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When I saw The Dark Knight Rises, I was perplexed by the fighting style Batman uses against Bane - specifically, his reliance upon elbow strikes.

I did some research today and discovered that his elbow-heavy tactics are typical of the style of martial arts Nolan chose for the trilogy - Keysi:

This made me wonder how Batman's martial arts repertoire has expanded and changed over time. I remember reading comics in which he used a few well-known martial arts styles:

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Boxing, Fencing, and Judo

Which martial arts styles has Batman been said to use, in- or out-of-universe?

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  • Batman has been listed with having 127 known martial arts. I suspect most writers and assuredly most artists are not sitting around trying to make sure Batman is following style conventions for his martial arts techniques. This seems like a list question which is outside of our rule conventions here.
    – Thaddeus Howze
    Commented May 28, 2016 at 2:13
  • The Keysi you mentioned is easier to learn and perform, so it was used in the movie. Also, it is a well know fact that Batman uses a mixture of martial arts while fighting Jujitsu, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Boxing, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, Karate, and Ninjutsu.
    – ABcDexter
    Commented May 28, 2016 at 8:54
  • Oh man. Some of those hits in the movie clip look so painful...ly fake.
    – Misha R
    Commented Apr 23, 2018 at 0:28

1 Answer 1

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Batman has been described as a master of any and all martial arts, depending on the author

Batman has consistently been portrayed as one of the most skilled martial artists in the DC universe, if not the greatest.

According to this summary, Batman has defeated such skilled martial artists as Cassandra Cain, and even taught Ra's Al Ghul a thing or two.

He is familiar with:

  • Kung Fu
  • Judo
  • Aikido
  • Plain old fisticuffs

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  • Jiu-Jitsu

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  • Street fighting

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  • Karate

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  • Kalaripayattu
  • Verumkai
  • Gatka

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  • Yaw-Yan
  • Capoeira (called Caporeira in the image)
  • 125 others

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He knows all the others as well. Batman has also mastered:

  • Every violent art:

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  • Every known fighting discipline:

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In short, Batman is a master of whatever martial arts he needs to be. This is frequently all of them.

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