Here are a few videos that highlight two very different types of training. The first is a demo video for Ginastica Natural, a method of training that combines agility and flexibility and that utilizes movements from jiu-jitsu and yoga. Many successful grapplers train this way, including Rickson Gracie and Saulo Ribeiro.
This second video is of Takemi Takayasu, an old-school Uechi karate master whose conditioning and hardness is impressive to say the least.
All martial artists need to be nimble and strong, yielding and steadfast, fluid and powerful. We don’t need to go to the extremes shown here, but balancing these opposing forces is one of the true challenges of training.
In what ways do you try to combine the principles of hard and soft in your training?
Moai Martial Arts 