While most of Goku’s power moves and special techniques are pure manga fantasy, one of his coolest Dragon Ball strikes was inspired by real life.

Goku has shown plenty of reality-bending powers and moves over the course of Dragon Ball, but one of his coolest moments ever happened courtesy of an unexpected real-life inspiration: Bruce Lee. When Goku had to teach Frieza a lesson in Dragon Ball Super, he borrowed one of Bruce Lee’s deadliest and most famous techniques.

In the Dragon Ball Super anime, after years of living in Hell, Frieza is resurrected by his henchmen. During the following battle, Goku and Frieza fight using their most powerful forms: Frieza powers up to his Golden Frieza form while Goku accesses his Super Saiyan Blue form. Initially, Frieza seems to get the better of the Saiyan, until Goku decides it’s time to end the fight, but he doesn’t do it with one of his iconic haymaker strikes, tornado kicks, or energy blasts. Rather, in a length of space no longer than his middle finger, he simply punches Frieza in the chest. It’s a simple but potent move that brutalizes Frieza and turns the tide of the fight.

Goku Proves Even In Close Encounters He’s Still The Best

While the movement of the punch was small and discreet, the effect produced the same type of cartoonishly overpowered move that Dragon Ball fans have grown to expect. The punch that Goku used is known as the “One Inch Punch”, and it is an actually martial arts technique that was popularized by kung fu legend Bruce Lee in a martial arts exhibition in the mid-1960s. As explained and demonstrated by Lee, it is a strike that can generate tremendous power through speed, execution, and technique rather than strength. As such, a user does not need to wind up and swing their arms or hips – which an experienced opponent can see and react accordingly. As Goku demonstrated it’s a strike that not only catches an opponent off guard but can do so with devastating effect.

Goku’s use of the One Inch Punch fits perfectly with his transformation to the never-before-seen Super Saiyan Blue form, which puts a Super Saiyan transformation on top of the Super Saiyan God form. In Super Saiyan Blue, Goku can achieve a higher level of calmness and tranquility which gives access to the more concentrated power of the God Ki. This allows him to instantaneously deliver a deadly strike without preparation. The use of the One Inch Punch is only seen, so far, in the anime. It perfectly underscores how dangerous the playful Goku can be when he gets serious, and there was no better opponent than his arch-nemesis Frieza to humiliate with that technique.

Bruce Lee And Goku Are Cultural Icons

Whether intentional or not, Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama’s inclusion of the One Inch Punch is a neat hat tip to the real world of martial arts competition and the creativity of participants to produce their own styles – like Goku – or learn and improve their own techniques by studying those of others. Bruce Lee is an icon who has transcended the world of martial arts due to his charisma and influence, much like Goku and Dragon Ball have transcended the world of anime and manga to become enduring pop culture icons for the past decades.

Source: Screenrant.com