Very, very helpful. Also, for gender, I'd add - men and women have different sensitive bits, and this can also impact their performance. Also, before making a babilicious comic book style heroine it can't hurt to consider how her chest might impact her abilities (not in terms of preventing her, but I know, for example, that my busty friends have problems jogging because it's hard to find clothes with enough support). Just sayin'. :)
Also, given that we are talking fantasy in part, I'd add two to your list of mental/social:
1. Naturally gifted: if the character is the unknown heir of a long line of master swordsmen, even if they've never held a sword before, this might show and influence. 2. Magic! Is it a magic sword/gun/pike/shield/nunchuk/etc.? What does it's magic do? How does it's magic work? Depending on the style of magic weapon, it might not hurt to sketch out it's OWN character traits based on the above list, especially those relating to personality.
Hmm...and a third that I think is going to impact me in the kind of fights I'll be writing: 1. Setting: This is also related to a lot of those others (ie, the knight in a fight vs. the knight stabbing someone in a back alley) but isn't quite the same. A knight in one-on-one combat will act differently than a knight on a battlefield will - different rules of morality/combat ethics/code of honor often apply in small-scene fights as opposed to mass melees. In a setting where the combatants are more or less anonymous, a lot of people will do things they might not have in one-on-one fights (ie, a street tough might be a coward before a charge; a coward might be the type to jump on a battlement and get himself the first stabbed; a knight might kill more indiscriminately - such as combat with a commoner - than he would consider one-on-one).
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Also, given that we are talking fantasy in part, I'd add two to your list of mental/social:
1. Naturally gifted: if the character is the unknown heir of a long line of master swordsmen, even if they've never held a sword before, this might show and influence.
2. Magic! Is it a magic sword/gun/pike/shield/nunchuk/etc.? What does it's magic do? How does it's magic work? Depending on the style of magic weapon, it might not hurt to sketch out it's OWN character traits based on the above list, especially those relating to personality.
Hmm...and a third that I think is going to impact me in the kind of fights I'll be writing:
1. Setting: This is also related to a lot of those others (ie, the knight in a fight vs. the knight stabbing someone in a back alley) but isn't quite the same. A knight in one-on-one combat will act differently than a knight on a battlefield will - different rules of morality/combat ethics/code of honor often apply in small-scene fights as opposed to mass melees. In a setting where the combatants are more or less anonymous, a lot of people will do things they might not have in one-on-one fights (ie, a street tough might be a coward before a charge; a coward might be the type to jump on a battlement and get himself the first stabbed; a knight might kill more indiscriminately - such as combat with a commoner - than he would consider one-on-one).