With his martial arts skills, Roshi is still able to compete with the greatest of the Z Fighters. However, why hasn’t the warrior mastered the art of flying? Master Roshi is the first and wisest of the many Dragon Ball martial arts instructors that we’ve met throughout the series. Roshi was able to take on the strongest warriors in the original Dragon Ball with the Kamehameha Wave and the Evil Containment Wave. During the Tournament of Power, he demonstrated exactly how combat-savvy and formidable he is still in the sequel series Dragon Ball Super.
In spite of this, Roshi is still capable of taking on the most powerful warriors in the Dragon Ball universe, but he has never been able to fly. What’s going on? Tien and Chiaotzu originally demonstrated the ability to fly against Goku and his companions around midway through the original series, whereas Goku relied on the Flying Nimbus to travel long distances. As they grew older and became adults, he and Krillin learned to fly, as did the vast majority of the Z Fighters throughout the course of Dragon Ball Z.
Six months of training during the Great Saiyaman Saga included Hercule’s daughter and Gohan’s future wife Videl, both of whom learned to fly. When Dragon Ball Super ended, Roshi still hadn’t shown that he could fly, even as he faced off against great foes from across the Dragon Ball Multiverse in the Tournament of Power.
Due of a long-standing grudge that Roshi has had throughout his life, it is unlikely that the martial arts master is physically incapable of executing this technique. When Master Mutaito valiantly dedicated his life to imprison the evil Demon King Piccolo centuries before Dragon Ball’s main tale, Master Shen and Roshi had an unpleasant fall out.
The Turtle School of Martial Arts was developed by Roshi, while the Crane School of Martial Arts was founded by Shen, giving him the moniker of the “Crane Hermit” for his use of aerial techniques in his fighting style.
Crane School students Tien and Chiaotzu may have learned to fly from Shen while practising under his brutal instruction. The Turtle Hermit’s refusal to study any skill linked with the Crane School is certainly a major influence on Roshi’s decision not to learn how to fly, given the amount of enmity between the two.For whatever reason, Roshi preferred to let his students acquire the method on their own and adhere to normal modes of transportation.
Spite is one hell of an incentive for Roshi to avoid learning to fly, even as his rivals and adversaries in the Dragon Ball universe get more formidable. Despite this, Roshi has shown that he does not need to master flying in order for him to remain relevant, especially with the vast amount of expertise he continues to amaze the Z Fighters with. The stakes are tremendous in Dragon Ball, but Roshi prefers to keep his feet firmly on the ground.