Hello, I m Adrian, and today we re taking an in depth look at The Mandalorian's fighting
style in Star Wars
In the lawless aftermath of the Galactic Empire's collapse, an armored bounty hunter known as
The Mandalorian takes on a well paying, yet cryptic assignment. That assignment turnes
out to be an adorable creature that looks just like Baby Yoda, known at the time as
the child. Together they embark on several adventures as he tries to survive in a hostile
galaxy.
The goal of these videos is to figure out just how many fighting styles our combatant
is familiar with by analyzing the specific moves featured in their footage and pairing
them with the martial art or fighting style which most aptly represents those moves. There
is a huge amount of crossover in martial arts techniques, and a technique that is present
in one fighting style may also be present in another, such as the roundhouse kick being
present in multiple martial arts. But in order to not give combatants multiple fighting styles
for the sake of variety, I have instead opted to list the most apt fighting style that best
represents that particular character, technique, or set of techniques. Also, there are various
degrees of knowing a fighting style, and although one may know elements of something, this doesn
t mean I m saying the fighter I m talking about is a master in every style I mention.
Since we are dealing with a character from Star Wars lore, I will further clarify that
in this video we are not going to be analyzing him through the lens of fictitious fighting
styles in Star Wars, such as the various light saber forms, or their version of hand to hand
combat known as Tera-kasi. If you'd like to learn more about those fictitious styles,
you are welcome to check out how many fighting styles does Darth Vader know. In The Mandalorian's
case, we are going to be analyzing his techniques from a real world standpoint and not incorporate
any fictitious fighting styles.
I highly recommend watching all seasons of The Mandalorian on Disney Plus as this video
will analyze footage from said series. I will try and keep plot and story details to an
absolute minimum, but do take this as your spoiler warning. Fighting Styles that The
Mandalorian may know in any other form of media, such as comics or animated films, do
not count. Without further ado, let's take a look at how many fighting styles The Mandalorian
knows!
The Mandalorian, or Mando as he is also called on the show - and I won't reveal his true
name to not spoil it for you in case you haven't seen it - is well versed in hand to hand combat.
And being a bounty hunter, he has to be, as he is going to get himself into situations
where he will very likely have to fight his way out. His fighting style thus needs to
be quick, pragmatic, and able to make good use of his blaster and armor. First up, we
got a style that is hard hitting and perfectly suited for dealing with and delivering multiple
strikes, and that is Karate.
Karate, or Karate, is a Japanese striking martial art that uses punching, kicking, knee,
and elbow strikes along with open handed techniques such as knife hands, and palm strikes. Mando
exhibits a couple techniques from this style from how he blocks, to how he punches, to
even how he kicks. Let's start with how he blocks this incoming strike from Asohka. He
is executing what is known as a rising block in karate where you use your forearm to block
the incoming hit. This is doubly useful for Mando as his Beskar armor cannot be cut through
by a lightsaber.
While Mando is using a disguise, he executes a variation of the inward block in Karate.
He also delivers punches with a Karate influence in these instances. Note how his non punching
arm briefly retracts to his waist, something readily seen in the push pull style of punching
in Karate. Basic elbow strikes are also part of Karate's repertoire of techniques, including
these elbow strikes thrown by Mando. And perhaps the biggest indication of Karate training
comes from his clearly shown Fighting Stance right here. Note how his arms are tucked in
with his hands hovering in front of him, that's indicative of Karate training.
Mando also executes techniques typically found in Karate including this low front kick, a
front kick from the floor, a back kick to protect his little guy by getting him out
of the fight, and a a quick crescent kick right here. But most importantly of all he
executes a kick that has achieved a legendary status on this channel for just how incredibly
popular it is with virtually every character known in fiction. You probably are already
saying it's name before even seeing it. And you are correct, we are talking about the:
Mando executes the technique on several occasions as a matter of fact. He uses it against Prison
guards, as well as storm troopers, and when he is in disguise. He even finds a way to
modify it by throwing it as he's descending with his jetpack to immediately knock out
a guard, as well as throwing an extremely low push kick in this instance. The kick is
seen in Karate as well as other martial arts like taekwondo, and its executed by lifting
your knee and then extending your leg in a pushing motion.
However, sometimes Mando uses striking techniques from other martial arts, and one of those
is Boxing. Boxing is a style focused on four core punching techniques, the jab, cross,
hook, and uppercut. Mando is seen throwing several of these punches in this altercation
as well as during his fight with Cara Dune. Here we see him moving like a boxer to avoid
Cara's attack then quickly counterattacking her. He later throws an uppercut followed
by a hook. You can also use your forearms to block hits in boxing, just like Mando does
right here. He follows it up with an uppercut.
Judo is a Japanese martial art where the objective is to either throw or take down the opponent
to the ground. In several of Judo's techniques you use your opponents own momentum and strength
against them. In Mando's case, he takes this guideline to heart. When dealing with this
opponent who is much stronger and bigger than him, he resorts to outsmarting him with Judo
on his side. As he leans in on Mando with a choke, Mando executes this technique known
as a tomo nage in Judo. Traditionally, you grip the opponent high and fall backwards
into a roll. Once the opponent is off balance, you plant a foot on them and flip them over
you. In Mando's case it works perfectly as he uses his opponents momentum to flip him
right where he needs him to be, leading to his eventual victory.
Mando also executes variations of the Ippon seoi nage. Traditionally, you trap the bicep
in between the elbow, forearm, and shoulder. You then throw him over you. In Mando's case,
he drops his body considerably in this variation, it's also known as a drop Ippon seoi nage.
Now that you've seen the Judo technique, you can appreciate how he applies the same concepts
to this situation here. He's trying to get an item he needs from the droid, so he uses
his grappling line, more on that later, to bring it over to him. After this moment, notice
how he turns in the same way as if he were about to execute an Ippon seoi nage. But since
the arm holding the weapon is up against the door, instead of flipping the droid over him,
he simply breaks part of the arm off.
Besides Judo's throwing techniques, known as nage waza, Judo also has a comprehensive
amount of ground grappling techniques, known as katame waza. Though the Mandalorian does
not regularly choose to fight on the ground as he knows he could be overwhelmed by other
opponents around him, when he's fighting Cara he demonstrates he knows what he's doing as
he quickly flips the situation on her, literally and figuratively. It's due to a basic principle
in ground fighting no doubt due to his skills in katame waza within Judo.
The Mandalorian is brought to life by 3 different people who wear the suit, Pedro Pascal, as
well as his two stunt doubles, Lateef Crowder, and Brendan Wayne. Lateef Crowder is an accomplished
martial artist whose primary background lies in Capoeira, so it was no surprise to see
Capoeira techniques make it into the show. First up is this very low roundhouse kick
thrown from the ground, also known as a martelo de negativa in Capoeira. This diving movement
is also extremely reminiscent of something you would see in Capoeira. And just by the
way he moves around his opponents in several points on the show you can see the capoeira
influence as maintaining that circular movement within Capoeira is key.
But besides his hand to hand techniques, The Mandalorian is adept at using many weapons
in combat. And there are several styles within the umbrella art of Ninjutsu that perfectly
line up with these weapons. For an in depth explanation of the 18 distinct disciplines
within Ninjtusu, please check out my Arkham Batman fighting styles video.
Kayajukutsu relates to pyrotechnics and explosives. In Mando's case, one of his weapons is his
vambrace flamethrower. He uses it in several instances on the show to great effect, successfully
defeating several opponents. He's also very adept at using explosive weaponry, whether
it be placing explosives, or using them like makeshift grenades. He even employs gas grenades
to obscure his opponents vision. Mando also uses a weapon known as The Whistling Birds.
They are several small guided munitions that are able to be simultaneously deployed. All
of these weapons involve pyrotechnics and explosives and fit perfectly in Kayakujutsu.
The Mandalorian is also very adept at using his vibroblade as a throwing knife, making
him a shoe in for shurikenjutsu within ninjutsu.
Mando's grappling line is also very useful within the series, as he uses it to incapacitate
and trap his opponents in several creative ways.
In real life there is no such weapon just yet, but the way that Mando shoots out his
line and brings in his victims recalls a very famous yellow ninja doesn't it?
The ninja sickle, or chain and sickle weapon has it's own dedicated art within ninjutsu
called kusarigamajutsu. And since The Mandalorian is using extremely similar principles of said
weapon, we will be pairing it with that art within ninjutsu.
There are moments within the series that the Mandalorian cannot afford to be detected,
and for that he turns to his skills in shinobi iri, or the art of stealth and infiltration.
Note how adeptly he can hide himself while protecting Baby Yoda and still get the drop
on his enemy when he needs to.
Mando is seen to be very adapt at using weapons that resemble the bo, a staff weapon used
in several martial arts, and this pairs perfectly with bojutsu, the style dedicated to using
such a weapon within ninjutsu.
This video could not be complete without addressing the Mandalorian's projectile weapons in his
arsenal, and that is due to his proficiency in combat shoooting. He uses his trusty IB
94 blaster pistol and his Ambin phase-pulse blaster, a type of disruptor sniper rifle
. He is one of the most adept marksmen in the Star Wars universe able to successfully
land shots from very far distances, accurately fire at multiple tagets in close proximity,
and can even quick draw his blaster. He can easily fire turrets when he needs to as well.
In conclusion, how many fighting styles does The Mandalorian know? They are: