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lack of resistance, thereby throwing or tripping him. This
helps train stylists at balance and at knocking over foes with
a shove.
In combat, the T’ai Chi Chuan fighter normally takes Wait
maneuvers, lets his foe attack first, and makes good use of
Stop Hit (p. 108) and Riposte (pp. 124-125). He wards off his
assailant with parries, then grabs him and applies a lock.
Typical follow-ups to locks are throws, takedowns, and
strikes. The stylist might instead use a shove to take down an
off-balance opponent or to set up an adversary for a low-line
kick, punch, or throw. All-Out and Committed Attacks are
rare.
Cinematic T’ai Chi Chuan is especially powerful. This is
mainly due to its emphasis on chi abilities. The GM should
allow cinematic stylists to replace Sumo Wrestling with Push
on the style’s skill list.
Traditional T’ai Chi Chuan includes weapon forms for the
dao, jian, spear, and staff. Some schools add the combat fan
and slashing wheel. Like the art’s unarmed forms, its weapon
techniques are smooth, flowing, and deceptively relaxed.
Most modern schools teach Combat Art versions of weapon
skills, when they offer them at all.
Skills: Breath Control; Judo; Judo Art; Karate; Sumo
Wrestling.
Techniques: Arm Lock; Hammer Fist; Sweep (Judo,
Karate, or Sumo Wrestling).
Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Mental Strength;
Pressure Points; Pressure Secrets; Push.
Cinematic Techniques: Pressure-Point Strike; Roll with
Blow.
Perks: Unusual Training (Push, May not step or move
while doing so).
Optional Traits
Advantages: Forceful Chi; Inner Balance; Perfect Balance.
Skills: Autohypnosis; Broadsword; Broadsword Art;
Knife; Knife Art; Meditation; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Spear;
Spear Art; Staff; Staff Art.
Techniques: Push Kick.
T’ai Chi
2 points
T’ai Chi is a meditative version of T’ai Chi Chuan
(pp. 200-201). T’ai Chi practitioners – unlike T’ai Chi
Chuan stylists – throw all strikes completely without
force and rarely if ever practice against an opponent.
Such training imparts no effective striking ability.
Few schools offer push-hands practice. Weapons
training, if any, teaches Combat Art skills exclusively.
Skills: Judo Art.
Cinematic Skills: Immovable Stance; Push.
Cinematic Techniques: Roll with Blow.
Optional Traits
Skills: Autohypnosis; Breath Control; Broadsword
Art; Knife Art; Meditation; Savoir-Faire (Dojo); Spear
Art; Staff Art.
TAIHOJUTSU
6 points
Japan’s Tokugawa period was an era of growing state
control. Police were called on to rein in unruly ronin and
samurai, who were often armed and sometimes dangerous.
In the capital, Edo, this led to a larger police force trained in
refined tactics for capturing criminals. Foremost among
their methods was Taihojutsu, a martial art aimed at quickly
disarming a resisting adversary and rendering him helpless
without causing permanent injury or death.
Taihojutsu’s signature weapon was the jutte, which was
capable of parrying swords, disarming, and striking without
inflicting bloody cuts like a sword would. The jutte was so
closely identified with Taihojutsu that it became as much a
symbol of authority as a weapon. Other Taihojutsu weapons
included the kusarijutte, sasumata, and sodegarami (“sleeve
catcher”). Chain- and truncheon-type weapons were popular
because they were difficult if not impossible for a sword
to break, and could disarm a sword-wielding foe. For more
on these weapons, see Chapter 6.
The goal of Taihojutsu was to disable or capture the
opponent without causing serious harm. Almost anything
that accomplished this was acceptable. For instance,
Taihojutsu-trained officers occasionally carried metsubushi
(p. 220) and used them to blow blinding powder in the target’s
face to make him easier to apprehend. Training also
emphasized group tactics – officers worked in pairs or in
small teams to surround a suspect, rapidly disarm him, and
tie him up. Because of this emphasis on capture, Defensive
Attacks and such techniques as Disarming and Targeted
Attacks on limbs were common. Grapples tended to be a
prelude to a takedown or an Arm Lock.
Taihojutsu included Hojojutsu: the art of tying up suspects
with rope (frequently using elaborate knots). This usually
followed a pin or an Arm Lock that prevented the
detainee from resisting effectively. Cinematic practitioners
can use the Binding technique to truss opponents in combat
without restraining them first!
Taihojutsu was unique to Tokugawa-era Japan. The style
is extinct today, although some of its component weapon
skills remain. See Styles for Cops (p. 145) for notes on modern
police styles.
Skills: Jitte/Sai; Judo; Knot-Tying; Kusari; Staff.
Techniques: Bind Weapon (Jitte/Sai); Disarming (Jitte/Sai
or Kusari); Entangle (Kusari); Hook (Staff); Targeted Attack
(Jitte/Sai Swing/Arm); Targeted Attack (Kusari Swing/Arm).
Cinematic Skills: Mental Strength; Pressure Points.
Cinematic Techniques: Binding; Pressure-Point Strike;
Snap Weapon (Jitte/Sai).
Perks: Form Mastery (Kusarijutte); Style Adaptation
(Kusarijutsu); Teamwork (Taihojutsu); Technique
Adaptation (Disarming).
Optional Traits
Advantages: Enhanced Parry (Jitte/Sai).
Disadvantages: Duty; Sense of Duty (Innocent Civilians).
Skills: Blowpipe; Polearm.
Perks: Weapon Bond, usually to a jutte.
STYLES 201