Martial Arts, Honour and the temples
Martial Arts is a slow skill that creeps up as you train Maritime and Combat. Belts are earned by level (white until 30, yellow 30, orange 40, green 50, blue 60, purple 70, brown 80, red 90, black 99) but you must be graded for each belt by Lee Bruce in Aurelia. A black belt can earn Dans: the 1st Dan at level 130, then every ten levels. Open the Character window (I) to see your level, a picture of your belt (a gold bar for each Dan) and your Honour.
Honour
Honour is earned by long periods of training, and by winning duels, boxing matches and temple fights. It drains slowly when you stop training (nothing for an hour, then a point every quarter hour), like notoriety.
The eight temples
Eight Martial Arts temple islands lie round the map, from the home waters out to level 130: Dawn (1-10), Bamboo (10-25), River (25-40), Iron (40-55), Cloud (55-75), Storm (75-95), Lotus (95-115) and the Temple of the Void (115-130). Inside, fighting is hand to hand only, one target at a time: no weapons and no armour (the monks will not spar with you if you carry any). Only your own Martial Arts level sets how hard you hit. Every kill pays Martial Arts XP (a fiftieth of the next level) and Honour. Land by shore boat: row in from your ship, and the boat on the beach takes you back.
On the mats: honour, the gi and the techniques
Step onto a temple's mats and the dojo asks for your honour (a notice in the middle of the screen with a line from Bruce Lee). Press OK and every item that boosts your stats is set aside, you are stripped to bare feet and dressed in your gi and earned belt, and only your hands and feet count: every skill on your action bar is replaced by martial techniques, there are no heals but your own breath, and the only other thing that fires is your class's finisher on a beaten foe. Step off the mats and everything comes back. Each temple's outfitter sells gis in sixteen colours and patterns (the Master's Yellow Gi, Lee Bruce's own, at level 99).
Slot 1 is always the plain punch. The rest of the bar fills as your Martial Arts level teaches you moves, one every few levels, and all 23 are known by level 60. Sparring with the monks trains Martial Arts directly (the harder the move, the more it pays), and a combo is one button that chains several clips into several blows.
| Level | Technique | Recharge | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Jab | 3.0 s | Straight lead hand: quick and clean. |
| 6 | Cross | 3.5 s | The rear hand, thrown from the hip. |
| 9 | Hook | 4.0 s | A looping blow round the guard. |
| 12 | Body Blow | 4.5 s | Under the ribs: wind and will. |
| 15 | Uppercut | 5.0 s | Up from the floor into the chin. |
| 18 | Front Kick | 5.5 s | The lead foot snaps straight out. |
| 20 | One-Two (combo, 2 blows) | 8.0 s | Jab, cross: the first sets up the second. |
| 21 | Elbow Strike | 6.0 s | Close in, with the point of the elbow. |
| 24 | Knee Strike | 6.5 s | A rising knee, hands holding the head. |
| 27 | Teep | 7.0 s | The Muay Thai push kick that keeps them off. |
| 30 | Side Kick | 7.5 s | The hip turns over; the heel drives in. |
| 30 | Muay Thai Barrage (combo, 3 blows) | 12.0 s | Body kick, elbow, then the knee. |
| 33 | Low Sweep | 8.0 s | Round at the ankles and down they go. |
| 36 | Roundhouse | 8.5 s | The Taekwondo high kick, snapped round. |
| 39 | Back Kick | 9.0 s | Turn away, look over the shoulder, fire. |
| 40 | Grappler's Chain (combo, 3 blows) | 15.0 s | Sweep the ankle, throw over the hip, slam them down. |
| 42 | Axe Kick | 9.5 s | The heel climbs high and chops down. |
| 45 | Hip Throw | 10.0 s | Hip under, grip pulled, over they go. |
| 48 | Jumping Front Kick | 10.5 s | Off the mat and into the chest. |
| 50 | Tiger Kicks (combo, 3 blows) | 18.0 s | Three Taekwondo kicks without the foot touching down. |
| 51 | Spinning Heel Kick | 11.0 s | A full turn behind the heel. |
| 54 | Body Slam | 12.0 s | Lifted clear and driven into the mat. |
| 60 | Dragon Barrage (combo, 4 blows) | 24.0 s | The whole art in one breath: fists, a turn, and a flying kick. |
Thai-Chi
With a Brown Belt and 80 Faith, type /taichi and stand still: every ten seconds you earn Faith XP and a little Honour. Move, fight or get hit and the form breaks.
Colosseum duels and the Agency's ring
Challenge anyone on the Colosseum's sand in Aurelia, or in the boxing ring in the Agency's garden (right-click a player nearby). Both use the same best-of-three beats; in the ring the moves are Jab, Guard, Hook, Slip & Counter and the Knockout Combo, and a lost round is a knockdown.
The Agency's garden
Behind BTH Holding's great hall (the observatory under its glass roof) a gate opens on a marble courtyard: rose beds, statues, a fountain, the boxing ring, a dais with the Agency's chest (open it once a week for a seven-day Experience, Trade Profit and Sailing Speed boost), a board of the ten most wanted player pirates, a walk of stepping stones out over the clouds, and a galactic war in the sky above it.
