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The hand to hand combat prowess of STNG Starfleet's security personnel is lauded by Tasha Yar in the accepted answer to this question.

Tasha: I think you should know that there is no physical training anywhere that matches Starfleet, especially its security people.

It is likely combat training evolved during the time elapsed between TOS and STNG, but Kirk definitely had specific moves which he seemed to be trained in and repeatedly used during his 5 year mission.

While some of the moves are identifiable, I find it difficult to pin a label on the double handed, flying hip check, style William Shatner utilized in his portrayal of James Kirk. According to canon, is Kirk practicing a known fighting style, and if so, what is it?

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    In TOS it's called Kirkfu and is one of the greatest fighting styles ever devised, and shows James Tiberius Kirk to be one of the greatest fighting men the galaxy has ever seen. In TNG it's a delicate but powerful blend of Aikido and T'ai chi ch'uan mixed with ballet poses and takes about 10 minutes to learn.
    – Morgan
    May 27, 2014 at 4:30
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    I dispute the duplicity of this question. When I look at the possible duplicate, I see a maneuver named, but not the fighting style. I would imagine that Star Trek lore would name the fighting style, even if it was retroactively identified.
    – Major Stackings
    May 27, 2014 at 7:42
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    @Richard I redefine my objection. IMHO, the other question was not satisfactorily answered, thereby my questions answer cannot be found in the answers that have been provided so far.
    – Major Stackings
    May 27, 2014 at 13:47
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    The double handed axe strike is not a fighting style. It is a fighting move, so IMHO, your opinion is invalid in regards to this question and the accepted answer to the other.
    – Major Stackings
    May 27, 2014 at 14:29
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    Judging by his use of bad dropkicks, crappy double-axe handle smashes, Austin Powers-style "Judo chops", and his ridiculous over-selling of every blow, Kirk's fighting style was apparently second-rate 1980s pro-wrestling.
    – James Sheridan
    May 28, 2014 at 1:03

1 Answer 1

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Captain Kirk is shown to be practicing Judo (TOS 1x07, 'Charlie X') but his actual 'fighting style' seems to be made up on the fly with no resemblance to an actual organized form or style.

Captain Kirk practicing Judo

In the Next Generation Lt. Yar conjures up a holodeck Aikido opponent to demonstrate Starfleet Security force training to visiting Dignitaries in (TNG: 1x04 'Code of Honor').

Lt Yar in the holodeck

There have been no other mentions of any 'modern day' form of martial art training, but there has been a couple of made-up (in universe) martial art forms briefly shown in TNG:

Anbo-jyutsu — (TNG: 2x14, "The Icarus Factor") involves wearing helmets that do not allow a combatant to see and using large, electrified pugil sticks that signal when aimed at the opponent. Practitioners of this art include Cmdr. William Riker and his father Kyle.

Worf teaches some of the Enterprise crew an art called "Mok'bara" that Thomas Riker identifies as having similar moves as human T'ai chi ch'uan (TNG: 6x24, "Second Chances").

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  • As an aside and out of universe, if you look at that image of Yar facing off with "Aikido 1", it's painfully clear that Crosby has absolutely no idea what she's doing.
    – Morgan
    May 28, 2014 at 2:26
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    That's okay. With the exception of the Voyager episode featuring The Rock, no-one in any of Trek's fight scenes has ever known what they were doing.
    – James Sheridan
    May 29, 2014 at 0:35
  • Let me introduce one word that says it all: choreographed.
    – WhatRoughBeast
    May 31, 2014 at 2:18
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    Certainly choreographed, and more likely by the dance director than a fight director.
    – paul
    Jun 4, 2014 at 2:03
  • @JamesSheridan Somehow I didn't know that existed. Which episode are you referring to?
    – ApproachingDarknessFish
    Jan 13, 2017 at 6:54

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