Donatello- “the Turtles’ Creative Genius”
I don’t really know anything about using the weapons each Turtle has, but it seems to me in a lot of their material, neither do they. When I got the job to pencil issues 17-20 I wanted to try and depict the Turtles using their unique weapons accurately. I tried to find proper stances, strikes, and even the correct way to hold them! But as I said, I don’t know really know anything so if any of my information is incorrect, please inform me!
I watched introductory videos and demos for the bo staff, but a lot of my influence for Donatello comes from Kilik in ‘Soul Calibur’. Must be all the way back in 1999 or 2000 on the Dreamcast, but watching Kilik was incredible to me! There was a guy with power and grace! I remember talking with friends then about how cool it would be to see the Ninja Turtles display knowledge and skill. Now that I’m writing about it, as I was drawing the issues Kilik was there and Maxi was a heavy, heavy influence for Michelangelo. Its been a decade since I last played Soul Calibur (I never played any sequels surprisingly), but I recall how Maxi was fluid, never seeming to end in his strikes and movement. The whole point of these request drawings, aside from my own amusement, is to countdown the days to issue 20 where you’ll see that Maxi influence in full effect. Michelangelo never strikes just once, he is a flurry of nunchaku.
But back to the bo staff! Several years ago my younger brother was explaining a show he watched about weapons to me, and in particular a segment focusing on the bo. What struck me was that apparently the bo is regarded as a “flawed” weapon because even in the hands of masters it can be unwieldy when using powerful attacks. Something about the vibrations messing with the user. Anyone have info to confirm or deny that?
Hey Ben, it was cool to meet you at fcbd earlier today! Thanks for taking the time to sketch Sonic for my son! I study this martial art and bo is my favorite weapon because it feels the most natural to me. It’s range, leverage and force of impact is intense. What I really think you will find interesting is how you can flow from one impact to the next using the rebound of the previous strike! I believe that if you’re using the bo and you feel vibration…you’re not one with the weapon! Let me know if you ever want to talk more about this or maybe even come to a class to watch and ask my teachers questions. They could give you much more sound advice with around 45 years of experience between them.
Take care,
Rob
Hey Rob, sorry for the hold up, sometimes it takes me a long time to get back.
Thanks a ton for this info on the bo, its great to finally get that straightened out! I would totally be into watching a class at sometime, seeing stances and the flow of the weapon in real life would be tremendously helpful. And just plain cool.
I’ll have to check back up with you when I’m gearing up for more Turtles stuff.
-Ben