Manga and anime are filled with incredible swordmasters; however, only the most skilled technicians can deal just as much damage without a blade as they can with one. Take Yoo Mira, for instance. Mira's place among the trifecta of central characters in The God of High School is unique due to the relationship that she has with her Moon Light sword. The other two members that make up her team in the God of High School tournament, Han Daewi and Jin Mori, are teen boys who, like most of the event's fighters, are martial artists that don't use weapons. Though Mira has unlocked her special sword's true potential, she has plenty of techniques that make her just as deadly unarmed.
Mira has studied the Moon Light Sword Style religiously throughout her life. This fighting style was passed down to her from her father, along with the mandate to follow his teachings and eventually find someone who can help her keep it from going extinct. Along with these teachings, she has a special sword that her family tried to protect -- a National Treasure -- which others try to use for their own personal benefit.
Among the many lessons that Mira learns is the technique, Moon Light Sword Style, No. 5: Swordless. While her hand might not hold a blade, this technique allows Mira to generate enough pressure through her hand movement to slash at an opponent's body. This ability comes in handy for her in the tournament, as she uses it to finish off the pro-wrestler Mah Miseon. While her wooden sword wasn't enough to stop Miseon in her tracks, the Swordless technique proves to be effective enough to knock her out with a series of strikes that cut into her body.
It's thanks to abilities like this that Mira isn't entirely dependent on the sword in question. Over the course of her time in The God of High School anime, there have been moments where she loses access to her weapon of choice, but in cases where that happens, Mira's fighting style incorporates weaponless attacks. On top of that, in one of the show's most recent episodes, Mori surprised everyone by mimicking her Swordless technique for his fight against Ilpyo.
Mira isn't the only anime character to use this type of fighting. Another example of a swordless technique can be seen in the show Katanagatari. While the protagonist of this show doesn't start out with a sword, they use their hands to strike with the same precision they would if they wielded a sword.
More famously, One Piece uses a similar fighting style through Ronanoa Zoro. As well as his No Sword style, one of Zoro's techniques is the Flying Slash, which uses the air pressure generated by his sword swings to attack opponents from a distance. While his swords can deal damage on their own, this ability grants him an extra range that normal people couldn't achieve. When Zoro battled Basil Hawkins, the deadliness of this strike heavily wounded one of the villains' minions.
An unarmed swordmaster being able to channel the abilities of a sword through their training perfectly fits mediums with the propensity to go as over-the-top as manga and anime can. It is fairly common to see limits stretched and powers amplify in accordance with characters' growth, symbolizing how much of a connection one has with their weapon, and the strength of their will defying all logic and reason. As a consequence, that makes opponents all the warier. As Mira continues to power up in The God of High School, we can only imagine she'll soon be the up there with the likes of Zoro as one of anime's most anime swordless masters.
