Judo character

I decided I wanted to do a big, muscular male character, however, the fighting styles I had previously researched did not seem to be suitable or realistic for such a big character, so after some research I decided that Judo may be a more suitable style.

I started off by searching google for images and then youtube for videos to give me a better idea of how Judo works and what the qualities of it are.

I found these videos below which helped me better understand it. The first one is the depiction of judo in movies. One quality that is blatant is how often people get slammed or thrown around. It looks rather forceful and powerful, which I want my character to reflect.

The next is an Olympic video of Ryoko Tani vs Frederique Jossinet. This video stood out to me as the two women look very sturdy and strong, almost immovable, again, another quality I want my character to have. Almost to look like a wall.

I started my research by looking for existing characters in games that practice Judo or a form of Judo. The most obvious character is Paul Phoenix from Tekken:

Paul is an overconfident individual who has a very big ego. He strives to become the "best in the universe." "He has always been portrayed as short-tempered albeit kind hearted, slightly dim-witted, brash, loud and presumptuous." He usually wears his red judo uniform or has an alternative black biker costume. From his body language in these two images above, you can tell, particularly in the left image he looks very cocky and confident. In the right, he looks powerful and serious, reflecting his will to be the best. Paul is American which is reflected in his physical appearance,

Below is a video showing a demonstration of his moves in real life, taken from the game:

I then found Goro Daimon (above) from The King of Fighters series who is also a practitioner of judo. He is a big guy, I suppose he is somewhat the friendly giant type of character. He is described to have a serious expression, however is very warm of heart, taking time to coexist and immerse himself with nature. Additionally he likes to teach youths Judo in his free time. You can see this side to him in the image above, where he seems like a friendly guy taking care of a youngster. He is definitely large and somewhat fearsome looking, as can be seen in the top right picture, however, the expression on his face softens that image to a certain extent, as he looks quite friendly and happy. His stance, as indicated by the gif, is very upright and strong, with his legs apart giving him a good, solid grounding. He seems to be ready to take anything and block and throw opponents around. I would like my character to come off like this, strong, impenetrable and a solid being. However, I want my character to look quite stern and serious. Less emotive in some ways.

Below is a video showing some of his moves:

The last character I could find that practices judo was Ryoko Izumo, from World Heroes. She is inspired by judo expert and Olympic gold medalist Ryoko Tani. She seems to be youthful and good-natured, judging by the many images of her smiling. Her hairstyle also assists in making her look young. However in the image on the right she looks strong-willed and determined, showing she also has a serious side.

Two out of the three characters I found are Japanese, and all of them primarily wear traditional-looking Judo clothing. I want my character to not follow this trend, maybe wearing something more ordinary, something a street fighter would wear. I will work on some designs and find out what looks good and what works to reflect the qualities that he should possess. He should come across as very strong, powerful, forceful and be of impressive size. He should also look like someone who you should not mess with. This power that comes from his size will be balanced by his lack of speed, as is the case with many characters who are big in size and have bursts of power. 

Below I collected images to form a moodboard for the character:

It contains characters from Soul Calibur that I feel could inspire my own, in terms of their pose and size. It also features Zangief from Street Fighter, again for his size and pose, as well as Braum from League of Legends. These characters show similar attributes, for example, the poses, they are portrayed in a stance that has their chests puffed out, as if proud or defiant. This type of stance can be seen in many of the included images above. Another feature is how small the head is compared to the rest of the body, it makes them look much bigger. Additionally, the head seems to be further behind the body, resting on the back of the shoulders, creating a sense of perspective and also gives a feeling of something formidable, evil maybe. The difference in poses can also suggest a difference in character, for example, Braum (top left with the big shield) looks friendly due to his expression and extended hand, he looks like an ally. Necrid (top right, green) looks evil due to his colouring and the way he is posed.

The moodboard also includes judo costume, old and newer. The older costume was shorter all around, and was made from a more tanned colour cloth, newer judo clothing is typically bleached white in colour and is longer everywhere. I want my character to have an old, wise feel to him. A Japanese man in his late 30s perhaps. I've also included two hairstyles that may be of interest, the half ponytail.