SR Systems - 5 Animals Kung Fu Fighter

Hello readers, it has been a fairly long time since I last posted. Today I will talk about one of my favorite creations to date. This is, as far as I know, the first of its kind in Second Life. I present you the 5 animals kung fu fighter.

This is a step on the original kung fu fighter - the first item i created for sale. However, rather using basic fundamental techniques, this weapon utilizes the more advanced animal techniques. Animal styles are a trademark of most kung fu styles. While any kung fu student starts off by learning the basic fighting methods highlighted in the basic kung fu fighter, their empty hand techniques will become deadly when they employ the animal styles.

Kung fu is such a broad term, encompassing literally thousands of styles, that there are just as many animal techniques. This weapon is based on Hung Ga Kung Fu - the basis of Jow Ga Kung Fu, which i study in RL. The 5 animals represented in this weapon are Dragon, Crane, Snake, Leopard and Tiger. I will briefly explain the features of each one.

1) Dragon : This is a broad attacking style. The hands and finger form a dragon's jaw, and attacks come from out wide. The dragon's strength is in wide motions and strong strikes.

2) Crane : The crane is an elegant bird, with quick attacks. The hands and fingers form beaks, that attack sensitive soft spots on your opponent. However, a crane also spreads its wings and flies high and far - kicking techniques. The Crane's strength comes from its deceptive elegance.

3) Snake : One of the most popular styles, especially in movies. The hands form a snake head/spear shape, and also attacks the soft pressure points of your opponents. Strikes are sudden and quick, unexpected just as a real snake would. The snake's strength is surprise.

4) Leopard : The leopard uses paws, which are formed by bending the fingers back, but not into a fist. Like the snake and crane, these paws are used to attack the sensitive, soft joints of your enemy. The leopard's strengths are in its sneaking attacks (stronger strikes however, than snakes).

5) Tiger : Last but not least is the hard style of the tiger. The tiger style is aggressive and aim to inflict maximum damage with every strike, just like the dragon. The tiger's hand strikes utilize the tiger claw form, and it's strengths lie in aggression and powerful strikes.

As all my creations, it works with the usual meters, and I refer you to the July 2009 post on Shaolin Hook swords for technical details. Visit us inworld, or follow the link below to buy it on xstreetsl. As always, I leave you with a video demonstrating the animations

SR Systems - 5 Animals Fighter

SR Systems - Tiger-Dragon Katana

For my second post of the day, I present you something slightly different from SR Systems. My main inspiration behind the weapons I design is my real life studies and training in Kung Fu. Hence, most of my weapons are from traditional Chinese Martial Arts.

However, once in a while, I enjoy exploring other eastern martial arts and learning about them. Previously, I gave you the nunchaku, my first foray into a different, non-chinese weapon. Also sold at my store is the Shuriken - my first "ranged weapon" creation.

Sticking with the Japanese theme, I present you this time the legendary blade of the samurai - THE KATANA. While i like to think of the Katana as the japanese analog of the Jian, it is a very different type of sword. It can be argued that the Katana is the sharpest sword ever created, and it's multiple folding manufacture process makes it arguably one of the strongest. Ofcourse, it is a one sided blade, while the jian is double sides. And while the Jian is meant to be a primarily piercing weapon along with slicing from all directions, the katana is almost strictly designed to be hand held guilotine with single strike. Hence, if one were to compare the two weapons, they are different completely different sets of techniques, and both have their advantages and disadvantages like all weapons do.

In the end, your personal preference, and competance at using the weapon, is what matters most :) A samurai will train in striking fast and with surprise, letting the weight of the katana give his strike massive momentum, which then gets focussed along its fine edge. A kung fu master will use many motions and move around, making multiple deadly slices at sensitive regions of the body (like the wrist to disarm your opponent) with both sides of the sword, before piercing into the crucial organs. I give the Katana a chinese influence with dragon and tiger tsuba (cross guard) - two opposite forces that bring balance, like the yin and yang.

As all my creations, it works with the usual meters, and I refer you to the July 2009 post on Shaolin Hook swords for technical details. Visit us inworld, or follow the link below to buy it on xstreetsl. Also, i leave you with videos demonstrating the beautiful weapon that was the "soul of the samurai"

SR Systems Tiger-Dragon Katana

SR Systems - Guan Dao

Hello again dear readers,

Today, I present to you the weapon of one of china's greatest warriors. To many this man is a god that epitomizes loyalty and righteousness. He is General Guan Yu, and SR systems is proud to present his weapon, the Guan Dao.

The Guan Dao is made of a large blade at the end of a staff, similar to a Glaive or Japanese Naginata. However, the blade of the Guan Dao is significantly heavier than that of a European Glaive or Naginata. The opposite end of the weapon is composed of a spear tip for stabbing. The weapon is wielded like a combination of the spear and sword.

This particular design pays tribute to the great general with a symbolic lion and dragon facing the moon design.

On a technical note, it works with DCS, CCS and WARPs (soon to be XRPS i believe) combat systems. Like the Shaolin Hook Swords and Tiger-Dragon Katana, it has 4 modes of operation and a power attack. I refer you to the Hook Swords post in July 2009 for more details on the operation modes.

To purchase the weapon, visit the inworld store, or follow the link to xstreetsl

SR Systems Guan Dao

SR Systems - Shaolin Hook Swords

Hi friends, and thank you as always for reading. My humblest apologies for the delays in updating this blog. But sometimes, we run into life and get too busy :P Today i present to you the shaolin hook swords - one of my proudest and favorite creations.

Hook swords serve many purposes. For starters, the edges serve as basic blades, just like swords. But the ends of the handles are sharp and protruding as well, acting like daggers in close range. The crescents on the handle may be used to block any sharp weapons. Finally, the hooks on the end can be used to disarm an opponent by stealing their weapon, or to hook the two swords together and swing it as one long range, lethal combination.

The double hook swords, also known as tiger hook swords, are found in almost any traditional kung fu - but i personally chose to dedicate this one to the shaolin monks as it is them, afterall, that began kung fu :)

On a technical note, the weapons work with DCS, CCS and Warps meters. But they also come with many new features that were never present in any of my previous items. The weapon operates in 4 modes:

1) Standard RP mode - no push, no bullets. This does the standard melee damage as defined by the sims

2) Bullet On, Push Off - This is usually referred to as combat mode. In this mode, every move you make fires close range, invisible bullets. As a result, you get to do extra damage in addition to the standard melee on each hit.

3) Bullet Off, Push On - Like my previous push weapons, this one does the standard melee damage, and pushes your opponent away in sims that allow push.

4) Bullet On, Push On - A combination of 2 and 3...deadliest of the 4, but may not be allowed in all sims!

In addition, the weapon has a "power attack" - an explosion that lets you cause damage from a distance. This gives the weapon ranged attack capability, or "magic" as some may describe it.

The weapon is available inworld (link is on the right), or on xstreetsl via the following link.

SR Systems Shaolin Hook Swords

Finally, as always I leave you with videos illustrating the weapons :)

SR Systems Double Broadswords

Hello again, and a big thank you as always for reading this blog. Today I update it with the follow up to my broadsword - the double broadswords! This is a dual set, and is appropriately animated. I like to think of the animation I created for it as a combination of the short range broadsword, and the very short range double daggers. In usual SR Systems fashion, i've done my best to keep them realistic, but ofcourse, fun! The philosophy of the blades is identical to the single broadsword. This double set, in RL, is a trademark of the Jow Ga Kung Fu System. Hope you enjoy these!

SR Systems Double Broadswords

SR Systems Double Daggers

Hello dear readers
I must first take this opportunity to apologize for the delay in posting this, but sometimes real life takes you by surprise. Rest assured, I have made new items that are in my store, and would love to make posts for each of the new items with videos.

And so I shall begin with the "Mizu" Kung Fu Double Daggers. Who said that only long range weapons can cause damage? The double daggers illustrate that with speed and agility, one can easily get close and make the kill, before their opponent can finish swinging their spear. Infact, the spear tip may not even reach them!

Note, however, that speed and agility are key. When training with the daggers, I've noticed the senior students in my RL kung fu classes use a lot of aerial techniques, as well as "light footed techniques". You are not aiming to decapitate your enemy in one blow - to do so with small blades like the daggers would take too much effort. Instead, you close the gap, and get inside your opponent's "open zone". In this region, his weapon becomes too long to cause damage. Imagine your enemy holding a staff at its end. To inflict maximum damage, he needs to hit you with the opposite end, not the middle or grip end (torque = force times distance for the physics nerds like me). Once you're inside his open zone, you can deliver multiple stabs and slashes. In a few short moments, the bleeding in multiple places will cause a pressure drop and loss in consciousness, before death kicks in.

The double daggers designed for second life illustrate the same principles. Hence you will notice the animations use flips, spins and kicks. And just like real kung fu daggers, the tassels not only add beauty and grace, but also distraction to the enemy's eyes. The weapon like all others also comes with a push version to send them flying. As always, I leave you with videos illustrating the product. Enjoy!

Double Daggers

SR Systems Nunchaku

Hello again friends.

First of all, thank you for reading this blog, and an even bigger thanks to everyone that has made a purchase from SR systems! Today I would like to present you with another item available at our store - the Nunchaku.

This weapon originated in Okinawa, and was originally a farming tool. However, when weapons were banned by the royalty, the secret martial arts system of Karate was founded, and soon the farming tools were turned into effective weapons. The Nunchaku has also been used by practitioners of Escrima and Hapkido. But ofcourse, the nunchaku has to be famous thanks to the most popular martial artist/actor of all time - Bruce Lee. And ofcourse, remember Michaelangelo from the ninja turtles?

This would be SR systems' first non-chinese weapon. The design is made with flexi parts so that the nunchaku swings realistically. It works with DCS/CCS/WARPS combat meters in Second Life, and is available in three colors. All colors are metallic, and I'll be glad to provide custom colors for free.

I leave you with videos demonstrating the weapon. Enjoy!

Metallic Black
Metallic Red
Metallic White (Silver)

SR Systems Three Section Staff

Today I present you my favorite weapon, and possibly my best creation yet. The Three-Section Staff. This weapon has an interesting story to it's creation. It is believed a famous guard, while defending their royalty from bandits, accidentally broke his staff. He put it the two parts back together, but realized the deadly advantage that the flexibility would bring. And this, the staff became a two-section staff. Using this weapon in another battle, the longer part of it broke. The warrior decided to put it back together, and saw a new advantage if he made the parts smaller, but of equal length. Thus was born the Three Section Staff.

Versatility is the key word when describing this weapon. It can be used like a regular staff, a chain whip, or the ends can be held like short sticks used as clubs. My design is made of "flexi" parts, so the ends swing as your avatar executes their attack technique. This is one weapon i hope to learn eventually in RL, but have a very long way to go to reach that level. In the meantime, I can marvel at the professionals and students that are my seniors.

The weapon is compatible with DCS, CCS and WARPS. It can be purchased on xstreetsl at:

Three Section Staff

I leave you with videos of my product, as well as one of my favorite fight scenes ever with a three section staff, from the movie fearless with Jet Li.

SR Systems "Dao" and "Jian" Swords

I finally found some time to update my blog, and today I would like to present to you my first sword creations. Dao is the general of traditional chinese weapons, and is a broadsword. The Jian is the gentleman of chinese weapons and is a double edged blade. The latter of these is popular in chinese Wuxia moves (ancient china kung fu films, such as "crouching tiger, hidden dragon").

As all other weapons, the weapon comes with a draw and sheathing animation, a bow, and four attack animations for each motion key (up, down, left arrow).

The weapons are compatible with DCS, CCS and WARPS combat systems.

They may be purchased at my inworld store, or on xstreetsl at:

Dao
Jian

Finally, I leave you with the videos illustrating the animation:

SR Systems Kung Fu Staff and Spear

Hello again,

Today I'd like to describe to you my Kung Fu Staff (Gwun) and Spear (Qiang). The reason I combined these two items in one post is that they use the same animation set. The weapons are compatible with DCS, CCS and WARPs, and come in push versions as well.

To control the weapons, simply hold down your left mousebutton and use the motion keys (up, down, left, right).





My sifu said the staff is the most basic weapon in kung fu. With knowledge and training on how to use a staff, one can pretty much utilize any long weapon available at their disposal. He couldnt be more right, as you could easily find a broom or a branch from a tree if you found yourself in a fight situation. The animations that I made for this weapon are based on the single headed staff technique - that is, the staff is held more towards one end rather than the middle, and the opposite end is used as the point of impact on your opponent. This technique allows one to use the staff for stabbing as well, and thus, the moves become similar to using a spear. Hence, the same set of animations apply to the spear as well.


1) The Bow/Salute - Upon activating your weapon, you will see the bow. I intend to make this a mark of my weapons: to always activate with the challenge bow. Your avatar holds the staff upright in his right hand, while opening out his left palm towards your opponent, followed by bringing it back in to their side. Ideally, the weapon should be held in your left hand, while the right does the open palm action. However, due to the set up of holding items in second life, I had to reverse the role of the hands.

2) Smack and Stab - The forward attack makes your avatar smacks your opponent with the staff, as they go from the fighting stance to a horse stance, facing sideways to your enemy. Such an attack is intended for the staff to come down as a hammer onto your opponent's head or collar bone. This is conveniently followed by a stab with the front of the gwun, straight into your opponent's solar plexus (convenient because the horse has you low and steady).

3) Turn and Stab - The backwards attack sends your avatar in a clockwise spin, landing on their knee in a low position, followed by a stab to the enemy's belly. This is meant to be an evading attack.

4) Crane and Swing - In the right side attack, your avatar does a sidestep to their right, and lifts themselves up on their right leg like a crane. The left knee is brought up, and the staff is raised above their right shoulder. And then, with rapid speed, the staff comes swinging at an angle as you rotate your hips and hammer the enemy at an angle coming from the shoulder to the opposite waste.

5) Swallow Tail and Low Swing - The left side technique is my personal favorite and perhaps most beautiful. Your avatar executes a swallow tail kick (or butterfly kick) swinging to the left, giving your opponent a taste of two feet. Upon landing, you go into a low crouch and hit them across the waste or knees.

The spear comes with a flexible horse hair tassel at the bottom of the blade, to add tradition and realism to the weapon. It swings around as you swing your weapon. In real battle, the horse hair served to soak up any blood to prevent the staff becoming sticky - as well as to throw off your enemies.

You can buy the weapons at my store or click below for xstreetsl links!
Spear
Staff

Thanks and see you next time!

SR Systems Kung Fu Fighter

So, let us begin putting some meat into this blog, with a description of the first weapon I made - The SR Systems Kung Fu fighter.

I must note that while the name says Kung Fu fighter, all my weapons so far are based on Kung Fu. This one is more specifically an empty hand fighter (i.e. uses no physical objects as weapons). But most people would be confused by that term, and probably wouldnt buy it. The animations are based on my RL training in Jow Ga Kung Fu, and forms a beautiful and effective set in battle.

The fighter works with DCS, CCS and Warps combat meters. The weapon also comes in a push version that will send your opponents flying in push-enabled zones.





Using the fighter is simple, simply hold down your left mouse-button, and use the motion keys (up, down, left, right). Each motion key is a different animation - an offensive technique of kung fu. The different animations that play are:

1) Hoi Jong, or opening and closing bow - This animation plays when you activate or deactivate the fighter. It is a traditional salute to your opponent, and the sequence is based on the Jow Ga style of kung fu (which in turn is a solid hybrid of the southern shaolin styles Hung Ga and Choy Ga, and Northern Shaolin Kung Fu). It features the famous "fist in palm" action that kung fu bows are known for. I realize that when you bring back to your ribs/waste, both hands should be fists - however the nature of second life's animation system is that once you've set a hand position, that's what remains through the animation.

2) Fighting Stance - Following this, your character will enter the - with fists up, elbows protecting your ribs, feet about shoulder with apart and knees slightly bent - ready to attack.

3) Combination Punch and Heart Kick - The first attack animation. This technique uses a left handed jab, followed by a right handed punch, and using the momentum to launch a straight "Through the Heart Kick" with your right heel to your enemy's chest. This is the first and most basic, but also one of the more effective, techniques you learn in kung fu training.

4) Jab, Heart Kick and Gwa Choy - This second attack is composed of three parts. It begins with a left handed jab, and as you twist back into a straight-on stance, you launch a heart kick with your right. However, instead of returning to the fighting stance after the kick, you use the forward momentum to land a gwa choy (back fist hammer) with your right. Your left palm is placed in front of you, below your right elbow to block any knee or kick your opponent might retaliate with.

5) Tornado Kick - A highly effective and deadly kick when executed right, RL or SL. Starting from a fighting stance, your avatar moves forward rotating to his left (counter clockwise). As you're turned away from your opponent, your left knee is raised and your left foot is off the ground. At the same time, your right knee bends as you prepare to spring into the air. As you jump off your right foot, your left knee crosses your opponent and your right follows through landing the inside of your right foot on their face. The rotation and jumping motion combine and channel the force into your kick.

6) Swallow Tail Kick aka Butterfly Kick - My personal favorite attack in this weapon's animation set. It is the evading attack, as you move backwards. This time, you begin by stepping backwards and spinning to your right (clockwise). As you spin, you open your arms in a "ready to fly" position, leaning foward and very low. Upon reaching the point in your turn where your back is at your enemy, you raise your left foot in a backwards heel kick while bending your right leg into a compressed spring mode. Just as your left heel lands a blow, you launch up with your right and land a second blow on your enemy's face with the backwards right-sided heel kick. By the time you complete the spin and kicks, you are back facing your enemy. In the process, your legs have made a butterfly's wings, or swallow's tail, pattern.

Drop by my inworld location to sample these animations, and better yet, why not get them for yourself so you can show those weapon holding sons of guns how a real warrior fights! ;)

It's also availabe on xstreetsl here

SR Systems Weapons Information

Now that I've given you an introduction of myself and SR systems, I would like to describe the weapons I make. While I promise to go into more detail on each weapon in subsequent posts, I wanted to present a general overview in this post.
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(1) The weapons are powered by scripts from Hanzo Blades. Second Life Melee weapon enthusiasts, particularly those interested in Japanese katanas and ninjato blades, will have heard of Hanzo Blades as one of, if not, the best weapons maker out there. My weapons utilize their ever reliable scripts, giving you an effective low lag weapon. The script i have obtained is legal and part of their Prefabrica release - so i guarantee that there is no "funny business" on my end.

(2) The weapons work with the DCS2, CCS and WARPS combat meters. They have been tested successfully by my customers on each of these systems, and I haven't received any complaints yet.

The weapons are known to cause Linden damage, the amount of which is based on the distance you are standing from the opponent, as some satisfied customers have responded back. However, I do not guarantee this, as the scripts are designed for the three meters mentioned above. I could however customize a weapon if a customer is interested.

(3) Almost all animations in the weapons are designed by me and are unique. While I do own the Hanzo Blades animations that come in the prefabrica pack, I decided to put in the hours of effort in creating my own interpretation of attack techniques. Furthermore, I'm a student of Jow Ga Kung Fu in real life, and wanted to express the knowledge and techniques I have developed through my training, in the virtual world. That being said, I have used the draw and sheath animations that come standard with Hanzo blades.

(4) My goal for SR Systems is to make Martial Arts Weapons. Currently, I am focussing on kung fu based weapons, and am in the planning stages to expand to other oriental martial arts systems. I might, down the line, create other fantasy based melee weapons - such as medieval weapons or final fantasy style weapons - but I do not plan on making guns. If I do make ranged weapons, they will be the likes of shuriken, arrows or throwing axes.

(5) I strive for affordability. I have found out the hard way that making weapons in second life is hard work. Starting from making animations - to creating the structure of the weapon, followed by the texturing to make it look acceptable and even beautiful - all the way through to packaging, making a second life weapon takes the effort of many hours, and even money to buy and upload realistic textures. Despite these personal costs (including losing out on time with my close friends), I intend to share my passion at an affordable rate. Thus, you will find SR systems weapons are in the lower price range, despite the quality they provide. I have no intentions to compete with the big names and have the utmost respect for them.

Ofcourse, this *is* a business I am doing, and making money is always a nice reward for the hard work. Seeing people buy and like my products motivates me to make even better items. However, I have no aspirations to fund my real life expenses via this second life project. Instead I would like to make enough money to enjoy my second life and be able to continue my passion by affording the costs to manufacture these items.

Furthermore, I appreciate all my customers and would like to thank them personally. I do my best to IM you all personally, but please forgive me if I missed you - I still want to sincerely thank you as well :)

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And that's all the basic information on my weapons! As simple as that :) In my coming posts, I will start discussing in detail each weapon, along with images and try to explain my philosophy behind the different techniques.

Thank you again and see you next time!

Welcome and General Introduction!

Hello and thank you for viewing this first post of my new blog. A famous line i once heard was "if there's an elephant in the room, then you should introduce it!" So you being kind enough to read my blog, it is only right that I return the favor by introducing myself and my new company, to which this blog pertains.

Firstly, I'm Soren Reinard: an avatar and avid user of Second Life. For those that may not know much about it, in a nutshell, Second Life can be categorized as a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) or a Virtual World. I prefer the latter definition, as role playing and combat games form just a small set of the massive number of things one can do there. The users create their own purposes in this world. There's more info on the link provided.

One feature that I will discuss here is the economics of second life (SL). In this cyber universe, users can create items and services that other users can buy, to enhance their experience. The virtual currency, "linden dollars" or "lindens", can be transformed into real currency and vice versa. Some SL business-people have aspirations for virtual income that supports their real life expenses, and some even achieve this goal succesfully. Others have more modest goals for a virtual income that can support their virtual expenses.

I've developed a small business that is inspired from my personal use of second life. In recent times, I have been "combat roll playing". As the users of second life create their purposes, users with an interest like me decided to come together and form combat simulations. Think of it as being able to go to a chat room, make friends across the world, and be able to play mortal kombat with them. Except, you get to create and design your own character. With this creation process comes the requirement for outfits, health meters and most importantly, weapons.

Thus was born SR Systems. Playing in Japanese and Chinese sims, I decided to try and bring my imagination to virtual life. Being a passionate student of Jow Ga Kung Fu in real life, I decided to bring what I know from real world kung fu into the virtual world. Ofcourse, being realistic does not mean being boring, and so the animations i develop for my weapons are intended to be fun and flashy as well. For those familiar with combat in second life, my weapons work with DCS2, CCS and Warps. And for those simply looking for great animations, they work equally well to impress your friends.

I will detail each of my creations in the coming posts, but please feel free to contact me if you have any questions - either here or inworld. If you'd like to view my weapons feel free to visit my store in world at SR Systems Mainstore or check out my listings on xstreetsl

Thank and see you next time!