Today we’re reacting to Mohammad Alai Jr’s fights from Baki… The ones that didn’t go so
well for him. –
In the Baki universe, it doesn’t matter how powerful you think you are–
you’ll have to put your life on the line to prove it.
This is Alai Jr.’s most unforgiving weakness. He is an incredible athlete with speed,
power and technique, but unlike many of the other fighters in Baki:
he is unprepared to face the possibility of his own death.
Mohammad Alai Jr. was trained from a young age by his father Mohammad Alai Sr. – the legendary
boxer who refined his boxing into a near perfect martial art. Under the guidance of his father,
Mohammad A’ai Jr became a world class athlete in his own right, and claims to have perfected
his fighting style improving upon the techniques that were passed on to him.
This is all well and good… But does it hold up when your opponent
is a ruthless fighter, ready to die in the name of victory?
In his first few fights, it is clear that Alai Jr is a skilled fighter.
He defeats Gouki Shibukawa, Doppo Orochi and a couple of side characters.
Then with a couple of wins under his belt Alai Jr. becomes a little bit overconfident
and challenges Jack Hanma to a fight. This is where his trouble begins…
We’ve seen Jack Hanma on this channel before,
a man whose intense training regimen and PED cocktail have granted him near superhuman
physical ability. He’s an absolutely vicious, “by any means necessary” type of fighter,
and I’m not sure that Alai Jr. was ever ready for this type of challenge.
Alai is able to land a couple blows, but when Jack is unphased, he seems a little shaken up.
Then Jack delivers a kick to his midsection that sends him flying
backwards into a concrete wall. Blunt force trauma to the back is a fantastic way to break ribs,
fracture the scapulae on the back of the chest wall, injure intra-thoracic
organs such as the lungs, and possibly even fracture the posterior aspect of the skull.
Any of these injuries could incapacitate Alai and put him out of the fight. However,
showing a resilience that is common to Baki characters, Alai shakes it off and soldiers on.
From this point moving forward, Alai seems to be on the defensive,
fending off Jack’s grappling attempt with a few more insignificant blows.
Jack lifts Mohammed into the air and throws him like a doll into another crash landing flat on
his back on the concrete floor. Yeah, you know those injuries that I briefly described before?
That move would make them worse. Considerably. [please sir, may I have another meme].
Alai’s chest wall would be a mess of rib splinters. His lungs would be contused,
lacerated, or even punctured by rib fractures. A pneumothorax, a hemothorax, or even a
hemopneumothorax would be likely at this point, as might a flail chest, making breathing very,
very difficult. Without prompt medical attention, the average person might not
Then we have a series of brutal punches and stomps to the head face that leave
Alai in a crater on the concrete.
Jack Hanma is very thorough, taking a moment to inspect his victim for signs of life,
before continuing his onslaught. Clearly, punching someone in the head, while their head is
trapped against the ground is not a good thing. But punching them so hard that you fracture the
concrete underneath is significantly worse. A typical 1 ½ in slab of concrete requires 1900
newtons to break. This would mean that a minimum of 1900 newtons of force had been applied to the
side of Alai’s skull. A Journal of Neurosurgery article has stated that it takes approximately
2300 newtons to fracture a human skull so this is getting very close to the humpty dumpty threshold.
But just because jack is not one to shy away from extremes,
he decides to take it to another level by following this up with a foot stomp to the
front of Alai’s face. If Jack’s punch nearly cracked ALai’s head against the concrete,
Jack’s curb stomp would be more than enough to finish the job. And given that Jack stomped
Alai right across the bridge of his nose, the damage here would be catastrophic. We could
expect bilateral orbital fractures and a Lefort variant maxilla fracture. These bones would
be pushed back into the skull with some bone fragments possibly perforating the brain case.
This would be an injury with a significant degree of lethality. And were it not lethal, Alai would
be likely to require permanent supportive care because we could expect his cognitive function
to be significantly reduced as a result of the brain trauma associated with this type of injury.
Jack then steps gingerly away from his opponent…
A word of advice for anyone looking to take on Jack Hanma. Stay down.
When by some minor miracle Alai Jr stands up, Jack has no choice
but to finish the job in decisive fashion. As if the curb stomp wasn’t decisive enough.
A savage strike to Alai’s knee makes it hard for him to stand. Fortunately, this punch is only
designed to momentarily incapacitate Alai’s leg to slow his advance. Jack strikes Alai on the outside
aspect of Alai’s knee near the fibular head. The peroneal nerve courses around the fibular head in
this location. A blow to the nerve here will cause a transient neuropraxia, or nerve injury, that
will cause the common peroneal nerve not to work properly. This will prevent ankle dorsiflexion
causing a foot drop making Alai pretty freaking clumsy. As if a caved in face would not do that
first. Insert small analysis. Jack takes advantage of his shaking legs and delivers an uppercut combo
targeting Alai’s chin and ribs, and even though it looks like Alai’s guard
is in place for the bodyshot, Jack’s strike has enough force to do considerable damage anyway,
and sends him flying back-first into concrete for the third time in less than a minute. Jack adds
to the tally of facial injuries, by delivering an uppercut that is almost certainly likely to cause
a mandible fracture to go with the maxilla and orbital fractures he has already caused. And just
because the previous blunt force trauma to Alai’s back wasn’t enough damage to the thoracic wall,
Jack delivers a devastating blow to Alai’s ribs in the front so that he can leave alai
with a matching set of bookends, rib fractures front and back. Insert analysis of these hits.
Even with his back against the wall,
Alai retains some of his confidence, sure that no matter the challenge he can stand and fight.
Final punch.
Obviously he never met Jack Hanma. And of course, anything worth doing, is worth overdoing,
so Jack delivers one last punch to alai’s face, thoroughly caving in his already crumpled visage.
Unfortunately, he slams Alai’s jaw shut on his tongue causing Alai to bite through his tongue
at its tip. Talk about excessive. Insert analysis of these hits + tongue falls off. This
combination of facial injuries would require extensive reconstructive surgery that would
need to be completed in a staged fashion over several operative sessions. Recovery
would be prolonged and painful, and alai would be likely to have some sort of permanent facial
disfigurement. But Baki fighters aren’t normal. [I am built different meme here.]
After his fight with Jack, Alai was injured pretty badly, but in Baki you
don’t really get time off – there is no injury report in underground fighting tournaments.
So, in his weakened state, two former opponents come to take their revenge. Gouki Shibukawa claims
the first time he and Alai fought it wasn’t a
“real fight,” alluding perhaps to the levels of competition present in the show..
You can fight someone like a competitive boxer might fight them, or you can fight someone with
every ounce of your strength until one of you is inches from death. It sounds as if
Gouki thought the first fight was in the former category and that he withheld some of his power.
This time he makes short work of Alai, twisting his pointer finger into oblivion,
crushing his face against a nearby tree multiple times,
and slamming the back of his skull against the ground.
Gouki uses a joint lock of the index finger to control Alai where he hyperextends the
metacarpophalangeal joint to its maximum range to elicit significant pain. Normally,
most people can accommodate approximately 90 degrees of extension at this joint, but here
shibukawa forces the joint beyond the endrange where either a metacarpophlangeal dislocation,
a phalangeal fracture, a flexor tendon rupture, or some combination of the above is likely to occur.
With next to no effort, he throws alai through the air using only his grip on the index finger and
smashes him into a tree face first. Now at this point, Alai would still be recovering from his
facial annihilation that was delivered by jack hanma only a short time prior,
so getting smashed into a tree face first would not be included on the
facial reconstructive surgeon’s list of post-operative instructions. Given that the
implants used to fix Alai’s face would be quite delicate in nature (1.5 and 2.0 mm screws, and
contoured mini-fragment plates) the force resulting from this type of impact would be
more than enough to destroy whatever work had been completed by the surgeon.
Attempting to reconstruct Alai’s face a second time
would prove even more daunting a task since there would be less bone available to work
with due to the fixation already present. And let’s not forget the facial lacerations
that would occur as a result of Gouki scraping Alai’s face down the full length
of the tree’s trunk. Apparently, all Baki villains feel that Alai’s face is just too pretty because
Gouki finishes up by kicking Alai in the back of the head against the tree before smashing Alai’s
face into the tree and the ground…repeatedly. I am beginning to feel like these fighters work
for Alai’s facial reconstructive surgeon and this is a medical make work project.
Talk about Mohammed’s finger and face (especially without a full recovery from fighting Jack).
Then it’s Doppo Orochi’s turn. Unlike Gouki, Doppo seems to think his first bout against
Alai was more or less fair. He simply wants a rematch and a chance to redeem himself,
and he doesn’t seem the least bit deterred by Mohommed’s injured state.
Finger kick
In fact, he is determined to add to Alai’s list of
injuries. He begins by countering Alai’s punch with his forehead,
doing a number on his attacker's hand. Fractures and dislocations, once stabilized are relatively
comfortable causing little discomfort. However, even the slightest tap can cause excruciating
pain if these injuries a displaced, as we see here. But not one to shy away from an advantage,
Doppo takes advantage of Alai’s weakness counters an Alai punch with the top of his head, one of the
strongest parts of the skull. Alai suffers an open fracture of the second and third metacarpals as a
result. Now if you know anything about striking, you will know that most of the force in a punch is
delivered through the striking surface created by the proximal phalanx of the 2nd and 3rd fingers.
If you break the 2nd and 3rd rays behind these fingers, you remove all the support structures
for you striking surface….which leaves you unable to use that hand to strike effectively. Doppo,
knowing this, delivers a brutal kick to Alai’s hand adding a number of phalangeal fractures and
dislocations to the constellation of hand injuries that Alai already possesses. Medical explanation.
He then targets Alai’s injured hands with a series of strikes that leave Alai Jr. in dire condition,
especially considering that he is a boxer and his fists are his main weapon. This is not world
class boxing that Alai is used to– this is Baki. Echoing Gouki’s strategy, Doppo has selected an
area of demonstrated weakness and he continues to exploit it to the ultimate extreme. His repeated
attacks leave Alai’s hand an unrecognizable mess. Given the extent of the damage present,
these injuries are more akin to those suffered in an industrial accident than to those suffered as a
result of a street fight. Care of these injuries would require immediate surgical care with a
washout of all open injuries within 6 hours of injury to prevent infection. As with Alai’s face,
repair and stabilization of these hand injuries would likely occur in a staged fashion as the
extent of injuries would be too great to address in a single operative setting. Recovery for these
injuries would also be prolonged and it is quite possible that Alai’s hand would be permanently
stiff and unable to make a fist in the future. It would be a real possibility that the Alai’s
fighting days would be numbered following this trauma to his hand. Medical explanation.
Doppo stomps Alai’s foot and delivers a blow to his already extended knee before turning his back
and walking away without pause. Striking the top of Alai’s foot with the heel of his shoe,
Doppo opens a wound on the dorsum of the foot and causes a foot fracture in the mid-foot,
likely at the level of the metatarsals. Then a direct blow to the front of the other knee
is enough to knock alai backward off balance.
With this being only a punch and not a kick, the damage associated with this blow is likely to be
inconsequential relative to the other injuries that Alai has already suffered. But,
Another open fracture and then a forced hyperextension of the contralateral knee are just
enough to leave Alai hobbled without an ability to mobilize or defend himself. Medical explanation.
With an ever growing list of injuries, Mohammed does not attack Doppo as he walks away. Perhaps
he is starting to understand what it means to fight in the Baki universe.
And finally, Alai has the opportunity to fight Baki himself…
Baki first punch here Not exactly off to a great start.
Even after all the punishment that Alai has taken, and after being knocked unconscious
for a moment on the tournament floor, he is still confident in his abilities…
Crotch kick
Yeah, but a swift kick to the cajones will rectify that confidence real quick.
It might also leave you singing like a falsetto from that point on. Now, I am not a urologist,
but I can say with confidence that a groin kick from the second strongest fighter in the world is
likely going to cause some testicular trauma. It is quite possible for a testicular rupture
to occur where the testes themselves are crushed between the foot and pelvis, and
split open like crushed grapes. Not a good look, and likely to require emergency urologic surgery
if Alai hopes to have Alai Jrs running around in the future. It could also cause injury to
the…yeah, well let’s not even go there. Suffice it to say that a groin
kick is a very effective way to stop your opponent in their tracks. Very effective
Welcome to Baki,
confidence will only get you so far. Baki then delivers a crushing stomp to Alai’s head.
Nothing to really add here other than that Alai’s face has seen a lifetime’s supply of
trauma and would at this point be looking like something from the TV show Botched after all of
his reconstructive surgery. Medical explanation. Baki then scoops Alai up gently and attempts to
end his life with a rear naked choke. This choke, is a type of submission hold that is often used
in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and mixed martial arts. Generally speaking, the rear naked choke is a type
of headlock. It is primarily a blood choke, slowing the transit of blood to the brain,
although it can be used as an air choke, stopping breathing, as well. If you apply pressure using
your forearm against your opponent’s trachea or windpipe causing tracheal compression,
that is termed an air choke. If the forearm is placed on the arteries on the side of the neck,
this is termed a blood choke. Either can be used to incapacitate an opponent temporarily.
However, if held for long enough, it can also be used to kill an opponent,
as was Baki’s intent here, because this is after all, a fight to the death.
Brief medical explanation.
If it weren’t for Mohammed Alai Sr….
Father saves son clip
Well, Alai Jr. might not have made it out of the episode alive.
I guess that’s what happens when you push your luck a little too far in the Baki universe.
If you liked this breakdown be sure to let me know in the comments. If there’s another
fight you want me to analyze with a critical medical eye let me know that too. As always,
that’s been a word from dr chris, not your everyday ortho.