I didn't know passions raged so fiercely regarding the prowess of the 
folks from China...
   Anyway, like my .sig says, I'm a mathematician, and I like to assign 
numbers to things.  From what I've seen from my (admittedly miniscule) 
collection of manga and anime, plus what I've read from surfing the net, 
it seems that four attributes describe the fighting potential of the 
people of the Ranmaverse (yes, I play RPG's, too).  For alliteration's 
sake, let's call these attributes Skill, Speed, Strength, and Stamina.
   Skill represents the training a character has had, and how good they 
are at strikes and parrys.  Speed would be how well they dodge, and how 
fast their attacks come.  Strength is a hard one to call, since everybody 
in the Ranmaverse (with the possible exception of Kasumi) can perform 
feats of superhuman strength at times.  Stamina represents how often a 
character gets back up after being knocked down, and how well they stand 
up in the face of adversity.
   I won't put my justifications for the scores I assign here; that would 
take too long.  Besides, that's the point of a discussion group, right?
SKILL:
10: Cologne, Happosai
9: Genma, Soun
8: Ranma
7: Ryoga (+1 w/ monomolecular bandannas and transuranic umbrella)
6: Mousse (+2 w/ all his junk)
   Shampoo (+1 w/ her maces)
5: Akane
   Kuno (+2 w/ sword)
4: Kodachi (+2 w/ r.g. equipment, + more for cheating)
   Ukyou (+2 w/ spatula)
3: Kasumi, Nabiki
SPEED:
10: Cologne, Happosai
9: Ranma-chan
8: Ranma-kun
7: Mousse
6: Kuno, Shampoo
5: Almost everybody else.  Can _you_ tell them apart?
3: Kasumi & Nabiki
STRENGTH:
10: Ryoga
9: Genma-panda
8: Genma, Soun
7: Kuno, Mousse, Ranma-kun
6: Akane, Shampoo
5: Kodachi, Ranma-chan, Ukyou
4: Cologne & Happosai
3: Kasumi & Nabiki
STAMINA:
10: Ranma
8: Ryoga
7: Akane, Cologne, Mousse
6: Shampoo, Ukyou
5: Happosai, Kasumi, Kuno
4: Kodachi, Nabiki
3: Genma & Soun

   Well, whaddaya think?  Oh, and remember, standard comic book 
convention is that the first fight between the main character (Ranma, in 
this case) and anyone else is going to be a lot closer than any future 
sparring (barring unusual circumstances, of course).
 ______
{B-{=__
rmckenzi@euclid.ucsd.edu : The White-Robed Mathematician