(last updated: 12/28/17)The Physical expertise broadly encompasses a fighter's ability to unleash physical attacks. It forms the basis of most, if not all martial arts and is generally the most common attack one can be expected to deal with in the fighting world. While Chi might be involved in many feats of skill, raw physical power is the sole determinant of many different aspects of a fighter's style.
While a large muscle mass will almost always coincide with a high physical competency, the Physical component of any given fighting style can represent many other things as well. A martial arts style focused in swords, or guns for example, can also be strong physically. Owing to its straightforward nature, the Physical competency is one of the easiest to tell about a person; the presence of a weapon, weapons, or a strong physical build are all key indicators of a high physical competency.
It naturally follows that most feats associated with physical competencies are actually ways to appear very weak while still being strong physically. While a wrestler wrapped in muscle might be able to flip cars and other such standard strongman feats, many martial arts masters are quite old and frail to the eye. Even so, many of the most wizened masters are still able to hit with forces many times that those associated with a freeway crash. They can do this in any number of ways, most commonly by concentrating all of their power behind a single point. Many skilled Physical specialists can even locate weak points on a target and hit them with unerring accuracy with bare hands or even a weapon, causing catastrophic damage to bodies and structures alike. While Physical is by far the most straightforward fighting competency, it is by no means the most depthless.