Queen Marika's Essays / Episode 80: What is a Tackle?
Hello✨😃 It's Marika😆
The other day, thanks to a note novel, I realized that I had been misunderstanding the meaning of a certain word for over 20 years😱
It's this word.
Episode 80: What is a Tackle?
I don't mean Alice Hirose😅
Source: Kamen Rider OFFICIAL DATA FILE [DeAGOSTINI]
When I told my sister about this, she misunderstood it as being about this character😓
I don't mean the character name, but the move (or action?) in rugby or wrestling.
I thought a tackle meant a 'body slam.' At least, until that day.
What triggered me to realize my misunderstanding was this note novel.
In the story, there is a scene where the protagonist, Mirai-kun, 'tackles' a Wakutsu (a monster-like creature).
In that scene, there was this sentence.
Mirai shouted to Miroku while still tackling
Mirai released the tackle
Author: miclala
It was written like this in the scene where Mirai-kun jumps onto the Wakutsu and tries to restrain it.
Is the action of trying to restrain someone written as a 'tackle'? No, no. A tackle is a body check, right?
So, as usual, I looked it up in several Japanese dictionaries. This time, I also checked an English-Japanese dictionary.
Most dictionaries explained a tackle like this.
'To grapple with an opponent and take them down.' 'To grapple with an opponent and obstruct their advance.'
Hmm? Is a tackle not a body check?
If this is the meaning, then sentences like 'releasing the tackle' are not strange at all.
For now, it turns out a tackle was not a body check 😱
Is a tackle jumping at an opponent for the purpose of obstructing their movement? Is a body check actually the initial movement leading into a tackle?
Interpreting it that way, many things make sense 😔
The main reason I thought a tackle was a body check is largely due to the influence of this person.
Source: Kamen Rider OFFICIAL DATA FILE [DeAGOSTINI]
Even in the Kamen Rider series, it is not Denpa Ningen, but Kamen Rider Blade.
Blade is a Rider who, in addition to two types of Rider Kicks (Lightning Sonic, Lightning Blast), also has various sword-based slashing attacks (Lightning Slash), and so on...
Unusually for this type of hero, he also had a body check move 😲
The name of that body-slam move was...
Boar Tackle
it was😅
That is why I ended up misunderstanding that "a tackle is a body slam" for about 20 years😢
Blade!
I was deceived by you for 20 years😭
Before I get angry like that, let me dig a little deeper into the "Boar Tackle" move.
There is a certain notable fact about the Boar Tackle.
Actually...
It has never once been effective against an enemy😆
It was written like this in the book.
The Boar Tackle that ended in failure every single time
After being repelled by the Bat Undead in episode 1, it was dodged by the Locust Undead with a jump in episode 2, and furthermore, in episode 21, it was avoided by the Capricorn Undead as it turned its body away; far from dealing damage to the Undead, it had absolutely no effect as a standalone move.
[DeAGOSTINI]
Source: Kamen Rider OFFICIAL DATA FILE [DeAGOSTINI]
So, you see. Perhaps no one actually knows?
What kind of move the real Boar Tackle actually is?
Maybe the Boar Tackle was 'a move where you tackle the opponent, grapple with them, and then take them down.'
Perhaps it was misunderstood as just a tackling move because the opponent would dodge or bounce off before the next action after the tackle could be performed?
This possibility isn't zero, either. 😅
And with that, I'll wrap up this time in a way that I'm not even sure is a defense of Blade or not. 😆
If you would like to read miclala's serialized novel from the first chapter, click here!
For other articles in the Essays series, click here!