Are low stances useless?

[skribs]

I did Tae Kwon Do in my teens and I am nominally a Black Belt (Yes I know that's not saying much). In TKD we did our Poomsae in low stances, but in sparring there's hardly a hint of it. Didn't think much about it then, but now it's really puzzling to me why we would do our forms in a way that had little relevance to how we actually fought.

Because sparring and fighting are two different things. Even combat sports like MMA are different from fighting. There's different rules (none) and different objectives (points vs. survival). In my TKD class, we do sparring with the faster, shorter stances, but our self defense techniques (those that incorporate only blocks and strikes and those that incorporate grappling) we use lower stances for better balance and better power, at the cost of speed.

Plus, if you're paired with an 8 year old and are doing a grappling technique that involves stepping under his arm, you need to be good with low stances! (Usually we get paired with people around our belt and/or size, but every once in a while you're the odd one out...)

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

If your opponent likes to use high kick, your below waist level low fighting stance may make him to feel uncomfortable.

 

[Dirty Dog]

If your opponent likes to use high kick, your below waist level low fighting stance may make him to feel uncomfortable.

Or, it might make it even easier to reach your head. Goes both ways...

 

[MAist25]

Longer stances are great for really fast forward and backward movement, when you want to explosively attack, or quickly retreat out of range before executing a counter attack.

 

[K-man]

Many of the responses are looking at low stances from a sparring/competition perspective. I think that if you really want to find the reason for low stances you need to look at it from a stand up,grappling perspective.
:asian:

 

[MAist25]

Many of the responses are looking at low stances from a sparring/competition perspective. I think that if you really want to find the reason for low stances you need to look at it from a stand up,grappling perspective.
:asian:

Read my first post lol

 

[PhotonGuy]

Low stances are good for training. Even if you won't use them much in sparring or in self defense its good to train with low stances. That way it would be much easier to transition to higher stances. Its much easier to go from low stances to high than from high stances to low.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

When you get old. it's harder to get into low stance. So try to get into low stance when you are still young. This way you may just delay your aging process. The low stance is just like the spin hook kick. If you can still do it when you are 80, your body are still "young".

 

[ST1Doppelganger]

First off as its been said before Low stances are good for conditioning your body and for teaching correct structure in your form and techniques.

It looks like most of the positives of a low stance has been covered but I'll add in the one important concept that I feel has been left out that deals with self defense.

First let's paint the picture stand in a medium height side horse with the lead hand stuck out in a jab position a few inches away from a wall bag or punching bag. Now sink quickly and you will observe the hand will gain a few inches of distance and that you can also develop a decent amount of power this way.

Now of course this isn't the most applicable technique for sparing but if you are talking about a self Defense scenario where you are using a spear hand or leopards fist to a vital point this can make a big difference in adding power and range to that hand strike.

Let's take it a step further now you have a weapon or knife in your hand against another armed opponent this extra range and power can give you a winning edge over the other person that is attacking you with another weapon.

This is why you see spots in traditional forms where there are subtle rising and sinking in them especially with weapon sets like Gim and spear sets.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

If you get into low stance when somebody shots at you, your chance to survive will be higher. Just for this single reason, it should be good enough.

 

[skribs]

First let's paint the picture stand in a medium height side horse with the lead hand stuck out in a jab position a few inches away from a wall bag or punching bag. Now sink quickly and you will observe the hand will gain a few inches of distance and that you can also develop a decent amount of power this way.

When I read this post, I thought "this is absolutely absurd and flies in the face of physics." However, I've seen mythbusters. I tried it against the wall. Myth confirmed. I did not realize that would happen. That's incredible.

 

[drop bear]

First off as its been said before Low stances are good for conditioning your body and for teaching correct structure in your form and techniques.

It looks like most of the positives of a low stance has been covered but I'll add in the one important concept that I feel has been left out that deals with self defense.

First let's paint the picture stand in a medium height side horse with the lead hand stuck out in a jab position a few inches away from a wall bag or punching bag. Now sink quickly and you will observe the hand will gain a few inches of distance and that you can also develop a decent amount of power this way.

Now of course this isn't the most applicable technique for sparing but if you are talking about a self Defense scenario where you are using a spear hand or leopards fist to a vital point this can make a big difference in adding power and range to that hand strike.

Let's take it a step further now you have a weapon or knife in your hand against another armed opponent this extra range and power can give you a winning edge over the other person that is attacking you with another weapon.

This is why you see spots in traditional forms where there are subtle rising and sinking in them especially with weapon sets like Gim and spear sets.

If it works why is it not applicable to sparring?

 

[Touch Of Death]

If it works why is it not applicable to sparring?

There are rules to sparring.

 

[drop bear]

When I read this post, I thought "this is absolutely absurd and flies in the face of physics." However, I've seen mythbusters. I tried it against the wall. Myth confirmed. I did not realize that would happen. That's incredible.

You get more sideways movement the more you bend your knees. You can go further away from the wall if you want as well. But because you are looking at the wall you are dragged towards it.

Or it is whitchcraft due to possession.

 

[drop bear]

There are rules to sparring.

Rules against low stances?

 

[drop bear]

When you get old. it's harder to get into low stance. So try to get into low stance when you are still young. This way you may just delay your aging process. The low stance is just like the spin hook kick. If you can still do it when you are 80, your body are still "young".

It does take some time to become flexible in the hips. And it is something that can be lost through inaction.

 

[drop bear]

Many of the responses are looking at low stances from a sparring/competition perspective. I think that if you really want to find the reason for low stances you need to look at it from a stand up,grappling perspective.
:asian:

Yeah.

If you are just striking and especially with kicks low stances work against you because they expose your front leg to attack.

Thai for example have that floating front leg. It just gets that kick off the ground or out of the way a bit quicker.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=upifi6nIoXQ

 

[RTKDCMB]

There are rules to sparring.

Depends on how you define rules and sparring.

 

[drop bear]

Depends on how you define rules and sparring.

OK leopards fist.

Spear hand.

You could do a punch from either of those positions. So you could spar throwing punches from those stances. If you feel those stances give you some advantage.

Or you could throw those strikes from other stances if you feel they give you some advantage.

Sparring will let you know which punches will let you hit know which strikes will hit targets and which won't. Extending your fingers and hitting pressure points makes no real difference.

 

[Touch Of Death]

Rules against low stances?

No, but two like minded individuals are going to spar the way they were taught. When I have visited TKD schools, for instance, they tell me the leg is not a target, and that I should stop sparring like that!!!