Gatotsu
The Gatotsu waza is used by Saitoh Hajime and all other ShinShenGumi in the Ruruoni Kenshin series. Gatotsu is an extremely powerful and quick thrust. With most sword experts, Gatotsu is something to be feared because of the skill of the user. To a beginner Gatotsu may seem weak because if the intial attack withe gatotsu fails or is avoided it can be counter attacked, WRONG!!! If the intial Gatotsu is avoided it can be changed instantly to a sideways attack thus covering up the inital failure. Saitoh Hajime is actually a real historical figure that was part of the ShinShenGumi. Although the real Saitoh Hajime specialty was not Gatotsu, it was an extremely fast thrust attack from that the Gatotsu was born for the RK series of course. Gatotsu was created by The ShinShenGumi second captain Hijitaka Toshizou. The stance of the gatotsu is actually performed by holding the hilt by the left hand, then posing the right hand slightly above the kiaski or the tip the sword in english. The legs are spread far apart from each other with the left leg facing the opponent thus when the indiviual makes the intial step he/she can get a better thrust and speed in. There are many different forms of Gatotsu.
Standard Sub-Waza's Gatotsu Ishiki- The regular Gatotsu attack. This is when the individual poses the Gatotsu stance then leading with the right foot the individual would make the initial charge then thrust.The individual uses the speed and force from the the blade to do the damage. The individual would usually target the head, neck, shoulders, or chest. The thrust itself is extremely powerful that if not used by a strong blade the stress from the impact and the weight of the person would break the blade.(*Note: Those of us fortunate enough to see the first fight between Sanosuke and Saitoh Hajime will know what I'm talking about) Gatotsu Nishiki- The second form of Gatotsu, it is an extremely powerful air attack. The individual would need powerful legs to perfor the gatotsu's especially this one. THis attack requires the individual to jump towards the opponent using the Gatotsu in mid-air then cuting downwards toward the opponent in a horizontal fashion thus cutting him in two using the thrust from the legs, gravity, and the then the sheer weight and speed from the fall to deal the damage. If this connects the opponent is dead, there is no survival from that. Gatotsu Sanshiki- The third form of Gatotsu is basically a anti-air move. Again it takes powerful legs to perform this attack because it requires an extreme boost of speed to start the counter then the individual would just push off holding the hilt of the sword upwards with the point of the blade facing the opoonent. If this fails the individual can pull off a side attack or a Gatotsu Nishiki if fast enough. Sucession Technique Gatotsu Zeroshiki- The sucession technique of the Gatotsu and also the final move. From what it appears to be the sucession technique requires no visible form of leg power. This technique is performed similar to a Gatotsu Ishiki but is only performed at point blank range and no leg power is required. The individual would focus all of his body in the thurst making the impact from the Gatotsu to double or triple its original power rating. Sometimes the individual would release the sword as it makes the imapct thus making it a projectile that is extremely powerful. This move is extremely powerful that it split right through Usui's turtle sheild and impaled him to the wall, while in the manga it split the sheild and cut Usui in half.
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