THROWS & STRIKES

For traditional martial artists, the line between styles can seem concrete: Hard styles strike, and soft styles grapple. But anyone who’s studied the history and applications of traditional styles knows better. Most hard styles like karate have many grappling techniques in their curricula. And styles like judo and aikido (if taught correctly) have basic strikes and even kicks

Trouble can arise when the applications of such techniques are confused. Sticking with the example of karate and judo, both arts have similar basic techniques when it comes to striking and grappling, but the applications of said techniques are far from the same. And they shouldn’t be. Hard styles use grappling to set up strikes, and soft styles use strikes to set up grappling.

Traditional martial arts in the modern era rarely emphasize these elements even though they’re embedded deeply within every style. For judo and karate, sport competition has eroded much of the practice of the hard-soft aspects of the arts. And aikido in most of its modern incarnations has lost its effective striking fundamentals. In the introduction to his instructional-cum-critique Walther G. Von Krenner laments the