Character NameShuto
Age21
RaceHuman
GenderMale
OccupationPrizefighter
Height6’3”
WeightAround 200 pounds
Hair ColorBlack
Eye ColorHazel
AppearanceTall, slender and fairly handsome, with boyish features that rarely betray much emotion but seemingly perpetual calm and confidence, Shuto doesn’t necessarily come across as a hardened fighter at first sight. His typical outfit, a casual two piece white suit ensemble with black shoes and no tie, also strays from the usually more colorful martial artist fare, but his well-toned physique and the myriad of small scars and conditioning marks on his frame are proof positive of his dedication to his chosen path.
PersonalityThough well educated, fairly eloquent and clearly mindful of how he presents himself, the truth is that Shuto is beyond caring much about social norms or how most people see him. A devil-may-care rogue out to carve his own path through life relying on no one but himself, he seems to face his trials and tribulations with a cavalier attitude and he’s also headstrong, confident and generally unwilling to back away from provocation.
Having found his calling in the martial arts, the young man values them beyond measure. Most any martial subject makes him visibly energetic and he takes any opportunity to observe, study and learn enthusiastically, though this also translates into a fairly elitist attitude that can see him write off and be very critical towards anything he believes to be substandard practices. In particular, trying to bullshit martial knowledge around him is ill advised as is, god forbid, making a mockery of the arts.
BackgroundShuto has no great tragedy that pushed him towards a life of fighting, no tale of overcoming poverty and hardship through blood, sweat and tears. In fact, his family is really quite well off and generally defined by constant success. His father is a wealthy industrialist, his mother was an acclaimed actress, his oldest brother may well expand the family business with his own ventures and the middle sister is an accomplished pianist. Shuto never lacked for anything growing up and was always encouraged to find something he would stand out in, though he was also pushed relentlessly to excel at all costs in a strangely stifling form of nurture.
Well, the meek and obedient runt of the family found his calling at an early age, when an argument with an older, larger boy turned into a fistfight that Shuto miserably lost. That sparked something in him and he started looking into fighting, any form of fighting, something that had never had much presence in the household. He started with sporting disciplines, having watched the occasional boxing match with his dad before, expanded into reading up on other disciplines and traditional schools, then he bought a complete video collection of the World Martial Arts Tournament and he knew this was it. This was what he wanted to do.
Though it did not fit their social circles at all and none of them had the slightest interest in the martial arts, Shuto’s family raised no concerns about his choice nor did they try to dissuade him. They were actually extremely supportive and genuinely happy that he had found something he could dedicate himself to. And by golly, if he was going to learn how to fight then he was going to learn from the best and be the best, but since they didn’t know what school would be the best option, however, an entire team of proven experts was assembled to instruct Shuto in the finer points of combat. If you think he had it easy, think again.
What followed were long, grueling years of mind numbingly endless training and near total dedication to the craft. Multiple coaches each seeking to impart their own skills and demanding perfection, while others worked to balance the physical and mental aspects and others still attempted to guide Shuto’s development along to a sum total that would perfectly suit him. It was difficult, many would call demanding so much of a child inhumane, but the young fighter took to it like a fish to water. He loved every second of it, enjoyed the grind, the struggle, the pain and the exhilaration of it all, and he learned fast and well.
By the time he was out of highschool Shuto was fairly well known in Central City as the bane of combative delinquents and a sort of modern day dojo crasher, famed for issuing challenges to martial arts schools and gyms to test himself. When he easily took first place in the Central Valley Shootfight Championship, his family and coaches were at last satisfied. He had learned as much as he could in such an environment, now it was time for him to step out into the wild and grow on his own, it was time to seek out challenges and prove himself in the world stage.
Power Level910
Ki ColorTransparent
Fighting StyleTechniques
- Maai: Shuto is a skilled defensive outfighter owing to his excellent control of maai, a concept that translates to “interval” and encapsulates the dynamics of the engagement distance in combat. Shuto is skilled at controlling the space between himself and his opponents, being capable of reading the time it takes them to cover the distance as well as angles and rhythms of their options of attack and how they relate to his own abilities.
- Ju: The concept of “softness” or flexibility and yielding, entailing manipulating the opponent’s force and energy rather than trying to confront it with one’s own. Aside from being skilled in its more mundane grappling applications of throws, trips, sweeps and general redirection and body control, Shuto can more readily divert ki attacks employed against him than others.
- Hakkei: The concept of explosive power, not specific to any particular striking method but rather a focus on effectively generating, maximizing and releasing the energy of an attack, with perhaps its highest expression being the power generation behind the one inch punch. Rather than blast beams or work in exaggerated rapid fire combinations, Shuto prefers focusing on landing clean, simple but explosively powerful blows at all striking ranges.
