Curl is a concept in Hanaq that focuses on cultivating the body’s natural flow - the seamless integration of movement, breath, energy, and awareness.

The concept of “flow” in Curl encompasses multiple dimensions: the physical flow of movement through space, the energetic flow of force through the body, and the mental flow of awareness and intention. What begins as simple exercises in breathing and basic movement can develop into profound mastery over both body and mind as practitioners learn to apply flow principles to every aspect of their being.

Curl practitioners learn to work with the body’s natural energy channels - pathways through which life force flows from the absolute channel running along the spine to smaller channels throughout the body. The absolute channel serves as the source and distributor of all bodily energy, much like a river feeding smaller streams like a giant tree. Through breathing exercises and focused practice, practitioners learn to redirect this energy flow, guiding it to where it’s needed most.

Basic Arts

Flow

The fundamental building block of all Curl techniques. Flow teaches practitioners extreme flexibility and resilience, allowing the body to bend, stretch, and absorb impacts with fluid grace. Advanced practitioners can contort their bodies in seemingly impossible ways while becoming highly resistant to attacks by moving around them like water.

Tune

Enhanced sensory awareness achieved by flowing consciousness outward. Practitioners can hear heartbeats through walls, see in near-darkness, detect subtle scents from great distances, feel vibrations through surfaces, or sense danger in the air.

Crunch

Mental acceleration that slows perception of time and enables rapid information processing. Masters can analyze complex data instantaneously, turning their minds into biological computers capable of superhuman calculation speeds, which is needed for casting high level spells.

Special Arts

Boing

Impact absorption through muscle control and redirection. Practitioners redistribute force throughout their body, developing deeply compacted muscle mass that grants incredible resilience and surprising strength regardless of size.

Tank

Advanced Boing where practitioners compress and suddenly release muscle mass, becoming temporarily heavier and delivering devastating strikes.

Graze

Defensive technique focusing on redirecting rather than absorbing impacts. Masters can deflect projectiles by barely touching them, guiding attacks harmlessly away through perfect timing and flow.

Razor

Creating cutting force through pure movement, generating blades of compressed air or damaging afterimages.

  • Clinging Shadows: Kimo Baja’s application creating slow-fading outlines that damage on contact.

Flutter

Enhanced movement progressing from improved athletic speed to advanced techniques where the practitioner’s form briefly warps and stretches like elastic, their outline elongating in their intended direction before snapping back to normal proportions at their new location, accompanied by the sharp sound of displaced air.

Twirl

The ability to curve projectiles through energy redirection, causing bullets, thrown objects, or other ranged attacks to follow spiraling or curved paths. Practitioners learn to impart their flow into projectiles, guiding them around obstacles or toward targets that would otherwise be impossible to hit.

Drill

Advanced Twirl technique where practitioners add intense rotational energy to projectiles, dramatically increasing their penetrative power. Masters can turn ordinary objects into devastating weapons - a simple stone becoming capable of punching through steel, or even a beach ball gaining the destructive force of an armor-piercing shell.

Hush

Control over bodily processes - slowing breathing, reducing scent and heat, moving silently. Advanced practitioners can temporarily stop their heartbeat, though at extreme personal risk.

Specialized Applications

Many people can develop curl arts through specialized training regimens focused on what they may specifically need for their style of adventuring.

Penta

A Tune and Crunch combination used by spellcasters and inventors. Named for the pentagram visualization used in training, this technique enables rapid reading and processing of complex magical or technical formulas.

Greed Eye

Tune and Crunch applied to anatomy, allowing practitioners to visually identify vital points, weaknesses, and optimal strike locations. Used by both combatants and medical practitioners. Spectacular artists may unknowingly be a master of Greed Eye.

Divs (Divergences)

Personal affinities that determine which Curl techniques come most naturally to an individual. Divs represent the intersection of personality and training - why certain people gravitate toward specific techniques and ultimately why adventuring “classes” exist. A fighter div naturally develops Boing and Tank, while a wizard div excels at Cruch.

Gradients (Shadowbinds)

In rare cases, one’s shadow can bind a magical font to act as the medium for casting a very unique spell. These abilities manifest when an individual’s shadow or subconscious performs Curl work to create an internal casting medium, allowing for spellcasting without traditional preparation methods like spell cards or scrolls. ShadowBinds can develop through being born with them, trauma, key life events, or extreme desire. These abilities are not inherently divine magic and do not produce fractalizing patterns unless they originate from an otherworldly consciousness.