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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.

When seeking a martial art in which to begin training, you should consider the personal contact level that you are comfortable with using. Hard and soft martial art styles are opposites in their styles of fighting but they both involve very little personal contact. Evasion styles have increased personal contact but it is not close contact. In the grappling styles, you are in constant personal contact. You get the other person’s sweat and blood in your eyes and mouth, you touch their wounds, you feel their muscles and the energy in their bodies, and you hear their breathing and heart beating. If you are not comfortable with close physical contact, you will probably not enjoy a grappling style of martial art.

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