What The Heck Is Ansatsuken?

[@carljameson3082]

My favorite bit of Street Fighter lore is that Ansatsuken is supposed to be this legendary fighting style that only the most worthy can learn, but then some random high schooler mastered it in a few months with no teacher just by obsessively watching Ryu fight

[@barnacle1505]

I think it's fun to chalk that up largely to Sakura being an absolute freak beast

[@KarmasAB123]

Sakura is just the Neji Hyuga of Street Fighter.

[@ezronco.8671]

She can also access the satsui no hado just by being suntanned. I think sakura just has gohan levels of potential.

[@falconeshield]

And here I thought that you meant an actual student

[@lightningjadejavier]

It's basically like Ryu: the guy that had a teacher and learned the true way of karate Meanwhile sakura: the girl who's poor and watched a few karate videos

[@literaldeville5382]

To be more specific, Ryu's style is modern day Kyokushin mixed with Shotokan's spacing tools and the more esoteric aspects of Shorinji Kempo and Shaolin Kung-Fu, Akuma's style is closer to traditional hard-body Kyokushin (which means that a number of his techniques look like they came out of an old-school martial arts movie), Ken's style is a more modern hybrid of traditional Kyokushin and Shotokan with boxing, kickboxing and Taekwondo techniques, largely influenced famous kickboxer Benny "the Jet" Urquidez (he's most well known for fighting Jackie Chan *twice*) and Gouken is, as you said, a traditional Shorinji master who uses soft-style defensive techniques and patience instead of Akuma's hard-style techniques and aggressive in-fighting. This even extends to Sakura and Sean. Sakura's a relatively traditional Ansatsuken practitioner like Ryu (because she just copied his style), so their styles are almost identical save for the fact that Sakura's a young woman who lacks Ryu's raw strength and conditioning, something she's taken into account by instead focusing more on kicks than punches and using speed more than raw strength. Sean, meanwhile, is a further evolution of Ken's branch of Ansatsuken, integrating 90s MMA tactics (the ground and pound, the wrestling moves, the Dutch low kicks and the headbutts) into Ansatsuken in much the same way that Ken combined Ansatsuken and kickboxing techniques to create his own style, though it has to be said that Sean does this to mixed results.

[@alexlovehall7796]

I love this description. Some of this I know tho I also just learned a few new things as well

[@buns9022]

Still doesn't stop me from wanting Sean in SF6 SEAN TACKLE OP.

[@literaldeville5382]

@@buns9022 Oh same here. I want Sean to come back and actually be cool. Yes, I get that Luke exists and he's got a similar gimmick, but my argument is that MMA isn't homogenous and it's always cool to see evolutionary branches of a martial art and look at how they pan out. Luke could be contemporary 2020s MMA, and Sean could represent 90s MMA at its most refined, a la Silva, Adesanya and Kazushi Sakuraba.

[@literaldeville5382]

Sorry for sounding pretentious.

[@lessylvestre5901]

@@buns9022 Sean should get more love man.. it's like they have made Luke what Sean was supposed to be.

[@DrWhobertCh]

A.B.I. be like "Hey want to see a cool video about karate" *Ends in spiritual enlightenment*

[@WBRI_Brianless]

It’s Ryu’s original style (do not steal)

[@nexrex3042]

Sakura Kasugano enter the chat

[@notimeforcreativenamesjust3034]

@@nexrex3042 fuckin tracer

[@realssanne]

Shoto archetype enters the chat

[@Blu_Moon_VA]

Coldsteel the Martial Art

[@ripplecutter233]

​@@Blu_Moon_VA Akuma: teleports behind you *Nothing personnel, kid*

[@fiendfi7119]

gotta love how almost every character uses a real world martial arts style except for the main character/poster boy of the franchise

[@blackpurple9163]

Skills: Can sleep anywhere Guess there's a Ryu in all of us

[@akiraishin7141]

You know, being Hispanic I sometimes forget just how entwined some Asian influence is on my culture, but when you said "Karateka" my first thought was "Why the hell is he referring to Ryu with a Spanish word?". Immediately remembering where the word comes from

[@zonk834]

The good thing about being a Spanish speaker is that Japanese pronunciation is very similar thus easy to hear/vocalize

[@kagamiyagami7321]

@@zonk834 We got genkidama in dragon ball instead of Spirit bomb!

[@AofCastle]

​@@zonk834 always funny to hear English people struggling with the pronunciation of Japanese words when it feels so easy for me thanks to my native language being spanish.

[@akiraishin7141]

@@AofCastle 100%

[@Tinil0]

He pronounced it slightly wrong in this video though. He stressed the third syllable, which is wrong. It's pronounced "kah-rah-tay-kah" with equal stress on each syllable throughout. Which is a bit amusing, it reminds me of the 80s and 90s back when no one actually knew Japanese words and either put stress on the second or third syllable ("Kuh-RAH-teh-kah" or "Kah-rah-TEK-uh" like he said in this video) or came up with wilder tries with no guidance ("CARE-uh-TEE-kuh")

[@csilver819]

3:30 Absolutely buckwild seeing a martial arts form I actively know, practice, and teach in a KZbin video about martial arts in Street Fighter.

[@wounded_edge]

So you're saying the answer lies... in the heart of battle?

[@kevinmalone4341]

You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.

[@handlessuck589]

The answer lies in the heart of battle.

[@ultralowspekken]

Prepare to strike. Now.

[@danielchin4198]

TRIUMPH OR DIE

[@chenierderrick]

👏 nice !

[@pyra4eva]

Individuality within styles isn't talked about as much by people "not in the know". Not everyone is going to be the same practicing the same things. We all have different bodies and minds so things will ultimately be different. Ryu is a traditionalist and represents the respect for his elders that make him a good Japanese boy. He is about balance and learning all the 'proper' aspects of the fighting style. Gouken fits into the idea of a man who has seen what violence can do, the devastation is can bring, and is trying to help people forge a different path. It's a Japanese sentiment that connects to the pain and devastation still felt from the war to this day. Akuma is that untethered warrior. The 'evil' that can overtake a person that stops seeing others as living beings worthy of living regardless of their differences. The very thing that the Japanese would point to as to why they ended up in the position they did during the war. Ken is your typical maverick American that is more into innovation than tradition. We have to keep in mind that these games are from a Japanese lens first and foremost. So with those personalities alone, there would be difference with how they practice the style and what moves they would find 'important'. Adding in Sakura, she's a teenage girl so she has to deal with challenges specific to her physical form. Her chi isn't as strong because she's still a child so she has to deal with the fact that she can't cover the whole screen with a fireball so she has to adapt to shoot it in various directions to help keep physically stronger opponents away. Her momentum is going to help her get the force that she needs so that's why her moves show her pushing across the screen. Yes, there is overlap. Where Sakura learns to throw a fireball in different directions because of her limitations, Akuma does it because it helps put constant pressure on an enemy. He also has short and long range fireballs for the same reason. The short ones are supposed to be more powerful too. Ryu and Ken have to learn how to shoot their fireballs in various directions because they fight M. Bison who can fly. They all have similar techniques that are bred from very different places and that's why they all seem to have different damage values and ranges for the same technique. It's also why Ken might use kicks more often than the others. Americans associate kicks with knowing martial arts way more than they associate a good punch so Ken gets used to throwing more kicks than Ryu. Sakura physical difference could also be why she will do more kicks than Ryu too. Women can generate more power from their hips than their shoulders where men have it the other way around. It also creates distance which helps Sakura keep stronger opponents away and helps Ken style on some fools with a well placed fireball. I say a lot of this because my older brother and I both practiced shotokan and we had different ways of using the techniques we learned. My brother would throw out kicks to create distance or test for openings so he could go in with a flurry of punches where I used kicks since they were my strongest attack and I would also use them to create distance since my arms were primarily used for blocking my head and body from attacks since my punches weren't as strong. We both knew how to do the various punches and kicks but we applied them very differently. Most people he went up against are similar in body size but most of the people I went up against were bigger than me. That made it where we developed very different styles of fighting even with learning the same techniques. We would talk about stuff like that which also made it easier for us when we went up against other people. It helped us analyze why people would choose a punch over a kick or vice versa. It made us better. Same principle can be applied to fighting games as well I think.

[@dawsonzahnley4652]

Thank you for this comment, I am happier for having read it

[@TheEndKing]

Hey man, is it possible for us to get spacing and new paragraphs? That would help with this comment quite a bit.

[@LordZemosa]

Dope comment

[@samuelb4944]

Great comment

[@nkopanelesedilebona9227]

"Karate is not a game. It is not a sport. It is not even a system of self-defense. Karate is half physical exercise and half spiritual. The karateist who has given the necessary years of exercise and meditation is a tranquil person. He is unafraid. He can even be calm in a burning building." - Mas Oyama I think what causes the confusion is that although Ryu doesn't really use any strict kind of karate and his movelist seems like just an amalgamation of moves from different Japanese martial arts, he is very much based off of the founder of Kyokushinkai karate as a character, Masutatsu Oyama, as well as the fictionalised version of the man from the anime/manga, Karate Baka Ichidai. This goes down to the Kyokushin similarities you've noticed in Ryu's movelist and physique, as well as Ryu's win quotes and the philosophy and ideals he represents, his character concept and premise (wandering warrior persona) and even his rivalry with Sagat, a Muay Thai fighter as since it's inception, Kyokushin practitioners have tried to prove the effectiveness of their style by challenging Muay Thai fighters. Even some of Ryu's character artwork pays homage to images of Masutatsu Oyama.

[@DarkOverlord96]

01:12 Unrelated to the video in general but I still find it funny how that's apparently the reason why they swapped the names for Bison, Vega and Balrog because, at the end of the day, "Vega" is an extremely fitting and better name for a Spanish character than Balrog, since "Vega" is both an actual Spanish word and name.

[@FamilyTeamGaming]

It's also because Boxer in Japan was called M. Bison (what we in the West call Balrog aka Dictator)... a pretty unwise thing copyright wise, since he looks so similar to Mike Tyson already, so to give him such a similar name...

[@NeoBoneGirl]

I'm almost certain that that info is wrong because the most commonly cited reason is that they thought naming their black boxing character "Mike Bison" was not a wise move

[@thomasthecoolkid7228]

​@@NeoBoneGirl Also, wasn't there a whole controversy with Mike Tyson at the time?

[@mindwarp42]

​@@thomasthecoolkid7228 Yes. Tyson was convicted of rape in 1992. That was the actual reason for the name swaps in SF 2 (and why he was removed from Punch-Out on later console ports), as Boxer is blatantly a Tyson expy. Capcom USA was very mindful and cautious of how American audiences might perceive stuff, and Tyson's problems were very well known by the American public back then. The fact that westerners most likely wouldn't know of the Tanabata mythos and what Vega represents in Japan and that Balrog doesn't quite fit Claw for anyone familiar with Lord of the Rings were just incidental bonuses.

[@Micha-Hil]

ez Boxer = "Bison" Claw = "Balrog" Dictator = "M. Vega"

[@kyuketsukirook]

Kyokushin is also the martial art that inspired the fictional KyokuGEN karate, which is what Ryo, Robert, Yuri, and Takuma use in Art of Fighting/KOF.

[@naheemquattlebaum2267]

Kyokushin makes sense considering the Kyouguken (Art of Fighting) Style is based on it.

[@BknMoonStudios]

And much like real Kyokushin, Ryo's Kyokugen is mostly focused on close combat and encourages muscle building.

[@nkopanelesedilebona9227]

Kyokugenryu does a much better job of outright representing the physicality of Kyokushinkai, shown through all of its practitioners (Ryo, Takuma, Marco/Khushnood) and Ryu represents the philosophy of Kyokushin and acts as a sort of homage for its founder, Masutautsu Oyama.

[@naheemquattlebaum2267]

@@nkopanelesedilebona9227 👍🏾 agreed!

[@Shindenize]

@@nkopanelesedilebona9227 Also, it shows how much like Kyokushin, Kyokugen-ryu showcases how actual Karate-do dojo systems are handled and evolve in the real setting, and even include the struggles within it such as Takuma's attempts on keeping the Kyokugen-ryu school afloat.

[@MrKarate_11]

@@nkopanelesedilebona9227 OSU !

[@BaldEaglePC]

My inner Karate nerd is so pleased with this episode. You really did your homework, A.B.I. and I'm super hyped about the proper Karate style-select (mostly for Jean Kujo's kickass Ashihara/Enshin)

[@ASentientToaster]

Seeing a breakdown of the Street Fighter 3 moves just makes me appreciate how beautifully designed and animated the sprites are. Edit: Just wanted to say this was a fantastic breakdown as always.

[@Grogeous_Maximus]

I keep hoping for every new SF to be a "SF 3 II"

[@boop395]

@@Grogeous_Maximus More like sf3-(3)-2 lol

[@endlesspath250]

Wow. You just opened my eyes to a new side to this side of Street Fighter lore. I knew Ansatsuken had a basis in Kyokushin (I mean, Ryu was influenced by Mas Oyama, Yoshiji Soeno, and Karate Baka Ichida), but describing it as some kind of reflection and extension of the fighter's inner spirit and pursuits in life (almost in a Jeet Kune Do sort of way) just elevated it higher for me, and it's probably the most apt description for the style's practitioners and all those they influenced. Thank you so much. I hope you Style Select series continues to grow.

[@reeds.9669]

Note: a "hard-body" style doesn't just mean building stronger muscles; pretty much every style of martial arts has some degree of muscle conditioning, but "hard-body" is also training to endure impacts in various ways, including toughening the bones through exercises like makiwara training where you strike hard objects to toughen the fists and kangeiko training where you use cold (or sometimes hot) temperature climates (sometimes by meditating under waterfalls in winter) to build bodily endurance and control. It's basically not just strength training, but toughness training.

[@FBvio]

You cannot toughen boned like that. Just improves pain tolerance

[@Flokoli1]

​@@FBviomicro fracturing bones and rebuilding them in a proper manner does make them get harder with time

[@reeds.9669]

@@FBvio What Icey said is the logic behind this training; I have done this training myself in my youth as well and it SEEMS to work, although I have no proof of it beyond my experience...however, if you look up Pan Qingfu you can see the results of decades long knuckle-hardening training. If you have your doubts, I respect that, since dubious claims are common in the martial arts world.

[@emdivine]

@@reeds.9669 I'd just like to caveat a little bit: what Icey said is the modern logic behind the training, but do these practices not predate the medicine on this? So it's justified somewhat by micro fracturing etc, however the foundation may be more spiritual and/or philosophical in nature. Maybe I'm wrong and these arts are both a) much younger than I imagine and b) genuinely based on evidential thinking rather than just coinciding with reality

[@FBvio]

@Reed S. you can 'harden' your knuckles by developing calluses, but there's no good study on the long term effects of micro fractures on the strength of bones

[@WolfDB]

I really like how Ansatsuken is handled in Street Fighter's lore. It helps to define the characters that use it and clearly has real world influences despite not being a real world martial art (because let's be honest, if people could throw Hadouken's in real life, that'd be both awesome and a good way for problems to start). Unlike other martial arts that are made up for fiction, where there's nothing other than "punch good" or "shoot lasers out of your hands", Ansatsuken applies both actual moves for martial arts AND the philosophies of martial arts as well, since it really is based on how the user decides to apply it to themselves and the world around them.

[@recaru0331]

I kinda wished there was a short dive into the other ansatsuken-adjacent characters like Sakura, who learned it from Ryu but her excited nature led to a style filled with smaller strikes that snowballed into greater damage, or Dan, whose basic knowledge of the technique without any mastery led to a weak technique that's accompanied by a lot of deception, just like how he tried to hide his true intentions for learning from gouken.

[@chinesemassproduction]

"...and a good way for problems to start" LMAO Imagine getting sued for launching a Hadouken at some asshole.

[@methodcafe]

@WolfDB Man, if you enjoy this type of application of martial arts, I know no better demonstration than Avatar: The Last Airbender. Bending moves are rooted both in legitimate martial art styles and philosophies.

[@Oscar97o]

@@recaru0331 They've made it clear over time that Dan would be an extremely good practitioner of ansatsuken if he used proper techniques. He can throw hadoukens with a single hand, something only Akuma and Gouken have mastered. The issue is that he never learned the proper techniques because Gouken refused to teach him, as his only goal at the time was to murder Sagat.

[@Martin-yh7vi]

​@@methodcafe Yup, even the additional abilities from different elements are based off of philosophy. Rather than purely science and logic.

[@datankle7519]

Ayyy new SugarPunch video dropping on my birthday? Today’s pretty dope 🥴

[@alyosha2220]

Were you born on April 14th or 15th?

[@ByrneBaby]

Damn, same!

[@johnleon6551]

Happy birthday!

[@datankle7519]

@@alyosha2220 14th 👌🏿

[@datankle7519]

@@ByrneBaby ayyy happy birthday 🎈

[@zerojayzero]

The term "shoto" was never used to describe a character that looks like Ryu, but rather a character that has a lot of characteristics of Ryu's fighting style: dragon punches and fireballs and specifically throwing a fireball to force an opponent to jump at you so that you can dragon punch them out of the air.

[@deandejaguar]

... and then it became a broader term to describe the "basic" character in fighting games - Kazuya in Tekken, Mario in Smash, Ninja in MK - the characters that had the basic, fundamental gameplay of that particular game

[@zerojayzero]

@@deandejaguar No. Lol

[@Mokiefraggle]

​@@deandejaguar Not really. A Shoto specifically has to have a fireball, a DP, and a Tatsu. They have a specific technique that they're geared toward, and are able to easily set up. They're usually looking to footsie with fireballs and pokes, get the opponent to attempt a jump-in, then hit with the DP both as an anti-air and something that often has I-frames at start-up. There's also Rushdowns, who are just there to plow over their opponent with as much rapid damage piled on as possible, usually with tons of ways to get in close, including dive-kicks to make it hard to anti-air you, lots of plus attacks, and often high speed. You might also have a Hit-and-Run, who plinks away with small damage while constantly maintaining space to avoid taking hits. Then there's Zoners, with long-range normals and lots of fireballs to keep an opponent from being able to close in, usually also with some kind of solid, preferably knock-back anti-air, Puppet characters where you're effectively manipulating two fighters at once, who may be able to strike independent of one another (Zato-1/Eddie from Guilty Gear, for instance), and Grapplers who are terrifying in the short-range because their prime offense is throws and command throws, and often have a very strong throw mix-up. All the archetypes have a specific style they're geared toward, and execute well. A basic character is just a basic character, usually the easiest to play for a newbie because their inputs are simple, and they do a lot of damage without much skill/effort on the player's part. Sol Badguy is a basic character. You don't have to be good to win with Sol at the casual level, because he hits like a bomb even with normals, let alone specials. A basic character is often a Rushdown character (with some exceptions; Millia Rage is a rushdown, but she's definitely not a basic!), so you don't have a lot to think about when playing them, but could also be a Shoto, as their play-style can also be relatively simple, and they can often be made to function as a Rushdown even though that's not their strength.

[@fireandthunder9862]

@@deandejaguar I've only ever heard the smash kids use it that way and that's because most of them don't play enough fighters to know what it actually means.

[@Thornbloom]

Shotoclones! Also I kind of know the Tornado Kick from Double Dragon before I ever saw it in Street Fighter.

[@parkermaisterra8532]

6:50 I would absolutely adore to know more about this. So Akuma is his pursuit of death to surpass mortality, Gouken seeks to surpass himself but what about everyone else?

[@albertonishiyama1980]

Ryu is quite obvious, he's trying to know and control himself. Evil-Ryu / Kage and all. That's why his main element is Eletric, a chi type that can only be achieved by mixing both sides (in his case Nothingness and Satsui, in the cases of Blanka and Laura mixing savagery / Cruelty with joy and innocence). Ken's journey is about porsuing both modern and traditional Life styles. His main struggle is always keeping this balance, either having problems forgeting hus training and family (like in the SF4 OVAs) or failing on the moderm world because he did something in the name of his traditional Life style (What seems to be case in SF6, being accused of murder because he was the only suspect with power to do so). Sakura and Sean...those two are more like a extension of Ryu and Ken than seperate things, in the theme sense. But they both have some twists on the themes (nothing as huge as the other 4, tho).

[@3Rayfire]

@@albertonishiyama1980 Sakura and Sean are at the beginning of their journeys. While Ryu fights because fighting is his whole being and the journey to true self understanding, Sakura is on the question "why do we fight?" She feels the urge and the rush and the excitement, but she doesn't really know what it's for, so she too is in it for self knowledge and understanding. Sean based on the added information from Street Fighter IV seems to be out to forge his own identity. Using Ansatsuken as a tool for self creation.

[@aleanddragonITA]

​@@3Rayfire Sakura currently isn't on the ''Why do we fight?'' but yes, she still hasn't a Very Personal Reason as she (kinda) wants to be recognised by Ryu and become one of his actual students (instead of training with him by time to time)

[@3Rayfire]

@@aleanddragonITA I was thinking back to the Street Fighter Alpha movie. But another thing about Sakura, she also does it because it's fun.

[@that_5.7_jonathan99]

Hope ryu has a stronger connection with sakura and Sean trains with ken alot in sf6 😮

[@Nothing-vl3ip]

You also have to remember that Kyokushin karate has some influence from Shotokan karate since it was the 1st karate style that the founder of Kyokushin learn until he learned Goju Ryu Karate. That is why you see a lot of common kicks in Kyokushin and Shotokan even though you can pretty much see them in a lot of striking art.

[@casualtom82]

As someone who has actually trained in both Shorinji Kempo and Kyokushin Karate for many years (and been playing Street Fighter for even longer), I would just like to say that this was very tastefully done. Thanks so much for making this.

[@Antifrost]

7:29 "[Ansatsuken] is defined by the individual who uses it". Dan Hibiki is an interesting example of this. I'm not fully caught up on Street Fighter lore, but it's to my understanding that he began learning the martial art as a means to take revenge on the one who killed his father. His training was never completed, so he took what he did learn and developed his own unique fighting style by mixing in new elements. The twist came when Kage was announced in SFV, and people were quick to note that some of his moves were similar to Dan's. Since Kage was the manifestation of the Hado within Ryu, it gives credence to the idea that had Dan completed his training, he may have gone down a similar path to Akuma. Guess we oughta be glad we got the goofball we have now instead, huh?

[@newguy90]

You really understated how much Street Fighter borrowed from "Fist of the Northstar." To the point that Gouki, Gouken, and Goutetsu's back story is a reference to Raoh, Toki, and Ryuken.

[@joaodiniz7333]

Really dig this video! Two passing thoughts that occurred to me that I thought could be worth sharing: The lore does actually give us a very roundabout hint about Kyokushin being relevant: Ryu challenging Sagat in street fighter 1 was directly lifted from the Karate Baka Ichidai manga, which in turn was inspired by the real life Kyokushin founder, Masutatsu Oyama. Of course, the storyline could've been borrowed without the fighting style, but I think it's safe to say that it roots the Kyokushin similarities in lore a bit. Apart from that, since shorinji kempo is brought into the mix, it might be worth taking a look at Shorin Ryu karate - sometimes described as the very first karate style. The qigong section probably makes shorinji more relevant anyways, but since Ryu is, as you described, the most iconic karateka, I just think it might be cool!

[@caroswolf286]

Thanks for covering this topic!, I've been thinking about this for about a month. I agree with your conclusion, "Ansatsuken" it's all about the character who practices it and their personal motivations/goals. I love the parallel it has with the real-life concepts of "Satsujinken" and "Katsujinken", because behind all the techniques, it all begins with the reason a practicioner (character or person) develops their own martial art. I'm of the idea that every serious martial art has the potential to empower the user, even to the point of "assassinating" someone, but it's ultimately the practicioner who decides what to do with their skills, so in a sense, any well trained martial art can become "Ansatsuken" for someone, the only remaining thing to see is who develops a functional Hadouken first 😅 I'll wait eagerly for the Karate in videogames video, keep up the good work!

[@scatman1236]

This right here summarizes the real differences in the shotos to a tee, and also why they, as characters, are arguably the most interesting story wise (never mind how bare SF's actual story is).

[@RedFoxGrappler]

Hell yeah, just finished watching the whole Style Select playlist, the couple of Style Select videos not on the list, and I even just made a video inspired by Style Select myself! Love this style of content!

[@egxtra]

I guess the answer really did lie in the heart of battle.

[@nkopanelesedilebona9227]

This video's existence reminds me of a suggestion I wanted to make, I think you should maybe make separate parts for different styles of karate, especially the two giants of Shotokan (exemplified by Makoto in 3S and Lidia Sobieska in TK) and Kyokushin (exemplified physically in Jin Kazama since TK4 and philosophically in Ryu) which contrast greatly in physicality and philosophically in real life and how they're represented in fighting games.

[@JustinDynamicD]

as a Gen-Xer who lived the evolution of most of these characters, the style evolved very organically. first off, the fighting style was just a cool name. That''s it. The idea that it was something more/darker came in Street Fighter 2. When Ryu beat his opponent, he would say "you must defeat Shen Long to stand a chance". This went through theories from the name of his uppcut to referring to another fighter no longer in the game. One April Fools day, a videogame magazine came up with a joke article claiming that if you beat Streat Fighter 2 using Ryu with straight perfects for every match, on the last battle against Bison would be replaced by "Shen Long", and they showed an photoshopped "evil" Ryu wearing all black teleporting on the screen, the screen would flash black, and a bison would then appear dead. (magazine mind you, so it was explained with all of 2-3 supporting pictures). Yeah, that iconic raging demon was born from an April Fools joke that was framed as a "fan letter" sent from "fooledyou, HA" (or an address similar to that). The joke was so convincing that other magazines copied it and claimed to have pulled it off ... and eventually evil Ryu had to make an appearance: as Akuma (and eventually all the dark Ryu spin offs). With that came the opportunity to revisit the "assassin's fist" and retcon in all that dark lore about controlling the art itself. It is 100% made up. The only thing "real" about it is that Ryu is meant to be the most "grounded" fighting style from a gameplay perspective, thus it pulls from things like Shotokan as they aren't overly flashy.

[@Wombola]

insane, well I'll keep commenting this on more of your vids, you helped me get into other fighting games but also more movies and styles of practicing IRL!

[@ZenPaladin]

Ah life is so much sweeter with a little sugar. Thank you for sharing. I met Ryu and the crew when I was a kid (early teens?) at the arcade with my best friend. Today I'm over 40 and looking forward to playing SF6 with him when it comes out soon. So Ryu and ansatsuken means a lot more to me than it realisticly should. I very much appreciate your video.

[@Iqzzy-KO]

Really good breakdown, I hope that when you do a Karate Style Select, you mention that Kazuya's "Mishima Ryu Karate" is reminiscent of Shotokan Karate & Jin's "Traditional Karate" is reminiscent of Kyokushin Karate!

[@alexlovehall7796]

This is a good breakdown and analysis of what these Characters fight like and are designed by. This is my favorite archetype of fighting game characters and as someone who likes and trains martial arts, this helps understand and know where to look

[@CombatSelfDefense]

As a lifelong martial artist and street fighter, I think you’re right on the money. On that note, Ryu himself was based on the founder of Kyokushin Mas Oyama. So, despite his style not really looking like pure Kyokushin, the thought was always there.

[@jaredhebert942]

Great to have you back, A.B.I.! Great exploration of Ryu from Streets here, hope to see more of the "non-specific series" videos alongside Style Select & whatever else you're cooking up for SugarPunch! (:

[@Kriss_ch.]

You talked about Kenji in the bajiquan episode of style select, and as a result I'm currently most of the way through it. It's interesting how by the end you can actually tell the difference between different kung fu styles beyond the really obvious lookin animal stances. It's also fun to see how Street Fighter adopts some stuff really faithfully - the physique might be street fighter level, but characters like Yun basically uses all real moves of the style. But then they also like having very silly characters like Blanka, Vega or Dhalsim who are very tangentially realistic at best lol

[@reeds.9669]

Also there is evidence to suggest that Ansatsuken is meant to be be an off-shoot of Shorinji; Retsu one of the least-mentioned characters in Street Fighter is a Shorinji stylist who is also a friend of Gouken and is mentioned to have been excommunicated from his temple and in some unused sprites from "Capcom Fighting Evolution" Retsu was shown in "Nio" stance similar to Gouken's so it's possible that Gouken himself is another exiled Zen monk from Retsu's order. Gouken's master Goutetsu also wears a uniform that looks very similar to the saffron pants, socks and wrapped sandals that Shaolin monks wear, and is depicted holding a staff in the Shaolin "ready" position and using the one-handed Bodhidharma/Damo salute which is another trademark of Shaolin. Gen also uses a style that's similar to Seven Stars Praying Mantis Fist (Tanglangquan) that's among the many taught in the Shaolin temple.

[@hectoraliegbe9429]

Goutetsu's profile on "Capcom Fighting Network" places doubts that he is (and by extension Gouken) some kind of "Shaolin Temple" exile like Retsu is, for the former is described as having laid the foundation of the "Ansatsuken" (Assassination Fist) style that Gouken and Gouki practices.

[@Half-Mi]

For me, I’m a gojuryu practitioner and a lot of ansatsuken looks similar to what we do. I think. Gokens nuetral stance is an actual block in gojuryu. In saifa, it’s a transition straight into a hadoken like move but more similar to ryus new close range hadoken in sf6. Ryus focus attack is any karate: Joudan saikantsuki Ryus donkey kick really is a gojuryu kick. Even down to straightening the arm with the kick to supposedly give more power and better alignment. Obviously the parry ryu uses is all the age uke, Soto uke, gaidan barai. Especially that cherry blossom pose ryu has I’m sf6 cinematic. Kens sacrifice kick is definitely kyokushin though. I’ve fought kyokushin practitioners in tournaments and it’s definitely their signature OSU move. Lol Gojuryu is very spiritual as well. A lot of kata are about internal breath and centering your chi like in seiyunchin kata.

[@Micha-Hil]

damn karate practitioner gang? gimme a fist bump

[@Half-Mi]

@@Micha-Hil Osu! (It feels like a dojo union. Bbq once a month. 🤣)

[@alanmcmillian]

Side note: if you watched the "Assassin's Fist" web series, the way Ansatsuken is described (loosely) is a collection of techniques intended solely for killing. Gouken and Gouki trained in original Ansatsuken under their master Goutetsu after he returned from service in WWII, but Gouki misused the teachings, allowing the "Dark Hadou," to consume him, and used the Shun Goku Satsu to kill Goutetsu. Afterwards, Gouken altered the techniques to use what he called "Muno Hadou" (Literally the energy of nothingness) making them the non-lethal versions that Ryu and Ken were taught. This may be irrelevant since it's all made up anyway, but Capcom officially endorsed the show, so technically Ryu and Ken practice a modified Ansatsuken.

[@Doyoueverwonderwhywerehere]

Oh yes because a fighting style called "Assassin's Fist" clearly needed less assassination

[@Doyoueverwonderwhywerehere]

@@alanmcmillian and I'm just making a joke

[@wetyewruyrtsutrdhjfg]

Eh, what's wrong with just using a gun to assassinate people? Beating the shit out of someone in order to kill him/her doesn't seem to be very effective.

[@aleanddragonITA]

Also learning the Ansatsuken takes place in 3 Steps: Step 1: Learning the Basic Step 2: Traveling the World to fight against various Martial Arts & Fighting Styles Step 3: Use the Experience learned in the Journey to personalise the Ansatsuken to one own Personality And this generate a great variety in this Martial Art as it's created to encourage it's customization You could basically create a Character which Fighting Style looks little like the Ansatsuken but say it is simply very Customised 😂 Look I had an idea for a Character like right now . . . . The comments ends here but for anyone that want to know about the Oc's Ansatsuken I thought: . . . For anyone that wants to read it here it is: Basically this Character (that I will call Yami) was trained by an Ansatsuken Master that though similar to Akuma That fight must be to the death So Yami was forced into learning the Ansatsuken (but under a more violent training to make him be more accustomed to violence) his Master ended up fighting Akuma and losing (obliviously) so Yami both for a Hatred born because of the Violent Training & the trauma of seeing his Master being killed by Akuma (another Ansatsuken Practitioner) hated it, so he wanted to forget the Ansatsuken and to do so tried to learn New Martial Arts But The Ansatsuken is too much engraved in him so it's still shines through his Martial Arts/Fighting Style (a little bit) a little bit (I also thought he could have this Stress Mether that more build up more the Yami would switch more and more to the Ansatsuken)

[@jakedaknight5749]

​@@Doyoueverwonderwhywerehere bad joke

[@SpyGuy91]

THANK YOU. I’ve been waiting for someone to cover this for years

[@thesun564]

I always thot that the kicks for the most part reminded me of Shotokan, but his actual fighting stance resembled the Mayweather “Philly Shell” boxing style almost exactly. BUT his punching techniques seemed to be very reminiscent of Kyokushin. I think this mix did a good job of making a visually unique style for Ryu.

[@vinyldimer]

This was a cool video to see. Seeing the real-world influences and how it shaped that Street Fighter characters is very neat to see. Thank you for this video!

[@jeronimo391]

Never watched your channel before, but somehow got recommended this 25 minutes after it being posted. Couldn't be happier, great video!

[@BingBangPoe]

Can't wait for your analysis on Dan's Saikyo-Ryu.

[@RicardoPetinga]

I love that you mentioned Shorinji Kempo, which is the martial art I chose to practice, but you forgot (or decided not) to mention a character from the first SF that practices exactly that: Retsu. His martial art is Shorinji Kempo and he was "indefinitely excommunicated from his temple for using forbidden techniques", and he was/is a friend of Gouken's (and Ryu's, after being defeated by him in the first game), so if Ansatsuken practitioners adapt from their encounters and fights with other martial artists, it makes sense that Retsu may have had an influence on Gouken.

[@charlieterry8506]

Man I always love your content dude. No filler and straight to the point

[@Amaan_Ahmad_786]

I learned Ansatsuken when i was in Highschool ! It unlocked many psychic abilities in me !

[@AxolotlBaiken]

2:32 I don't know what happened to the sound here but I felt this in my throat.

[@FMagno]

There's some audio problem in this video, there was no problem in your other videos, you can check at 02:34 for an instance of the problem. Also your videos are great, keep doing it

[@elseabe6561]

The way you say karate is awesome 👌🏻

[@DonutGuard]

Ansatsuken is a narrative tool the writers use to express different philosophies of life.

[@BebehCookieIcecream]

Your channel has exploded and for good reason! Awesome stuff!

[@DuncanTheLaughingDragon]

You made the perfect video for me. Can’t believe how much I learned in 9 minutes. Thank you.

[@fuu6490]

It's been so long since this channel did style select... Im glad now back

[@shotarojoestar5349]

I think you hit the nail on the head with the conclusion. Great job as always

[@juniorjunior5884]

Imagine in sf6 where you train under Ryu and ask him the history of his style. I'd love it if Ryu honestly couldn't think of an answer and just fight you again.

[@AndrewWorthy]

BEAUTIFUL Analysis Video 👏🏾🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@Elkantar_Rostorgh231]

Can't wait for the breakdown of "Mishima-Style Karate" since each Mishima in Tekken have their own unique style of fighting.

[@Enjoysaeli]

Wow, this is really well put together. I never really knew, well, ANYTHING about this stuff. Subbed, I'm very interested in watching more!

[@nugzmedallion8929]

Did anyone else notice at 5:50 during the Shorinji Kempo display clip how the guy was on the ground tapping out and the one standing up still kicked him square in the gut while he was on the ground AFTER he tapped out? 🤣 Damn, savage for the sake of savagery, I like it lmao

[@arktype586]

Beautiful video, glad you are back!!!

[@lavuntecolquitt]

You HIT this bro. DOPENESS

[@OverlordGab]

That was a pretty impressive and informative video. You did an outstanding job! 😊

[@msgasmdc107]

As a Tae Kwon Do blackbelt, so much of Shotokan look so similar to what I know. Interesting considering Tae Kwon Do's origins as a 'military' martial art, with emphasis on keeping the practitioner out of harm (and emphasis on kicks for fighting with a rifle in hand)

[@austinarable4995]

Did anyone else have problem with the audio in this video? It sound like rattle it's really heard around the 7:10 mark. Love the whole sugar punch channel keep up the great work.

[@dexadrinn]

Yeah, definitely noticeably weird audio at times, not just you.

[@bunnybreaker]

I love your videos in general, but I didn't expect this to be sooo interesting. My chibi Akuma tattoo appreciates it 👍🏽

[@honeyboyx0]

Absolutely adore this series! Please do one on boxing :)

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

Another awesome video as always!

[@nizmei8052]

Love your editing!

[@Shindenize]

I think in addition to these, I believe the one that practices the pure traditional way of Ansatsuken is Goutetsu, Gouken and Gouki's master, representing the tradition and history of Ansatsuken, sticking in the core fundamentals, including how to properly handle the concept the Satsui no Hado.

[@gear_impact6707]

Dis is such a well made n interestin video, specially the final regards abt the 3 general main pillars of Ansatsuken, which r actually reflected into the 3 most recognizable”shoto” moves, hadouken, shoryuken n tatsumaki(which here would represent the actual shotokan spacin/kickin techniques). Also amazing how u summarize the divergence between each practitioners version of Ansatsuken!

[@KaChiKaChak]

Is the audio crunchy in some places for anyone else?

[@arobin3266]

yea i thought it was just me since no one else was mentioning it.

[@dexadrinn]

Yep, definitely messed up.

[@constantlyconfused1247]

That was fascinating. Amazing work.

[@terrelltownsend8016]

Great video. The part at 2:23 had me cracking up. Lol. I like the breakdown of the style's influences. Kyokushin(infighting/offense), Shotokan(outfighting/defense), Shorinji Kempo(spiritual development & martial technique). I wish they would've also mentioned Sean, Dan, & Sakura's fighting styles. Sean imitates Ken, Sakura imitates Ryu, and Dan's is a parody of SNK'S Kyokugen Karate which is based on Kyokushin.

[@seadx6]

Man... This video was amazing, thank you very much

[@KHTBLD]

Awesome video! Congratulations!

[@EdimilsonPrazeres]

Amazing video, man!!!

[@Lukz243]

Learnt a very interesting thing today. Thanks, Sugarpunch!

[@ZadkeilMercy]

These videos are always so good.

[@umbrellacorp.]

2:23 Fine... I wouldn't say it. 😂

[@Kenshar1984]

Damn it man.... We need like two of these a week!

[@markvicferrer]

Capcom: let's make up a vague fighting style so no one comes to us complaining that it's inaccurate to their real life martial art.

[@Z4U3398]

Ansatsuken is really easy to define. It's basically karate that uses a Philly Shell defense style plus a gravity-defying helicopter kick, a leaping uppercut in case you need to smack Gozilla in the nuts & a magical fireball attack.

[@njabyss]

great video man

[@msaymeh]

very glad to see someone else make the link between gen's fighting style and hokuto shinken

[@Sleepdeth]

I love your vids man!

[@AkiratheWhite]

4:25 Huh, I heard that Kyokushin karate was created by the real life karate master that Ryu is based on. 🤔

[@moyza_]

And his sleeveless gi and red gloves were inspired by Andy Hug. I think the red ribbon came from Rambo.

[@moogleborgofsanjose]

Love this video! Especially the differences between Ryu, Ken, Gouken and Akumas usage of Ansatsuken. :) I'm wondering how Sakura and Seans usage would be described as.

[@dingolerab5619]

love these kinds of videos

[@jacobblaustein7779]

I've read that, Kyokushin was developed from a base of Shotokahn, so Ryu's styke can be said to take more from the later when ut comes to kicks, stance, and fighting stragety/philosophy.

[@v.d.2738]

You forget shotos' throws that are obviously from Judo. Their forward throw is called "Seoi nage". Ryu and Akuma's back throw is "Tomoe nage". Ken's back throw is "Jigoku guruma"(Hell wheel). I'm talking abt 3rd strike. So Judo is also part of their style. A bit off topic but I also want to mention the shoto's uniform. The Karate uniform is originally from the Judo uniform. Karate originated in Okinawa prefecture, Japan but it used to be Ryūkyū, a separated country from Japan. When Karate was introduced to Japan the martial art adopted the Judo uniform and modified it for itself.

[@hayond656]

7:54 What the hell happened to the audio lmao

[@LightningStrikes66]

Awesome Video!

[@geoffreytasker2097]

For the younger people out there. We call Ryu a shoto because In the original manual of street fighter 2 on the SNES it stated he's a practitioner of shotokan karate.

[@geoffreytasker2097]

Edit: apparently he does mention this, some how I missed it. My mistake

[@rueme4228]

Love these videos!

[@Thrillr]

👏🏾 Gr8 video matey