Deconceptualization.

I was going to post this in the comments section on the last post in response to Lizzie, however, it started to get lengthy, so I thought it would be better served as a post unto itself.

I am not looking for agreement or acknowledgement regarding the subject matter on the previous post; if you agree, great, if not, that's fine too. It really does not matter much to me.
Concepts such as 'Hard' or 'Soft' are fine to put things into context, but these are theories, and theories are often discussed freely, with some people disagreeing, some agreeing, yet rarely is it ever based on fact, it is always solely about opinion, points of view, bias, assumptions - in short, preconceived notions.

Last night I attended an Aikido Class on Monroe street, nice people, very energetic, laid back environment, lots of detail on how to do some very detailed movements assuming a distance of about a step and a half away off of a same side shoulder grab.
Again, styles are styles, they only exist in the Dojo; they all can teach something very useful and meaningful, they all provide a way to understand yourself a little better too, but when all is said and done, the environment itself can be a detriment because you are not setting your expectations very high.
What would happen if you walked into a Dojo and everyone just started staring at you, making you feel uncomfortable, then, when it came time for training, they all just jumped in and started beating you?
You still have ques, take away the ques, an empty room, someone comes up behind you, from nowhere, and just lets loose??

What if I had reworked the movement, instead of a shoulder grab, grabbing the lapel like the scruff of a shirt and knee them in the groin, followed by a punch to the face or a couple dozen slaps to the ear while I am calling them every name in the book, demeaning, dehumanizing them?? What would happen then?
Style is out the window at that point. Hard and soft are out the window at that point, some of those nice little Aikidoka would turn rabid, others would scrunch up and die (either metaphorically or literally).
Do you think those that actually turned the tides would be using their Aikido? Maybe in some form, but they are not thinking about that.
They are thinking, 'Get off me!'
Where is hard and soft then? Where is circular and straight then? Certainly on some level it might register, but it would not be the nicely executed Ikkyo or Nikkyo you see in class.

I am not saying that certain things are ineffective, in fact, for most things the way they are taught, they are not effective.
They are effective in their place, depending on the focus of the training; if you are training for competition, or cage fighting, this is different, there are rules, things happen at a certain distance in a controlled setting, but that is evident; though most people do not really see the difference, they think one thing translates to another.
What would you do if someone were to come up to you, pull a gun or knife? What if someone was trying to assault you? Rape you? Would you, this is a good way to look at how you might utilize your BJJ training, but there again, you are not thinking about that at the time.
You might be thinking many things, things irrelevent to the situation, putting your mind in another place, becoming submissive, or you might actually put your every effort into fighting off your aggressor, in which case you would not be trying to execute a nice armbar or triangle choke from a well defined guard position.
At some level, again, this might register, but there again, it would not be like it is in class.
You might be more like a cat, clawing, biting, flailing, kicking, than you would a Jujitsuka.

The attacks are not going to be nice either, pulling is not the gentle tug you get in the Dojo, it is going to be violent jerking, there is going to be a struggle if you see it coming, if you don't, then there won't be much of a struggle at the start and the initial shock will cause you to freeze.
The gentle love taps you get in training turn into bone breaking strikes on the street because we never really hit as hard as we can in training, for safety purposes as well as personal reservations.

Being punched really hard in the mouth is a very different experience; the other person is not trying to be nice about it, they are not concerned about your safety, they want to dominate you.
It doesn't hurt at first, you see lights flash across a black backdrop, your whole mouth is numb, it doesn't feel like you have any teeth left, so you are left wondering if you'd lost any teeth, your mind is not quite registering on a cognitive level.
Things become narrow, hands and legs shake, feet feel heavy, you are dazed, hazed, and everything in between.
In my case I had been hit so many times that my reaction upon being hit by a drunk was to clench my fists, hunch in, grit my teeth, and zero in.
Now, does this mean I would have held my own? I have no idea because the guy ended up leaving without further incident.

We can say anything we like, we might end up sounding like idiots either way because something of this magnitude is really too chaotic to fit into any neat little box, but there again, we all have our fantasies to live out, right?
Some people like to think they are kung-fu-killers, or Jujitsu-commandos, but in the end, the only place in which that exists is in the mind, and that mind is not even the mind that functions under duress.
To know the difference is to appreciate the training for what it is. Anymore I find myself not trying to judge things, just going in, training, thinking about them later, seeing how I can adjust it to fit myself; there again, that is not reality either, that is in the realm of theory based on my own standpoint.
I have no experience in other areas, mainly domestic, and that alone is enough for me; I don't want to be a kung-fu killer, and I don't want to be a Jujitsu Commando, I just want people to know the difference and to be safe.
Let go of any delusions you might have, question everything, leave no stone unturned.