Battle Guide

Tenshinhan and Chaozu are setting up villagers to give them money by defeating a fake threat (unbeknownst to the villagers). They have their creature, Inoshikacho, ravage villages. Then the villagers pay them to "defeat" Inoshikacho. In this "battle" Tenshinhan and Chaozu dodge Inoshikacho and both lightly kick him in the head. Goku admits they’re really fast. This is a choreographed fake fight, so I count this as a draw.

Goku stumbles upon Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Inoshikacho cooking food at a camp (Goku is attracted by the smell). Tenshinhan pushes Goku over for patting Inoshikacho. Tenshinhan wants to settle his stomach but defeating Goku, since Goku realizes their trickery. Goku dodges attacks. Then Goku dodges a pwerful kick attack as Tenshinhan kicks through half of tree. The tree falls on Goku. Tenshinhan admits Goku has nice skills. Tenshinhan presumes Goku will die and leaves.

This is a preliminary match in the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. From what we can see, Tenshinhan quickly taps the Sumo wrestler in the face, causing him to fall over unconscious. Kuririn and Yamucha then describe how he really did it; with 4 hand chops and 2 kicks.

As the first round of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai begins, Tenshinhan and Yamucha put on an amazing show of skill. We the see the battle start off fairly even, with Yamucha surprising Tenshinhan with his ability. We quickly see though just how powerful Tenshinhan is. He deflected Yamucha's Kamahameha, Yamucha jumps to the air and is felled in one kick by Tenshinhan. Tenshinhan then proceeds to break Yamucha's leg perhaps to send a message.

This fight is even more evenly matched than the fight with Yamucha. Both trade hard blows, but Tenshinhan gets the hardest hit to the back of Jackie Chun's neck (after blinding him with Taiyoken (the first use of this classic technique). Jackie Chun (Kamesennin tries to teach Tenshinhan about the path of good in martial arts). Tenshinhan gets frustrated as he probably begins to question his previous teachings at this point. Jackie Chun is satisfied that the next generation of martial artists have likely surpassed him and he steps out of the ring. This further confuses Tenshinhan who goes to him after the match to understand why he did that.

This is the spectacular finale to the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. Toriyama has even said this was his favorite Tenkaichi Budokai fight once in an interview. It really is an amazing battle of back and forth skill. Unknown to Tenshinhan, Chaozu is ordered to freeze Goku telepathically. Once Tenshinhan realizes Tsurusennin's plan he allows Goku to inflict equal damage on him (this aspect of the fight only occurs in the series). The battle ends with Tenshinhan destroying the ring with a Kikoho. Goku is able to reverse Kamehameha into Tenshinhan midair to send both flying to the ground. Goku hits the ground first because a car sends redirects his path right into the ground.

DB Movie 3 is quite strange because it uses characters from Red Ribbon Army Arc and 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai and puts them within completely different circumstances. It's essentially a completely diffferent story of Tsurusennin, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu. This battle starts when Bulma goes to steal the dragon balls from Tsurusennin. This causes Kamesennin and Kuririn to begin fighting against Tsurusennin's men. Tenshinhan knees the back of Kamesennin's neck (similar strike in the 22nd TB). Tenshinhan states he is not dead but will not regain consciousness again. Of course, this is not the case (the same thing that happened in the 22nd TB fight with Jackie Chun).

Tenshinhan quickly defeats Tsurusennin after Tsurusennin attempts to kill Chaozu. Tenshinhan shoots Kikoho to send him flying far away.

Drum fairly easily beats Tenshinhan in the manga, despite a few good hits from Tenshinhan. The series shows this fight a bit more interestingly and with a bit more eveness between Tenshinhan and Drum. In the series, Tenshinhan is actually trying to get close to Piccolo Daimao to use Mafuba. Drum gets trapped in the Mafuba intended for Piccolo Damimao. Piccolo Daimao destroys denshi jar. Drum then defeats Tenshinhan and Goku saves him before Drum delivers his death blow.

It's a little odd calling this a loss, because Tenshinhan's contributions led to Goku's win, but Tenshinhan by himself would have been killed. This "battle" begins after Tenshinhan used his remaining strength for the Bukujustu that saves Goku's life. Tenshinhan's energy is depleted and is later caught in an energy blast along with Goku, causing him to go unconscious. Piccolo picks up Tenshinhan and threatens to smash his head if Goku attempts to make a move. This battles kind of starts earlier in the series as Tenshinhan attempts to use the Mafuba on Piccolo Daimao during the fight with Drum.

This is a battle easily won by Tenshinhan with quick melee martial arts moves. Tenshinhan is able to complete negate Taopaipai's Super Dodonpa with a Kiai shout. Taopaipai does surprise Tenshinhan with a concealed knife where he cuts Ten's chest (the same scar he's had since). This battle concludes his ties to the Crane School, where he no longer respects his former masters at all.

Goku's rematch with Tenshinhan starts off quite even, despite Kamesennin noticing Goku isn't breathing hard at all. Goku admits Tenshinhan is faster and decides he must take off his weighted clothing (over 200 lbs). Goku is quicker at this point, but Tenshinhan has success the first time he uses his multi-form Shishinnoken technique. Goku asks him to try the move again, and finds the weak spots in it. Goku then proceeds to easily defeat each duplicate of Tenshinhan.

Tenshinhan fires a Kikoho to save Chaozu. This does nothing and Chaozu is "killed". Ten unleashes a flurry of attacks only to have them dodged. The shorter Saiyan gets ahold of Tenshinhan and begins to crush his head like they did to Chaozu. Yamucha saves Ten with Sokidan, which distracts them, allowing Ten to head butt the shorter Saiyan (who is holding him). Ten, Yamucha, and Kuririn unleash ki blasts on Saiyans. They are unharmed. Kuririn is "killed". Tenshinhan uses Shishinnoken and shoots 4 Kikohos, as Yamucha employs his Sokidan. No effect again. The shorter Saiyan "kills" Tenshinhan with strange triangular energy beam. This battle took place in their minds.

Tenshinhan easily defeats the Saibaiman with various hand to hand techniques. Vegeta ends up killing it because the Saibaiman was no longer of any use.

Nappa randomly picks Tenshinhan to kill first. Tenshinhan tries to block his attack but his arm gets punched clean off! Tenshinhan is able to dodge the next attack but is later hit to ground. After piccolo and Kuririn surprise attack Nappa (in the act of finishing off Tenshinhan) it allows for Tenshinhan to fire a one-handed Kikoho at the unsuspecting Nappa. Very little damage is done and Tenshinhan dies. The series shows quite a bit more, with Tenshinhan taking many hard hits but continuing to get up and attempt a flurry of attacks (after Chaozu dies).

In this DBZ movie, Turles' henchmen, Rezun and Rakasei, fight Tenshinhan and Chaozu. Ten and Chaozu shoot ki blasts at the combined form of this duo. They split into 2 and Rezun knees Tenshinhan into the ground. Tenshinhan uses Taiyokenand they get blinded. We’re not shown how the fight plays out. We just see Rezun and Rakasei fighting Goku later, so we can assume Tenshinhan must have been knocked out. .

A battle-worn Tenshinhan is seen later with the rest of the Z warriors facing off with Turles. Tenshinhan takes a hard hit to the stomach and is easily defeated with the rest of the good guys.

Ten, Yamucha, and Chaozu miss Piccolo mostly in the beginning of this sparring match.. Utilizing teamwork they are able to overwhelm and get in a few good hits. Piccolo can’t believe how strong they’ve got through Kaio-sama's training. They ask him to take off weights and Kaio-sama stops the fight at that point.

Tenshinhan is initially just blocking and dodging, thinking there is a great difference in power. Tenshinhan finally has to punch Jheese and realizes how much stronger he's gotten through Kaio-sama's training. Tenshinhan begins to command of the fight and even splits into two to fight his two opponents. Tenshinhan dodges their joint attack and pushes them both to hell with his sheer power.

Trunks goes to attack Android 18 to save Vegeta. This causes Android 17 to take action and take out Trunks. Piccolo and Tenshinhan go to attack Android 17. 17 kicks Piccolo down. 17 dodges Tenshinhan’s punch and chokes him until Piccolo goes to attack 17 again (causing Tenshinhan to be dropped). Piccolo is then nearly punched through.

In Future Trunks' timeline we are shown a flashback of Android 18 shooting a blast through Tenshinhan, killing him. In the Trunks Special it shows Android 18 nearly punching through Tenshinhan. This battle is not shown in the manga, but it is stated that Everyone but Trunks was killed by the Androids.

I hate calling this a loss, because Tenshinhan accomplished what he set out to do. It was a suicide mission to stop Cell from absorbing Android 18. Tenshinhan was successful in this goal. I can't consider this a win or draw though, because Tenshinhan was going to be finished off by Cell before Goku saves him. This might be the highlight battle of Tenshinhan's life though. He is able to continuously push 2nd form Cell into the ground until Tenshinhan no longer has any energy to continue. Android 18 escpaes for the time being.

All the Z warriors battle the Cell Juniors. Tenshinhan, Kuririn, Yamucha and Goku (due to fatigue from Cell battle) are easily defeated. Piccolo, Trunks, and Vegeta are able to put up a better fight. The series shows this battle in a much more interesting way, having Piccolo assist the 3 Earthlings. Piccolo has Tenshinhan and Yamucha then assist Goku. They're able to kick away Goku's Cell Junior and are given Goku's thanks. In the end they're all easily defeated, but I loved seeing teamwork between Ten and Yamucha. I also liked Piccolo trying to coordinate how they'd attempt to get through this brutal battle.

Piccolo goes to help assist Gohan’s Kamehameha struggle with Cell. Tenshinhan has the same idea and convinces Yamucha and Kuririn to help too. Ten explains why he can't just stand and wait for death. Yamucha understands his pride as a martial artist. Kuririn reluctantly joins too. Tenshinhan shoots a Kikoho. They get knocked away from Cell's energy surge. Tenshinhan get’s back up and continues to fire ki blasts. He gets knocked down again, but gets back up for a final blast. Yamucha, Kuririn, Tenshinhan, and Piccolo get blown away finally, in that order.

In this movie's fighting tournament, Ten tells Trunks not to go easy on him. The fight begins with a flurry of attacks and dodges. Trunks kicks Tenshinhan, almost sending him into water below. The fight continues with more strong, evenly matched blows. Ten shoots a Kikoho at the approaching Trunks. Trunks dodges. This is followed by a really intricate move where Ten goes in for a kick while blocking Trunks' own kick with his left arm. This creates an opening for Tenshinhan to punch Trunks with his right fist. It’s incredible animation and choreography that happens in less than a second. Trunks then goes Super Saiyan, quickly appearing behind and punching Tenshinhan to the water.

Tenshinhan and Yamucha go to help the other Z warriors against Bojack and his henchmen. Tenshinhan attempts to kick the henchmen, Bujin, with a back flip form above. Bujin dodges and punches Tenshinhan to ground (then kicks him on the bounce back, knocking Tenshinhan out).

Tenshinhan appears out of nowhere to deflect Buu's ki blast intended to kill Dende and Satan with his Kikoho. Tenshinhan is later kicked unconscious after Goku slices Buu in half (the legs of Buu surprise kick Tenshinhan). In the series after Ten's initial deflection, Buu fires an energy beam at Tenshinhan, which he dodges. Tenshinhan fires another Kikoho at Buu who is completely unaffected. In the manga, Buu refers to Tenshinhan as a legendary fighter, giving Tenshinhan's character one last send off of respect.

Although movies 14 and 15 are still titled with 'Dragon Ball Z', this really is apart of the modern era of Dragon Ball Super. The battle is started by Buu and Beerus fighting over food. With the two about to destroy the party, Kamesennin tells Piccolo, Android 18, and Tenshinhan to stop Beerus. Beerus grabs Tenshinhan's punch attempt with chopsticks and flips him over. Tenshinhan is fine but realizes just how incredibly out of this world Beerus is.

Tenshinhan battles quite a large number of Freeza soldiers (In the series, Kamesennin states each has to fight about 170.), utilizing hand to hand martial arts and later, a large Kikoho blast. He is never shown to get hit and easily handles his allotment of soldiers. It's been a long time coming for a Tenshinhan win at this point (about 16 years in-Universe). He gets a bunch of wins to make up for it, but I only count this as a single battle. Even though this battle occurs in the film's manga adaptation, I'm using a still from the film, as the film's screenplay is written by Akira Toriyama and the manga adaptation isn't even apart of the main Dragon Ball Super manga.

Kamesennin becomes possessed by Yurin's witchcraft. Tenshinhan starts to fight Kamesennin trading a melee attacks. Kamesennin then unleashes his old but very powerful lightning attack (Bankoku Bikkuri Sho), stunning Tenshinhan and depleting his energy. Tenshinhan is then saved by Goku before Kamesennin fires a Kamehameha.

Tenshinhan's Tournament of Power showing ends quite quickly in the manga (and completely differently from the series). Freeza conspires with Frost to have him beat the “small fry” of Universe 7. Frost sneak attacks Kuririn for a quick ring out. Tenshinhan and Kamesennin stand together blocking Frost’s punches. Tenshinhan backs away to fire Kikoho after telling Kamesennin to dodge. Frost is unaffected and punches Tenshinhan out. Kamesennin is saved by Goku.

Kamesennin stuns Puricho with this lightning attack, Bankoku Bikkuri Sho. Kamesennin admits he can’t do anything else beyond stunning. This is when Tenshinhan assists by eliminating the stunned Puricho with his Kikoho.

Hamira's partner, Puran, can deflect ki energy with his body and orbs (placed around the battlefield). Working as a team, Hamira shoots his strong ki blasts at Puran, sending the blasts all over the battlefield. They're giving most of Universe 7 a very hard time, and even Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, and Gohan don't know what to do. Tenshinhan is able to locate Hamira and get to him by splitting into 4. 3 Tenshinhan's are shot down in the pursuit. 1 Tenshinhan shoots Hamira with a Kikoho. Hamira then destroys the ground below Ten sending him to ring out. The 3 downed Tenshinhan's surprise Hamira by dragging him down with them. Beerus praises Teshinhan for at least bringing it to a draw.

This is a bit of a joke battle. Even though Chaozu "defeats" the Metalman, it's not by real battle. Tenshinhan's part of the battle is a draw anyway. Tenshinhan punches Bikkura Quoitur (who is a Metalman like Magetta from Universe 6) and he’s too hard to do damage. They realize they will have to insult him like how Magetta was dealt with in the past. While dodging attacks, Tenshinhan fails at his lame attempt to insult the Metalman. Chaozu has to step in to give him a proper insult that incapacitates him.

Zauyogi, apart of the Galactic Bandit Brigade is giving Yamucha trouble, so Tenshinhan and Chaozu go to help. Tenshinhan catches Yamucha after being attacked by Zauyohi. We’re led to believe Tenshinhan, Yamucha, and Chaozu fight together against the foe, but we’re only shown Tenshinhan getting kicked once. Goku steps in to quickly defeat Zauyogi. Tenshinhan described Zauyogi as giving them a “run for our money”, so I'm not sure I would classify this as a loss. Afterall, when Goku arrives, they're still standing and ready to fight.