I love that you included the history of the concepts. Far too many people completely separate hard and soft styles instead of incorporating the concepts of each to be well-rounded. Great video.
@@KARATEbyJesse Sorry to revive an old thread, but you know everybody now thinks you're talking about Miyagi Do Verses Cobra Kai, right? :D THEY CAN'T HELP IT, IT'S ALL THEY KNOW
Until I watched this video I didn’t realize that I started out training like the towel for punching and like the stick for kicking. This definitely helps me better understand the mechanics I’ve been taught. Your videos are very informative, thank you for taking the time to make them.
Jesse-San, what amazes me in your videos is your open minded approach to not limiting yourself to one “truth” or technique. I wish I could find an instructor with that approach nearby that I could train with 🙏
I came from a karate background and I converted over to the kung fu systems. This is by by far the best analogy of power generation that applies to every style.i didn't learn this sadly until I got into the kung fi systems. I practice concepts from xing yi, baji Quan, ba gua , wingChun, a little tai chi. From learning those principles it made what I practice in karate so much better. I'm more converted to the towel soft internal base but I do try to take some external and balance it out because I was taught you need both
My Sensei told me the real difference between hard and soft styles was the direction of training the body. Internal styles start with the core and work toward expressing the power in various outlines and postures, like Tai Chi. External styles start with the outline and work inwards making the connections stronger. This also explains why hard styles are quicker to develop some self defense skills before the internal styles, but after ten years they are both on a par. Being a small person ,I guess I always favored what you call the towel method, every attack recoils into the next technique. I learned very quickly that trying to match strength with larger opponents was a recipe for disaster. After training 6 years in Shorin ryu I took a year to study Goju ryu. There I learned to appreciate the use of kime, but in my case I only apply it to finishing techniques. It's a lot like trying to hit a home run. You are betting everything on connecting and if you don't you're stuck there like a fish in a barrel.
As a Shotokan Karate practitioner, I have always thought that we practice a "hard style". Now I have better understanding why we always snap our punches and kicks. Awesome video Jesse-san. Osu!
When I first started I was basically doing the stick side of things. As I trained, showed interest and dug into the arts my Sensei and a few others tried different things with me. At this point I try to mix both the towel and stick into my training. This way I can use whatever a situation calls for all while challenging my mind to switch things up. Your videos have also taught me many training tips so even before I knew about this I was inadvertently training in many different ways without realizing it. As usual you put words and a focus to what I was doing which is great because now I feel like I am going in the right direction, up the mountain. I study Meibukan Goju Ryu but some members including my Sensei never limit ourselves to just their curriculum, we play with many different teachings to grow a greater understanding of Karate while incorporating our roots and staying true to the spirit of Karate at its core. Thanks for the video!
Thanks for lighting us up with your knowledge again. Our sensei doesnt tell us to do just one method but i myself think i am like the towel. Oh, and one more thing, the fact that you read every comment really shows how humble you are in my opinion. You care so much about people and you are one with your fans. Thats an awesome thing and it makes me feel like someone cares about me. Thanks for making us feel special. Oss 🤩
Excellent information Sensei Jesse! I really appreciate the historical context and the explanation of the styles' names. Super clear and easy to understand🥋👏👌👍
We're all incredibly lucky that Jesse reads the comments snd shares his knowledge and opinion past simply posting a video and moving on to the next one.
My Sensei adapts to us individually but encourages both the towel and the stick,like you mentioned in the video. He is an amazing Instructor, he helps you grow and learn in so many ways possible.
I train Wing Chun. I love seeing the same concepts in different Styles. Use your roots like a tree but flow like water. Spiral your body (fibbinoci sequence is everywhere) and striking like a whip works great. Sink with your Dan tian then explode out. Opening and closing. And don't forget to breathe lol
For me, I kind of do a mix of both, where I punch through but still snap back after. My instructor said it was important to know both of them, but it was up to us to use it. Great video detailing the differences Jesse-san!
I train in Kyokushin and we tend to train both soft and hard methods from the start. Even at beginner levels you learn seiken tsuki (hard push-through) and seiken uchi (soft fast snap) and go from there further knowing both ways and combining them.
Awesome video! I am used to train both ways. My sensei says that we have to learn a little of everything, to adapt and improve. Thanks for the explanation!
I practice wing chun which is considered a “hard/soft style of southern Shaolin Kung fu. I gravitate to the soft,yielding and blending techniques but am working on more forceful hard ways to generate power. Thanks for this video!
Always struggle with padwork because I find it hard to generate all my power through the pad but I love how snappy I get to be in kata. Your explanations always make so much sense but I’ve just never thought of things in that way before. Always impressed with your knowledge and hope you had a wonderful knx18, I heard very good things. 🤟🏼🙇🏻♀️
Coming from a background of Kukkiwon Taekwondo I've always been taught the towel method, Focusing on speed and accuracy over outright power. This was tough when I first started training because I was quite a heavy guy back then, but gradually became my default style. As my skills and understanding developed I've come to see that the stick method has its uses too, more for max power use like board breaking which may be less useful when engaged in TKD sport sparring.
This is great. Naturally, I fall in line with the towel style. I'm tall, but slim and not terribly strong, but I'm very agile and light on my feet. After becoming skilled in that style through taekwondo and wing chun, I started training in muay thai and karate where I was pushed to improve my hard style more in order to supplement my soft style.
Good vid. Another way i look at it is from watching an interview from Jet Li. Learn the hard style first, which ever discipline you're learning, then you learn the soft style. While learning the hard you develop strength and basics. When you learn the soft , you dive deeper into technique and body mechanics, which actually makes you stronger. As a bonus, you can spiritual development and/or religion, which helps temper your mind. Making you even more powerful. At least that's my takeaway from the interview, he's a devout Buddhist
Yes absolutely....I wrestled in high school at 215 and heavyweight and trained like a small guy..my junior a new coach aid who was a heavyweight college wrestler changed the styles for the 215 and heavyweight and it accelerated my wrestling big time.
Great explanation of kime. I had my students punch a sheet of newspaper. Many discovered that focus and the snapiness of kime brought them success in splitting the paper in two, rather than punching with all their might. I love this RU-vid channel!
My karate master was always forcing me to train hardway but I wasn't a very good fighter in this approach but when a friend showed me the soft karate I became an excellent fighter. Since I had years of extensive hard karate training, I was able to combine the two style while fighting. I became smarter and wiser. Now I teach my students depending on their skills, natural flexibility and body size. My teaching depends on who I have in front of me. If you are more hands, I am with you. if its legs, I am with you. Any approach I adapt. Be right or left side, I can fight in all stance. But to reach this level it took me decades to understand these principles. I listen to my body and soul. God bless
I'm like a half and half kinda guy. I like counter-striking and utilizing what I've learned as a Judo student and what bits of Aikido that I've picked up. I love how you explain stuff and still hold onto the traditional and historical bits. My brain just gets it. Another great vid.
My sensei has made me train both ways. Have a relaxed posture , but while blocking be a wall , and while hitting hard , be a bull , while when feinting , be the bee. Also when i spar against kung fu students ( some of my friends ) I find that the towel kinda method is better tp block with , since they primarily have speed and precision based attacks . Some force applied to their lower forarms or below kknee stops thier attacks , and you can use a stick kind of knee kick to counter.
This is something I struggle with. I am very tense, I am learning to relax more. My Sensei tells us ALL THE TIME relax relax relax. I am probably an extremely stiff kinetic dumping stick. The more I train the more I relax. Thank you for the information!
As an instructor I always train students on all the kihon and give them advice on what to use and when, but I don't force them to use either when sparring. This way I try to preserve the integrity of the system while still respecting the individuality. Many of those students might become instructors some day and if they don't understand the whole system and they only teach what they prefer, they would make a disservice to their students that would need the other parts of the system. By not training them correctly, such disservice would be my fault, not theirs. Many students can learn both and adapt. Once in a mini dual meet that we were forced to participate by the organization where I was teaching even though I had only beginner students and the other group was bringing green and brown belts (another style that was teaching at another branch of the same organization), in one of the matches my student connected a mae-geri kekomi (hard technique, pushes the whole weight in a straight line) sending his much higher rank opponent to the ground outside the tatami. Next move, he tried to be gentler by using mae-geri keage (snappy), but hit him in the solar plexus and the opponent fell forward. Last move before the other coach stopped the match, my student connected another mae-geri keage to the chin, making him drop in the spot. It was almost as my student was making a demonstration "If you want your opponent to fall backwards, this is how you kick, if you want him to fall forward, this is how you kick, and if you want him to drop in place this is how you do it." As a practitioner, when I was younger, lighter, faster an thinner I used to prefer lighter, snappy moves. Now that I'm heavier, older, I tend to go for power moves but I'm not in a weight where I would always be the stronger, so I always keep snappy combinations in my back pocket.
the style of shorin ryu (shinjinbukan) i did focused on koshi/whip (but it wasnt exactly a whip). we would always rotate around our spine so body structure was important. we used koshi for tenshin (whole body movement) as well. you can use koshi in that way: either stationary striking, or movement, but we always combined both striking with movement, never standing in one spot. combine all that with whole body skeletal alignment (legs, spine, locked down shoulders, arms, wrists,) and it makes for a solid foundation for movement with striking. we also practiced the development of muchimi (to stick) with our strikes, blocks, kicks, etc. this further concentrated the energy to a single spot (into the target) unlike the ‘stick’ technique where youre dispelling the energy all over. for close range fighting you dont want your attacker to get pushed away from the kinetic energy, you want them to stay in proximity of your style. also, makiwara is essential to help develop these biomechanics and awareness.
I was trained in both methods and while it was quite a challenge to understand. It has improved my reaction time as well as my attacking and defending strength
I'm late to the party but in 10 years of Shotokan I'd say we focused more on the "whip" method but I found certain techniques just didn't tend to work for me until I applied the "stick" method. Sweeps being one example where I just couldn't pull them off effectively because I was always trying to snap back and thought I was recovering my balance but in reality I was just shortchanging the sweep. When I started "kicking through" my opponent's leg, I realized my size and weight (6'3" 190lbs) allowed me to blow through most opponents' stances and still end up with reasonably good stability after I took their legs out from under them.
After watching a half dozen of your videos I have decided to use Ueuchi Ryan's open hand technique with a combination of stick and towel or hard and soft techniques. Arrigato gozaimasu, Sensei.
I am not a small man at six feet tall and over two hundred pounds, but the more technical and flowing aspects of "soft" style has always appealed to me.
With you talking like this, I would say I tendo to be more like a "Stick" than a "Towel" I don't get along very well with those fluidity technics, with fast snaps. But like the hard one punch or kick, or a strong defense. But it makes me feel like I need to search for a better middle ground to enhance my abilities. Thank you so much for this video!
I learned soft and hard and taught both as well, I like both and like even better to be able to not have to fight, though I love kumite (freestyle) it is for training but prefer not to have to fight where someone will probably get hurt.
Grear video. I practice and teach both methods not separating them but rather connecting. One transits into another and back and again etc. In my imagination the whipping technique is a towel up to the point when the impact happens; then it becomes a stick or a stone as I usually explain and delivers energy of the whip with all the additional momentums the body generates and weight in (totiho). After the impact the stick becomes the towel that naturally flies back (No need to pull the technique in hikite - it naturally recoils). Difficult to explain and even more difficult to demonstrate. But that is how I visualize it. :) Thanks for the video. I am going to recommend it to my students.
I have only recently restarted my Karate path after 16 years away from it. I'm a big guy and have always found the stick method and using my bodyweight to my advantage to be the easier one for me to grasp.
Hmmm, interesting concept. I feel like most of Tae Kwon Do is more "towel" than "stick". We use "snap" in kicks a lot, be it Front kick (Apcha Busigi - literally front "snap" kick) or the recoil in our Dollyo Chagi/Roundhouse kick. Of course, we have "piercing" kicks too; Yopcha Jirugi/Side Piercing Kick, and Dwitcha Jirugi/Back Piercing kick are more aimed at putting your full body weight through a target. As for me, personally, I don't know that I've really found out yet whether I'm more "stick" or "towel". I'm quite big, though not muscular. So I naturally have more mass to apply to techniques, but I instinctively try to be more "fast" and reactive to my opponents; which I guess is more the "towel" method. I guess I'm still learning, and the jury is still out. haha
I personally use both. It depends on what situation and what kind of opponent i have. Its always interesting when you are telling about biomechanics. Nice video Jesse! Greetings from Finland!
Jesse: about the two forms of power- I studied Isshin-ryu in New York. Our Sensei was trained in the 1960’s in Okinawa by Tatsuo Shimabuku himself. Nobody ever taught hard or soft to me. Prior to Isshin-ryu I studied GoJu for 6 months ( that dojo closed- not enough students. ). GoJu did talk about hard and soft, but nobody talked about relaxation. Your students are lucky they have you. Where I studied students got hurt all the time. Maybe it’s an American thing. Hard or soft, it all has to become automatic when you use it.. Too bad there aren’t more like you.
The biomechanics principles you discuss in this video is spot on. As a guy that does boxing, wrestling and Krav Maga. I agree for hurting someone or sparring I use snapping strikes. For clearing space like in a self defense situation I use the teep from Muy Thai more of a pushing or "stick" strike. Kudos
I'm a short stocky guy who's always been naturally bulky and strong but I always preferred to train more towards the soft method because it used to be my weakest part but now it is my strongest and actually enhances the hard part.
A while ago I started to train more kumite I discovered that I am going to be better when I use the towel method. I didn't actually know that there is so a difference. So I'm started to trie to be faster and concentrate more one the technique. And it made a difference.
I'm more the towel (female & tiny) but usually have to train with sticks (large heavy guys) since our dojo is rather small). I find it difficult but am eager and positive to master this. Oss, sensei Jesse, for this insight!
Well, dear Jesse Sensei, my answer to your question is probably my body is naturally on the stick side. Different instructors, however, along my journey have pointed out my tendency to stiffness so I have been suggested to work on the other method too in order to incorporate both. "Zenshin wa bukidesu" (I hope my translation is correct) has recently become my personal motto culminating in the image of the bulrush, still a stick but quite flexible.
Wow Sensei.... This made me feel strong , even when I am more like the towel...... I Will try to implement both hard and soft as it is more like yin and yang together
this is one of the reasons i love karate. i am 5 foot tall and have cerebral palsy so it is next to impossible for me to gain muscle and be strong. there are so many sports that i cant to because of this, although before i was in a wheelchair i was really good at rugby as i was hard to catch.
when i first started karate many years ago my movements and technique was stiff and hard like the stick! I am only 70kg and soon realised that i had to train harder to get to be more like the towel. And as you say the ultimate goal is to have a mixture of the two . Thats why we train in karate , right? Always learning and hopefully improving.
I love how you explain the both difference. I use to do Kung-fu and they told me that I have to understand to use both. It will Take Years to understand both ways tho.
It might be worth mentioning that a Sensei must consider the unseen element of each Karateka. Meaning the individual personality of each Karateka must be considered i.e. The true question isn't how we matched the hard and soft with just the anamatomic but also the spirit and soul inside. Holistically this way developmentally speaking yields lifelong Karateka.
Jesse your the best any 7 years experienced boy in karate could say that keep going and by the way I'm choosing the towel although I was kind of forced to do karate as a stick or at least that is the only known way that is known to us in Egypt but you're still the best as I never heard this whether in azerbaijan or saudi arabia but I could finally know what is my technique and I'm gonna be mastering it Thank you jesse keep going👍🏻
I praticed both, and use them depending by the situation. I learned the "hard" way when I was young (I started tradizional Shotokan Karate and tradizional Taekwondo). After that, I "reprogrammed" my neurological patterns in several years of Yoseikan Budo. It uses the "towel" method calling It "shock wave". Buy I never Lost the "hard" neurological movment patterns. I think the hard way exposes you a little more, because you "fall" and use all your Gravity and Power in one shot. Buy you generate a very powerful hit. My taekwondo master usually said: Taekwondo traditional! No sparring! No "game", no touch! Only one or two powerful hits maximum! Than It's finished for your opponent or for you!
Jesse, I use both all the time. I combine both methods into one. I start the towel method and then apply the stick finish as in going through the target. I've been taught so many different things, I don't know the difference anymore. I like what you said though to use either method according to the situation. I will apply that to my training. Thank you !!!
I personally train and use both methods.. theyre both are good for something else by my opinion.. like when im doing takedowns or im fighting an opponent that i Can confront him at short range,im using more of the strong stances,when striking or so.. but when im fighting perhaps bigger or taller, more experienced or i just dont feel comfortable at close range , i have to do like quick impacts and then go back asap,snappy punches and snappy kicks (most likely) cause i have more control of the fight when i see the thing from distance
I did some training with my Uncle who uses Shotokan and Hung Gar when I was young. Ive always been a skinny,delicate flower, so he started me on towel method. We still talk technique and now his tone for me is a more direct, stick method. Plus Im finally not a skinny boy he has to worry about getting his chest caved in anymore. Or less anuway.
Another day, another video to show me so well, my karate nerd dude Jesse, very well presented. I think in my opinion that you showed to vote of which both those items of stick and towel, may seem to be both karate ways of what you explained as of to my Korean martial arts experience. In such cases the both items can be for self defense or techniques. Anyways, whichever ways to use both items don’t seem to matter to me as long as they can be used properly in both both ways you explained. Thanks for showing me. Talk to you again later. :) And keep it up with more videos, especially when I like to request for you to fight with girls, lol.
The towel is also like the stick if you think about it. No form, no power. The stick is more like the finish product of the towel and a symbol of explosiveness (Just like Northern Praying Mantis). Three good examples: is a Seiken strike, Wing Chun vertical punch, and a Thai Roundhouse Kick (my favorite kick of all kicks personally). Lesson: "If you can't do it slow, you can't do it fast."
The stick feels natural to me, probably because I am 2,05 tall and weigh 110 kg. Still I feel that my strikes and kicks should generate a lot more power than they do so I focus on training the other side, the towel approach. Not always easy, but that to me is the study of karate. In my case Kyokushin. Loved the video.
I’ve always been taught both thanks to learning a style based in traditional Okinawan karate. I personally use more of the towel method with most punches, knife hands, front kicks, and ridge hands. Where as with palm strikes, roundhouse kicks, side and back kicks I tend to use the stick method. I think that also came from going from the tall lanky kid I was for most of my young life to being built like a linebacker like I ended up being(I’m 6’3 and 246lbs now) lol
Oss Jessy!! Plz make a video on we usually do karate physically with our body parts and Mentally by calculating distance, movement and Time but "How to do martial arts taking our spirit in it????" plz make a video on this topic plz Request from India!!
I am naturally the stick. I am 5'7 and 165lbs....not big but, not small either. My Sensei is trying to move me more toward being the towel, which I like but, like all things, it is a work in progress. Thank you for your insight good Sir and keep up the good work.
As i'm quite a heavily built bloke .it would be a natural assumption that the stick will get the result . and at times it's worked in my favour as i can get over 100kg of power , sending the opponent to the floor , but it saps energy far quicker that way and i would have to rely on probably taking a few hits too . So being relaxed , i can be more flexible and lighter on my feet .conserving energy . in a way it's just like a heavyweight boxer . they cant just wait for the opportunity for that big knockout punch and not be able to move . they will take more damage while looking for the opportunity . so they have to learn to jab , bob and weave to stay out of trouble ,then boom! I'm also a musician . so when playing a gig on guitar or double bass , if it's a 3 set gig from 9pm to 2 am . i'm not going to play at full throttle all the way though . Music is like karate and a conversation , there needs to be light and shade , dynamics and energy spent in the right place . nobody shouts all the time without breathing .
In depth as always, kinda reminds me of a lesson my Pop taught me, hit soft targets with the hard part of the body and vice versa, each techniques have it's place.
I like to be like a bambo flexible but tough . It's something that combines both towel and stick. I didn't knew before that this type of things exists in karate. Thanks for informing. BTW I am inspired by the bamboo trees that fights against strong winds that's just at the back of my house where I practice karate.
I think sometime your not forced to train a specific way but your not at the right place. I started my martial art journey with muay thai class but I wanted something with more body/mind conditioning, more discipline and more variation of kicks. As a tall and slim person I am now doing Kyokushin Karate and Its perfect for me! OSS
I started in Shito Ryu as age of 10, an my Sensei teach me the soft-hard way, then, a few years later, i got to the university and the instructors there always want a towel style for me, instead the wood way, but I always have been a hard karate practicioner. I'm not as fast as I want, but when other people hit me they feel pain. In my last university year i have the chance of my Sensei took university karate team and with his leadership and experience, got better competition results for the team than in the 3 previos years, because he explored the individual skills of everyone there. Since I started teaching karate, I use his methods, because I understant there are different ways to learn karate.
I definitely prefer the towel method: relax, coil, strike, recoil before opponent even knew what hit them. I train in Kempo Karate. Recently, I asked my sensei what animal of the 5 he feels would best represents my style from what he's seen of me in class. He replied with the leopard. And, to me, the leopard does seem exactly like the "towel" whereas a tiger seems to be like the "stick"
Jesse Enkamp My Sensei says I’m very fast. Admitttedly, I know I am. I’ve been told this many times before. So I try to use that to my advantage. Sloths don’t apply here, lol Recently discovered your channel. It’s great!
Okinawan masters are insane, the real craddle of karate and the pool of true root karate techniques. Rei to sokon Matsumura, the master that mixed okinawa te and shaolin kung fu to give birth to the techniques that became karate years later
This was really interesting but I am not sure I completely understand it because I would have thought it would be more technique based than body type. It would be good to see this sort of thing in action perhaps? Liked the video would love to see more on this.
