Would YOU Sweat Blood? Hearts of Fire Brave the World

Are You Ready to Rumble?!

   Love watching Jackie Chan's classic masterpiece Drunken Master, or maybe your more inclined towards Donnie Yen's Ip Man? 
Well buckle in then cause it's time for a sub-genre of Shounen called Martial Arts or simply Fighting manga and anime. These are the kind of series that will show you the world of men going knuckle to knuckled, toe to toe. Squaring up and brawling with bones snapping and blood pouring like the sweat they pour into their craft.With that said, here we go!

   Now before we begin lets define what exactly a fighting manga is about-- What we're looking at here isn't fighting like traditional shounen, you'll see NOTHING like Dragonball Z here. What you will see is stuff like boxing, fencing (called Kendo), or something along those lines. Shounen fighting isn't realistic and thus I won't include it here, if you wanna see more stuff like that then check out my shounen tag at the right hand side. Whew! Now we can move on.

  First! Lets look at that picture above, that is from a series called Hajime no Ippo (also known as Ippo the Fighter). Its a boxing manga/anime that follows a boy as he starts out in boxing and watching him as he ascends to the world stage.

Moving the wind

  Now it is pretty lengthy of a series expanding across numerous years to build a story that has almost just become a standing tradition in itself, like other long standing series (Detective Conan just to name one of many). But the series started out pretty humble, with a high school kid who was bullied and wanted something to defend himself. Now in the series he's standing at the world stage with the world looking at his back calling him Fujin (God of Wind).
  But thats usually what makes fighting manga and anime so attractive, watching a character rise from such simplistic origins and ascend to such grand titles or skills that it borders on the surreal (or in shounen's case, the paranormal).

Slicing through a gun like butter

  Another great fighting series, moving away from just boxing, is series like Until Death Do Us Part. It takes a bit more serious look at this sub-genre, using some fantasy to help start the plot but ultimately relying on one blind man and his obsession with his sword to propel the plot into something even better.
  The main character cares only for perfecting his sword, so for that reason he joins a vigilante group which has access to vast funds and technology to thus be able to see again and as well as be able to use swords sharper and stronger than anything before.
  What sets him apart is the fact that he solely relies on a sword in a modern day society, being able to cut bullets perfectly in half, close the distance between his opponents and make a killing blow. But in his world, he's not the only odd ball fighter, there are master strategists and fighter who utilize technology to fight against superior numbers as well as pull off stunts just as crazy as slicing bullets.
  But what I have found that people really like about fighting series is when the character unleashes this technique that blow people away because it was just so surprising. Like in Hajime no Ippo, he's a small guy but turns out to be a hard puncher so people always underestimate him. Then next thing they know he's landing a massive uppercut that sends them to the moon!

A body covered in scars

  Finally I'll leave you with a series that leave you with a good idea what this sub-genre is all about. Baki the Grappler. Where would one even begin? This is a child born from the strongest man on earth who is hell bent on toppling his father's empire to earn his respect.
  Essentially raising himself, he fights professionally in the underground fighting world as the reigning champion. A place where anything goes except for weapons, so the true use of martial arts comes to the forefront, styles that were forged on the battlefield to kill men without use of tools. Yet he survives and has the crown to prove it. But that alone isn't enough.

In the Martial Art manga world, nothing is just finished. Training is a life long journey to master the body and mind to become an extension of the perfect fist.