Do you believe that ki sensing is the only way to determine how strong someone is?

[Natasha Romanoff]

I personally disagree, Fat Buu realized that he can't defeat Kid Buu after fighting him for a while.. There are instances in which just by observing characters fighting they have an idea of how powerful they are. But what are your thoughts on this, guys?

 

[Goku9001]

Just at a first glance, the only way to get a precise measurement is either with a scouter or ki sensing. The former is limited because the number doesn't tell you how that number compares to yourself unless you know what your power level is unlike with the latter where that quality is inherent.

Outside of that, just observing their movements would be a good indication. Android 18 was able to deduce that Mighty Mask was powerful just based on him swatting away fodder. Likewise, Goku and Vegeta couldn't sense Dabura but deemed that he was much weaker than them based on watching his movements.

 

[GreatSaiyaman123]

Of course not. Even before Ki sensing was fully a thing in the first half of the series they could tell each other’s power. Freeza could even tell how much power Goku was hiding just by fighting him a bit. This is how people deduced the power of the androids as well.

 

[Papasmurf]

Tenshithands and Galu both deduced how powerful people were simply by watching them fight vastly inferior opponents. It's clearly not the only way.