I'm a huge fan of Star Trek (Klingons especially) and I really love martial arts. At some point, I heard that there was a book on Bat'leth techniques, but apparently it's out of print and the only remaining copies are around $200, which is quite a bit to pay for a book I can't even preview. I've seen one or two videos of Bat'leth kata developed by fans, but does anyone here know if there is anything official which corresponds to the way Bat'leth fights are choreographed? According to one book, the person who made the weapon developed a fighting style similar to Tai Chi to correspond with its use. If anyone has any information, please send information my way.
Check out the Cicada Wing Sword from Kung-fu, it's a bit obscure but the form/kata should have at least some sort of roots in practical application and its pretty close to a bat'leth Wushu form [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_G-nJrgAtc&sns=em"]link here[/ame]
It's a fictional martial art so why don't you just devise your own fictional katas. Sounds like more fun than learning ones that were probably choreographed by people with little to no martial arts experience.
I remember reading that the martial arts of the Klingons was whatever the choreographer that day was familiar with, from boxing to aikido. So you can probably do whatever, and call it authentic : )
The important part of using a bat'leth is remembering the #1 Klingon warrior principle: pointy end goes in bad guy.
moq'bara is based on tai chi, actually. you can see it in several TNG and DS9 episodes, iirc. also, i'm interested in the book, as well.
A gift from your friendly neighbourhood Trekkie Mod: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Fighting-Arts-Warrior-Race/dp/1890065005"]Secret Fighting Arts of the Warrior Race, Volume 1: betleH yIqel: HetaQ DogwI', Tom Twohy, Chet Braun: 9781890065003: Amazon.com: Books[/ame] or http://www.wle.com//products/b400.html
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/How-Speak-Klingon-Essential-Intergalactic/dp/1452118140/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_4"]How to Speak Klingon: Essential Phrases for the Intergalactic Traveler (Star Trek): Ben Grossblatt, Alex Fine: 9781452118147: Amazon.com: Books[/ame] And some translation books to help too.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/The-Klingon-Way-Warriors-Virtues/dp/0671537555"]The Klingon Way: A Warrior's Guide (Star Trek: The Klingon Book of Virtues): Marc Okrand: 9780671537555: Amazon.com: Books[/ame] I own pretty much every Klingon book! (except that fighting one the PetaQ put out....) Worf explains the finer points [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXnzstpBEOg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXnzstpBEOg[/ame] And in action! [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypz5Q-qYgB8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypz5Q-qYgB8[/ame] This is someone messing around with a Bat'leth [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Fe0T-XhQ4"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Fe0T-XhQ4[/ame]
Thanks everyone! Looks like the only book available is that one, which is now out of print. Since I don't REALLY feel like spending $60-$200 on a copy of an interpretation of Klingon fighting techniques, looks like I'll just have to apply what I know to the weapon. According to wikipedia, the Klingon honor sword is based off of the Chinese guan dao. Luckily, I've had some guan dao training, so that makes things much easier. I might update this thread eventually with my interpretation for the sake of anyone curious about the bat'leth. Qapla'!
