Bicep-Polishing Gesture

Bruce Ironstaunch shows off his forearm.

A common Japanese gesture when preparing to take on a difficult task is to "make a muscle" and rub one's bicep, emphasizing strength. "Yoshi!" ("OK!", or "Alright!") is frequently said with a determined expression when doing this, whereas Westerners usually just grunt. Compare to the "Rosie the Riveter" image from World War II.

The gesture is frequently misinterpreted in other places, as it looks very similar to the rude "up yours" gesture, equivalent to Flipping the Bird, used in Eastern Europe and Mexico, among other places.

See also Flexing Those Non-Biceps, Gloved Fist of Doom.

Examples of Bicep-Polishing Gesture include:

Anime and Manga

• Sailor Moon
• Marmalade Boy
• Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl
• Kanna does this frequently in the Sakura Taisen OVAs and TV series.
• Fumio Usui in Karin does this in job interviews, declaring that she has faith in her body. Given that she is a Hot Mom that suffers from So Beautiful It's a Curse, this is definitely a mistake.
• Armstrong in Fullmetal Alchemist.
  • Ed also does it occasionally when showing off his mechanical arm.
• Random crowd member Bruce Ironstaunch (not his real name) in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. He was most likely doing it for the original Japanese meaning, but other parties figured he was just giving Rossiu an up-yours when he announced he was executing Simon. His dour expression, on the other hand, doesn't really looks all that supportive, which is why his gesture was interpreted as "Up Yours!" in the first place.
• Koizumi does this in the Haruhi Suzumiya episode where the SOS Brigade logo causes a breakdown of reality.
• Naruto
• Agito does one as a proxy for Signum during the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS "After Days" manga special. Probably because having Signum herself do one would look really weird.
• Ryouga tends to do the "up yours" variety in Ranma ½. One time, in the OVAs, he combined it with a middle-finger.
• This is a signature pose for Monkey D. Luffy of One Piece
• Shirley and Milly does this from time to time in Code Geass.
• A lot of pics in Bio Meat shows Banba-kun doing this.

Film

• In the Street Fighter live action movie, Guile does it to Bison on camera. The jury's out on whether he intended this in its Western interpretation or its Japanese interpretation, but given Guile's general animosity toward Bison...
• In Big Tits Zombie, two female characters sumo wrestle one another. The main character can be briefly seen making this gesture, although she does so while facing her opponent which could easily be interpreted as the Western version since both girls did not get along.

Live Action TV

• Worked its way into an episode of CSI, 'Crow's Feet'. Only, Nick did it because Catherine asked him to.

Catherine: Make a muscle, Nicky.

Professional Wrestling

• TNA wrestler Scott Steiner is obsessed with his biceps, often polishing and even kissing them.

Video Games

• Bowser had this as his victory pose in Super Mario RPG, but it was altered in the North American release since it looked too close to an extended middle finger for comfort.
• Similar to Bowser, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers fighting game for the Sega Genesis has the Green Ranger doing this as his victory pose.
• Frog from Chrono Trigger rubs his (surprisingly huge) bicep and grins smugly as his post-battle victory pose.
• Kanji from Persona 4 does this in his victory pose. The way he executes it gives the impression he has both meanings in mind.
• Gene from God Hand does this as a taunt.
• Dan from Street Fighter. Becomes more apparent in IV.
  • Ken sometimes does it too as first round victory pose.
• Both Marina and Theo do this during the intro to Mischief Makers