A 52-year-old Japanese YouTuber, known online as AskJapan, is using moves from the PlayStation fighting game Tekken 3 as a basis for learning karate. The inspiration for this unconventional approach comes from his 10-year-old son, who recently demonstrated his own karate skills.
AskJapan, who boasts over 189,000 subscribers, typically shares vlogs and plays retro games, often in homemade cosplay. In a recent video, he detailed how his son's brown belt demonstration motivated him to consider martial arts, despite his age. He explained that his son has been training in karate since he was five years old, and his recent "overwhelming" performance spurred AskJapan's decision to begin his own martial arts journey.
Rather than enrolling in a dojo immediately, AskJapan has chosen to practice karate moves by studying them within Tekken 3. He constructed a cardboard arcade cabinet to play the game and meticulously documented his learning process. In a subsequent video, he even attempted a Heihachi cosplay using cardboard and a helmet, aiming to unlock the character by completing Tekken 3's arcade mode, though he did not succeed.
Online commenters have offered encouragement to AskJapan, supporting his martial arts aspirations and his efforts to improve at Tekken. Some viewers noted that there is no age limit for starting karate and that he appears to be in good shape. Others expressed hope that the developers of Tekken might see and appreciate his dedication.
The article also noted instances where martial arts skills have proven useful in real-world situations, such as a fighting game community member who used sumo wrestling techniques to disarm an attacker at a gaming cafe earlier this year.