Star Trek hand-to-hand combat
Although we rarely recognize it, mythology is still a strong part of our culture. Folklore has evolved significantly, as America’s legendary heroes have been frontier hunters,
cowboys, policemen, soldiers, masked men, with capes
superheroes and sci-fi action men
like Buck Rodgers, Flash Gordon, Han Solo and
of course… Captain Kirk of the starship
Company.
Replacing Indians (the Native American kind), “Communists” and Nazis with aliens as the bad guys and foreign lands as undiscovered planets, from September 8, 1966 to September 2, 1969, Bill Shatner kicked alien butt during 79 episodes using Judo and Jujutsu from World War II.
Surprisingly, with all the advanced and advanced technology
phasers, photons and a variety of other high-tech
crap they could have used to save the day, Kirk
and his boys often returned to the
hand-to-hand combat moves they should have learned
of their great-great-great-great-great-grandparents.
(That, or in the future the military will really
bought a track and decided to start teaching what
actually works again!)
Now whether you wear pointy ears
“Trekkie” or not, definitely check out an episode
or two the next time you’re browsing Sci-Fi
channel.
You will notice that the aliens that the crew
encountered were often physically dominant and
sometimes much bigger and stronger, therefore
calling for a smarter and more effective approach
to combat that the “tedder” released wildly
punch.
While actual terms like hand-to-hand combat, martial
arts, Jujutsu or Judo were left out of the
script, the informed observer
immediately recognize where the devastating edge
of hand blows, brutal and ferocious kicks
The pitches come. In the famous episode “Arena”, Captain Kirk has
to fight an enemy’s reptilian commander
ship in one on one combat. Kirk attacks the
alien with a flurry of blows including all those
found in WWII military combat systems that
to teach.
In “Day of the Dove”, Kirk and the rest of his
the crew confronts the Klingon warriors in
hand-to-hand combat as both sides are restricted to only
their respective warrior codes as a guide.
My personal favourite, “Bread and Circuses”,
Kirk, Spock and McCoy use fists, swords and
anything and everything else they can get their hands on
technologically advanced hands-on battle
novels
Although there’s no real Vulcan neck pinch, Gene
Roddenberry and others who helped create
Star Trek were products of a generation that knew
how to fight In fact, Roddenberry himself had
experience in law enforcement and flew a B-17 in
the Pacific during World War II.
During this time, the United States Army
practiced hand-to-hand combat training based on
from what WE Fairbairn and others taught
pioneers of REAL hand-to-hand combat. After the war,
many military veterans became Hollywood stuntmen
and when the fight sequences were set up, he did what
natural wine to win a fight… His training since
current fight.
While many fight sequences from the ’60s were still
choreographed in the classic western style
bar fight, only Star Trek used these
authentic and proven combat methods in most
of his scenes.
As time passed, and the world became
“effeminate”, martial arts shown on television shows and
movies changed dramatically to appear
more impressive to the audience. After all,
no one likes to see the hero drop his opponent
only a few “ugly” moves (except maybe Austin
Power’s recent “Judo Chop”… Anyone on the brink of hand?).
No, they want high-flying cables, drunks
monkey stupidity, and ridiculous
high kicks that split the crotch of my pants.
But given a real, drag, no holds barred,
fight for your life, I’d bet my money on Kirk and
his “Crew” unlike Neo, Morpheus and the
rest of those Matrix computer geeks any day of
week. (And Kirk would have beat him up
from that lantern-wielding sissy Vader too)