I’ve heard Aikido referred to as a “soft” martial art, as opposed to “harder” arts like karate. Can you explain what is meant by this?
Aikido is “soft” in the sense that you do not rely upon your strength to control and disable an attacker. You are completely relaxed, free of muscle and mental tension when you are defending against an attack. In addition, the attacker will simply be thrown or pinned, not killed or disabled by full contact blows. Your complete control of his attack quickly convinces the attacker that his contentious thoughts and actions are only getting him into deeper and deeper trouble. The desire to attack quickly vanishes.
