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, it is sometimes stated that Happosai is around 100 to 300 years old 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 temporary demise.

After Soun and Genma were able to imprison Happosai in a cave with sake, explosives and a shinto seal 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 ten 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
• Natsume Tendo
• Kurumi Tendo

• Ryu Kumon - Heir to the Kumon School and practitioner of the Yamasenken, but was later forced to seal 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. Other than this, Happosai also has his own variation, Ganso Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū (Creative Indiscriminate Martial Arts), sometimes translated as the Founding School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, though the school itself, which relies a lot on trickery, seems to have been developed to compensate for Happosai's advanced age.

It is possible that Soun and Genma are hoping to create a pure Musabetsu-ryu by having Akane and Ranma teach each other what they know. However, the shoddy training Soun has given Akane, the fanatical training Genma has given Ranma and the immense level of miscommunication involved makes this goal likely to be unattainable in the near future. In any case, each art is strong in the areas that the other art is weak, and, in many ways, they seem to be two halves of the same set. The Tendo arts strengths are rather down-played in the manga, however, as most of the situations involved are geared toward the strengths of the Saotome-ryu (one-on-one, adaptation, aerial, unarmed). Akane's lesser level of skill might also have something to do with this.

In general, the Saotome school is the more aerial of the two schools with both Ranma and Genma Saotome performing feats of acrobatics during their fights. In this respect, it is probably the closer of the two schools 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 techniques named after animals, such as the "Crouch of the Wild Tiger" which basically involves prostrating oneself before one's enemies as if to apologize. Diversionary tactics such as the latter are a hallmark of the Saotome school. The greatest, most secret technique of the school supposedly consists of running away against overwhelming odds to regroup.

The school also has two sealed martial arts developed by Genma Saotome, the Yamasenken (Mountain of a 1000 Fists) and Umisenken (Sea of a 1000 Fists). 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 revenge against the Saotomes.

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. However, they are not nearly so extensive as the training the Tendo-ryu provides. 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 he doesn't really understand them as well as he understands unarmed techniques.

Saotome-Ryu emphasizes one-on-one confrontations over one-on-many confrontations.

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

The Tendo school is generally considered the more ground-based school of Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū, and this is supported by the fact that neither Akane nor Soun Tendo use aerial techniques. However, it is a mistake to believe that the Tendo school is purely ground based as both Akane and her father have been known to jump significant heights and use aerial attacks when necessary (contrary to fanon). However, the school is still primarily based in ground combat as shown whenever Soun and Akane spar, or when Akane used to face her amourous schoolmates in the morning, early in the series.

As a ground-based fighting style, the Tendo school emphasizes power over speed, evidenced by Akane's ability to smash through cement blocks and the dojo's walls on a regular basis. The Tendo school also seems to teach weapons use, both standard and improvised. In her battles with Ranma, Akane has wielded swords, bows and arrows, and even one of Shampoo's Bonbori as weapons along with hitting her fiancé with tables and mallets. It also seems that the lessons of the Tendo school can be applied outside of basic martial arts due to Akane's high level of skill in kendo. Despite never being seen studying the ancient fighting style, she was still able to have an even match with Tatewaki Kuno, a known and highly skilled practitioner.

It is also 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 probably used to make a living out of teaching.

Tendo-ryu tends to be more effective against large groups of opponents than it is one-on-one.

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 either done by Happosai or by Genma or Ranma Saotome. In the case of the Ranma, many 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.

Ranma's training in the Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū began under Genma when he was only six. 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. His first ten 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 consistently incorporated techniques from the Chinese Amazon village and other sources into the Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū to create his own unique style that is well-suited to just about any combat situation.

• 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. When this happens, he becomes considerably more physically powerful, and starts acting like a cat, with swipes of his "paws" that can shred everything around him. 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 suffering from this condition, he even managed to contend with Cologne in straight one-on-one fighting. However, he is mentally a cat, driven by instinct and of limited intellect, strategic planning or attention span, making catnip (which will make him 'drunk') or distraction (throwing something and saying 'fetch!' has proved enough to get rid of him) 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 was only referred to and used two times very early in the manga, both in conjunction with Cologne's introduction story, but his general fear of cats remains throughout the series.
• Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken (火中天津甘栗拳 — In the Fire Imperial Sweet Chestnut Fist, also called Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire): a flurry of attacks of blinding speed. It is known as "Chestnuts Roasting on 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 fish from a fish tank using his bare hands. In the manga this is not a special attack, but a speed exercise. In the anime it is his most used special attack, and it is mentioned that because of this exercise, Ranma can throw around 300 punches per second.
• 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.
• Hidden Weapons (Kanuma Emono): Originally, the art practiced by Mousse of the Chinese Amazons. It allows the user to carry many weapons on them such as chains, shuriken, kunai, senbon needles, etc. The type of clothing they wear aids them in their art, as the more volumous the clothing, the larger the weapons they can carry and the larger the amount of storage they have on their person as well. During his fight with Mousse, Ranma was able to effectively duplicate this technique although he is far from approaching the level of skill that Mousse has displayed. The method of using this technique is undisclosed however.
• 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.
• Hiryū Shōten Ha (飛龍昇天破 — Flying Dragon Ascension Strike, also called Heavenly Dragon Blast): 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, this Amazon technique gives Ranma the edge he needs to defeat his toughest opponents: Happosai, Herb, Saffron, Kirin, and others. 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. Ranma has developed and used several variations of the Hiryū Shōten Ha in both the manga and anime, including:
  • Gedan Rasen (下段螺旋 — Horizontal Spiral): 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 Descent Blast): 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 gravity and ki together.
  • Hiryū Hyō Toppa (飛龍氷突破 — Flying Dragon Ice Breakthrough): 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 Look to the Heavens Strike): 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Saotome "Fan the Smoke Back" technique: Much more of a joke move, Ranma counters an opponent's smokescreen-like attack by fanning the smoke back toward its source.
• 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.

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 much of Genma's skill has eroded with time and cowardice, he remains a formidable fighter.

• 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. 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. The original skill is effective against Akane.

• 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 a few seconds. 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.

• Jigoku no Yurikago (地獄の揺篭 – Cradle of Hell): Genma's only remaining move that is still 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.

• Embarrasing 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 embarrasing 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 concience is wracked by pain. Genma used it to teach Ranma the Soul of Ice, weeping all the while.

• 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 the poor man's 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 stops the opponent in their tracks. The techniques are:
    • Mōko Kaimon Ha (猛虎開門破 – Fierce Tiger Opening the Gate Strike): Deliver a powerful kick through the opponent's guard by separating their arms.
    • Dokuja Tanketsu Shō (毒蛇探穴掌 – Poison Snake Searching Hole Palm): A fierce open palm snake strike to the chest area.
    • 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.
    • 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 kick through the opponent's guard by separating their arms.
    • Kijin Raishū Dan (鬼神来襲弾 – Fierce God Assault Blast): Spreading arm strike so powerful it creates vacuum arc projectiles that tear into anything.
    • Saidaikyū Kijin Raishū Dan (最大級鬼神来襲弾 – Highest-Rank Fierce God Assault Blast): An extremely powerful Kijin Raishū Dan. Larger, faster, and much more powerful than the basic Kijin Raishū Dan because it is charged with the user's ki.
    • 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 Kijin Rashū Dans in every direction.
    • Sai Dai Kyuu Kijin Raishü Dan (Japanese for 'First-Rate Demon God Assault Bomb'): An extremely powerful Kijin Raishu Dan. Larger, faster, and much more powerful than the basic Kijin Raishu Dan because it's charged with the user's ki.

• 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 their ki. Once the user moves, they become invisible. 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): Force one's opponents feet apart, striking their legs, so they drop into a split.

As the founder of the Musabetsu Kakutō Ryū, Happosai knows the martial arts inside and out. Many of his moves are highly advanced and difficult for a young combatant who lacks the necessary experience. It appears that many of his techniques are designed to protect himself from the people he ripped off or the women he spied on.

• 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.
• Ki direction: Not a named technique as such, but he has generated a ki-blast from his battle aura, which was 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 cannott 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 himself, 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 emmiting 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 swifter opponents have proven able to effortlessly disarm her. Sporting events hinder her ability to dectect 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. 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 (Anime only): Used by Natsume and Kurumi Tendo, Kurumi spins her ribbon in a spiral pattern while Natsume sends out a ki bolt that travels along the path created by the spiral.

• List of fictional martial arts