Fighting pose reference: martial arts, boxing, sword fighting

Combat is hard to draw because the body moves through its shape, not holding it. These sheets show martial arts stances with a high kick, a low guard and a flying knee; boxing guards, jabs and uppercuts; and sword poses with a two-handed swing, a thrust and a parry. Each row comes in gesture, pen and ink, and clean contour. Type a different fight, such as a street fight, and the same rows carry it.

• a reference for an action panel in a comic
• a study for a character in a fight scene
• a pose sheet for a game character
• a sketchbook page on the fighting stance

Frequently asked questions

What poses are shown?

Martial arts stances and kicks, boxing guards and punches, and sword poses with a swing, a thrust and a parry.

What is the difference between the three styles?

Gesture is a loose sketch that keeps the movement, pen and ink uses crosshatching that follows the form, and clean contour is outlines only.

Are these photographs?

No. Each row is a flat drawing on a plain ground line, with no blood and no background.

Can I ask for a different fight?

Yes. Type a direction such as female fighter or two fighters, and it is a request for that, not a promised result.

About toile

This page is a showcase and a starting point: nine samples already rendered, three readings of the pack crossed with three styles, each shown at the size and ratio it was made for. Take any of them further on the wall with a few words, or ask for all nine again under your own direction; a sign-in keeps what you make, and it is free while Toile is new. The recipe behind each sample — the subject, the style, the palette, the framing — travels with the image rather than staying private to the render: it is in the alt text of every sample and in the page's own structured data, so a search engine reads the same handles a person would.