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What Are Hard Style and Soft Style Martial Arts?
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. 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.
About the author:
Clint Leung is a lifelong martial artist with over 32 years of
training experience in kung fu, tae kwon do, karate, kickboxing
and martial arts weaponry. He has won Canadian and world
championship titles (NASKA, NBL and WSKF). He is also owner of
Free Spirit Activewear (http://www.FreeSpiritActivewear.com) ,
an online retailer and designer of premium martial arts
activewear. Free Spirit Activewear has martial arts info
articles.
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