Kit Sun Cheah

Tag: Martial arts

  • Writing A Different Approach to Martial Arts

    Most English-speaking readers would be familiar with Western portrayals of martial arts. In movies, television, games and prose, fight scenes are the cornerstone of Western fiction. One commonality I’ve noticed in most Western fight scenes I’ve seen is that they are portrayed as exchanges of force. Every fight scene is presented as a contest of…

  • The Untapped Potential of Cultivation Fiction

    Wuxia. Xianxia. Cultivation fiction. Some of the hottest indie fiction genres in the market today, inspired by Chinese folklore, web novels, movies and television. Strip away the Eastern-esque aesthetics, and what you get is the quintessential power fantasy. Take a protagonist. He is a commoner, a hero chosen by destiny, or someone cursed with the…

  • Hellish Quart Early Access Review

    “It is easy to kill someone with a slash of the sword. It is hard to be impossible for others to cut down.” Yagyu Munenori Hollywood, games and fiction gets fencing wrong. Protracted clash of blades. Wild telegraphed flailing and awkward cuts. Casually absorbing lethal attacks, or powering through guard positions. Ridiculous speeds. Most of…

  • The Martial Arts of Singularity Sunrise

    How do you fight a full-body cyborg with unbreakable bones, Olympian muscles, superhuman reflexes, and the stamina of an Energizer battery? Pop culture grappled with this question in games, movies, books, manga and more, with varying degrees of realism. At one end of the scale, we have the patently ridiculous, with superpowered cybernetic demi-gods using…

  • Bayani Part 10

    The battle ended shortly thereafter. Or maybe after a lifetime. Perhaps both. Panting, his muscles aching at a point beyond fatigue, Bayani finally lowered his weapons. His sword and knife were soaked through with the gore of who knew how many men. Blood soaked him head to foot. He wasn’t sure how, but he had…

  • Bayani Part 9

    They smelled the burning before they saw the smoke. In the ash was the sweet scent of cooked meat, and a blacker undertone of charred flesh. “No,” Bayani whispered. “No.” Alejandro gripped his shoulder. “Steady, boy.” “Maestro, we must…” He swallowed. “We must find out what happened.” Alejandro nodded, the ghost of a smile playing…