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Hey tough guys!
April is Stress Management Month…Join us on our Less Stress page — and find something every day, for the next 30 days, to ease you into spring.

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Hardness and softness is a central principle in Chinese martial arts. Karate, MMA, and Tae Kwon Do are examples of hard styles. Tai Ji and Ba Gua are soft. Last year, the year of the tiger, our videos focused on hard power through TanDao Tiger Combat. That is yang without yin. So it’s appropriate this year of the rabbit. we introduce the soft power of Tan’s Dazzling Hands.

Our challenge at TanDao is to balance the dual aims of the martial way: self-defense and self-cultivation (another hard/soft metaphor). Our audience tends to gravitate to our fight lab videos. Tips and techniques on increasing tiger chokes and kicking power seem to be more popular then those on breathing and healing. Hmm…

So we’re pleased that our guest post by Bob Ellal on the therapeutic aspects of qi gong generated such interest. Bob, a martial scholar – and a smart guy – uses anatomy and physiology to provide a rationale for Chinese metaphysical concepts: qi, yin and yang, etc., often unfamiliar to a Western mind. The science behind the martial arts increases our appreciation of advance martial knowledge that transcends fighting. Martial artists interested in wellness and healing through forms, will discover this post on qi is relevant to our Universal Form.

Hard/Soft Experiment
The controversy over the superiority of hard or soft power is ongoing. Don’t take tradition, Bruce Lee, your sensei or my word as the arbiter of truth. Figure it out yourself. Experiment. You can do this by using the Universal Form.

Many believe the Universal Form is a hard dynamic tension form for strength like Hung’s iron wire or a Uechi or Goju Sanchin. Yet the form can be done hard or soft. When performed in a slow flowing manner, it cultivates the qi power of Tai Ji or Ba Gua. For you Tae Kwon Do, JKD, and hard stylists who are curious about the soft power of internal styles, try following along on the Universal Form soft method. Feel the qi. Then do a hard Universal Form. Compare. (Internal stylists should reverse the process and do a Universal Form hard).

Ask yourself these questions: How does this exercise train my body to generate soft or hard power? What different combat strategy correlates to hard or soft power? Hard or soft? Which is more powerful? Is there any difference? What do you think?

Keep practicing and pondering,

Lawrence Tan

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The Universal Form is not an obvious fighting form, but it is a powerful foundation for all martial art styles and general wellness. Some of you have been asking us to show a tiger form. Students of TanDao Tiger may use this variation of the Universal Form to aid in their development of a powerful tiger claw. Use dynamic tension and focus on fingers and hand tensing and feel the “burn.” Do you have specific questions on learning this form or on tiger? Ask us!

We’re pleased with your responses to our new TanDao Fight Lab Series.  The idea of hardness and softness has stimulated responses from several TanDao Web Warriors.  Thanks for your comments and questions, including Sifu Lloyd Fridenburg and our forum members Advance One, Arnuld, and the Karate Kid. An application of hardness and softness is for understanding different ways of generating power.  A goju karate punch, boxer’s right cross, wing chun punch or a tai ji punch use different biomechanics.

The Evolving Martial Artist seeks to develop the appropriate hardness and softness, or muscular tension and relaxation to maximize power for a particular technique rather than mixing up different methods of creating power.  There is a different fighting distance and tactics behind the hard palm and the soft palm strikes on Fight Lab 2. Do you know the difference against a real partner? Keep the comments coming — we love your intelligent responses and your questions!

Lawrence Tan
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Are you stressed? Ancient Chinese martial art masters delved into nature’s secrets for devising superior self defense, but you may not know that they developed mental and physical techniques for promoting health, wellness and combating stress.

With the acceleration and intensity of economic and political uncertainty, it seems that no matter who we are or where we live in our global village, stress is universal. April is National Stress Awareness Month. Each day this month we’ll have something to help you with your stress management. You’ll also find our Universal Form in the mix, TanDao’s unique exercise created by Lawrence and taught for martial arts and wellness for over 30 years. Join us…TanDao Wellness