Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of having a friend, a real martial arts enthusiast, teach me Muay Thai, and the experience was nerdier than I expected. Of course, this was to be expected because my friend and I are huge fighting game nerds who duke it out on a first-to-5 deathmatch during some weekday nights. But what I didn’t expect was how much of my fighting game know-how would transfer to learning martial arts.
My friend even made a few allegories relating to fighting games, which made the entire experience easier to digest. Although I’m not exactly a master after my first session, here are just a few similarities I found.
Mindset
I’m just going to get ahead of the thoughts running through your head, no, I was not doing drive rushes, wavedashes, hadoukens, or electrics. Although a few of the common moves, like jabs and question-mark kicks, were present, I fear I don’t have the Mishima blood in me. What did transfer over was the mindset I had before, after, and during every fight.
One of the first things my friend taught during our session was intent. When you’re learning a fighting game, the fastest way to improve is by reviewing your replays. You have to figure out what worked, what didn’t, and then ask yourself why it worked in the first place. This is the principle of intent.
It’s important to note that in martial arts and in fighting games, Intention doesn’t start in round 1; it has to start even before you get in the ring. Conditioning your mind with the intent of winning and carrying that intention on your back can propel you forward in ways no other physical prep can.
A mindset shift that helped me break out of my losing streak on the ranked ladder was the realization that I had never entered a match with the intention of winning. Sure, I intended to study my opponent and break them down piece by piece, but as I focused too much on my opponent’s game plan, I forgot about my own. Learning that the same principle applied to martial arts helped me break down every move I was taught.
The Neutral
It absolutely blew my mind how the neutral triangle existed in some form in real life. I’ve written an article before expressing my love for the neutral game, but it was a completely different beast seeing it unfold before my very eyes. There were specific moves used to keep opponents out, the preferred spacing during a match, and how to rush down your opponent. Of course, there are still some glaring differences. In video games, we had frame data and a larger field of view to react to things, but the slap that sent my glasses flying sure wasn’t 10 frames fast.
Fighting games also helped me appreciate the use of jabs and how they’re (mostly) used in real life for the same reason you would in fighting games: space control and conditioning. My good friend taught me Muay Thai the same way you would a dance, with counting, movement, and a focus on tempo. Dictating your tempo, claiming space, and conditioning your opponent with your jabs and pokes are fundamental ways to get in and start your offense. In fact, my entire first session of martial arts boiled down to mastering something as simple as a jab. I was giggling the entire time because suddenly the time spent reading that 20-page document about jabs in Tekken was all worth it.
The Culture
But above all else, Tekken and other fighting games helped me appreciate the culture surrounding fighting. I mean, it’s in the name, martial arts. It’s meant to be an art, perfected and appreciated by enthusiasts down to the slightest feint. My teacher had such a burning passion for the history and stories surrounding martial arts that it made me appreciate everything the Tekken team and other fighting game developers have done to make sure martial arts representation remains consistent. From Jin Kazama’s Kyokushin Karate to Fahkumram’s Muay Thai, every move was true to the source (not counting Mishima Karate, of course).
Aside from the increased appreciation for martial arts, fighting games have also taught me that there is humility before glory. No amount of virtual practice mode can ever get you prepared for the feeling of being slapped in the face or being flailed around like a ragdoll, but my time with fighting games taught me that this is all part of the process.
So, for anyone who is a fan of fighting games, I highly recommend you start practicing martial arts in real life, too. Because while fighting games served as the springboard I needed to understand martial arts, practicing martial arts could also give me the tools to excel in fighting games. It’s a win-win!