Sometimes
one would see
references to ‘hard’ style and ‘soft’ style martial arts. To many
non-martial artists, these terms may be puzzling. In North America,
these terms are used to classify martial art styles into two main
categories. Japanese/Okinawan karate and Korean tae kwon do are
generally referred to as hard styles. Movements in both karate and tae
kwon do are often linear with their forms (traditional
sequence of set
moves) performed with crisp movements.
Chinese
kung fu
styles are usually referred to as soft styles. The circular motions of
kung fu forms give them a more visually graceful or softer appearance
especially when many of the movements flow from one to another. Even
Korean kuk sool won which is sometimes referred to as ‘Korean kung fu’,
is often classified as a soft style since its movements are also more
flowing than the stop and go of tae kwon do or karate. This is not to
say that hard styles such as karate or tae kwon do are more powerful
martial arts than kung fu and other soft styles. The term ‘soft’ is a
bit misleading because the power from circular kung fu moves are often
hidden. Circular moves can generate just as much power as linear ones.
The
terms hard style
and soft style came as a result of the evolution of North American
martial arts competitions, particularly in forms divisions. For many
years, open karate tournaments which allowed all martial arts styles,
had competitors from different martial arts backgrounds compete in the
same forms divisions. All equivalent level competitors, whether they
used a Japanese/Okinawan karate kata, a Korean tae kwon do pattern or a
Chinese kung fu form, competed together in the same divisions. This
provided a nice martial arts showcase for spectators especially at the
bigger tournaments.
However,
some
competitors and judges considered divisions with combined styles to be
too complicated. For example, judges who were familiar with only
Japanese or Korean styles had a difficult time scoring competitors
performing Chinese kung fu forms. Sometimes competitors from different
martial art styles felt that judges were being biased against them.
Judging a hard style form against a soft style form was often like
trying to compare apples to oranges.
To help resolve these
issues, many of the larger martial arts tournaments expanded to have
separate divisions for hard and soft styles. This was a way to equalize
things and add some more fairness to all competitors. The largest
tournaments went another step ahead and further separated Japanese
karate stylists from Korean tae kwon do stylists by putting them into
different divisions too. Many top open tournaments in North America
have even created separate divisions for hard style and soft style
martial arts weapons competitors. Hard style weapons will usually
include such Japanese weapons as bo, kama, tonfa, sai and samarai
sword. Soft style weapons include the wide range of Chinese kung fu
weapons such as broadsword, staff, kwan do, butterfly knives and three
section staff.
This
still left many
kempo stylists up in the air because their particular forms have both
hard and soft style elements since their movements are both linear as
well as circular. Some promoters of large tournaments decided to
accommodate kempo stylists by adding in separate forms divisions just
for their style too.
Of
course many
smaller local tournaments have not been able to offer separate hard and
soft style divisions for martial arts forms competitors mainly because
of financial budget restrictions. The terms hard style and soft style
are used only in North America and parts of Europe since these are the
only regions of the world that have open martial arts competitions.
Martial arts competitions in other parts of the world such as Asia are
generally restricted to certain specific styles only. Traditional
karate tournaments allow only karate competitors. The same goes for
traditional tae kwon do and kung fu tournaments.
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