Even if you are not an anime fan, you must have at least come across the word Naruto. Naruto is an immensely popular anime originating from Japan and is widely popular all over the world. It is about a young, talentless boy who wants to become the strongest ninja in the world, a world which is constantly under threat from unknown forces hell-bent on destroying it. Naruto is an action-packed anime where a ninja or a “Shinobi” in Japanese, uses his or her body’s energy reserves called Chakra to perform miraculous feats. While creating illusions (Genjutsu) and manipulating natural forces (Ninjutsu) are common, since it is a tale of warriors, the focus that the anime gives most to is to close quarters combat aka Taijutsu. There are five major Ninja Villages, each associated with the element of fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning. There are also smaller, lesser known villages like the Village hidden in the rain and the Village hidden in the sound. And trust us there are a lot of Taijutsu fighting styles in Naruto that could be considered the pinnacle of martial arts. Presenting – 10 incredibly powerful Martial Arts Techniques in Naruto that can make you a God!!
Four Legs Technique
This is a technique practiced by the Inuzuka Clan, a clan that uses dogs as fighting companions and hail from the Leaf Village. They were inspired by their canine pals to develop a technique that also allows them to operate on all four limbs like a dog. Typically, a ninja relies on its two legs that are boosted up by chakra to give him or her additional speed. But when you surround your entire body with chakra and use all four of your limbs, your speed is doubled. This technique essentially makes the user a blur in the eyes of the enemy since he will be moving too fast for an average human eye to follow. It is best suited for hit and run tactics.
Chakra Enhanced Strength
This technique relies on brute force and pinpoints chakra control to be executed properly. The only two practitioners of this technique are Sakura and Tsunade. Training for achieving mastery in Chakra Enhanced Strength is quite simple yet extremely difficult. The trick is to control your chakra flow to the point that you can release it right at the point of time when you punch an object. If the chakra is released from your kick or punch at the correct time, it can cause extreme damage. Tsunade, a Medical Ninja, known for her monstrous level of strength, extensively used this technique in combat that sent her opponents flying. Sakura is also an expert in this form of Taijutsu although relying on just Brute Force has proved troublesome for its users quite a number of times.
Acrobat
A unique and highly dangerous close combat sword fighting style that uses Killer B’s extensive knowledge of human anatomy, Acrobat is the pinnacle of a fighting style called Disturbance Taijutsu. The basis of this technique is using multiple movements simultaneously to make your actual intention unpredictable, leaving the opponent open to an attack from his blind-spot. Acrobat has helped Killer B develop a seven sword fighting style that is so deadly even a Sharingan, an ability that allows its user to accurately predict opponent movements, is unable to anticipate from which direction the next strike might be coming from.
Silent Killing
Introduced to the anime fans in Naruto’s first true Ninja mission in the Land of Waves, Silent Killing is a swordsman technique primarily practiced by Ninjas hailing from the Village Hidden in the Water. This technique allows a sword wielder to cloak his movements to the point that he makes absolutely no noise while moving around. As a result, not even a Ninja’s heightened senses will be able to sense the incoming danger. Silent Killing is supposedly so dangerous and lethal that there are stories about the target not even realizing his neck has been slit up until the blood starts filling up his lungs. It is called Silent Killing not because of the silent movements of the Ninja but due to the fact that the target dies silently, without a single scream.
Iaido
In a world of Ninjas that use Chakra to perform godlike feats, there is a small country that still relies on the out-dated ways of the Samurai. The Land of Iron has managed to survive relying on the Way of the Samurai because they adapted their swordsmanship skills to keep up with the times. The most deadly ability of Samurais hailing from the Land of Iron is Iaido, a technique that is the kryptonite of any ninja. To perform any technique, a Ninja requires to do hand seals in order to access his own chakra. That leaves a small time gap which a Samurai can exploit. Using Iaido, a Samurai eliminates all unnecessary movements, slashes his sword after taking it out of its scabbard and puts it back in a matter of seconds. Iaido makes full use of the time gap to perform hand seals and is very effective.
Gentle Fist
It is a fighting technique that is unique to the Hyuga Clan, wielders of a special ability called the Byakugan. The Byakugan allows them to see everything. Apart from granting them a 360-degree vision, it also allows them to peek into different electromagnetic spectrums. They also possess the ability to view the chakra pathway system in any human being. The Gentle Fist fighting technique allows a Hyuga to target the tenketsu points in the chakra pathway system. A simple tap is enough to inject enough chakra to shut down the chakra flow, incapacitating the enemy. Because of the chakra pathway system’s close proximity to vital organs, this technique can be also used lethally by targeting internal organs. All it takes is one simple tap on the chest to stop someone’s heart or shut down someone’s respiratory organs.
Strong Fist
Strong Fist is the exact opposite of Gentle Fist. While the latter uses fluid movements that use minimal effort to perform and cause internal damage, Strong Fits is based on extremely energy taxing movements that are intended to break bones and cause external damage. Strong Fist requires a lot of dedication to be mastered since the amount of physical conditioning that the training will make one be put through is really gruelling. Strong Fist is flashy to look at but has been found to be very efficient at what it does. Might Guy, Rock Lee and Metal Lee are three known users of this martial arts style.
Frog Kata
Once Naruto completed his training under the Toad Sage at Mount Myoboku, he gained the ability to absorb and manipulate Natural energy, a technique that allowed him to enter into Sage Mode. When in Sage Mode, Naruto can use Frog Kata, literally meaning Frog fighting style. Using Frog Kata, Naruto takes advantage of his enhanced physical attributes of speed, strength, durability, and reflexes to defeat any opponent. The technique also surrounds Naruto with an invisible aura not even visible to the Rinnegan, an ability that was once the greatest skill of the Sage of the Six Paths – the One True Ninja God. Frog Kata also allows Naruto to dodge attacks at the very last second and use extremely skillful bodily movements in combat.
Shikotsumyaku
Shikotsumyaku is the fighting style unique to the Kaguya Clan. Kimimaro, in his fight against Rock Lee, showed us just how deadly his clan’s martial arts skills were. Shikotsumyaku makes use of the Kaguya Clan’s ability to manipulate their skeletal structure, helping them generate an endless supply of bones by directing chakra into them. The Kaguya Clan were very infamous and were considered legendary fighters because of this fighting style. The fighting style was extremely versatile, and turned each user into a living fortress that could not only use their super strong bones to defend himself by using them as shields but also attack, using deadly bone blades formed out of their own skeletons.
Drunken Fist
What happens when you take a guy who is considered a Taijustu legend, make him drink alcohol and leave everyone at his mercy? That is what led Rock Lee to develop drunken fist, a fighting technique that takes advantage of Rock Lee’s extremely low alcohol tolerance level. One sip of alcohol and Lee cheeks go red and he gets into his Drunken Fist mode. In this mode, his movements are completely erratic. No one in this whole wide world can predict what Lee would do next in his intoxicated state. Drunken Fist also makes Lee very belligerent than normal. Even adept Taijutsu users like Might Guy and Kimimaro struggled relentlessly to get the upper hand and failed.
