Hard/Soft

[plainwhitets]

I'm a super noob and dork. I know.

 

But, what makes a strike "hard" or "soft"?

[G95champ]

Several ways you look at hard and soft.

 

1. Closed hands are hard and open hands are soft.

 

2. The force at which you block. If you crash arms or legs its a hard block if you redirect attacks by barely making contact its soft.

[White Warlock]

Hard/soft is a series of concepts.

 

They refer to such things as brute force techniques, as opposed to subtle redirection techniques. The difference between blocking and parrying, between striking and pushing.

 

They also refer to parts of the body, whereby bone is hard, tissue soft. Where striking a hard part of the body with a hard part of your body could pose a break in your body, therefore it is better to strike hard vs soft. A hard part of your body against a soft part of your opponent's body, or a soft part of your body against a hard part of you opponent's body. Such approaches encourage the use of full force, without psychological misgivings or apprehension. As well, it significantly decreases the likelihood of physical injury to oneself when assaulting another.

 

Hard/soft can also refer to the overall presentation of a system. I.e, karate and thai boxing would be considered hard, while aikido or tai chi would be considered soft. This is due to the relative emphasis of a system, be it on philosophy, or on physical make-up. Strikes and kicks, as opposed to throws, pulls and pushes.

 

Hard/soft is not the same as external/internal, but they hold to similar characteristics, in that external systems are invariably related to hard and physical techniques, while internal systems are invariably related to soft and philosophical bindings.

 

In truth, there is no hard/soft rule.