Elements-- an easy guide to sorting out your inner fighting style

[Snowrose]

An important lesson to learn on the road to self discovery, and fighting styles, is the use of elements. I learned a great deal about different martial styles over the years, and the easiest way to find the weapons that best suit you is through the examination of which elements your personality associates with most out of the four basic: earth, wind, water, fire.

To figure out your element you /could/ meditate on it, or you can look at your basic patterns of anger.

Wind: easily angry, easily calmed down-- switches on a dime if the right path opens up. Quick flare, quick cool down.
Water: slow build up of anger, slow cool down-- flows between states gradually.
Earth: Mellow-- rarely huge difference in overall emotional state, but can hold one hell of a grudge.
Fire: quick flare, slooooow burn to cool off-- very easy to anger, hard to calm down, akin to a widfire.

Usually people have two elements that call to them most, their element and an element in which they share the tendencies of. For example, I'm a wind with water tendencies. I flip on a dime, and occasionally have slow build up and cool down. In terms of my fighting style, I succeed most when there is a flow to it. Archery, knife/axe throwing, and Chinese blades are my strength because there is a constant motion required.

Reply here two elements so that we can work through what fighting style would best suit you-- once you've figured out your elements I can help you determine what kind of fighting style would suit you best (keeping in mind your overall build and natural proficiency).

My personal list: Wind with water tendencies
Long ranged weapon: bow and arrow (eventually will learn yumi-e, for now though, European short bow)
Mid ranged: Throwing knives, throwing ax
Short ranged melee: Dao or Dadao or European hand and a half broadsword

--The Ashen Dragon

[Crystal]

As Crystal the Warrior Poetess, my elements are ice and fire (or, more precisely, these are the two sides of me that I must keep in balance so that neither one loses control).

The weapons in my pencil case include: several mightier-than-swords (pens) which take the illusion of swords when I unsheathe (uncap) them; sharper-than-spears (pencils) which can make things appear to vanish if I hit them with the blunt end (the eraser); a couple of old pencil stubs with hardened erasers (deadlier-than-daggers); and a quiver of quills (swifter-than-arrows) with magic ink and a ribbon that becomes a bow if I tie it right. My stronger-than-a-shield is a book.

Since my weapons are so small, it is easy for me to carry a nice selection with me, but I can only use one at a time; switching weapons mid-battle is inconvenient because it takes a certain amount of mental energy to transform a writing utensil into a weapon and back. I can basically work my illusions with any ordinary writing utensils, but my own are easier to use because they are more familiar to me. Each different kind of pen becomes a unique style of sword, and I am not equally skilled with all swords. My favourite is the purple ball point pen that becomes a fancy purple-tinted rapier.

When I’m Crystal Flame, I can still use Warrior Poetess weapons but not as skillfully (and my stronger-than-a-shield might catch fire if I lose my temper in battle, which could be inconvenient); Ice Crystal’s weapon is an icicle sword.