I've read all the arguments for this so far and if you read them,
they show that the respnders have taken this storyline way out of
porportion.  It started off as a simple question: Who would win?  Now
people are trying to get into the mechanics of things that they have no
idea about!
        In my mind (you don't have to agree to this, but just listen) don't
talk about something you have no idea how to do.  IF you knew any of these
techniques, then fine, talk about them all you like.  But I'm pretty sure
that none of you have done any of these, and so don't know how they would
stack up against each other.  All the evidence that you've used to date,
was recived through the eyes of someone else (eg the author of the original
story), and this information is second-hand.
        It's like making a copy of a copy of a copy, and then soon, you
can't use the copied materiel because it is no good to get an original
product back.
This is what I am talking about:

Ranma Saotome lives and masters all the martial techniques that he did.
He's just a hydrophobic, he doesn't change gender.

Rumiko Takahashi(spelling?) records down that he turned into a girl when
splashed with cold water, also decides to beef up his moves to entertain
readers.

Your friend in Japan reads it, tells you about it, but makes a mistake in
the transation, and you get the wrong idea.

You tell all your friends about the really cool seires that just hit the
mangas in Japan, and you all eagerly wait for it to be brought over to
North America.

When it finally hits the stands, you think that it is going to be your
altered tale of it, but because of your own misinformation, you think "This
isn't the cool series that he said it would be." You would put it back and
never touch it again.

Ranma Saotome gets a copy of it, chokes on his drink to see that the male
character was supposed to be him, etc.

It just goes on and on.

So, hopefully the point of this was to get you to realise, don't use
second-hand information to try to make a point.
        Getting back to the question:  I think it would be a stalemate,
just by using skill in the fight.  None of the advanced techniques, for the
above reason.
        I won't get into the reasons, simply becuase I have none, I just
think that it would be a stalemate.

Go ahead and flame me it you want to.


Cory Holmes
gholmes@awinc.com