Annotated Appendix: Makoto

I want to talk about Kyokushin karate for a second.

I mention in this episode that the ghost of Oyama's style hovers over this game, and I am not kidding. Ryu as a character is profoundly influenced by both Oyama and Kyokushin, and we'll get to that way down the road. Makoto, though, takes things to a granular level. Even though her fighting stance (also like Ryu's) isn't a strict Kyokushin kumite stand (in all of the series, Guile might actually be the closest), her attacks, movement, grappling, and striking look like they've been filmed inside of a dojo.

But the real tell, and something I probably should have made more of a point of in the video, is the bowing and kneeling. In a mirror match, Makoto enacts the customary salutation bow of a formal tournament: a crossover arm movement (the actual "bow") to the judge --the player, in this case-- and then one to the opponent. Contrast this to how she bows to Yun; the same arm movement, but since it's not a "sanctioned" tournament fight between two Kyokushin competitors, there's less formality.

Another cool detail is her first round win pose when she turns her back on an opponent and kneels. In tournaments, fighters are gunning for points like other forms of karate, but only a single point by incapacitating the opponent. Think of the end of The Karate Kid. Any connecting attack to the sternum or head would net a competitor a point, and best two out three wins the match. In other martial arts systems where this tournament structure stands, any old bop to the top of the noggin will net that point. After elaborate dances of blocked kicks and punches, then, lots of matches boil down to a tired person palming the other on the forehead when they didn't expect it. Not Kyokushin, where the directive is to play offensively and bulldoze until the other person literally cannot fight back. A full point, then, is when the loser is practically on their knees in pain or on their back half conscious. It goes on like this for at least three rounds until one person is dominated or the judges rule a decision.

A fighter might still get their bell rung and be able to carry on the match, though. In this odd case when someone needs a quick break, or maybe the judge needs to be sure this poor schmuck is healthy enough to carry on the bout, the other player turns around to face their teachers and kneels. It's not a sign of disrespect (at least, I never looked at it that way), but a way to let the other person catch their breath and get their shit together.

I know these things because I lived them. I know a little about the different forms of kung fu, or savate, or boxing from internet research and through the sort of Jungian-shared knowledge we all have with stuff we're interested in but have never experienced first hand. I trained in Kyokushin, though, for a few years in college and then slightly beyond. I don't train now and haven't in a long time, but it's burned into me, these bows and kneels and perfect knife hands to the temple. I won a tournament. I got my ass kicked by Japanese exchange students. I met legends of the system. This episode, and eventually Ken and Ryu, are oddly personal to me. This Footnote episode I keep threatening people with about Tekken will very much play into this, too. Look forward to that when I can get it done. Trust me that I wanted to basically make this whole episode about Kyokushin karate, but with other characters coming down the pike that have just as much to do with it --though in very different ways-- the fact that I don't bring it up every five seconds is what you might call a measured approach.

Smaller picture, though, this episode came relatively fast because like all cast members that were new to 3rd Strike, there isn't a whole ton to talk about. For extra homework, the best Makoto player in the world is likely Tominaga, a man that can do the touch of death combo about as easily as you can make a peanut butter sandwich. You can do a search YouTube for many of his exploits, and hipcat FrankieBFG has a good 3rd Strike Film Room on his play style here.

I guess it's good that we're all living through a pandemic and can't leave our houses so I could deliver you a little bit of extra entertainment sooner rather than later. I hope you like it and hope you're staying safe. The next character we'll meet is Twelve, and things are really going to get weird.