The Best Fu Player in the Multiverse

by Crazy Ivan


First, a candid admission.  I've written a lot of blog entries where the title promises the "best" of something.  Whether it's the Best Myachi, Best Myachi Player, or the Best Trick, there is one thing that all of these articles have in common: I never actually get around to answering the question.  I usually spend the whole time drawing "apples to oranges" comparisons to justify my unwillingness to provide a definitive answer.

So before I even get started with this entry, let me tell you in advance that at no point in the following paragraphs will I actually name a person that is the best Fu player.  I'm not really going to make any effort to and if I did I would be drawing too large a conclusion based on the information that I actually have.

Instead, I want to talk here about what kind of person would likely be the best Myachi Fu player on the planet.  For the purposes of this discussion there's no reason to limit ourselves to people that have actually played the game or even heard of it.  What we're looking for instead is a transplant.  Someone we could take from one profession and stick into a Fu battle.

The obvious first answer is a martial artist.  The whole concept of Fu comes from martial arts and it stands to reason that a talented martial artist would be pretty good at the game really fast.  They might not take to the trick element of Myachi as fast as some other select groups, but when it comes to playing Fu, they'll already have all the skills they need; balance, hand speed, body control, fast reactions and full-body coordination.  What's more is that I've actually had the chance to play Fu against a few accomplished martial artists in my time and this anecdotal evidence definitely favors the common sense assumptions above.

But there's no reason to limit ourselves to this one sport.  Anyone who was skilled in hand to hand combat would likely have a huge advantage in Fu.  Sure, body blows and uppercuts wouldn't play into it, but a pugilist would have huge advantages in a game of Fu.  Simply knowing how to use good footwork to dictate your opponent's actions is a major part of the game.  It also doesn't hurt to be adept at blocking strikes, getting out of the way of an aggressor and redirecting a blow.

And of course, we needn't restrict ourselves to combat sports.  I know from experience that football players (specifically offensive linemen) make great Fu players.  They can frustrate virtually any attempt to move inside for a strike and can really wear down even a veteran player.  Basketball players are fast and used to feigning in and out to get around people so they always end up popping up behind your defenses.  Baseball players even have a huge advantage when it comes to catching wayward strikes and desperation passes.

But of course, we can go much further afield than that.  Consider the advantage that a lax player has.  Considering that cradling a lacrosse ball and verting a Myachi are almost identical skills, it doesn't require much of a stretch of the imagination to see a good lax player translating those skills to Myachi Fu.  Fast centrifugal movements combined with the aggressive nature of lacrosse is a pretty likely fit for a great Fu player.

Acrobats and dancers deserve some mention as well.  Considering the amount of flexibility and balance that you need to be a true master of Fu, somebody with a head start in that regard could easily surpass the crowd and become a true master of the game.  For the same reason, one should consider most "extreme" athletes as well, since virtually all such sports hinge on balance foremost.

So as near as I can tell, the best Myachi Fu player in the world would be a basketball playing, lacrosse phenom ninja acrobat with a penchant for skateboarding.  As for the best Fu player in the multiverse... I guess that title would simply go to the life form with the most arms.