Hard Style, Fluid style

Mark Joseph Limbaga · 11-23-2009, 05:08 PM

This got me thinking since from where I am right now, I have yet to meet someone who was formally trained in the hardstyle so I was wondering if anyone over here has trained in both and can explain the pros and cons of each style..

as of now, my opinion is that some people find the fluid style more natural, but find the hardstyle difficult and unnatural, same as with the hardstyle, some people like it, others don't

just wanna get opinions here... thanks

Chris H Laing · 11-23-2009, 06:15 PM

I'm not really sure what hard style and fluid style are? Anyone care to enlighten me?

Gary Ohm · 11-23-2009, 07:10 PM

Well I don't know how you would classify "formally training" in hard style, but my instructor was a RKC master instructor. He taught "hard style" and did only a little comparing with fluid or "soft" style.
In my training, everything in your body contracted at the top of the rep. We did a drill called "tough love" where your partner punched or kicked you at the top of the rep. The blows could be in the quads, butt, gut, ribs or wherever. The point was to make every rep a full body contraction.
Fluid style, like in GS, is all about efficiency. You can't do full body contractions with 72# snatches for ten minutes. You have to get into a rhythm and a groove to make it work.
Someone explained it to me saying; "hard style is like running a 400 or 800 meter race, while fluid (soft) is like running the mile or the 5k. It all hurts, it just hurts a little different."

Did this help at all???

Garrett Smith · 11-23-2009, 07:42 PM

Go to one of Steve Cotter's IKFF certs...it's one of the few places where both styles are taught and put in their proper context.

Anyone can learn how to tense up during exercise, that's actually a pretty natural/instinctual response. Learning how to relax/contract/relax in quick succession is what (I've heard) separates the average athlete from the great ones.

Learning fluid style first makes hard style easy to learn. Learning hard style first makes fluid style difficult to learn. IMHO...I've taken both the RKC and IKFF certs.

Gary Ohm · 11-23-2009, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garrett Smith

Anyone can learn how to tense up during exercise, that's actually a pretty natural/instinctual response. Learning how to relax/contract/relax in quick succession is what (I've heard) separates the average athlete from the great ones.

That makes sense and is what I was trying to get at.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garrett Smith

Learning fluid style first makes hard style easy to learn. Learning hard style first makes fluid style difficult to learn. IMHO...I've taken both the RKC and IKFF certs.

I think that also makes good sense. I had no formal instruction with the fluid style, so it feels pretty foreign to me. I feel almost like it takes too much patience... That probably doesn't make much sense.

Do you have a preference Garret? What do you see as advantages or disadvantages of each?

Blair Lowe · 11-23-2009, 11:23 PM

http://www.rmaxinternational.com/flowcoach/?p=317

JFC, it's a god damn KB. Not MA or sex.

Garrett Smith · 11-24-2009, 05:10 AM

Gary,
My preference is for fluid style if using a KB.

You want high tension, use a BB and do PL.

Want a mix of the two, do some OL.

Darryl Shaw · 11-24-2009, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris H Laing

I'm not really sure what hard style and fluid style are? Anyone care to enlighten me?

http://www.fullkontact.com/pdfs/crossfit2.pdf

Allen Yeh · 11-24-2009, 07:44 AM

Nice article.

Catherine Imes · 11-24-2009, 08:14 AM

I really don't like the "Fluid Style" term anymore or soft. That's an old article.

The way I teach the lifts it is a matter of alignment. I'll give you an example, when you do a snatch, and the bell is back on the swing, the weight is on the heels, but as the weight swings back forward, you shift the weight towards the front of your feet. At this point, it is optimal for you to extend the knees (Like the first bump in the jerk). This does 2 things, it reduces the likelihood that you will pull with the arm (Grip saver) and it also ensures that you will take full advantage of the pendulum effect of the swing.

Fact is that snatches and Jerks are athletic movements (maybe not as complex or as difficult as the barbell versions).

Soft indicates that you should be relaxed. That isn't how it is. I've seen folks be relaxed overhead and rip up their shoulders with snatches. I tell people to actually be aggressive with their fixation of the bell overhead when learning. The only time you can relax is when the bell has actually stopped and it is supported by the skeletal system.

Hardstyle swings were taught in terms of keeping the weight on the heels and thrusting with the glutes. It is ok as an exercise, but had poor carryover to the snatch because the trajectory of that type of swing was out and not up.

CI