The Ultimate Warrior

Hey all!

Apologies for the LONG delay in the arrival of this post. Been dealing with a lot of “IRL” stuff. Anyway, here we go!

Master of Combat

As the horseman of war, War is unmatched in combat by all except perhaps his brother, Death.  In addition to wielding a massive sword, War is also quite skilled in hand-to-hand combat (aided by his massive left gauntlet,) and firearms (wielding his brother Strife’s handgun effortlessly and with great accuracy.)  To become War we, too, must become masters of combat.  Let’s take a look at what we should look into specializing in, first.

Hand to Hand

Unarmed combat is typically the easiest to start instruction in.  With minimal required equipment with the exception of your own appendages, and more martial arts schools opening up every day, you should have an abundance of opportunities at your disposal.  Rather than recommend one specific art, instead I’m going to offer a few different recommendations for two different categories: Stand-up fighting, and grappling.  Hopefully by giving more options, I can help with your ease of starting.  Worth noting: Whatever options you go with (whether on this list or not,) should have an abundance of live practice – that is, freeform sparring and full-speed practice of skills on resisting opponents.  Use that as one of your standard metrics on the legitimacy of ANY art you decide to study.

Stand-up Recommendations

• Boxing (or Kickboxing) – Different cultures have different styles of boxing and/or kickboxing, but they all focus on practical stances and maneuvers, realistic live practice, and eschewing ceremony for practicality.  Western style boxing, Savate, Muay Thai, and various forms of kickboxing are all valid, here.
• Karate – There’s a caveat here: there are good and bad karate dojo out there.  If you can find one that does live, full-contact style sparring practice, excellent.  If all you’re doing is punching air, you’re probably wasting time.
• Krav Maga – Militarily inspired, krav maga is a great standup and self-defense style martial art.  As with karate, however, there are good and bad schools.  Krav maga has become a bit of a buzz word style art lately, so make sure you verify the quality of your instructor and school.
• Modern Hybrid Striking Arts – This covers kudo, kempo, some hapkido schools, and other striking arts that may not fit into the three categories above.  There’s a lot to pick from, just make sure you measure them according to how much time you spend actually practicing fighting, along with various forms/kata and drills.

Grappling Recommendations

• Judo – I need to give the nod to my own love, judo.  Excellent for throws, with a full suite of groundfighting and submission techniques as well, judo is a great compliment to any striking art.  With that said, modern tournament rules are a bit restrictive, and some judo schools don’t spend enough time on groundfighting, so make sure you keep that in mind when looking for a dojo.
• Brazilian Jiu Jitsu – Also a fantastic grappling art, BJJ tends to be a bit more ground-focused than judo, while judo focuses a bit more on takedowns and throws.  BJJ’s submissions are scary good, with a host of crazy joint locks and chokes.
• Wrestling – Western styles of wrestling including freestyle, Greco-Roman, and catch are all fantastic grappling arts, but you might have difficulty finding instruction if you’ve already gotten out of high school or college.  Also, the lack of emphasis on joint locks and chokes makes it a bit less well-rounded than judo or BJJ in some respects (but still very formidable.)
• Sambo – With two variants, combat and sport, Sambo is a well rounded art that also includes strikes in the combat variant.  Similar to judo, with a bit more emphasis on standup than groundwork, Sambo is an awesome art practiced by many competitive fighters.  Like wrestling, however, you might have a bit of difficulty finding schools.

Wielding a Big-Ass Sword

Note: Not a big ass sword.  That would be silly.  What would you do with a butt sword?

Once again, I’m going to offer a few recommendations, and you can take it from there!

• HEMA – My first recommendation, the Historic European Martial Arts Alliance are spreading the revival of western sword arts around the globe.  Long swords, one handed sword and shield/buckler, and many other niche styles are enjoying a big revival in popularity.  Check out https://www.hemaalliance.com/ to find a school near you.
• Kendo – Much more of an Asian flair than I would characterize War having, nevertheless Kendo is a great sword art due to their emphasis on live practice and sparring (unlike some other Asian sword arts which are almost entirely form/kata based.)  Kind of difficult to find, but a real blast if you can!  Plus I’m pretty sure War would be just as proficient with a katana as he would any other blade.
• Filipino Martial Arts – Including Arnis, Escrima, and Kali fighting styles, Filipino arts focus more on sticks than blades, however most of the maneuvers translate very well to one-handed bladed weapons.  Also, in my experience, Filipino specialists tend to go nuts for any weapon arts so a master of any of them also probably has experience in other weapons as well.

Things That Go Boom

This is an area where live practice is obviously a bit more difficult, with good reason.  Most of us are fortunate enough that we don’t enter into live fire situations on a regular basis.  With that said, if your goal is to become War, then proficiency with any weapon is a must.  Here, I have two recommendations:

• Join the Military – Seriously, this is basically the number one option here.  If you want to become War, you probably already have a military inclination anyway.  Military training, in addition to teaching you how to make things go boom will also allow you to experience a wide variety of weapons and combat situations, and tends to be a very merit-based environment.  Your branch of choice is up to you, but some sort of boots-on-the-ground branch would probably be more up War’s alley than the air or the sea.
• 3 Gun Shooting – Military’s not an option for you?  You might want to look into 3 gun shooting competitions.  You’ve probably seen the video of Keanu Reaves training for John Wick, so you might already have seen 3 gun training and not even known it! Featuring moving competition drills against stationary targets, 3 gun (as the name implies) trains you in proficiency of handguns, shotguns, and rifles in live-fire style situations.  For more info, check out: https://www.3gunnation.com/

Become Nephilim

Due to the extreme variance in appearance and abilities, it’s tough to nail down exactly what being nephilim actually entails.  Born of the union of demons and angels, they varied in size, strength, ability, and appearance.  One thing, however, unified them: Exceptional abilities, and physical attributes.  In War’s case, these manifest in a few ways.

• Sheer Determination – War doesn’t stop.  War is unrelenting.  To become War, you must cultivate determination.  Begin pushing yourself, physically and mentally.  Take cold showers.  Devote yourself to working out.  Cut all unnecessary distractions and petty items from your life.  Make a point of going outside your comfort zone on a regular basis.  Let nothing stop you from achieving your goals.
• Size and Strength – We already addressed this in The War Workout, but one of war’s attributes as a nephilim is his sheer size and strength.  In cultivating determination, stick to your workout and diet schedule.  A well-tailored physique is something that can never be given to you, you need to earn it.
• Live by a Code – War, while violent and impulsive, also lives by a pretty strict code of honor.  Take time and self-contemplation and figure out what sort of code you’d like to live by.  Write it down, memorize it, and practice it every day.  This can become part of your path of cultivating determination as well.

That’s it for The Master of War.  You’ve got a pretty long laundry list of things to accomplish and learn, here, if you want to become War.  I suggest you get to it!

See you again on Monday!  Live boldly, change the world, and continue to be awesome!

The Best Dan Wallace