The concepts of hard to soft, Shaolin to Wudan, striking to grappling have been with us a long time. Many people have likened the concepts to the yin yang, turning them over and over. In the end, however, there is no argument, merely a progression, an evolution if you will, of art within individual.
A child starts out with a hard art like karate. Heads out to the strip mall dojo and has fantastic contest with the other kids. Pecking orders are established, and the lad is set upon the martial path.
As the child grows, he might come across a Wudan style art, like tai chi chuan or pa kua chang. He begins to understand that all is not bashing, and that there might actually be something to learn here. He begins to look at concepts, principles, and apply them life.
As the child further matures, his youthful vigor wanes, and he begins looking for easier ways to do things. Maybe he is beset by injury, maybe the muscles are just not working as well as they can, whatever, he starts relying on technique as opposed to brute force. And, he has started the endless journey into the True Art.
The True Art is based upon intelligence, and intelligence is had by looking at things and comparing and contrasting those things. A punch is a punch, can he look at guiding with flow, manipulating with intelligence? Or is he just going to be stuck where he is, a grown man relying only on force?
Thus, he begins searching for a softer way to do the art, a way to move that won't tax the frame and rely upon the muscles so much. He explores Wudan based arts seriously now, searching for the key to effortless motion. And, the unfortunate result of age and injury, he will eventually fall into those effortless methods.
Yet, wouldn't it be smarter for him to just search for the softer arts in the beginning? The answer, surprisingly, is no. For a man to truly learn the soft he must learn the hard, he must have something to gauge it against, to compare and contrast it against, so that he might truly think and learn.
Yet, how much hard must a man experience before he becomes intelligent? I would recommend three or four years of karate, or at least a year of matrix karate, or, if he doesn't like Karate, then a matrix influenced art like Shaolin Kung Fu, preferably the Shaolin Butterfly. To make the leap to Wudan, or soft, or flowing, or, at the very least, intelligent art, one must see both sides of the spectrum, this is the only way for the frog to hop across the pond.
A child starts out with a hard art like karate. Heads out to the strip mall dojo and has fantastic contest with the other kids. Pecking orders are established, and the lad is set upon the martial path.
As the child grows, he might come across a Wudan style art, like tai chi chuan or pa kua chang. He begins to understand that all is not bashing, and that there might actually be something to learn here. He begins to look at concepts, principles, and apply them life.
As the child further matures, his youthful vigor wanes, and he begins looking for easier ways to do things. Maybe he is beset by injury, maybe the muscles are just not working as well as they can, whatever, he starts relying on technique as opposed to brute force. And, he has started the endless journey into the True Art.
The True Art is based upon intelligence, and intelligence is had by looking at things and comparing and contrasting those things. A punch is a punch, can he look at guiding with flow, manipulating with intelligence? Or is he just going to be stuck where he is, a grown man relying only on force?
Thus, he begins searching for a softer way to do the art, a way to move that won't tax the frame and rely upon the muscles so much. He explores Wudan based arts seriously now, searching for the key to effortless motion. And, the unfortunate result of age and injury, he will eventually fall into those effortless methods.
Yet, wouldn't it be smarter for him to just search for the softer arts in the beginning? The answer, surprisingly, is no. For a man to truly learn the soft he must learn the hard, he must have something to gauge it against, to compare and contrast it against, so that he might truly think and learn.
Yet, how much hard must a man experience before he becomes intelligent? I would recommend three or four years of karate, or at least a year of matrix karate, or, if he doesn't like Karate, then a matrix influenced art like Shaolin Kung Fu, preferably the Shaolin Butterfly. To make the leap to Wudan, or soft, or flowing, or, at the very least, intelligent art, one must see both sides of the spectrum, this is the only way for the frog to hop across the pond.
About the Author:
Al Case has delved into martial arts for 4O+ years. A writer for the mags since 1981, he is the originator of Matrixing technology. You can pick up a free ebook which will explain matrixing at Monster Martial Arts.
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