While Goku has no shortage of powerful attacks, his most iconic one in the Dragon Ball series is easily the Kamehameha Wave as it is one of the first ki blasts he learns and has since become his signature move. However, it seems as though the technique as it was developed wasn’t quite good enough for Goku, causing the Saiyan to make a slight change to it in the early days of his Dragon Ball career–and while it was technically an upgrade, it was undeniably weird.

The Kamehameha Wave was developed by Master Roshi and was first introduced in Dragon Ball chapter 14 by Akira Toriyama. In that chapter, Roshi is called upon to put out the fires that have been raging on Fry Pan Mountain, and in exchange for his help, the Ox King agrees to give Bulma his Dragon Ball–and Roshi does so by utilizing his patented Kamehameha Wave which is the first time Goku and fans alike ever see the move done. The technique itself seems simple enough: the Kamehameha is formed when the user cups their hands, draws them to their side, and concentrates their ki to a single point between their hands; then once enough ki is generated, the user thrusts their hands forward and releases that energy as a powerful blast.

Related: Goku's Greatest Dragon Ball Victories Have One Weird Thing in Common

In Dragon Ball chapter 188 by Akira Toriyama, Goku is battling the reincarnated Piccolo in the World Martial Arts Tournament. During the battle, it seems as though Piccolo has the upper hand, especially in one particularly violent sequence during which Piccolo is laying into Goku blow after blow while flying above the arena. As Goku hurdles back down to Earth after taking a massive beating, he uses the Kamehameha Wave in midair to quickly reach Piccolo once again to initiate a counterstrike. However, Goku doesn’t use the technique with his hands, he uses it through his feet. Goku blasts the Kamehameha out of his feet so that the energy produced by the technique acts as a sort of rocket thruster that launches him at his opponent while freeing up his hands to use immediately in combat once he reaches his target.

Goku upgraded his signature Dragon Ball move in the weirdest way.

​​​​​​​The logic is sound, and since at this point in Dragon Ball lore Goku hasn’t yet learned how to fly, this move is a perfect workaround for that particular shortcoming. However, the visual of Goku blasting his signature move out of his feet is just weird and uncomfortable in one of those unexplainable yet totally undeniable ways. Not only that, but utilizing the technique this way brings up a very pressing question: how did Goku do it? The Kamehameha Wave only works when one concentrates their ki to a single point between cupped hands that are drawn to their side. In this chapter, Goku falls through the air and simply utters the iconic “Ka-Me-Ha-Me-Ha!” before energy was miraculously shooting from his feet, but he didn’t do all the steps necessary to pull off the move at all.

While it seems impossible that Goku could have done this, it actually makes a lot of sense when considering where Goku has been the last three years leading up to this tournament. Goku had been training with the god-like entities Kami and Mr. Popo who wield a power greater than anything previously shown in Dragon Ball up until that point. When Goku finishes his training and enters the tournament, Kami himself says that Goku has surpassed him in power, meaning the Saiyan is essentially walking around with the power of a god long before he ever powers up to Super Saiyan. Basically, with Goku’s massive power-up, he assuredly learned how to concentrate his ki anywhere in his body without the need to do any physical movements–a huge upgrade to Goku’s iconic attack that presents itself in the weirdest possible way in this Dragon Ball chapter.