1) There are a couple of ways to interpret "physically impossible". When
you say this, do you mean that something is impossible *in principle*,
that it can never be done no matter what the situation, like exceeding
the speed of light? Or do you mean that it won't work *in these
particular circumstances*?

This reminds me of a debate I got into with my teacher in the eighth
grade.  The puzzle was to connect a 3 by 3 array of dots using four
lines, without ever lifting your pencil:

* * *
* * *
* * *

There is, of course, a solution.  However, the teacher said it was also
possible with just three lines:  Just draw a line from where you are to
the north pole, then drop back down to the south pole, then back on up.

I protested:  doing that was physically impossible.  The teacher said
no, it was possible.  I argued strongly that it wasn't, that you'd never
be able to draw a straight line for thousands of miles over water, snow,
etc.  Since I was just a kid, of course, the teacher ignored my
argument.

However, I still believe I was right:  the solution he proposed was
physically impossible.

It is also physically impossible for Ranma to do the trick described in
the manga.

You'll notice a common theme in my serious fanfics is to downplay a lot
of the physical impossibilities.  No one gets hit so hard they go flying
for miles (the exception being Kuno in "Heart of the Home"), and when
people get hit, they get hurt.  I add just a touch of realism to these
things because while I like the silliness, my writing strength is in
more serious stuff.

Now on to our regularly scheduled programming.
 

-Richard