Hard and
Soft are informal classifications to martial arts styles. All martial arts will teach through
repitition, practice, and study, but between hard and soft are some
philosophical and
practical differences.
Hard
martial arts deal with
linear,
direct techniques where force is met with force. A
block in a hard style can be seen as an attack on the opponent's kick or punch.
Karate,
kung fu,
muay thai, and
tae kwon do are all popular and well-known examples of Hard-style martial arts. In the martial art that I practice, I take inspiration from
eskrima, a
Filipino weapons form in which the
basic set of strikes are also the basic set of blocks.
Qin Na is an excellent example of the progression in the
refinement and
precision that can be achieved within this framework.
Soft style
martial arts seek to
redirect force and upset
balance. The opponent's energy and attack
vectors are taken and manipulated into elegantly upsetting the attacker's
equilibrium. The end result is an opponent whose own
momentum is used against them (in a throw or trip) or who is brought into compromising
holds and chokes. Examples of soft styles include
aikido, some
kung fu styles,
jiu-jitsu,
ninjitsu, and
tai chi.
Could either style be considered better, or more
effective? Of course, it depends on how you measure it.
YMMV, depending on the personal
philosophy you already hold, and how well it matches up with that of the
school's you choose.
Soft styles will tend to have a more
gentle and
pacifist mentality, and
Hard styles will have the complementing
overt and
sport related competitive feel.
In the end,
if you are serious about
martial arts, you should probably study
both.