Unison Health Connection

Hard' and 'soft', 'external' and 'internal', are arbitrary, figurative terms. 'Hard' refers to techniques or force that are generally dynamic, straight and visibly powerful; 'soft' to those that are generally graceful and circular, and whose power is hidden. Karate, for instance, is hard, whereas judo is soft.

'External' refers to force that is developed through obvious, visual means like lifting weights and striking poles; 'internal' refers to force that is developed through methods like channeling energy and visualization. A kungfu saying explains this poetically: internal force is acquired through the training of jing (essence), shen (mind), chi (energy); external force through the training of jin (sinews), gu (bones), pi (muscles). Iron Palm, for example, whose principal training method is jabbing the palm into granules and hitting it on sandbags, is external; whereas Cosmos Palm, whose principal method is chi channeling and visualization, is internal.

The classification into hard and soft force is relative. Prolonged training of a hard, external force can make it soft and internal, and vice versa.