[hider=Shuto]
[center][h3]Character Information[/h3][/center]
[b]Character Name[/b]
[indent]Shuto[/indent]
[b]Age[/b]
[indent]21[/indent]
[b]Race[/b]
[indent]Human[/indent]
[b]Gender[/b]
[indent]Male[/indent]
[b]Occupation[/b]
[indent]Bouncer and prizefighter[/indent]
[b]Height[/b]
[indent]6’3”[/indent]
[b]Weight[/b]
[indent]Around 200 pounds[/indent]
[b]Hair Color[/b]
[indent]Black[/indent]
[b]Eye Color[/b]
[indent]Hazel[/indent]
[b]Appearance[/b]
[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/yfa0jNY.jpg[/img][/center]
[indent]A tall, slender and fairly handsome young man, sporting a noticeable tan and a high and tight haircut to add a roguish air to his boyish good looks, Shuto doesn’t necessarily come across as a hardened fighter at first sight. His typical outfit, a casual two piece white suit ensemble with black shoes and no tie, also strays from the usually more colorful martial artist fare, but his well-toned physique and the myriad of small scars and conditioning marks on his frame are proof positive of his dedication to his chosen path.[/indent]

[b]Personality[/b]
[indent]Though well educated, fairly eloquent and clearly mindful of how he presents himself, the truth is that Shuto is beyond caring much about social norms or how most people see him. A devil-may-care rogue out to carve his own path through life relying on no one but himself, he seems to face his trials and tribulations with a cavalier attitude and he’s also headstrong, confident and generally unwilling to back away from provocation.

Having found his calling in the martial arts, the young man values them beyond measure. Most any martial subject makes him visibly energetic and he takes any opportunity to observe, study and learn enthusiastically, though this also translates into a fairly elitist attitude that can see him write off and be very critical towards anything he believes to be substandard practices. In particular, trying to bullshit martial knowledge around him is ill advised as is, god forbid, making a mockery of the arts.[/indent]

[b]Background[/b]
[indent]Shuto has no great tragedy that pushed him towards a life of fighting, no tale of overcoming poverty and hardship through blood, sweat and tears. In fact, his family is really quite well off and generally defined by constant success. His father is a wealthy industrialist, his mother was an acclaimed actress, his oldest brother may well expand the family business with his own ventures and the middle sister is an accomplished pianist. Shuto never lacked for anything growing up and was always encouraged to find a passion and pursue his dreams, but in turn he was pushed relentlessly to excel and nothing less than greatness was expected of him.

Shuto grew up the meek and obedient runt of the family, feeling a desperate need to succeed at everything which only hindered and frustrated him at every step, but ironically it would be failure that would start him down his path in life. A simple, silly argument with an older boy turned into a fistfight that he miserably lost and his parents, horrified, signed him up for self defense karate classes. And there everything clicked. The boy took to the practice like a fish to water and quickly realized he loved every second of it, the grind of the training and the exhilaration of its results. He would later realize that he had even enjoyed his first fight.

He was hooked, and with his newfound calling he started to change. He grew bolder, more confident and outgoing and, though they had absolutely no interest in the martial arts which didn’t much fit into their social circles, Shuto’s family saw the positive change and encouraged him along. If he proved his dedication and skill in it, at least. Well, the young Shuto exceeded all their expectations, taking first place at the Center City Karate Open junior division, but soon after his enthusiasm in the practice appeared to dwindle. His family wondered what the problem was, but what they failed to realize was that just karate wasn’t enough any more.

Shuto began looking into other other gyms, other disciplines, other martial arts, taking the time to learn their skills and adding them to his karate rather than simply advancing in rank at his school. And as he grew older he took an interest in fighting. It started with full contact sporting matches, then came the style vs. style challenges to students of other disciplines, then he was out on the street rumbling with delinquents and other lowlives. His family could no longer support his lifestyle in good conscience, but they understood that he was following the path in life where he excelled and wished him all the best. 

Now a relatively known street fighter with a reputation as a sort of modern day dojo crusher, Shuto supports himself through prizefighting and working as a bouncer for nightclubs, bars, casinos and other places with particularly rough or even dangerous clientele. He has a good thing going, but it’s not enough for him, the desire to excel and face even greater challenges is still in him, and so he sets out to prove himself in the world stage.[/indent]

[center][h3]Combat[/h3][/center]
[b]Power Level[/b]
[indent]910[/indent]
[b]Ki Color[/b]
[indent]White[/indent]
[b]Techniques[/b]
[list]
[*] Maai: Despite his reputation as a brawler, Shuto is actually a very skilled defensive outfighter owing to his excellent control of maai, a concept that translates to “interval” and encapsulates the dynamics of the engagement distance in combat. Shuto is skilled at controlling the space between himself and his opponents, being capable of reading the time it takes them to cover the distance as well as the angles and rhythms of their options of attack and how they relate to his own abilities.
[*] Yawara: The concept of “softness” or flexibility and yielding, the character typically read as “ju” as in Judo or Jujutsu, entailing manipulating the opponent’s force and energy rather than trying to confront it with one’s own. Aside from being skilled in its more mundane grappling applications of throws, trips, sweeps and general redirection and body control, Shuto can more readily divert ki attacks employed against him than others.
[*] Hakkei: The concept of explosive power, not specific to any particular striking method but rather a focus on effectively generating, maximizing and releasing the energy of an attack, with perhaps its highest expression being the power generation behind the one inch punch. Rather than blast beams or work in exaggerated rapid fire combinations, Shuto prefers focusing on landing clean, simple but explosively powerful blows at all striking ranges.
[/list]

[center][h3]Extra[/h3][/center]
[b]Character Theme[/b]
[indent][url=https://youtu.be/E4r_4y59u3c?t=35]Pride[/url]
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uBPLODJVxA]Bonus Track[/url][/indent]
[b]Name origin[/b]
[indent]Shuto is a japanese delicacy but also the term for a knife hand as in a karate chop, while Shooto is a japanese mixed martial arts promotion that predates the UFC by several years.[/indent]
[/hider]