Ju 柔 (Softness) and Go 剛 (Hardness) are terms frequently used in martial arts. Conceptually, we often refer to a martial art or style as being “soft” or “hard”, but is this a meaningful or accurate expression? What are the true meanings of 柔 and 剛? Before diving into the details, let’s start with the question of whether it should be written as 剛柔 (Go-Ju) or 柔剛 (Ju-Go). Historically, 剛柔 is the more traditional and commonly seen order in Chinese classics and early Japanese literature. This form appears in ancient political and philosophical texts, such as Confucius’s Zhong Yong 中庸 (The Doctrine of the Mean) and the military treatise The…