[Aegis Labyrinthine]

Crae’not

General: When you’ve isolated yourself on an island with nothing but beings equipped with deadly horns, rock hard hooves and enough strength to move a small planet, you’ve got yourself Crae’not.

Crae’not is the deadly art of gladiatorial unarmed fighting, practical only for the minotaur. Some liken this Zinn’ka to the brutal Rhingorda style but with obvious differences. It involves the use of almost every body part, such as the head/horns, torso, arms, and legs/hooves. Any race can attempt to learn this minotaurian art and achieve some minor skills, but because of the demand for horns and hooves, none but the minotaur can master it.

A skilled practitioner of Crae’not knows not only how to attack but also how to defend. Their bodies become fortresses after severe training to the point where a blade can barely pierce through their hide. Crae’not also teaches the practitioner how to receive a blow anywhere on their body for minimal damage by use of reflexes and positioning. Attacking can involve one charging head first to slam their opponent into a wall, elbows, knees, body checking, kicking, punching, squeezing, head butting, and everything in between. To the death is how the nobles and Royal family of Minatos liked it and that is how they got it, but only as spectators. Crae’not has two versions, the hardcore slave on slave to the death and the watered down noble version which is on a point system and never ends in death.

History: After being marooned on the island of Minatos, a hierarchy was quickly set up to separate the powerful from the weak. The powerful became Royalty and nobles and the weak became peasants and slaves. Before any official arenas were set up for gladiatorial battles, the nobles would often pit their slaves against each other for the love of battle and profit. Most of these arranged fights were not to the death, which allowed the slaves to learn from their mistakes in each fight. Eventually there became a method of how the slave fights were fought and to earn their keep and respect from their master (the little they received), the method was bone crushing and intense.

It didn’t take long for this style of fighting to catch on and seeing it in action made a lot of slave owners have their slaves train in it. The name Crae’not was coined early on in it’s development by the nobles who organized the matches. What was once an underground pit fight soon became a “national sport”, if you will. Large arenas and coliseums were erected to house this craze that hit Minatos. Something the prideful minotaurs could call their own. In the larger venues slaves would be entered for a fight, which was usually ended up in death. Some that won, giving the best show for the crowd became full time fighters, and the others who were not killed went back to work as slaves. It was the reward of becoming a fulltime gladiator that drove the fighters to make their Crae’not more brutal and deadly. Even the possibility of death was better than working for the nobles doing hard labor.

Eventually Crae’not branched into the houses of the nobles and even some royal family members took up the Zinn’ka. This of course was not to the death and some practiced it for fitness and endurance training. Many minotaur of the lower classes, but mostly the slaves and gladiators who fought to the death would never consider a none death fight Crae’not. The noble version of Crae’not is based on a point system where two combatants would charge each other and throw punches and kicks gaining points depending on where the opponent was struck. Once a fighter has reached a total of 5 points, he is declared the winner. No horns are used in this type of Crae’not or if they are used, you can be sure they are heavily padded.

The Levels:

Basic Level:

Combatants at this level begin their hide toughening along with proper footing and a few punches and kicks. These maneuvers are fairly easy to learn and are considered the foundation of crae’not.

examples of basic level Crae’not:

Basic Footing- Students will learn where to place their footing which is appropriate for both basic offence and basic defense. Teachers stress their students to bend the knees at all times so they can spring forward to deliver a punch with more speed and power or to act like a spring to soften a blow.

Face/Sides/and Groin Block- These block the most vulnerable areas which can cripple an opponent. Students will learn to use their arms to block the face and sides (which house the kidneys and other visceral organs). They will also learn to raise their knee at the appropriate time to cover their groin area.

Neck Strengthening- It is important for one to constantly train the strength of their neck. Some teachers attach weights or stones with rope to the horns of a student and proceed to do neck raises. This conditions the neck to prepare itself for headbutting and ramming which is used in higher levels.

Basic Punches and Kicks- Students will be able to handle a low level fight once they learn how to perform some of the basic kicks and punches. The punches include the quick jab, straight punch, and uppercut. Kicking includes the side kick and straight kick.

Professional

At the professional level of Crae’not, students are capable of handling low level combat with quicker reflexes and stronger hits than those with basic skills. They still focus their studies on the foundation techniques: punching, kicking, and blocking. The neck is still trained for strength and proves useful at this level.

examples of professional level:

The Head Butt- Head butting is not as physically demanding on the neck as the strength training requires, but it is the first step in using the head as a weapon. The student is taught to get in close enough to the opponent and strike a devastating head butt using the rock solid bridge of the horns.

Elbowing- The elbow is a very hard part of the skeletal system. Students will learn how to get in close enough to deliver a variety of elbow maneuvers, such as the side strike, the upper cut using an elbow and the downward strike. This will also improve the blocking maneuver of the arms.

Kneeing- Another very hard part of the skeletal system. By creating a balance of footing and knee blocks, students will learn how to deliver knee strikes at the appropriate time. This will also improve the quality of knee blocking.

Tackle- This maneuver teaches the student to take an opponent to the ground. They will learn to avoid knee strikes as they cradle around the waist of an opponent to tackle him down.

Elite

The student’s skills are more defined and quick. The can endure hefty blows from an unarmed opponent on most parts of their body, save for the face and groin, with minimal effect. The basic techniques are now transformed into more specialized attacks.

examples of elite level

Charging Head Butt- This maneuver is used as a tackle as well as a physical blow, but is very easily avoidable. When the student is charging he uses his neck strength to add that extra hit, winding his opponent, allowing a successful takedown. This technique can also be fatal, should the student stab the opponent with a horn.

Horn Block- The horns are used as a defense mechanism to free up the arms, so one can counterattack more freely.

The Skewer- The horns are used as a weapon by the student bending over and turning his head to the side puncturing the torso and groin area. This can also be used to flip the opponent behind the students back. Neck strength is critical or the student can break or hurt his neck depending on the size and weight of the opponent.

The Diamond Hoof- This is quick snap of the leg used to create cuts in the flesh of the opponent using the tip of ones hoof. This is can be a deadly maneuver if kicked in the face or any vital area such as arteries or neck.

Master

Once a student is considered a master of Crae’not, he is very capable of taking down opponents armed and unarmed. Most melee blunt weapons are useless against his tough hide from lower basic and professional levels, even some elite.
examples of master level

The Meat Hook- This technique requires a lot of shoulder and bicep/tricep strength. The student can pick his opponent off the ground and toss him a few feet in the air, catching him on the tip of a horn. Depending on where the opponent is skewered it can be fatal.

Hug Of The Breathless- This is just what it says. The student wraps his arms around the torso of the opponent squeezing the last ounce of air from his lungs.

The Bone Snapper- When the student focuses all his body momentum behind an elbow strike to any part of the body, it is capable of breaking through bone.

Bloody Rage- This technique is usually done when the student has his opponent up against a wall. He rams his head into the body of the opponent and shakes his head violently, shredding the skin with his horns and making several punctures which can be fatal.

Grandmaster

This is the ultimate stage of Crae’not a student can reach. Few have ever made it this far before dying in the arena. A grandmaster of Crae’not has the hide of steel and is impenetrable by arrows and small blades. His skills are more honed to look like cleaner strikes, than the bloody mess a master makes, but the strikes are so precise and well executed they are in fact much more deadly. They are extremely quick and incredibly strong.

examples of grandmaster level

Iron Hide- Impenetrable by small blades and normal steel arrows. Melee weapons break when hitting the student. The hide of the minotaur is so thick and conditioned appears to be iron.

Visceral Rupture- Students can place a strike using any part of their body so well that they can surpass the bones and send a shock wave into the body cavities damaging internal organs.

Aeternia’s Forge- A student can deliver a blow using their legs/knees, elbow/fists or head to an opponent wearing steel armor, causing it to crack open.

Jorel’s Mallet- A student can make a downward strike with their fist or elbow on top of an opponents head so powerful that his spine compresses and kills them instantly.