The Never Ending War between soft styles and hard styles

I have been in plenty of fights, and yes, you do get plenty of big haymakers, but to assume that's all people do just because they lack formal training is stupid. Even Tito Ortiz has been decked by an untrained person.

 

Ju means soft or gentle

 

I'm the FNG here and a beginer in martial arts. Most people assumed they knows what they are talking about. IMHO, all martial arts are have the same objective but using a different roads to achive this objective. In the art that I'm studied, in the begining, the students learn to recognized their body abilities to achieve power, speed, timing, etc. After 10 years of so, his/her body attuned to the movements, their movements becomes so subtles but yet powerfull, you can't see it but only you can feel it when the person hit you. Therefore, anyone claimed they are a master of any martial arts, and their movements are still relyng on their power instead subtlety? I consider this person is still a beginer or novice at best. Remember folks, there is no beginer techniques or advance techniques. The advance techniques are the beginer techniques that have been practiced million times or more.
My worthless opinion,
Tristan

 

My point was in an environment which doesn't deal with striking, where they have limited time in which to train that response (bearing in mind that this is not really a regular thing for them), that it makes sense to train with the highest percentage shot, don't you think?

 

Look, people, "soft" and "hard" already have precise definitions. You can't just say "I think this style is hard because ____". Every style exists somewhere on the line between soft and hard. Soft means that the style avoids head-to-head power confrontations and instead relies on redirection of opponent force (i.e. jujitsu) or evasion and attacks that bypass defenses (i.e. snake style kung fu). Hard means the opposite, that offensive and defensive manuevers directly confront opponent force (i.e. taekwondo or, as mentioned earlier, wrestling).

Those of you who are saying judo is a hard style seem to also think that there's something wrong with being a soft style. On the contrary, soft styles have traditionally been considered sophisticated. Both have their advantages in different situations. And for those of you who (I think) are trying to sound wise by saying there are no truly hard or truly soft styles, you have to recognize that, for example, taekwondo is almost completely hard, and judo is almost completely soft. I'm not sure about 100% for either, but definitely close to it.

 

Bingo!!!

He nailed it! That was my point all along. It doesn't matter whether the MA is physically rough, the philosophy is what defines whether the MA as a "hard" or "soft" style. Taekwondo translated means "Way of the hand and foot", Judo translated means "gentle way", Aikido means "the way of the Harmonious Spirit". Just by looking at the meaning of the names its clear that the philosophy behind the MA is either "hard", or "soft".

 

Amen to that. Totally agree.

All MA either teach you the ability to fight, for real or for sport or, most commonly, for both. There are many other benifits to doing them, fitness being an obvious one, but that purpose is what makes them 'martial'.

Therefore it follows that finally their purpose is simller and they are different ways of looking at the same thing.

As to the question of hardness/softness, watch a lion stalk, chase, and then pounce on a deer. Is the lion being hard or soft? It runs in such a powerful yet relaxed way that the muscles almost seem to be hanging off it and even when it pounces its relaxed right up to the moment of impact. Yet its not something that the word 'gentle' really describes. Well, not in English anyway!

 

Personally, I believe in doing things properly or not at all.

 

I couldn't help noticing how your sig ties in neatly with what you quoted by Freeform!

 

This isn't an answer.

Also, it's a Judo class, they do Judo. Not wannabe MMA, not ub3r str33t Jitsu. I don't have a problemn with them doing this type of training from time to time when they fancy it, why do you?

 

Did I say I have a problem with it? No, I just said that I PERSONALLY prefer to train differently.

 

So you wouldn't want to try this in your Judo class then? Go on, you know it'd be fun

 

The ap oweyn quote in my signature is what I feel is the most sensible thing ever said on the "sport vs street" topic. It's to do with the way people always assume that sport MA training is unrealistic because it has rules whereas the street doesn't, when really, all MA training has rules - if you're allowed to do eye gouges, but you're not allowed to spar with them, then that is a rule.