Hard Style or Soft, Which is Better?

Kafra replied:

"Internal may not be synonomous with soft, likewise external and hard. I've even heard internal defined as the arts that started within China (internally) like Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua, Mei hua, etc. And External as those that bodidharma reputedly brought with him from India, coming from the 18 lohan hands."

I think you will find that most of these arts you mentioned are one in the same or come from the same natural water spring. I have found in my research that names are slightly different depending upon the province they came from. Many people in China had three names. The name given by the family and the name given by the Buddhist priests and the name self discovered through practice and meditation on the way. It is the same reason each system has a different name or origin, yet come from the same water.

Internal should not be synonomous with soft. In fact there are many internal parts of the human being which are very tough indeed. Maybe it is a gustatory awareness that when we eat or digest food that we get the idea of a "softening" we as human beings need to look at knowledge in the same way. We have to digest or internalize an idea, thought, volitionary projection or otherwise understood into fruition.

Many arts withn China started as a Hard style. Just as there were many moansteries (Shaolin being the most famous) there were may interpretations of the arts, not picking on Kafra in fact the posts are very intelligent from this post. In retrespect the art that Gotama brought from Indiaa included what the the Chinese termed as the 18 hands of Lo'Han but, his major goal was internal and this was his (Gotama'a) representation of the mental state of the practitioner.

 

Takes Thomas's bait!

Perhaps I termed the 'soft' wrong. You should always be focused (well not always, I believe part of the buddhist teachings was that you should do everything in moderation, even moderation. But I digress).

The key to what I was saying about 'soft' is that you use minimal amounts of your own energy. The more focused this is, the less you will need.

The hard and the soft cannot exist without each other. What use is the parry without the strike? You will end up in a war of attrition with the more enduring side overcoming. Conversely what use is the strike without the oppertunity created by the parry? This will result in a 'fastest gun' confrontation, the winner being decided by who can give/take more. This path leads to pain, pain to aggression, aggression to anger, and anger to the dark side.....

From your Padawan learner

Freeform

p.s You thought I was finally gonna have a completely serious post, didn't ya!