Fight
There are multiple forms of combat in sci-fi media. The hand-to-hand close combat in Dune is taken from a real martial art known as eskrima. This weapon-based fighting style makes use of quick jabs to open up the opponent’s defence. It draws inspiration from many other martial arts like capoeira, judo and Filipino martial arts (kuntaw and silat).
Star Wars’s lightsaber duels are some of the most iconic standoffs in cinematic history. The duelling in this mammoth franchise comes in seven forms that all have different focuses. These forms are Shii-Cho, Masashi, Soresu, Ataru, Shien/Djem So, Niman and Juyo. Each bears resemblance to original sword-fighting styles such as fencing, longsword fighting and Japanese martial arts, just to name a few.
In terms of long-distance combat, the use of a gun or blaster is most common. The clone troopers from Star Wars, the fighter spaceships in Ender’s Game and the Men in Black agents all make use of some super advanced blaster technology to take down oncoming threats.
These are all skilled areas of fight which draw from ancient and current fighting techniques in the real world. They have been amped up and adjusted to suit the futuristic concepts of what humans imagine technology to look like in the year 5000. Therefore, they require some level of training or practice. But when born into a world where hypervigilance or battling for freedom and justice is the norm, it makes sense. Without a capability to strike back in the sci-fi realm you are on the losing team in the game of survival. If you cannot fight, you are left with one option to ensure survival. Run.
Flight
The truth is that not every individual is going to be a strong combatant. And not every enemy will be overcome through combat. Some of us would stand better chances by running for our lives and letting the big bad in the world just tire itself out chasing us. The chase is a combination of running distances. It is simultaneously about the mastery of sprints, running full speed over short distances, and long distance running, which entails maintaining a consistent speed over a long period of time. Think of the quick dashes across the kitchen floor in Jurassic Park to evade raptors versus the long hauls across an engineered trap in The Maze Runner.
Only running, however, is not enough. Some level of parkour or free running ability is also required to move around obstacles as quickly as possible. So in many regards it is highly valuable to have some form of training in parkour, gymnastics or callisthenics – which focuses on flexibility, agility and balance. Just think of how the Grounders manoeuvre around the Undercity in Arcane.
The thrill of sci-fi is rooted in the high stakes it maintains for its characters and its audience. The danger of AI that is no longer under human control, the uncertainty of a predatory alien life form, even the competition between human beings are all major points of conflict in sci-fi. These points give rise to the need for survival, which is played out like a game. In the Hunger Games, the people of the Capitol watch tributes kill each other like gladiators in a high-tech colosseum. In many ways, sci-fi media models this by making survival a sport for the viewer. We root for our favourite characters, who act as our teams of choice. And their victory is often determined by those two main approaches: to face it and fight or to drop it all and run. If you were inserted into this survival sport, which would you choose, and would you emerge victorious?
