Editing Xian Wu 2

Martial Arts Schools The Adamantine Arrow dojo, fencing salle or wuguan
is a famous tradition. Outside of martial arts, the order
also runs bodyguard academies, elite security training
schools and revolutionary cadres that teach the so-called
People’s War. An innocuous gun club or firearms safety
course could conceal a cabal or caucus from this tradition.
In all cases, the group needs to teach more than a
collection of ordinary fighting techniques if the school
wants to engender a unique magical style.
The school must have a specific theory of magic that
links its mundane methods (instinctive shooting, kenjutsu
or grappling, for instance) to Supernal symbols. A punch
has to be more than a fist smacking an enemy. It should
describe a host of magical operations. A Chinese martial
artist might say the punch flows from focused intent to
create fajin power that shoots through bones and tendons.
She uses that theory to increase her strength beyond what
musculature and even perfect technique allow.
The school also needs special customs. Blood oaths,
belt rankings and uniforms are examples. Without
them, even a school of hardened Talons is an alliance
of convenience, not a true teaching brotherhood. Some
schools are secret societies with political aims in the
Fallen World or monasteries where members govern
their souls with physical discipline.
Oblations: Practicing a martial arts or fitness routine
taught by the school; teaching a class; taking a test
for a license or rank; meditating on the grounds of
the school; performing a ritual in honor of a master
teacher, patron deity or school religion; studying a
manual specific to the school.
Rote Factors: Using the school’s favored weapon as
part of a rote mudra (+1); casting on school grounds
(+1); successfully using one of the school’s techniques
(specific to the rote) in combat on the previous turn
(+1); spending a full turn (or for an extended spell, twice
the usual time) performing a martial arts routine for
no other reason than to focus the mind (+2).