Sup. Wanted to talk about the this girl’s mad butt kicking skills. What popped this into my brain was seeing that the consensus seems to be she’s good, but no titan of hand to hand fighting. I think I re blogged a text post about that recently. Anyway, I am here to try and give as much credit as I can to this wonderful character. I remember seeing talk a few years ago that she was all flash and no actual skill and that I must simply refute.
So I’d like to start off with the fact that Asami does not take a hit.Like the entire show. No one punches her, kicks her, or even lands a bending shot on her. Which makes sense, physically she’s not a tank. So if she took a brick to the ribs, that would probably knock her out of the fight entirely whereas people like Korra and Bolin can take those hits. As a non bender, this is really the only way anyone could fight benders, supper aggressive and risky tactics.
We know that as a kid and young adult, Asami took self defense training. Against folks with knives and fists is one thing, but against walking flamethrowers, there’s more of an issue. One most of the non benders of the avatar series have demonstrated the ability to deal with. There only chance really is to close the distance towards their target rapidly, and hit in such a way that stuns, or flat out knocks the target out. We see this with Ty lee, Suki, and Asami. Suki being very comparable to Asami I think.
Because getting hit isn’t an option. So they are forced to be super risky, and learn to be more agile then strong. Because of this, Asami is the nimblest fighter of the show, dodging and weaving around hits with the grace of a dancer. She’d be a rocking pro bender I can say that much. Against equalists, red lotus and and the soldiers of the earth empire, we observe Asami avoiding physical attacks, as well as shots from benders.
Acrobatics are also a huge part of how she fights. If she was not a gymnast at some point in her life I’d be very surprised. She flips like an Olympic athlete, making her very hard to hit. This right here is huge in combat is it not? This alone makes her a very dangerous opponent because it’s so hard just to lay a finger on her. And its something we don’t see other characters do, with the exception of airbenders.
The above engagement is a great example. From the second she appears, she’s constantly moving, constantly closing the distance. She moves with purpose. The second she entered this room she knew in her mind how she was going to take this guy out. Then once she’s close enough to use her glove, it’s over. Again this is a super risky way to fight as if he’d hit her, that would be it. High risk, high reward. She’s learned to fight around tactics that mean you hit hard enough that you don’t have to hit twice.
And let’s remember the times she sprinting towards dudes on motorcycles without hesitation, jumped clear over the bike and the people, zapping one and taking his weapon. And again when she flipping scissor kicked a dude going probably over 20mph in the opposite direction. That’s some straight Black Widow level fighting. And I think that’s actually a great comparison. Both are very tactical fighters. They lay out their path and strategy before the fight starts whereas I’d say most other fighters improvise in the moment, relying on their skill and instincts, whereas fighters like Asami are deliberate and methodical.
It’s all about momentum. It reminds me alot of how Faith from the mirrors edge series fights.
Neither are muscular, at least not in a physically domineering kind of way. Both are fit and lean. As such, going into a fist fight with a 300 pound brute is not a good idea. On top of that both encounter people with ranged weapons which they don’t have themselves. And so they fight like bullets. Sprinting or twirling towards their opponent, using their built up momentum as their greatest assets, taking out one target before keeping the momentum up and moving on to the next. In Asami’s case, she just has to make it to the person cause one touch from her glove ends the fight, but without it, it stands to reason she would fight very similarly to Faith, throwing her entire weight into the blow. Asami fights smart, because she knows she can’t out power her enemies. So yes, when someone says she couldn’t take Korra, I’d say that’s true in a boxing ring or an MMA match. But in a real fight, Asami can use the environment and her speed to a huge advantage. Asami is incredibly skilled, but she has honed these skills in a world that sets her at an immediate disadvantage. She has to fight smarter then a bender, and she’s proven she is very capable of doing so. I’d also like to point out most fighters in the avatar universe kind of meet each other head to head, or circle each other. There isn’t much backing off, unless your an airbender. The best way to take someone like Asami would be to start backpedaling and taking her at range. But no one does, cause I think most of the fighters we see are not use to fighting someone like her. They think “Oh a nonbender.” but then she just bolts straight for em and they try to take her head on and it clearly doesn’t work.
So when people say she’s not the best fighter in the show, they’re right. But she is one of the most tactical and focused. And if you asked me who would win in a straight fight with her, I’d put my money on her. She’s demonstrated to be very difficult to hit, and she only needs to hit you once. I’d be interested to see her without her glove, and having to subdue a target physically. I say she has all the ingredients to be able to do that in a similar way to Faith or Black Widow. Just a theory though as we never see her without her glove.
Like I said, I just want to give her credit. In my own humble opinion, she’s an incredible fighter, and she’s clearly worked to become as skilled as she is. Like I said, if she and Korra were sparring or straight up fighting, and they arrived on equal footing and Asami couldn’t build up speed, yes she’d lose. Outside of that, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Asami come out on top. Wink wink.
In fact let me rewind. When people say she’s not the best fighter in the show, I would ask in what situation? Cause if she’s a few yards away or has cover, then I’m daring to say she’s one of the best. Can you imagine if she was a bender? She’d be incredible especially if she stuck with these tactics. And she’d do it all without messing up her hair.
With that, I’ll leave on the note that this was my face every time she got a chance to show off and actually fight.
Wow, I don’t even know how to respond to this! This is absolutely fantastic :D.
i'll apple your turnover 