Shinobi Teikiatsu
Green Belt
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?
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?