The matches on Heiya Island were a bit different from many of the MMA bouts that Joshua often had to judge, largely because there was no direct fighting in the skills challenges that were set up as part of the IAC on Heiya Island. Contestants would perform a maneuver or strike and would be judged based on the form and flow of the move. In this, they would be measured by the standards set for the specific schools that were taught. There would obviously be some cases where certain moves might have to be altered to fit Animalian anatomy, and particularly with regard to feet. Some Animalians did have plantigrade feed, like Humans did, but most had digitigrade feet, and Horse, Cattle, Pig, Deer, and other hooved Animalians took this to an extreme. And this different foot structure and stance changed how they balanced on their feet.
This continually left Joshua amazed as he sat at the judge's booth with regard to the weapon rounds that some of the contestants were in. In some ways, it looked more like a form of art, rather than some of the rough and tumble type things that he remembered from his own basic training. As while he'd trained to be a medic, that didn't mean that combat training wasn't included. Still, he had to be impressed with ever contestant that had come up, as in many ways they'd lacked certain skill sets that he'd never picked up. Though that really wasn't an area in which he could actually provide any sort of judgement on. That was left up to some of the individual school masters who know those moves inside and out. A few were even Animalians and had thus helped with some of the alterations needed to suit the digitigrade feet of some Animalian's.
The thing that Joshua ended up being used for was more the weapons skills events where the use of weapons would be tested. Here, his role would be to assess the damage done to sides of beef or pork that were secured by ropes so that they were in plain view and wouldn't go flying. This sort of judgement would then relate to things like whether the wound was clean and what sort of damage was done. Did it cut through bone, or avoid bone. Was the wound deep or superficial and then render an opinion whether or not the blow was lethal or not. There would also be an automatic disqualification if the rope suspending the meat was cut. It was something that let him apply some parts of his medical training in a way that would go beyond what they'd normally be used for. Joshua didn't mind, though, as the event did let him get a shot at seeing some of the specific schools and their skill sets.
And it made for some spectacular viewing. Most of the contestants were those who had joined some of the schools in Lyre and Animalia, but there were a few that had seemed to come to Heiya Island from Japan or China. He'd found from some talks with Rebecca, who was there for Animalia Ambassadoria to cover the IAC events on the island. She didn't know all the names, but she had tried to include a few brief moments with all the contestants and was thus able to relay that information. In some cases Joshua found it fairly easy to make his judgements, there were a few who entered simply because they enjoyed martial arts movies. But there were a few who did rather well or at least did well enough to leave an impression. Among them was Jerry from the Green Glacier Adventure Clan. He'd been perfectly strong enough and had decent form, but certain things weren't completely sharp on his part.
"You've done excellently for one who has only begun training," one of the skills masters on the judgement panel said to Jerry after he'd finished his demonstration.
"And certainly far better than those who's only knowledge of Martial Arts is from Karate Kid," another of the skills judges commented, "but there are some points where footwork and form were off... leaving you potentially off balance."
"Or you practiced in some way that was different from your demonstration," the first commented.
"But if you keep with instruction and training, you should get much better," the second finished.
"Thank you," Jerry spoke respectfully, "I will... and have a good day."
There was some notes at the politeness offered and things then moved on. Most of those that won the specific skills events proved to be those that had practiced many of these sorts of marital arts throughout their lives or had some other form of exposure to it. The Rabbit Animalian, Michiko Shikamatsu won the skill based competition with regard to Kendo and the use of the Katana for it, while her sister Yumi Shikamatsu won the "ninja skills" challenge with twin Sai. Though the one winner that ultimately won the most attention was Liao and her display with the Urumi. Much of this came from the uniqueness of the weapon and the fact that Liao was the only one who had entered the contest using that weapon.
The multi-bladed whip like weapon was unique and was something that no one else had brought to the contest, and that was something that made Liao's use of the weapon interesting. She'd win because she was the only contestant, but there was still a lot of novelty to the weapon that won attention. And Liao actually performed quite well, with some cheers coming from some of the Hindu families that had come from India to see the contest. Liao had great strength as a Tiger Animalian, but through dedicated practice, she displayed a proficient series of twirls that sent the individual blades flowing at the side of beef that was presented as the target and in some cases it looked as though multiple blades struck the meet without hitting the rope. It showed excellent control which ultimately earned plenty of applause as Liao finished.
That then left Joshua to come forward and assess the damage that the weapon had done. The first thing was to assess any and all damage to the rope and he found there was none, and then moved on to the meat, itself. It was cut with a series of slashing like attacks, as though the tips of the blades cut into the side of the meat and then cut along the direction by which the Urumi was being twirled. On the surface the cuts didn't look too deep, however, close examination found that many of the cuts were deep enough on the side of beef that they likely would have left deep wounds in a Human. The cuts were really only shallow at the points where the cuts started and stopped. In this, a lone cut wouldn't be enough to really hurt a cow that much, but it would leave serious cuts on a human being and the multitude of them would potentially make it possible that the "victim" would bleed to death.
"So what do you find?" Mr. Shikamatsu asked from his seat, looking rather curious, as he was not familiar with the weapon, and occasionally looked over to see one of the Hindu families coming forward toward the judges bench.
"Well... based on the multitude of cuts and their deepest points... I would say that in this case, there is the potential for a human to wounded to a point where they would bleed to death," Joshua reported, "particularly if medical care is not provided in a timely manner."
"Thank you," Joshua nodded and noticed as Mr. Shikamatsu had to confer with the other present expert. They talked for a few moments while the one Hindu man came forward from the stands. Some of the security officials on site, both Animalian and Human from the Japanese and Chinese "embassies" moved relatively carefully, just in case this was an assassination attempt. However, Liao recognized him the father of the group that had been practically praising her and the Five Elements on their arrival on Heiya Island, or at least her, Tuxing, and Shuixing.
"Excuse me, if I may ask, but where did you learn to use the Urumi?" the man asked, "a weapon noted for it's potential difficulty in use..."
"Like the Five Elements... I was once held prisoner by those who would do wrong," Liao said slowly and doing her best to try and mask things. By now the rest of the Elements and Ping knew, but they were about the only ones that Liao was really comfortable with. But to answer the question, she would have to touch on parts of it. "Much of that is too painful for me to go into detail on. But while I was there... I met a young girl who had commented that her father practiced various forms of Indian Martial Arts for relaxation and she'd picked up the use of a flail-like weapon from him. Though she mostly only applied it with old rope to try and get things down that our captors tried to keep from us. She taught me some of the skills and theories... which got me interested in training with it after I was rescued. I am probably not the most academically gifted with regard to proper form..."
"You did quite well... perhaps not as "artistic" as those who have practiced with the Urumi for years," the man commented, "but you did show excellent control, you weren't hit by any of the blades yourself, were able to move around the meat-like substance you have hanging there. That's something that's big when control is something that a whip-like weapon would be one that is rather limited, even for someone with years of practice. In that your control is excellent. And while I am no master, with your permission... I may offer some formal teachers that you could contact who could help improve what would seem to be an already advanced skill set."
Liao smiled and said, "thank you."