Enchantment

Enchantment (奇術 Kijutsu) is the tribal martial art of the Majin tribe; a band of nomadic desert dwellers who live on Sahara Island. It is well known among the island for its dance-like movements and exotic aura about it, as well as legends of Enchantment users being capable of conjuring magic through their fighting. It was originally created and developed within the Majin tribe out of necessity, in order to drive off highwaymen and wild predatory animals that would otherwise be a constant nuisance and danger to a nomadic desert tribe. However, out of the growing conflict and mutual animosity between the Majin and the people of the Sahara kingdom, the fighting style has become more militaristic over time, with it leaning more towards defending the tribe against the Saharans, as opposed to natural self-defense.

The fighting style itself is rather complex, yet simple at the same time, and remains mostly exclusive to members of the Majin tribe, especially those of the warrior castes. As previously noted, the modern form of Enchantment as it is today takes its origins from belly dancing, as the Majin felt it necessary to hide their fighting style from the Saharans, by masking it as simple dancing and entertainment. While in reality, the belly dancing helped to improve weak points in the original fighting style as well. The fundamentals themselves revolve around acrobatic and agile footwork, mixed with clever use of the hands and posturing of the body for maximum manueverability; making the style similiar in appearance to capoeira and Black Leg Style. For offense, and given the dance-like appearance of Enchantment, users focus heavily on their legs and feet when attacking opponents, thus also making the style appear similiar to tae-kwon-do.

Additionally, the role of the user's arms and hands is also meant for blocking and parrying strikes, leaving the feet free to counter attack; where the rest of the body, particularly the torso and abdomen, are to be rocked rhythmically in the same fashion as that of belly dancing, putting a large focus on the user's hip, ribcage and shoulder movements to guarantee total effeciency. This also ensures that the opponent will not only be distracted and allured by the beautiful movements, but that their strikes will be less likely to hit, making this addition to Enchantment similiar in nature to the Rokushiki technique, Kami-e.

There are also much more potent, advanced techniques available to Enchantment users. These abilities appear to be the source behind the rumors of the fighting style involving magic. Skillful practitioners of Enchantment can make use of the belly dancing motions to lull enemies into a pseudo-hypnotic trance, which can then be strengthened and supported through the use of trained vocalizations, to fully enrapture a foe into a dream-like state, separated from reality. However, it has been noted that the Majin are incapable of true magic, and have never claimed to be capable of doing so, but that their illusions caused by their dance-like fighting style has given them the reputation of being magicians and wizards, among other things. Some have even been shown using this reputation to their advantage, claiming they know sorcery to an extent, in the hopes to use psychological warfare to ensure victory.

This ability to create hallucinations through visual and audible stimuli has become infamous among the Majin's known enemies for its ability to lure unwary and foolish victims into a false sense of security, or even to allow themselves to become manipulated, leading to their defeat. Illusions can vary greatly, depending on the individual it affects, or even the subliminal messaging implied through certain vocalizations, such as referring to hot or arid adjectives to make the victim believe they're in a desert. Other hallucinations have involved blissful scenes, such as a garden of flowers blooming to distract foes, or altering the appearance of the Enchantment user for psychological warfare purposes. In some cases, the hallucinations are so grand or believable, that victims will feel physical pain or pleasure from what they see, depending on the person and the illusion in question. Though despite the effectiveness of the optical illusions, they are nothing more than that; simply hallucinations. Therefore, those who aren't affected by the illusion will only see those who are affected as crazy due to reacting to images that aren't truly there, among many other possible reactions to the outlandish responses of the victims.

Due to the effectiveness of the Enchantment style, members of the Majin tribe rarely allow outsiders to learn or gain knowledge of it without explicit permission, or special circumstances. Additionally, it can be considered uncommon, albeit not entirely unheard of, for those beyond the warrior castes of the tribe to know Enchantment; as was seen in the special case of teaching Mut Mizu, of the diplomatic caste Mut clan, in how to use Enchantment to defend herself. It's also been shown that in certain cases, Enchantment has been learned through indirect methods, and even at times, directly from Majin members themselves, if they feel they can trust the knowledge of Enchantment to those who seek to learn it.

Trivia

 * The name of the fighting style was derived from the word, 'enchantment;' meaning to put one under a chant, spell, charm, curse or form of magic. The name was chosen, due to the djinn/genie theming of the Majin tribe.
 * Many aspects of Enchantment were heavily inspired from belly dancing; a traditional Middle Eastern form of dance which has gained fame worldwide in recent years. The style of dance is rather relaxed and improvisational in comparison to other dancing styles, as it's only major focus is the movement of the torso and abdomen, and the accentuation of them through the swaying and movement of the arms and hands.
 * Likewise, the hallucination aspect of the martial art was inspired from tales of djinn (genies) using magic. Given the djinn theme of the Majin tribe, and the name of the fighting style, this portion of the style was added to further play up the theme. It could also be a reference to mirages, given the Majin live in the deserts of Sahara Island, where mirages are very likely to occur.