Getting Personal

Standup, hard martial art styles, such as karate and Taekwondo, and soft martial art styles, such as some styles of kung-fu, use impersonal contact. Students are taught to avoid contact if possible (such as by using evasion and long-range fighting), to make minimal contact (such as by using hard blocks, defecting blocks, kicks, and punches), and to disengage from contact as soon as possible (such as by using releases and strikes). Thus, while training, students have limited physical contact.

The evasion martial art styles, such as Aikido, also avoid contact but while training, their techniques make a more prolonged contact with opponents. Students grab and use locks and pressure point techniques, but the contact is only until they may evade or escape.

The grappling martial art styles, such as Judo, jiujutsu, and wrestling, purposefully make and keep personal contact. They use locks, pins, and submission techniques that require constant personal contact for them to be effective.