Dryfighting
The balaceti martial art of dryfighting pulls from several swimming and hunting techniques and attempts to translate those movements to dry land. The way a shark will thrash with its prey to disorient it is mirrored by the dryfighting maneuver of redirecting an opponent's momentum. The orca technique of drowning prey by continuously turning them over and blocking the way to the surface inspired the dryfighting style of close-ranged combat with several leg and arm wraps and breaks.
Dryfighting was born out of the balaceti's exploration of the above-water parts of the Dirhun islands. With explorers and warriors who were not as used to dry land as the threats they faced in Dirhun, the balaceti regrouped and developed a way for their people to defend themselves.
History
The first dryfighters were warriors, defending the balaceti territories from encroaching human settlements. After peace was established between the two cultures, dryfighting developed further into a form recognizable today. Humans and balaceti alike are taught the art, but since the art draws from swimming techniques, the balaceti are naturally more adept at it.
In the centuries of harmony between balaceti and humans, dryfighting has come to be more of a ceremonial or recreational art rather than an actual style of fighting. However, in the wake of Sirulis, experienced dryfighters became invaluable, as the unusual style was unpredictable to the hostile Sirulans.
Execution
Rather than strikes or kicks, dryfighting focuses mainly on grabs and throws. A dryfighter will react to an incoming punch by following its trajectory, then grabbing their opponent's arm and twisting it or subduing them in another way. Thus a fight usually ends in submission from the opponent, rather than a knockout.
That is not to say that dryfighting is entirely harmless. Limb breaks factor into several grab techniques, and like the orca's drowning techniques, an experienced dryfighter can choke out their opponent.
Components and tools
Weapons are not commonly used in dryfighting, but there are dedicated subforms of the style involving the use of spears and staves. The ability to disarm an opponent and use their weapon against them is important in dryfighting as well, resulting in some recreational dryfighting matches coming down to a fight over a staff.
Participants
As the art developed after the schism of the greater balaceti clans, dryfighting is practiced more by the grove-pods than the drift-pods. The drift-pods rarely leave the water in the first place, and as such do not have much use for the art in their lives.
Primary Related Location
Related Ethnicities
Comments