What do you envision when someone mentions a monk? Do you see a man in
long robes, hair tonsured, large cross around his neck? If you're a gamer
you're more likely to see a toned individual capable of great damage using
various forms of martial arts and perhaps doing some light healing.

You might ask yourself how we've come to have two such different interpretations
of this noun. Let's take a look at what history tells us about the monk
in the first vision.

Medieval Monks

In the Wikipedia, a monk is a person who practices monasticism, adopting
a strict religious and ascetic lifestyle, usually in community with others
following the same path.

It should be noted, however, that monachos is a word that had
to be forged especially to name, the then, new phenomenon of men living
solitarily in the Egyptian desert in the 3rd century AD.

Monks of the middle ages lived in a monastery, a kind of half church,
half hospital. They provided shelter, taught others to read and write,
prepared medicine, sewed clothes for others, and helped others in times
of need. They spent most of their time praying and meditating. Originally,
they craved the love of God and took vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity.
However, as orders became more wealthy and powerful, some people went
into orders - for money and power. Most monasteries remained important
centers of caring and learning.

While the games such as Dungeon & Dragons, Everquest and Vanguard
may take some of the ability to heal from medieval monks, and the wearing
of robes, they are probably not quite what you'll find overall.

Now the origin and development of the martial arts is more recognizable
to today's gaming world monks. Let's take a look at these developments.

Development of Today's Monk

Mural paintings in the tombs along the Nile and the hieroglyphic inscriptions
engraved in the pyramids have proven that the Egyptians had a form of
open hand fighting as early as 3,000 BC.

There are also reports of open hand fighting techniques practiced by
the warriors of Mesopotamia and Sumer (3,000 BC-2,300 BC). We can easily
imagine that primitive human beings had to depend on their hands and feet
to overcome enemies, animals, and the obstacles to survive. As human knowledge
and wisdom progressed, these crude fighting methods were gradually and
continuously improved.

Throughout the world numerous styles of hand and foot fighting have been
developed, each of which reflects the needs of the time and the varying
historical and cultural background of the country where it originated.

One such development was T'ai Chi. The Mongol invasion into China took
place during the Ming Dynasty, 1368 to 1644. It is told that during this
time a Taoist hermit-priest named Chang Sam-fung did not wish to change
philosophies to suit fashions, so he went to live as a hermit in the mountains
in order to develop and refine Taoist concepts and skills. It is believed
that, one morning he was awakened by the scream of a crane. He looked
out from his window to see this big bird fighting with a snake. The two
were well matched.

Chang noted that the snake used Yin technique and the crane used more
Yang moves. Chang then set about incorporating some of these movements
into his new style. This 'new' form was generally less reliant on short-lived
muscle power (termed 'hard style') and instead developed internal organ
strength and internal energy, chi, through careful and considered practice.

Chang Sam-fung was a hermit-priest, so he was very much like a medieval
monk before the practice of living in monasteries became the norm. It's
not hard to see he could become the vision of the current gaming monk.

I hope that the Vanguardian monk will use skills most resembling a form
of T'ai Chi. T'ai Chi techniques are said to physically and energetically
balance yin (receptive) and yang (active) principles: "From ultimate
softness comes ultimate hardness." It is the awareness of one's own
balance and what affects it, awareness of the same in others, and appreciation
of the practical value in one's ability to moderate extremes of behavior
and attitude at both mental and physical levels, and how this applies
to effective self-defense principles.

If the Brass Knuckles Fit...

This last vision is what attracted me when I went to try another class
in EQ.I tried playing a bard, since I was already accustomed to wearing
heavy plate as a paladin but found I did not have much musical talent;
many rotten tomatoes were thrown my way as I serenaded outside the city
gates, so I traded in the shiny armor for some pretty cloth robes. I soon
found that there just wasn't enough arcane magic within me nor could I
control what little I did have. So once again I went to trade in my robes,
as heavily singed as my eyebrows, for some durable leather.

As I pulled on the soft supple boots that accompanied the pants and um….tunic,
I knew I had found my next calling. What other character looked less dressed
with their armor on than on a corpse run? I was also intrigued by the
combat role. I had to rely on my ability to avoid the heavy handed blows
in combat in order to survive, all the while using my lightning fast reflexes
to deal as much damage as I could. My hands and feet became my primary
weapons of choice.

As I advanced in levels and gained different abilities it soon became
apparent that the class wasn't all that I first envisioned. While I saw
myself as pretty self-reliant individual, the severe beatings that were
coming routinely were turning me a pretty shade of blue, black and blue
to be precise.

Key to Success

So I found that the key to success, and less bruises, was sticking with
a well-armored buddy and was soon seen not far from his side. I continued
to advance, but my weapons of choice were soon replaced by staffs and
batons; somehow I lost the ability to use my hands effectively. I adapted
and soon after began using a form a trickery known as "feign death."

This new ability seemed very hard to master--after all, it takes great
skill to flop to the ground and pretend to be dead. Nevertheless, master
this technique I did and I began to use little metal stars to lure monsters
to my waiting friends, flopping to the ground when the monsters brought
their friends, waiting to spring upon the straggler of the bunch.

Even though I poke fun at the class as it is portrayed in EQ, I did enjoy
all 66 levels I played. I loved watching some of the moves that I could
perform, flying kick being one of my favorites.

One of my greatest moments came when I was asked to pull Plane of Hate,
before the revamp. It was a combined raid with my guild and an alliance
guild, I was nervous but determined to do a good job. So off I went. I
got the greatest compliment from the other guild's leader and that made
my day. I believe my enjoyment of the class came from the ability to help
things work smoothly for everyone, thus increasing everyone else's enjoyment.

I like the idea of using forms that require me to be disciplined, controlled
and balanced. I can see how many forms or abilities could be developed
as well as having to be "centered" or "balanced" in
order to access those abilities by use of "chi" power. I liken
it to my trying to keep myself, "centered," well okay, "sane"
might be a better word but I do try, though my approach isn't through
disciplined moves but through walking the trails at the lake or sitting
in the morning stillness enjoying a sunrise.

Whatever the development of Vanguard's monk entails, I wonder if their
tunics will consist of more than a few strips of cloth strategically placed?
With the towering prominence of history for the two faces of a monk, Sigil
has a wealth of information to create a character class that combines
beauty and strength in its tai chi awareness.