Over the last 80 some odd years of Batman stories the origins of his martial powers has been told and retold. I propose one of the sources of his power is Aikido and Judo, evidenced in the 1990s cartoon. We see him training with a man that was, in my mind, obviously inspired by Aikido's founder Ueshiba 'O-sensei' We see the teacher bald, long beard and wearing a hakama. His name is changed to an alter ego 'Yoru Sensei' (obviously to protect his mild mannered secret identity.)
According to the Batman cartoon in the 1990s Bruce traveled to Japan in his obsession to become "the best". In the cartoon he is seen in a judo/jujutsu match grappling with another student. He was defeated in the match by a impressive Ippon Seio Nage that caught quite a bit of air time. Bruce is then mocked by his fellow student, Kyodai. The teacher arises, dispatches the rude student with an ikkyo like technique.
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Pieces of calligraphy in the dojo also point to the Ueshiba inspiration. In the next photo the calligraphy at the back is gaijinified looking 'aiki' in my humble opinion. Its pretty rough - I admit. As a calligrapher myself, I see it though.
In Yoru's Dojo we see a piece of calligraphy for Hikari - light. This was a piece that even now is often associated with Ueshiba.
I've always enjoyed the martial arts mythology attached to batman. This was fun to watch.
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