Rock Lee vs. Gaara

The Art of War – Character through Choreography

Battles and fights in fiction can – or even should – entail more than only stylish action. In the series “The Art of War” I will look at fight scenes I find particularly compelling and try to figure out, what makes them so great. I will start the series with a couple of fights from Naruto, here specifically: Rock Lee vs. Gaara.

The Build Up

The skills of ninja student get tested through an exam with different tasks for different stages. We have arrived at the stage where one-versus-one fights are set up to eliminate some of the candidates. After a few more or less interesting fights, we finally get to the spectacle that is the Rock Lee vs. Gaara fight. But who are they?

Iiiiin the left corner we have Gaara! He is cool. He is talented and he is honestly a bit creepy. What’s that? He is the host of a sand demon and will quite possibly be the next villain of the show? Well… what’s his strength? Ah, yes he carries sand with him that automatically forms a shield around him, providing him a close to perfect defence. He has never suffered a blow! Would you believe that. What’s his weakness then? Nothing? Alright? Who… who is to face this guy?

In the right corner we have Rooooock Lee! A rather silly boy with overflowing life and energy. He got introduced to the show only recently and doesn’t play that big of a role, but he had won our hearts quickly. He is very good at hand-to-hand combat and fast at it too. His weakness? Well, damn near everything else. No magic, no psychic powers, just punches and kicks. Well Lee, we wish you all the luck you can get.

The Fight

Gaara of course doesn’t consider Lee a threat. But his counterpart is excited to face a challenge. Lee is confident. As soon as the fight starts, he takes initiative. He tries to penetrate Gaara’s sand shield over and over again, but fails. His sensei allows him to take the training weights off, he apparently had on all this time. When Lee lets them fall onto the ground, in true Shonen anime fashion of exaggeration, the whole building trembles and huge clouds of dust fill the room. The weights were so heavy, that now, free of them, Lee can virtually teleport. He attacks Gaara from all sides. The sand can’t keep up and Lee gets his first heavy hits in. But it turns out Gaara had an inner protection. This forth and back repeats a couple of times, with Lee getting more hits in but for the price of overexertion of his body. In the end they both lay on the ground, Gaara lambasted by Lee and Lee crippled by exhaustion. Unfortunately, Gaara still manages to command his sand to launch one last attack. Lee is too slow to fully evade and Gaara’s sand squeezes the life out of Lee’s leg and arm. Then Lee’s sensei saves him from Gaara’s relentless desire to kill. Gaara forfeits the fight, but oh what’s that?? Lee is standing! Well, at least his body is. He has lost his consciousness, but by sheer will, his body took up his fighting stance again. In tears, Lee’s sensei apologizes that he has driven him that far. Due to the sensei’s intervention Lee gets disqualified and the win goes to Gaara.