First thing you'll probably be taught, when you enter into a Martial Arts training gym, is how to make stances. This is because stancesbuild the foundations for the eastern fighting methods. How you stand has to do with how you connect the body to the ground, and how you make it into a class AAA machine.
Systems that don't have foot sinking of this sort will not generate the massive amounts of power that the classical martial arts develop. I am talking about such arts as Karate, Kung Fu, Taekwondo, Kenpo, and so on. The weird thing is that systems that don't have stances could introduce stances into their systems easily, and thus increase the power they create tremendously.
To begin, the first stance is the natural stance, in which you simply stand with your feet shoulder width apart and feet angled to the front. Since this is natural, and takes no real instructions, we won't go into it. Simply, this type of stance doesn't generate power.
To create an Hourglass Stance, which is a power generating position, start with your feet together. Keep the toes together and swing the heels out, then keep the heels fixed and swing the toes out, then keep the toes fixed and swing the heels out again. Sink the stance slightly, knock the knees and breath to the tan tien (the one point located just below the navel).
To build a back stance from the hour glass stance just move one toe all the way out to the side and drop your weight on the other leg. You might have to reposition the turned out foot slightly, moving it to the side, as you want to be able to move without having to move your hips to move your leg through. This is an extremely useful stance in the Eastern disciplines, as you can crouch and launch with no discernible movement.
Next we will make a horse stance, which is also called Mabu in the Chinese martial disciplines, and Kiba Dachi in the Japanese systems. From a back stance simply fix the toes of the front foot in position and move the heel out, and let the weight settle evenly down the legs. This is a high horse stance, and you can spread the legs further and get lower, and thus make more power, just by moving the feet to the sides.
Finally, to build a front stance, simply turn the toes of one of the feet in the horse stance outwards and shift your weight in the direction you are facing. You may want to move the front foot outward so that the feet are on shoulder wide 'train tracks.' This is a great stance when you want to get more agressive.
There are many other stances you can make, and it is simple to figure out a foot or leg motion to do these. These would include such stances as the crane stance (lift one leg), the kneeling stance, the cross kneeling stance (dragon), and so on. The main thing to remember is that you should be able to position yourself so that you can make the transition through the karate stances while conserving, and even creating, more and more power.
Systems that don't have foot sinking of this sort will not generate the massive amounts of power that the classical martial arts develop. I am talking about such arts as Karate, Kung Fu, Taekwondo, Kenpo, and so on. The weird thing is that systems that don't have stances could introduce stances into their systems easily, and thus increase the power they create tremendously.
To begin, the first stance is the natural stance, in which you simply stand with your feet shoulder width apart and feet angled to the front. Since this is natural, and takes no real instructions, we won't go into it. Simply, this type of stance doesn't generate power.
To create an Hourglass Stance, which is a power generating position, start with your feet together. Keep the toes together and swing the heels out, then keep the heels fixed and swing the toes out, then keep the toes fixed and swing the heels out again. Sink the stance slightly, knock the knees and breath to the tan tien (the one point located just below the navel).
To build a back stance from the hour glass stance just move one toe all the way out to the side and drop your weight on the other leg. You might have to reposition the turned out foot slightly, moving it to the side, as you want to be able to move without having to move your hips to move your leg through. This is an extremely useful stance in the Eastern disciplines, as you can crouch and launch with no discernible movement.
Next we will make a horse stance, which is also called Mabu in the Chinese martial disciplines, and Kiba Dachi in the Japanese systems. From a back stance simply fix the toes of the front foot in position and move the heel out, and let the weight settle evenly down the legs. This is a high horse stance, and you can spread the legs further and get lower, and thus make more power, just by moving the feet to the sides.
Finally, to build a front stance, simply turn the toes of one of the feet in the horse stance outwards and shift your weight in the direction you are facing. You may want to move the front foot outward so that the feet are on shoulder wide 'train tracks.' This is a great stance when you want to get more agressive.
There are many other stances you can make, and it is simple to figure out a foot or leg motion to do these. These would include such stances as the crane stance (lift one leg), the kneeling stance, the cross kneeling stance (dragon), and so on. The main thing to remember is that you should be able to position yourself so that you can make the transition through the karate stances while conserving, and even creating, more and more power.
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Go to Martial Arts Stances If you want to see graphics and a free video showing what you have learned here. This is a free lesson, so head to Learn Karate Online.