Fighting Stance

Shinobi Teikiatsu

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Everyone has one. Kick boxers (people who focus on kicks, not necessarily kickboxers, as in practitioners of kickboxing) have their hands high up to allow room for their kicks, boxers keep their elbows in and cover their face, pivoting on the balls of their feet, and so on and so forth. Every martial art teaches you to stand in some position (even if it's a natural standing position, that's what you learn from). My question to the MT community is, "what is YOUR stance and why do you use it?"

When it comes to learning the techniques, I'll stand in whatever position my instructor tells me to stand in, but then I get in the ring for sparring, and it becomes a totally different game. I feel that it's here that I really combine my previous training in taijutsu, with kajukenbo, as well as my own knowledge. I stand with my weight about 60/40, varying the distribution because I give pivot back and forth, and my lead foot pointing forward, the rear at a bit of an angle. My hands are where the real difference lies. I'm a southpaw, so when I stand with my right leading, I keep both hands in really close with my palms almost facing totally outward, in the Chinese boxing fashion, mostly because I feel like I have a more defensive nature standing like that, giving me more confidence when moving around to strike. Then the need will come up to change my foot work, and my stance changes. My rear foot turns out almost to a 90 degree angle, and my left arm (now my lead) extends out from the boxing position, to a point of mid extension, almost like that of the early 20th century boxers, except the hand isn't turned knuckle out. I also drop my weight a little bit more, so my legs are a little bit more extended, disallowing me from bouncing quite as much, but allowing me a pretty stable base, and gives me more of an inclination to do some throws and joint-locks, rather than brawl. These are the two stances that work best for me, what about for each of you?
 

Bill Mattocks

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Our dojo teaches the kamae stance. And we teach that everyone does it in the way that is comfortable to themselves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamae

Basically, for us it is turned at an angle to the opponent, feet in a seisan, leading hand up and in front, trailing hand slightly lower, as if you were holding a pane of glass that was extending from your heart to your opponent at about a 45 degree angle. Knees slightly bent, not too deep, and stance not too wide - about shoulder width. This is in accordance with the Hakko Kempo, which is posted on the wall of our dojo:

In particular:
4. A Person’s Imbalance is the Same as a Weight.
5. The Body Must Be Able to Change Directions at Any Time.
6. The Time to Strike is When the Opportunity Presents Itself.

Therefore, the kamae must give the karateka balance, the ability to change directions immediately, and the ability to strike when the opportunity presents itself.
 

searcher

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Mine has always been in the style of the neutral bow from Hawaiian Kenpo/EPAK. They were an early influence on me and it has proven effective across many different styles of training, competing, and defending. It has been influenced by the different styles I have trained in(hand position, foot width, movement, lead side,....), but it has stayed pretty close to my original stance.

Once my students reach yellow belt, I task them to develop their own fighting stance. I tell them it can be what they already know or they can change it to whatever they see orto what better fits them. I have found that it really boosts them up, when they are very comfortable standing and ready.
 

MJS

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Everyone has one. Kick boxers (people who focus on kicks, not necessarily kickboxers, as in practitioners of kickboxing) have their hands high up to allow room for their kicks, boxers keep their elbows in and cover their face, pivoting on the balls of their feet, and so on and so forth. Every martial art teaches you to stand in some position (even if it's a natural standing position, that's what you learn from). My question to the MT community is, "what is YOUR stance and why do you use it?"

When it comes to learning the techniques, I'll stand in whatever position my instructor tells me to stand in, but then I get in the ring for sparring, and it becomes a totally different game. I feel that it's here that I really combine my previous training in taijutsu, with kajukenbo, as well as my own knowledge. I stand with my weight about 60/40, varying the distribution because I give pivot back and forth, and my lead foot pointing forward, the rear at a bit of an angle. My hands are where the real difference lies. I'm a southpaw, so when I stand with my right leading, I keep both hands in really close with my palms almost facing totally outward, in the Chinese boxing fashion, mostly because I feel like I have a more defensive nature standing like that, giving me more confidence when moving around to strike. Then the need will come up to change my foot work, and my stance changes. My rear foot turns out almost to a 90 degree angle, and my left arm (now my lead) extends out from the boxing position, to a point of mid extension, almost like that of the early 20th century boxers, except the hand isn't turned knuckle out. I also drop my weight a little bit more, so my legs are a little bit more extended, disallowing me from bouncing quite as much, but allowing me a pretty stable base, and gives me more of an inclination to do some throws and joint-locks, rather than brawl. These are the two stances that work best for me, what about for each of you?

For techniques: I'll work both a natural stance, ie: how you normally stand on a daily basis, as well as one thats slightly bladed. Why? IMO, this allows me to work from a position in which you dont have time to get into a 'stance', but instead, one in which you just have to react. The other allows me to work from a position in which the situation is unfolding, but I have time to adjust. I like the slightly bladed stance, as it doesnt give full frontal access to targets, in addition to appearing less aggressive.

For sparring: I like working from a boxing type stance. Legs are not that wide apart, which allows me better footwork, movement, etc.
 

Xinglu

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My fighting stance: Santi. It is easy and quick to get into, all five wuxing strikes can easily be done from neutral ("nonthreatening") stance (or as MJS says "natural") and end in Santi, and it is extremely adaptable.
 

Blade96

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well being a white belt thats almost yellow, i just learning some sparring kicks and punches. but the one i was doing recently was zenkutsu-dachi while doing some maegeri
 

repz

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It depends on what I am trying to accomplish. I take shotokan at the momment, so I stand similar to Machida, it alows good footwork and mobility, though I do stand with my shoulder leading as opposed to my chest, when i want more power behind my reverse punch (usually with someone who has bad defenses and falls for feints).

In kickboxing i stand with my shoulder leading also.

In both, I really do some strange things, I like to pivot on my lead foot on a straight jab, I would duck down at an angle and shoot out a jab that angles downward (which I learned from san shou).
 

kingkong89

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When i am teaching and in class i use a standard stance with a nice solid stance and hands up and out on my own i keep my elbows in tight and my hands up i make my target as small as possible
 

xJOHNx

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Basic Jinenkan kamae's. Depending on the kata we are doing.
They don't feel natural the first 10 weeks, from there on it got better.
 

Bruno@MT

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ichi monji no kamae?

I blogged about that a while ago.
Yes, the first time I saw it I thought 'WTF? They can't be serious' but after a couple of months it grows on you and it feel quite natural now :)
 

Em MacIntosh

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With the right leg forward I have my left hand up by my cheek, right elbow a fist's distance from the ribs, both hands in loose fists, feet pidegon toed and slightly further than shoulder width. With the left leg forward I keep a tight kickboxing stance with my dukes close in and my feet closer together.
 

Stac3y

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We use the Superfoot (Bill Wallace) System, so our basic fighting stance is sideways, with the front hand down protecting the side and groin and the back hand up protecting the head. However, I use a modified version of this, with both hands up most of the time. I find that this gives me more mobility to block and strike. I'm an ambidextrous fighter, so I switch sides a lot, from right foot forward to left foot forward. Many of our students are one-sided fighters, and that's not discouraged. Our feet are about shoulder width apart (natural stance), and we stay on the balls of our feet, bouncing a bit.
 

Xue Sheng

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Everyone has one. Kick boxers (people who focus on kicks, not necessarily kickboxers, as in practitioners of kickboxing) have their hands high up to allow room for their kicks, boxers keep their elbows in and cover their face, pivoting on the balls of their feet, and so on and so forth. Every martial art teaches you to stand in some position (even if it's a natural standing position, that's what you learn from). My question to the MT community is, "what is YOUR stance and why do you use it?"

My stance tends to be Santi and I use it because that is what just seems to come naturally.
 

ap Oweyn

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Everyone has one. Kick boxers (people who focus on kicks, not necessarily kickboxers, as in practitioners of kickboxing) have their hands high up to allow room for their kicks

WTF taekwondo fighters (heavily focused on kicking) do just the opposite. Their general stance seems to be hands down at their sides.
 

xJOHNx

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ichi monji no kamae?

I blogged about that a while ago.
Yes, the first time I saw it I thought 'WTF? They can't be serious' but after a couple of months it grows on you and it feel quite natural now :)

That and icho monji no kamae (not sure about the spelling)

Yeah, once you get the smoothness of the hip/pelvic area it becomes a strong stance to stand in :)
 

wushuguy

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WTF taekwondo fighters (heavily focused on kicking) do just the opposite. Their general stance seems to be hands down at their sides.

I always wondered why their stance was like that, looks like they trade hits a lot in sparring, but a TKD buddy of mine said that they picked that stance scientifically, to afford greater percentage of coverage while allowing them to deliver kicks...


When I did wing chun, I had a wing chun stance, when studying kali and escrima, my stance and mobility livened up a bit, studying a bit of yi chuan and ng mui, my stance became more solid even during movement. My stances now are still founded on wing chun, rather relaxed and natural posture, but rooting has become natural even during movement. There's no for a preset particular hand positioning, but for the sake of having a guard up, hands can be protective as in a boxing position, or hands up and to the sides as if in a non-threatening "surrender" position, or arms folded across the chest in a non-threatening position, etc.
 

zDom

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Crane stance.

Let's them know I am serious about my karate.
 

zDom

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ichi monji no kamae?

I blogged about that a while ago.
Yes, the first time I saw it I thought 'WTF? They can't be serious' but after a couple of months it grows on you and it feel quite natural now :)


Deep stance like that really doesn't allow quick movement/mobility, though, does it?

Joking post above, btw.

I prefer a 45-degree facing upper body position, feet not to far apart for mobility. Hands depend on situation: am I actually FIGHTING? Sparring? (and what kind of opponent?) or just in a situation in which I am prepared to have to defend myself?
 

Maiden_Ante

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My description of this will probably be somewhat bad since I don't know all the right japanese words so have patience with me. :)

As for my legs, I think "senku sudachi" but without going down low. I want to be able to move somewhat fast. Bended knees, left foot pointing forward and the right one about slightly behind (with some space between them ofc). Right foot 45 degrees to the right.

One hand protecting yodan, the other hand protecting shodan (held a bit in front of me obviously). Stomach a bit to the side to minimize hit-area and to give opportunity for more powerful strikes when swinging the shoulders/hips around.

I'm sorry that I can't explain this in a better manner, I guess this could 1/3 if I knew the correct terms. :)
 
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Shinobi Teikiatsu

Shinobi Teikiatsu

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for all you taijutsu practitioners out there, let me ask you this, do you feel that Ichi Monji allows for good punching? Granted, the lunge punch is the standard punch taught in the system, but how fast can you really strike in the ichi monji position? (and deliver with power)
 

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