It seems that Chance turned out to be a more popular character than I'd thought he'd be, so I decided to draw him wearing the traditional Sheozuni garb to explain a little bit in depth about his martial arts style and stuff.

Chance was born and raised in a traditional Sheozuni squirrel clan located in the neighbouring forest to the city in which most of Rave Battle takes place. Generally, Sheozuni are elusive and don't like being seen or observed by other social groups, which is why not much is known about their present cultures. Sometimes, though, the more daring Sheozuni will leave the clan and seek a life in the city (like Chance). This is why Lee agreed to pair with Chance, because he knew that traditional Sheozuni martial dance would score incredibly high in competitions.

"Sheozu" means "ultimate balance" in native squirrel language. The fighting style relies heavilly on using the opponent's body as a platform to attack from better angles and to force the opponent into positions where they are vulnerable. The fighting is mostly leg work, as well as using open hand strikes and claws as weapons.

Because the style relies so much on flexibility, agility and acrobatic capacity, it's rarely practised by other species besides squirrels, and even amongst squirrels, it is almost exclusively female-driven sport. As a result, male Sheozuni squirrels in a clan tend to be more passive than the females. Chance has just the right kind of body for a male to be able to do Sheozu effectively.

Sheozuni traditionally wear ninja-like clothing, with a metal plate on their foreheads to protect from enemy blades, a light helmet and a loose red tunic-like item of clothing called a kuto around their upper torso. Sometimes red streamers will be attatched to the back of kuto for decoration. In a similar fashion to the muay thai style of martial arts, Sheozuni warriros wear arm bands (although not made of rope) that are supposed to bring luck and confidence, but the feeling and slight weight of these arm bands are also said to remind them of their balance. Chance wears the arm bands as well as two small buckle straps on his wrists. These have a more offensive purpose, with the protruding straps not only helping with his balance, but also serving as distracting weapons with which to poke at the opponent's eyes during close grapples.

The default Sheozu weapon are thin short swords, but Chance is only trained in body combat so I didn't bother drawing those.

I think that's it. Anyway, I'm developing the Rave Battle style more. This was done entirely in Flash, with the crosshatching being exported in as a png.

Rave Battle and all related characters are (C) Ryanide 2006, do not distribute or steal.