it is how they view martial arts and how they subsume it under their own cultural paradigm. Therefore, Hakuda is how Shinigami view martial arts. It doesn't mean that it is a style all their own, but rather, it is how they approach the idea of unarmed fighting.

With this understanding, what is the most fundamental idea of Hakuda? And that, my dear watson, is simply answered with one word.

.

Spiritual pressure is how Shinigami fight one another. And the stronger one pushes the weaker one down, which is how Shinigami conduct fights.

All martial arts were designed based upon the strengths that could be taken advantage of. That is the underlying foundation of martial arts. For example, in Korean martial arts, Taekwondo, the modern form of an ancient art known as Taekkyeon was based upon taking advantage of their strong legs because they needed them to move throughout the mountainous and forested region. Legs were well-developed and therefore became one of their greatest strengths to exploit in their fighting style, which led to explosive circular kicking styles that later became mainstreamed into what is known today as Taekwondo.

With Shinigami, this strength to exploit is their spiritual pressure. And Hakuda is all about the application of their spiritual pressure to their fighting. While basic Hakuda techniques do not necessarily demonstrate this, as most basic practitioners simply utilize basic hand and foot strikes, more advanced techniques highlight the true nature of Hakuda.

And now, I will try to prove this using some canon examples.

My favorite example of this idea is the technique,.

Ahh my favorite ones to discuss. on the left image and on the right image, these two are techniques pulled out by the general himself, Yamamoto-sōtaichō. To the normal eye, they look like a single punch or double punch that basically destroys whatever it touches; a feat of strength. But it is so much more. My character, Seireitou, has his own approach to the technique, but since I'm trying to stick as close as I can to canon right now, I'll discuss only Yamamoto's form of the technique. For it to cause so much damage to an Arrancar in its released form, who is classified as being Espada-level, and therefore Captain-level, a mere feat of strength is not enough to outright demolish him; even by Yamamoto's caliber.

Rather, the Ikkotsu and Sōkotsu are projections of force. Spiritual pressure is sent into the target with the Ikkotsu to cause a significant degree of shattering devastation, while Sōkotsu is essentially an even greater level that fans out the destruction. To an Arrancar, which if hierro is any indication to you, who is a highly-compressed spiritual existence, projecting such force through them is enough to shatter them apart; which is the case that occurred with Wonderweiss.

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These are just a few examples. I want you all to understand that there is more to the craft of Hakuda than just fancy punches and kicks. And that, the perspective Hakuda is meant to reflect is that Shinigami fight using their reiatsu. This doesn't only have to be releases of pressure, like Raiōken, but it can be more innovative like the Tsukiyubi or Ikkotsu. There are infinite possibilities.

But hold on! We're not quite finished yet, my friends.

Reiatsu is not exclusive to Hakuda. For instance, it is utilized with Zanjutsu techniques as well. Yamamoto's ? The ? The ? A cane doesn't magically create holes so perfectly round, my friends. And if you look closely at it, the aftermath looks like a hole burned into Ayon's chest rather than stabbed; befitting Yamamoto's reiatsu. It's a technique that is personalized to someone like Yamamoto, with a fire-element spiritual pressure.

So what makes Hakuda unique?

Why bother with Hakuda specialists when you have Kido and Zanjutsu available?

Well, here's my approach.

Martial Spirit
Hakuda is a very solitary craft.

With Zanjutsu, you work together and communicate with your Zanpakutō. With Kidō, you draw together the wills around you — — in order to create the spell.

But for Hakuda, it is all you. Your power. Your strength.

Therefore, what makes the biggest differences in Hakuda is skill, power, and of course, one's resolve — one's "martial arts spirit".

And me being me, I decided to focus upon this.

Thus, Buki was born.

Rather than explain it on here, I ask that you read the article and I'd be willing to answer any questions you might have about it.

The general idea is that one's spirit — their desires, intentions, emotions, resolve, all that good stuff — is the greatest strength that any Hakuda Specialist can have. With an unshakable will, one can pull off amazing feats. Now, imagine if you could literally use that willpower as a weapon; as a means of fighting and growing stronger beyond just physical training. This is what I tried to do with Buki.

For instance, a punch is just a punch. When you punch, you are trying to punch. You form the fist, you thrust it out, and try to attack the target. It's an attempt, not an absolute. But if you will a punch to happen, not just attempt to happen, it will punch. To quote Morpheus from the movie, The Matrix, "Stop trying to hit me, and hit me!" The difference between simply thrusting your fist out, and willing the punch to form, is tremendous; especially for spiritual beings like Shinigami. This is the fundamental idea for what is known as the "Empty Fist". And this is just the beginning, people.

As such, because my goal with this blog and the creation of Buki is to inspire people toward pursuing Hakuda just as much as they do Zanjutsu and Kidō, and understanding that you can truly become incredibly powerful as a Hakuda specialist, I plan to make Buki — when the article is fully completed — available for use to everybody on the site without the need for permission nor to give me credit for it. Expand upon my idea as you please, on your own articles of course, and move forward with your own ideas, even if you don't use Buki itself.

Conclusion
Well, this blog didn't exactly turn out as I had envisioned; mainly because it's almost... damn, 3:00 am as I am finishing it up. So it could've been longer, or more neatly written, or more descriptive...

But hey, that's what blog comments are for.

So I wanna hear some opinions, thoughts, praise, criticism, counterarguments, words of agreement, and so on and so forth. Go wild! Just try not to attack one another. I love when discussions get a bit heated and intense, but not when it just becomes a shouting match between two or more people trying to insult one another as harshly as possible.

With that, I bring this blog to a close; hoping I did accomplish my goal of making Hakuda seem more attractive to you all. --Silver-Haired Seireitou (Dosvidaniya, tovarisch.) 06:59, May 16, 2015 (UTC)