Hokuto Shinken: Difference between revisions

Hokuto Shinken is first described as an 1,800 years old (2,000 years in the TV series and 1986 movie) Chinese assassin's art formed during the [[wikipedia:Three Kingdoms|Three Kingdoms]] era. The art's power lies into channeling one's energy in a single blow and striking into the 708 {{nihongo|'''[[Keiraku Hikō]]'''|経絡秘孔||"Hidden Channeling Points"}} points in the human body (also known as [[wikipedia:acupressure|acupressure]] points, power points, vital points, tsubo, etc.). This causes the victim to explode, be controlled involuntarily or otherwise incapacitated. It can also be used to heal certain physical and psychological wounds, such as restoring a person's voice, eyesight or memories, though the main purpose of Hokuto Shinken is assassination. The average person uses only 30% of their body's potential strength, but those who had mastered Hokuto Shinken can tap into the remaining 70% as well. Hokuto Shinken also derives power by using {{nihongo|'''[[Tōki]]'''|闘気}} or fighting aura to use the human body's full potential as well as to project energy attacks. These energy attacks can be also used to strike pressure points, as was the case when Kenshiro fought [[Souther]].

Due to its deadliness, Hokuto Shinken can only have one successor per generation according to the art's law. Students who failed the successorship must renounce the style voluntarily or risk having their memories erased or their fists crushed. Because of this, there has been great competition over who gets to be the successor. Prior to the events of the ''Fist of the North Star'' manga, the successor of Hokuto Shinken was [[Ryūken]], who won the successorship against his rival [[Kōryū]]. Ryuken then trained four adopted sons; [[Raoh]], [[Toki]], [[Jagi]] and [[Kenshirō]] in the art. Kenshiro was chosen by Ryuken to become his successor, although the other brothers still used the style due to Ryuken's death at the hands of Raoh. In the prequel series ''[[Souten no Ken]]'', Ryuken (or Ramon Kasumi, as he is called in the series) is revealed to had been the 63rd Grand Master of Hokuto Shinken, preceded by his elder half-brother [[Kenshirō Kasumi]], the 62nd Grand Master. The two brothers learned the style from their father, [[Tesshin Kasumi]], the 61st Grand Master, thereby making the Kenshiro from ''Fist of the North Star'' the 64th Grand Master.  

This is practiced as revealed in ''New Fist of the North Star'', Hokuto Shinken and the role of its successor is intertwined with Taoist astrology and legend, being the merciless protector and judge against those that would dare to disrupt peace and order, and is due to the extreme consequences of the style being held by one who is evil at heart.

Late in the series, it is revealed that the founder of Hokuto Shinken is a man named [[Shuken]] of the [[Hokuto Sōke]] (北斗宗家) bloodline and the ancestor of Kenshiro and Hyoh. ''Fist of the Blue Sky'' further develops the origins of Hokuto Shinken, where it is revealed that Hokuto Shinken is a blending of Shuken's original [[Hokuto Sōke no Ken]] and the Keiraku Hikō techniques of [[Seito Gek Ken]].