See also Independent Character Fighting Techniques.

Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū (無差別格闘流 "School of Indiscriminate Grappling") more commonly known as Anything Goes Martial Arts, is a fictional school of martial arts from the anime and manga series, Ranma ½. It was founded by Happosai and is the art used by the protagonist and title character Ranma Saotome, his fiancée Akane Tendo, and their fathers Genma Saotome and Soun Tendo, respectively.

It is most commonly believed that Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū was founded by martial arts master and perverted lecher extraordinaire Happosai during his travels around Japan and China long before the start of the series. How long ago is disputed as his exact age has never been disclosed. In the manga, Happosai is at least 118 and at most 230 years old (and in the anime a little over 300) with his training trip happening when he was still a young man. If this figure is true, then it is safe to assume that the school itself, or at least its beginnings are quite old. What is known is that sometime before the start of the series, Happosai took two young apprentices, Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome, as his students, an act which would lead to both the creation of the two main branches of Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū, as well as his lengthly hibernation without food or water.

After Soun and Genma were able to imprison Happosai in a cave with sake, explosives and shinto seals draped over a boulder that sealed the cave's entrance, the two went and founded their respective branches of Anything Goes, both named after their families. Soun would eventually settle down to teach his Tendo School to his daughter Akane while Genma would later take his son Ranma on a 13-14 year long training journey (wherein both inadvertently get cursed) before presenting him to Soun for the eventual reunification of the two schools.

True to its name, Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū or Anything Goes Martial Arts, is based on learning and adapting many different styles of martial arts, taking what works and discarding what doesn't. As such, Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū is not confined to a single way of thinking or philosophy when it comes to martial arts combat. This gives the practitioner of Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū the advantage of adaptability and unpredictability in a fight since he or she would ideally know moves and techniques from many different schools that complement each other, minimizing perceptible weaknesses. In this respect, the ideal practitioner of Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū is its heir apparent, Ranma Saotome. Throughout the course of the series, Ranma not only learns multiple styles and techniques from both friends and enemies, but also displays the uncanny ability to adapt or modify these techniques in mid-battle to catch his opponent off-guard.

It is interesting to note that the philosophy of Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū is similar to that of many martial arts used by many real-life mixed-martial artists, most of whom cross-train in many different disciplines to create a balanced, well-rounded fighting style.

• Happosai - Founder and Grandmaster
• Genma Saotome - Master, Saotome School
• Soun Tendo - Master, Tendo School
• Ranma Saotome - Heir to the Saotome School, Happosai's chosen heir
• Akane Tendo - Heir to the Tendo School
• Hinako Ninomiya - English Teacher (By extension only. Not a trained martial artist.)
• Natsume Tendo (Anime only)
• Kurumi Tendo (Anime only)

• Ryu Kumon - Heir to the Kumon School and practitioner of the Yamasenken, but was later forced to seal the scroll, and likely the techniques, after his defeat by Ranma.

After Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome sealed Happosai away in a cave, Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū was divided into two styles, the Tendo and Saotome schools. Happosai also has his own variation, Ganso Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū, though the school itself, which relies a lot on trickery, seems to have been developed to compensate for his advanced age.

Soun and Genma seem intent on having the school's legacy advanced and promoted through Ranma, regardless if he marries one of Akane's untrained sisters, possibly due to her comparatively limited prowess. Given that the Saotome branch seems superior in adaptation, aerial and unarmed combat, speed, and even power, the only possible contributions of the Tendo school would be armed, and likely melee combat, but given that Ranma has been able to reach a stalemate with Mousse in staff fighting, even the former seems uncertain. Akane's talent was shown as immense during the battle-dougi arc, so the reason for this implied limitation may simply be that Soun has provided shoddy training. But given her own fierce determination to excel, this seems too one-sided. More likely, it is because she was not completely immersed in the martial arts from the time she was a baby like Ranma was. Akane instead focused on a traditional education, having friends, imitating Kasumi and being the school's top gymnast as well. The Tendo school seems more limited and apparently focuses on ground-based power, versatile traditional weapons use and possibly fighting against many opponents, like what would be seen on a samurai battlefield.

In general, the Saotome school is the more aerial of the two branches, with both Ranma and Genma Saotome performing feats of acrobatics during their fights. During a competition with Kodachi the former stated outright that midair combat was the specialty of this style. In this respect, it is probably the closer of the two systems to the original school of Happosai, since the latter also prefers to go to the air when fighting. The Saotome school is also host to a number of offbeat, diversionary techniques named after animals, such as the "Crouch of the Wild Tiger", which are a hallmark of the Saotome school.

The school also has two sealed martial arts developed by Genma Saotome, the Yamasenken and Umisenken. Both are schools designed to help in thievery and have some rather deadly attacks. It was in attempting to learn the Yamasenken that the father of Ryu Kumon ended up killing himself and destroying their dojo, leading to the beginning of the younger Kumon's quest for the complementing scroll "to rebuild the Kumon dojo".

Training for the Saotome school involves turning everything, even mundane events into training exercises, as well as experimenting with many new techniques (as is the way of Musabetsu Kakutō). This willingness to experiment, however, can lead to some unexpected results.

Despite some rumors, the Saotome-ryu does involve weapons use, and Ranma has reached draws in staff fighting against both Mousse and Soun. However, they haven't been shown to match the diversity of the Tendo-ryu. Saotome-ryu makes use of staves at the very least and may have an element of hinged weapons (nunchaku). Ranma is not any more disrespectful of weapons than he is of anything else, but is less proficient at using them than unarmed techniques.

Saotome-Ryu may emphasize one-on-one confrontations over one-on-many confrontations.

(無差別格闘天道流 — Musabetsu Kakutō Tendō-Ryū)

The Tendo school seems like the more 'traditionally Japanese'/Karate-like ground-based school of Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū (as opposed to the more 'Chinese'/Kung-Fu like Saotome school), implied by the fact that Akane and Soun Tendo more seldom use aerial techniques. However, both Akane and her father have been known to jump significant heights and use aerial attacks when necessary, and Akane has shown remarkable manoeuvrability in battles against the Orochi, Shampoo or Kiima.

The Tendo school may emphasize power over speed, evidenced by Akane's ability to smash through cement blocks, the dojo's walls on a regular basis and sometimes even cement pallisades . The Tendo school also seems to teach weapons use, both standard and improvised. In her battles with Ranma, Akane has wielded shinai, bokken, mallets, bonbori, tables, bows and arrows, and been clad in samurai wear, and Soun uses archaic armour and weaponry far more frequently. Akane's weapons training has proved enough to maintain an almost even official kendo match with Tatewaki Kuno, a known and highly skilled practitioner.

It is possible that the Tendo school has been taught to more than those who are shown practicing the style in the series. This is due to the fact that Soun Tendo owns the Tendo Dojo and likely uses it to make a living out of teaching. It's also open for regular community requests to get rid of monsters, catch thieves, public nuisances, attackers and similar.

Tendo-ryu may be more effective against large groups of opponents than it is one-on-one, as evidenced by Akane's nearly instant wins against throngs of her school's sports and martial arts club members, but this may also be due to the attackers' comparatively low skill level.

The Creative Indiscriminate Martial Arts, sometimes translated as the Founding School of Anyting Goes Martial Arts, Ganso Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū is Happosai's variant of Musabetsu Kakutō. This variant mostly involves ki manipulation as well as stealth and trickery. Whether or not this is the original school of Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū, or whether it was developed by Happosai as a response to his advancing age is unknown. It seems different enough from the Tendo and Saotome schools that it can be considered a later development. However, both the Tendo and Saotome schools have themselves evolved further with the appropriation of new techniques.

The majority of the Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū techniques shown in the series are performed by either Happosai, Genma, or Ranma. In Ranma's case, two of his techniques are actually moves he learned from Cologne, elder of the Chinese Amazons. There is a subset of moves that only Hinako Ninomiya is able to use because of the training Happosai gave her when she was young that allows her to absorb and utilize raw ki from her opponents.

Beyond using his archaic armour and weaponry Soun hasn't been explicitly shown to use any special techniques except for his battle aura.

• Battle aura: Manifested either in the form of Soun's regular head, once shown with shoulders, armor, and possibly body, since only the upper part was shown. Alternately, a distorted, demonic version, with a prehensile tongue. It can apparently be maintained for a considerably longer time than Genma's, but, with the above-mentioned possible exception, hasn't seemed nearly as large. It's usually seen inducing fear or intimidation, but has also been used to physically attack/hunt Happosai, presumably being of similar nature to that of the 2 other school masters. In the anime he shares both Happosai's and Genma's ability to grow into a giant capable of fighting ancient "demonic" spirits.

• Sixth Sense: Like an undisclosed amount of other martial artists in the main cast, Akane has a certain extrasensory awareness, which in her case is consistently shown to warn her from incoming danger/ambushes, for example from Mousse or Kodachi, and occasionally seems to grant her a vague premonition, as when she heard Ryoga call her name from afar when the latter was almost strangled to death by Lime, and possibly overhearing Ranma's thoughts after the conflict with Saffron.
• Battle Aura: So far it only seems usable when she's severely upset, and then strictly for intimidation and a remarkable strength boost.
• Dual Jet-Stream Raging Waters Attack (Anime only): In this combination attack used by Ranma and Akane, they cross their arms together and leap into the air while spinning and once they have gained enough speed, they deliver a sharp kick to their opponent. This attack was only used once in the anime in their battle against the Dojo Destroyer.^[1].

Ranma's training in the Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū began under his father when he was approximately 2-3 years old (going by the flashback to the time he was separated from his mother). He is well aware of the poor role model Genma was for him, but has also effectively learned his father's methods in maximizing his effectiveness. While he doesn't mind extensively cheating in order to 'triumph' against superior enemies, he generally tries to fight fairly and expects the same from his opponents. His first thirteen years of practice were classical in nature, training almost exclusively with Genma, but an encounter with the Chinese Amazons and his subsequent defeat of their champion, Shampoo, exposed him to a new style of fighting. Since then, Ranma has incorporated two techniques from the Chinese Amazon village into his highly adaptable fighting style.

Generally useful moves:

• Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken (火中天津甘栗拳 — Imperial Roasting Chestnuts in the Fire Fist, also called Chestnuts Roasting over an Open Fire Fist): a flurry of attacks of blinding speed. It is known as "Chestnuts Roasting over an Open Fire" due to the method of learning the technique, which eventually trains the user's hand speed such that one can snatch chestnuts from a fire without burning themselves. In combat, this is typically used to deliver a devastating rapid barrage of punches. Because Ranma was affected by the Full-body Cat Tongue pressure point at the time, he could not handle heat. Thus, he did not master the technique in the conventional manner, but instead does so by pulling piranhas from a fish tank using his bare hands. In the manga this is not treated as a special attack, but as a speed exercise/enhancement. Although it is mentioned that due to undergoing it, Ranma can throw several hundred punches so swiftly that it looks like a single strike. In the anime it is shouted out loud, and manifestly used more frequently.
• Hiryū Shōten Ha (飛龍昇天破 — Flying Dragon's Ascension Wave, also called Heavenly Dragon's Strike): Cologne taught Ranma this ki-based attack. The fighter performs this by developing a "Soul of Ice", devoiding himself of emotion. They then use an opponent's hot ki, typically from battle aura, although extreme perversion has also been proven to work. The user then leads their opponent in the "rasen stepu" or spiral step. Once this is completed, the user pours the ki in an upward fist strike that creates a tornado of ki that carries off the opposing fighter(s). It is perhaps the most powerful and versatile technique of all, and has been used against some of his toughest opponents: Happosai, Herb, Saffron, Lukkosai, Ryoga, (Anime) Kirin and others, though his opponents are not necessarily knocked out by being caught in it. Happosai, Lukkosai and Herb have been ready to continue fighting afterwards, and Lime & Mint were similarly unaffected from being accidentally immersed. The opponent need not radiate hot ki; Ranma can gather excess hot ki in an area (such as from Saffron's heat attacks) to create the whirlwind. A great deal of cold ki can lessen, or even nullify, the effects of the whirlwind. In the manga, it is his most used special attack and works on all heat; it has even been successful against Happosai's lust (though Happosai was completely unfocused on Ranma at the time and only interested in grabbing his lingerie pictures). Ranma has developed and used several variations of the Hiryū Shōten Ha in both the manga and anime, including:
  • Hiryu Shöten Ha kaiteiban: Gedan Rasen (Flying Dragon's Ascension Wave revised: Horizontal Spiral): Anime only. The unique situation offered by Natsume and Kurumi's Hiryū Carimbō attack made this possible. The spiral created from Kurumi's ribbon radiated hot ki; Ranma gathered the hot ki from the ribbon to create the whirlwind. Since none of the combatants were radiating hot ki, Ranma used the whirlwind to push Akane into her opponents, the flying kick of doom. The side effect was the nullification of Natsume's own ki bolt, being cold ki itself, it would weaken the whirlwind, but, since the hot ki in the spiral is overwhelming, the effects were negligible. (This is the best rationalization that can be made from this alternate and anime-only attack.)
  • Hiryū Kōrin Dan (飛龍降臨弾 — Flying Dragon's Descending Bomb): Ranma discovered that the Hiryū Shōten Ha is ineffective against Herb, who knows of the attack (and thus managed to change his ki aura in time to lessen the effects of the whirlwind). But, Ranma noticed that excess hot ki gathered up in the sky. He created another whirlwind, allowing Herb to throw him into it. While in the air, Ranma gathered the hot ki and, with his own cold ki, fired himself downward, straight into Herb, for the final attack, which took him by surprise since he believed Ranma already defeated, and knocked out the othervise consistently overwhelmingly skilled opponent. It appears quite like a downward Mōko Takabisha, but larger and more powerful, backed by his opponent's collected ki, and possibly gravity.
  • Hiryū Hyō Toppa (飛龍氷突破 — Flying Dragon's Ice Break-through): This is Ranma's final attack against Saffron in volume 38 of the manga, completed with the aid of the Gekkaja a very powerful artefact/weapon of the Phoenix people, which produced an icy cold touch based effect. Ranma planned on throwing a whirlwind though a channel of cold air surrounded on both sides by the hot air of Saffron's blasts. The swirl in the middle the whirlwind would become highly concentrated, squeezing the cold spiral into a razor's edge. He was unable to find an opportunity to use the move until Akane threw her frozen doll form at Saffron, tunneling through Saffron's heat and giving a Ranma a small channel of cold air to fire the Hiryū Hyou Tōppa. The refined Hiryū Shoten Ha drilled straight through Saffron's chest, defeating him.
  • Hiryū Gyōten Ha (飛龍仰天破 — Flying Dragon's Heavenly Searching Wave): Also used in volume 38 of the manga. Akane was dying and only the water from the Dragon Faucet could save her. Ranma, falling from the sky, had no time to get Akane to the water. Instead, he channeled all his energies into the whirlwind. The whirlwind was forced downward, then curved as it reached the Dragon Faucet. It broke the Faucet, causing the Dragon Head to spew water into the sky. In this way Ranma saved Akane's life, but also destroyed an opportunity to remove his curse.
• Mōko Takabisha (猛虎高飛車 — Pride of the Fierce Tiger): A ki attack based on the emotion of confidence, created by and for Ranma. It was developed as a direct counter to Ryoga's Shishi Hōkōdan (Lion's Roar Blast) since Ranma could not maintain the level of depression required for it. Its weakness is that it is inefficient if he is unnerved by the prowess shown by a sufficiently powerful opponent. In the manga, Ranma is able to create a "Double Mōko Takabisha" that fires two equally strong ki blasts.
• Umisenken: See below

Genma taught Ranma this system when Ryu Kumon arrived and challenged them for the Umisenken scroll using its companion set, the Yamasenken. By becoming "emotionless" and moving silently Ranma can hide the "presence" which warns other martial artists of danger, and sneak up on and attack them, but can be brought out of this state if someone successfully provokes him. It also contains several moves specifically constructed to counter the Yamasenken. Ranma made Ryu Kumon swear off using Yamasenken after defeating him, and "sealed" his own knowledge of the Umisenken as well.

• Sixth Sense: Like several other characters, Ranma has displayed an extrasensorial awareness, warning him of incoming danger.

Unreliable, or less useful moves:

• Saotome Secret Technique: Fast Break: The "secret attack" of the Saotome School, which Genma says is based in the concepts of motion, contemplation, and opposition. In other words, the user runs away from his opponent, buying time to think of a better way to attack. Ranma used this only once, contributing to his victory over Ryoga Hibiki after the "eternally lost boy" learned the durability-enhancing Breaking Point technique.

• Nekoken (貓拳 — Cat Fist): A condition Ranma is subject to when his fear of cats reaches an unbearable level, rather than an actual technique. If he were cured from it, it would likely disappear. When this happens, he starts acting like a cat, apparently using his power more efficiently, and fights like a ferocious animal, with swipes of his "paws" that have torn tree-trunks to shreds. This does not seem to be the result of ki-blades, since no visual effect has implied it, while they were clearly distinguishable when generated by Herb, but rather powerful air pressure swipes, somewhat similar to those of Kuno or Ryu Kumon. While in this condition, he even managed to contend with Cologne in straight one-on-one fighting, though it is uncertain how much she held back. However, he is mentally a cat, driven by instinct and of limited intellect or attention span, making catnip (which will make him 'drunk'), distraction (throwing something and saying 'fetch!' has proved enough to get rid of him) and complete lack of strategy major weaknesses of this form. He has been shown to be brought out of the Nekoken by triggering his curse/being doused in water, or by falling asleep in the lap of someone he trusts. Also worth noting is that Ranma and Akane shared their first "kiss", while he was in this state, as he impulsively rubbed against her face. It is not a practically usable technique and beyond two times very early in the manga, it has only been activated against Maomolin, the Bakeneko, but his general fear of cats is shown more frequently. Given his own increase in versatility and more efficient use of his inherent power, it is uncertain if this state would give him an advantage towards the end.
• Shish Kebab (manga only): An attack Ranma uses to counter Mousse's Takazume Ken (Hawk's Talon attack). He uses a rapidly ascending kick to avoid Mousse's attack and slam into his face like a kebab rod going through meat and vegetables.
• Puppet Grip: Ranma clings to his opponent's back, then manipulates his/her arms like a puppet. Used it to try and make Kuno apologize to Kodachi and also to eat some Ramen in the Martial Arts Takeout Race. His efforts failed when Kuno exploited the one flaw: the technique doesn't control the victim's head, which means the victim can thwart it by keeping his mouth closed. Ranma gets around this by simply insulting Kuno, causing the latter to open his mouth to respond, allowing Ranma to feed him.
• Parlay du Foie Gras: The "Parlay" involves quickly stuffing your food in your opponent's mouth. Because of this, the user does not have to develop the characteristic distended mouth or elongated tongue that many champion "martial arts diners" have. It can be deflected by putting a plate in your mouth in such a way that the dish acts as a shield. Ranma used this technique to defeat Picolet Chardin III.
• Pansuto Ryūsei Kyaku (パンスト流星脚 — Pantyhose Shooting Star Kick): An extremely powerful kick Ranma used to nearly defeat the already severely battered cursed form of Pantyhose Taro, though he still had to beat up his even more battered human form straight afterwards. When Ranma's feet accidentally got caught in a rope of pantyhose, Taro used the opportunity to throw him towards a cliff, but Ranma managed to use their elasticity as a catapult to use the monster's own strength against him and cause much more damage than any of his single previous attacks had managed.
• Saotome "Fan the Smoke Back" technique: Just a joke move, to parody Konatsu's tendency to shout out a name for anything he does. Ranma counters the latter's smokescreen-like attack by fanning the smoke back toward its source.

Alongside Soun Tendo, Genma trained directly under Happosai as a young man. Although most of their "lessons" consisted of panty raids and working to pay off the master's debts, it is clear that he did learn a lot of his moves from the old pervert. Genma personally trained Ranma from birth using a series of questionable methods and is also responsible for his son's Jusenkyo curse. Shortly after concluding his training with Happosai, he invented two martial arts of his own. He designed them to aid in the thievery he conducted, apparently to fund his training with Ranma, but sealed away his knowledge of both of them after a fellow martial artist killed himself by practicing one of them and bringing down his dojo on top of himself. While Genma is usually too lazy or cowardly to show it, his full arsenal of special techniques would easily make him one of the most powerful fighters in the series if he ever used them in combination.

Generally useful moves:

• Battle Aura: Focusing all of his battle aura, Genma can generate a skyscraper sized version of himself, which can then fight on a far greater scale. This special attack is extremely taxing for him and unlike Happosai, he can't keep this technique up for more than about a minute at most. He uses this mostly when he's in panda form. In the anime, this doesn't seem to be an energy construct, but an actual size transformation, and Genma can use it for longer periods of time.
• Yamasenken (山千拳 – Mountain of 1000 Fists, also known as the "Way of the Noisy Thief"): One of two secret and forbidden styles of martial arts that Genma developed when he was younger. This one is based upon burglary, specifically the movements and techniques of a noisy bandit who smashes through the front door of a house. Genma taught this set to Ryu Kumon's father years ago, which indirectly led to his death. Ryu now utilizes these moves as well.
  • Opening Move: the user shouts something distracting at the opponent, such as "Freeze" or "Behind you." This distracts or stops the opponent in their tracks. The techniques are:
    • Mōko Kaimon Ha (猛虎開門破 – Fierce Tiger Opening Gate Strike): Deliver a powerful kick through the opponent's guard, separating their blocking arms apart.
    • Dokuja Tanketsu Shō (毒蛇探穴掌 – Poison Snake Searching Hole Palm): A fierce open palm snake strike to the chest area, sending ki though an opponent's heart as a means of weakening them (or, with enough ki, kill them). Apparently the most dangerous move in the school, given Ranma's much greater recovery time compared to 'Saidaikyū Kijin Raishū Dan'.
    • Kinshi Kinbaku Shō (金絲緊縛翔 – Gold Thread Tight Bind Flight): Throw a rope around the opponent, then tie them up with it.
    • Geimon Tessen Shi (迎門鉄扇指 – Welcome Gate Iron-Fan Fingers): After Kinshi Kinbaku Shō, an open palm strike to the throat, stunning an opponent by momentarily cutting off their air supply.
    • Kaichū Hōju Satsu (懐中宝珠殺 – In the Pocket Precious Gem Kill): Armlocked bearhug submission maneuver while holding one arm behind the back.
    • Mouko Kaimon Ha (Japanese for 'Fierce Tiger Opening Gate Defeat'): Deliver a powerful ki enhanced kick through an opponent's guard, separating their blocking arms.
    • Kijin Raishū Dan (鬼神来襲弾 – Fierce God Assault Blast): Spreading arm strike so powerful it creates vacuum arc projectiles that can cut through anything in its path.
    • Kijin-Gun Dai Ranbu (鬼神群大乱舞 – Group of Fierce Gods Great Dance of Chaos): Perform a strange whirling dance as one throws multitudes of mini Kijin Rashū Dans in just about any and every direction.
    • Saidaikyū Kijin Raishū Dan (最大級鬼神来襲弾 – Highest-Rank Fierce God Assault Blast): Multiple regular sized Kijin Raishū Dans sent in the same direction, making into a powerful attack that is capable of splitting an enormous Buddha statue into pieces.

• Umisenken (海千拳 – Sea of 1000 Fists, also known as the "Way of the Silent Thief"): The other of a pair of secret and forbidden styles created by Genma. Like the Yamasenken, this too is based upon burglary, however, this one is specifically designed upon the movements and techniques of a quiet thief who sneaks in through the back door. When Ryu arrived to find the scroll for this partner martial art, he took on Ranma's identity. Genma had no choice but to teach the Umisenken to Ranma to restore his son's identity.
  • Opening Move: the user takes a stance like that of a ghost, hands limp in front of their abdomen on slightly bent arms. The user then hides his 'presence' from an opponent, limiting the effectiveness of the 'awareness' that warns all Ranmaverse martial artists of danger, but remains fully discernable by any onlookers. The techniques are:
    • Gaito Retsuga Dan (鎧戸裂牙断 – Armored Door Splitting Fang Failure): Counter a hand attack, like the Geimon Tessen Shi, by biting the opponent's attacking limb.
    • Goshin Ryūsei Fu (護身流星布 – Self-Protection Shooting Star Cloth): Wrap a star cloth around your opponent's head to blind them and stop their attack.
    • Goshin Dai Ryūsei Fu (護身大流星布 – Self-Protection Great Shooting Star Cloth): Whirling a star designed cloth around the user's body and vanish from sight.
    • Yasha Tankai Hō (夜叉探海包 – Demon-Guardian Searching the Sea Wrap): After Goshin Ryūsei Fu, place a large bundle of earth into the star cloth, flip over the opponent who is then crushed by the dirt. If one's ki is properly infused in the cloth, it will allow the user to hold an opponent's attack within the cloth, so that it can be unleashed against them.
    • Rigyo Honshin (鯉魚翻身 – Carp-Fish Bodyflip): Flip out of a hold, then move behind an opponent while wrapping them in the star cloth.
    • Haizan Tōkai Tai (背山倒海態 – High Mountain Reverse Sea Ability): After Rigyo Honshin, drive one's feet into the back of the opponent's legs while pulling down on the cloth.
    • Haku Dato Shin Shō (白蛇吐信掌 – White Snake Venom True Palm): Slipping under one's opponent while striking along both sides of their back.
    • Shichū Rakuchi Sei (支柱落地勢 – Braced Falling Down Strength): Striking an opponent's legs open, forcing their feet apart, so they drop into a split.

Unreliable, or less useful moves:

• The Ultimate Skill of the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts: The Crouch of the Wild Tiger: This groveling technique is accompishled by first crouching, placing both palms on the ground, and then bowing and scraping for forgiveness. Genma says it is "named for the legendary wild tiger that fell from a cliff and..." but is cut off by a blow to the head from Ukyo. It can be assumed to be based on the tiger scrambling madly to not fall off the ledge. He taught Ranma this before apologising to Happosai for angering the old master. Cologne has remarked on its usefulness when Ranma and Genma used it for Akane after insulting her cooking. In the "Hard Battle" Super Nintendo Game, this technique is depicted as using the grovelling to trick the opponent into lowering their guard, whereupon the user then launches a swift and savage assault. The video game Ranma ½: Battle Renaissance shows a variation in which Genma pounces on his opponent after they are lulled into a false sense of security.
• Carp on a Chopping Board: The user lies on their side facing their opponent and puts their palms together above their head with their legs extended and crossed at the knees, making the shape of a fish. It is actually a submission move that indicates unconditional surrender, as the user is at a great disadvantage relative to their opponent when in this position. Genma uses it during the Cradle from Hell arc when Ranma returns to their room to finish beating him up to forestall him from doing so.
• Jigoku no Yurikago (地獄の揺篭 – Cradle of Hell): Genma's only remaining move that is still consistently able to beat Ranma in regular sparring, without special moves like his battle aura or sealed senken schools. It is a powerful grappling attack reminiscent of a parent embracing their infant child. It is so effective in part because it seriously disturbs Ranma. Its effectiveness can also be increased if the user does not shave and grows thick abrasive bristles, so he can rub them on his enemy's cheek. Genma practiced this move by playing with a tire in panda form.
• Embarrassing Photo-Fu: A terrible technique, and one that can only be used by a parent on a child. The user brings his hand to the inside of his shirt before removing an extremely embarrassing photographs of the target and displaying it to nearby members of the opposite sex. While very powerful, it takes a great toll on the user's mind, as his conscience is wracked by pain. Genma used it to teach Ranma the Soul of Ice, weeping all the while.

As the founder of the Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū, Happosai knows the martial arts inside and out, and is by all appearances very likely the most powerful fighter in the series, given that he's simultaneously shown as one of the two most skilled martial artists, and among the three most powerful characters. Many of his moves are highly advanced and difficult for a young combatant who lacks the necessary experience, (In the anime he was the only character Copycat Ken was incapable of successfully imitating, despite his magic equipment) and it appears that some of them were designed to protect himself from the people he stole from or the women he molested.

• Happo Throw: A simple technique that Happosai uses on attacking opponents. He hooks their arm or leg with his pipe, then uses their own momentum to throw them a great distance. He can also do this without the pipe.
• Finger Block: Happosai can use this move to stop huge objects or powerful punches aimed at him with only his index finger. It has proved sufficient to easily stop Taro in his cursed form in his tracks. It is unknown if he uses his own strength, channels his ki to stop the attack or if this is a special technique that disables the attack's or object's momentum. Either way, it is one of Happosai's best defensive moves and hints at what he could do with a full arm if he ever turned serious.
• Happo-Fire Burst (八宝大華輪 Happo Daikarin): Happosai's ultimate technique and his favorite. He sealed it away because it damaged a bra many years ago, but after Ranma pushed him too far he rediscovered his long lost technique. In reality it is just throwing large fireworks at people. They are infused with ki, however, and can cause massive damage. Happosai can also immediately create these bombs in different sizes — some even as large as a small house — to increase their power. Even single regular sized versions have repeatedly beaten Taro's cursed form.

• Battle Aura: as the grandmaster of Anything Goes Martial Arts, Happosai is exceptionally skilled at manipulating his immensely powerful battle aura. In his first appearance in the manga and anime, he uses it to paralyze Ranma with terror. In the anime, he is shown to fire it as a serpentine blast resembling a demonic Chinese Dragon. Several times in both the anime and the manga, he uses this technique to manifest a skyscraper-sized version of himself, and he can keep this up for quite a long time, enough to scourge the town in a search of Taro and then effortlessly beat him up, or battle Gemna's similar technique even when severely weakened. In the anime, this is depicted as an actual transformation, rather than an energy construct, with both his students capable of the same feat, but they are not as durable. Happosai's lust aura is even more powerful than his battle aura. Cologne commented that the latter could lay waste the Earth. This seems like hyperbole, but is nonetheless signifying the extent of his power.
• Ki direction: Not a named technique as such, but he has generated a ki-blast from his battle aura, shown capable of instantly defeating Taro's monster form, which took an extended beating from Ranma, Ryoga, Mousse and Shampoo without as much effect.
• Happo-Mold Burst: A modification of the Happo-Fire Burst used only in the anime, once when there was heavy rain preventing the use of the regular attack. Happosai's bombs create clouds of paralytic mold instead of explosions. This mold disgusts and immobilizes his opponents.
• Silky Storm: A distraction technique that involves Happosai spinning his pipe and creating a blizzard of bras/panties to cover his escape.
• Extra-Dimensional Warp: Using his ki, Happosai becomes invisible. The only downside is he cannot attack without becoming visible. It is used primarily to spy on girls.
• Beanjam Blowout (Anime only): Using his ki, Happosai creates a large blast of wind to blow his enemies away. This move is named as he created to steal Beanjam from Soun and Genma.
• Fist of the Hermit Crab: Happosai throws several empty buckets into the air towards his target, then uses his extra-dimensional warp to hide in one. Afterwards he attacks from his bucket as he bypasses his target. In the anime, this technique is part of an entire sub-discipline of the Anything Goes School known as Bathhouse-Fu. He probably devised it to protect himself from the girls he peeped on in public baths.
• Ultimate Weakness Moxibustion: A stolen technique. By burning a mark in a certain spot on his opponent's body, he reduces their strength to that of a baby, reversible only with a counter-moxibustion on another point. Happosai used this on Ranma after the latter stopped him on one of his panty raids.

Thanks to Happosai's "training" when she was still a sickly young girl, Hinako is able to both absorb ki from her opponents - by using any object with a circular hole as her focus - as well as shoot it back at them as a charged attack. The consequence of this is that she effectively matures into an adult whenever she absorbs ki, only to revert back to her child form when she fires it off. As this condition was caused by hitting a set of pressure points, the only way to prevent Hinako from performing these techniques is to hit another set of pressure points on her body, every day for at least a month. Unfortunately, these counterpoints are located in places that make anybody who attempts to neutralize her looks like a shameless pervert. Happosai is indeed a shameless pervert who would love to do so, but the necessary pressure points are on opposite sides of the body, making him too small to reach them all at once.

• Happōgoensatsu (八宝五円殺 Happo Five-Yen Satsu) Hinako uses a five-yen coin to absorb ki that is already manifest, usually an opponent's battle aura. With the five-yen coin, she cannot absorb ki from someone who is not emitting any battle aura.

• Happōgojūensatsu (八宝五十円殺 Happo Fifty-Yen Satsu) Using a larger fifty-yen coin, Hinako can absorb ki even if her opponent does not manifest a battle aura. While the fifty-yen coin works on a single opponent, she is also capable of using larger ring-shaped objects, such as a basketball hoop, to drain ki from multiple opponents. This technique and the Happōgoensatsu can be stopped by plugging or otherwise filling the hole of the focus object, and given Hinako's lack of actual martial arts training, swifter opponents (such as Shampoo, Ukyo, and Kodachi) have proven able to effortlessly disarm her. Sporting events hinder her ability to detect battle aura because competitive sprit can hide it.
• Happōtsurisengaeshi (八宝釣銭返し Happo No-Yen Coin Return) Hinako releases all of her stored ki in a large blast. While it is quite deadly, this attack can usually only be performed once since it effectively drains all of the ki that Hinako has absorbed, returning her to her normal child form. However, she is able to stay in her adult form if she has enough energy. For instance, she was once supercharged by the vengeful ki of Furinkan students, so she was capable of firing off multiple blasts. A shown drawback in this instance was that her personality can be severely affected/compelled by sufficiently large quantities of 'sentiment-imprinted' aura. She also had a fish bowl containing two Siamese Fighting Fish that constantly gave off enormous amounts of battle aura so that she could remain in adult form as she fought.

• Hiryū Karimbou (Ring of Dragon Fire): A combined attack used by Natsume and Kurumi Tendo similar to the Hiryu Shoten Ha. Kurumi creates a hot spiral with her ribbon while Natsume fills this spiral with a blast of cold energy.

• List of fictional martial arts