KawangaKid Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 Re: HERO SYSTEM MARTIAL ARTS -- What Do *You* Want To See?: More on Anting-anting Hey, I'm not the only one who knows about the anting-anting! And finally, there's my favorite anting-anting story. Once a year, on the feast day of a certain saint at midnight (I don't what day), the anting-anting will drip from the leaf of a certain plant (I don't remember what either). You must catch it in your mouth before it hits the ground. At the same moment, all manner of demons and ghosts will surround you and try to kill you, but you will be safe so long as the anting-anting is in your mouth. If you can make it to daybreak, the ghosts and demonds will disappear and the anting-anting will be yours! I don't know what this last anting-anting does. It could be any of the above, or it could be a generic "protection from evil." Or it could make the wearer invulnerable to attacks from ghosts and demons. Anyway it's cool story! I've heard this last one -- it's supposed to be the puso ng saging ("heart of the banana [tree]"). Makes you undeafeatable in battle -- supposedly? I dunno exactly what it does either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapsedgamer Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 Re: HERO SYSTEM MARTIAL ARTS -- What Do *You* Want To See?: More on Anting-anting Ah, another thing! Under the UMA coverage of Arnis / Escrima / Kali, it mentions the anting-anting, but is just a bit off. An anting-anting or agimat is not an 'internal' ability. Rather it is tied to an amulet or a charm. Local folklore says that it can only work on certain days, or it won't work on certain days, or not against certain things, or has different effects. Also, some folks say that they can't be bought, but must be received as a gift for them to work. Hey, I'm not the only one who knows about the anting-anting! I've heard a couple stories about the anting-anting firsthand. The "real" version was told to me by my grandmother. My grandfather (or was it granduncle?) was observing a deer munching on some leaves and a vine. After several weeks of this, the deer was markedly improved. Grandma has made a tea out of these leaves; it's actually quite good, tasting like basil. The plant was also studied by the University of the Phillipines. However, (presumedly due their limited funds) they were only able to figure out what vitamins and like were in them, not any world-saving proteins, etc. Calcium and a few other things were found, that's all. The next story is about a criminal who had an anting-anting that would protect him from bullets. The police eventually trapped him on a bridge, and shot him. The criminal was thrown into the water by the Knockback. When the criminal was later apprehended (I don't know if he was alive or not at that point)...they found that the bullet had been stopped by the anting-anting. Remember, anting-anting are locket-sized, so the bullet basically hit it square in the center. Another story is about Nardo Putik, or Nardo Mud (IIRC). He was so called because...he could disappear "into mud." Or as we say, "into thin air." (Yeah, the whole mud thing confuse me too.) As the name suggests,his anting-anthing could make him invisible. And finally, there's my favorite anting-anting story. Once a year, on the feast day of a certain saint at midnight (I don't what day), the anting-anting will drip from the leaf of a certain plant (I don't remember what either). You must catch it in your mouth before it hits the ground. At the same moment, all manner of demons and ghosts will surround you and try to kill you, but you will be safe so long as the anting-anting is in your mouth. If you can make it to daybreak, the ghosts and demonds will disappear and the anting-anting will be yours! I don't know what this last anting-anting does. It could be any of the above, or it could be a generic "protection from evil." Or it could make the wearer invulnerable to attacks from ghosts and demons. Anyway it's cool story! I've heard this last one -- it's supposed to be the puso ng saging ("heart of the banana [tree]"). Makes you undeafeatable in battle -- supposedly? I dunno exactly what it does either. It's kind of interesting to see how all cultures have some version of this stuff. My maternal grandmother's community in South Carolina had stuff like mojo bags and "John The Conker (Conquerer)" root. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torchwolf Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 Re: HERO SYSTEM MARTIAL ARTS -- What Do *You* Want To See? So, I'll put another thought that I'd like to see... Though I don't know if this really is the approprate location for it (meaning this book, it's as close as I can think, but I'd still like to see it). Main Point: I'd like to see one of the Write ups to be along the lines of the 8 Taoist "Drunken" Immortals (one or two of them would be cool) with a little discussion on this topic. They've been more in the media lately what with the Forbidden Kingdom and (from what I can understand) the "experienced adventurers" from Crouching Tiger - Hidden Dragon were two of the 8. I can't think of were this information would be better served. Thanks for listening. P.S. If I have missed one of their write-ups, then I'd like to know where they are, because I'm currently trying to work one out for my player (we're probably going to hold off until the HSMA comes out anyway, but it'd be nice to have in any case.) I looked through some stuff but the closest I could find was the "Dragon Mandarin" HeroPlus pdf. Apparently the nefarious Dr Yin Wu is an immortal, and the writeup might be useful to you - as well as the examples of Chinese Magic also in this pdf. I recommend it. Otherwise... assuming you mean the 8 Taoist Immortals, most of them had to brew an alchemical concoction that would turn them into Jade statues - unless they could motivate to the Jade Emperor why they should be allowed immortality. If they convinced him, they were saved from being transformed into jade. This didn't apply to a few of the 8 immortals, who accidentally consumed magical substances or the like, and thus became immortals independently or by pure chance (if there is such a thing in taoism). You may already know this info, but I gave a brief summary for completeness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 Re: HERO SYSTEM MARTIAL ARTS -- What Do *You* Want To See? A thought: would the fanciful (and sometimes even realistic) tricks involving whips from Wild West stories be appropriate for this book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 Re: HERO SYSTEM MARTIAL ARTS -- What Do *You* Want To See? UMA page 60 -61 has Whipfighting. And I've seen whips used in several wuxia films as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casualplayer Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 Re: HERO SYSTEM MARTIAL ARTS -- What Do *You* Want To See? I've been plowing through Lucha Libre Hero(yeah, I'm behind. I bought Book of the Destroyer just two weeks ago) and I love the manuever descriptions and listing. Something similar to this for HSMA, please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawangaKid Posted January 1, 2010 Report Share Posted January 1, 2010 Re: HERO SYSTEM MARTIAL ARTS -- What Do *You* Want To See?: More on Anting-anting It's kind of interesting to see how all cultures have some version of this stuff. My maternal grandmother's community in South Carolina had stuff like mojo bags and "John The Conker (Conquerer)" root. Well, I should think so. There's always someone looking for an edge. I mean, we haven't even mention "orasyons / oracions" which are essentially little prayers / spells in latin that the old school martial artists here say to "power up" themselves or their anting-antings or their magical weapons. Some of these things are appeals to Catholic saints or to the Holy Trinity -- a remnant of the strong influence of the long Spanish occupation of the Philippines (we're named after a Spanish king, after all). Oh yeah, a lot of modern arnis training owes a lot to the Spanish style of teaching fencing (the numbers for the different types of attacks, scientific diagrams / analysis of stances and angles of attack). I believe the La Destreza school of fencing was renowned for this approach. Old school training tended to be "here's the stick, here's the angles of attack, try not to get hurt too badly -- now defend yourself, student!" and you learned by fighting your master a lot. Of course, the masters held back. It was only in the death matches between masters that these guys went all out. Tradition has it that the grandmasters had folding fans with the names of masters that they'd defeated / killed in deathmatches to show their grandmastery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted January 8, 2010 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: HERO SYSTEM MARTIAL ARTS -- What Do *You* Want To See? OK, folx, just wanted to say that I'm done with HSMA and therefore un-Stickying this thread. Thanx for all the suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: HERO SYSTEM MARTIAL ARTS -- What Do *You* Want To See? Oooohh.... I can't wait to see the finished product! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobGreenwade Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: HERO SYSTEM MARTIAL ARTS -- What Do *You* Want To See? Mazel tov, and Skoal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kahuna's bro Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 Re: HERO SYSTEM MARTIAL ARTS -- What Do *You* Want To See? hai-yah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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