Horse Stance

[CloudChaser]

hi, i'm a martial arts newbie, and i need help with a bit of the basics here... my horse stance is especially weak... i still pretty much totter or topple over backwards when someone pushes me... where should i be centering the weight on my feet so i don't lose balance so easily?

any advice would be greatly appreciated! thanks! :asian:

 

[Ceicei]

Go lower and bend your knees a little bit more, be sure to keep your back straight. Your feet should be about as wide as your shoulders.

- Ceicei

 

[KenpoTess]

Hi CloudChaser.. welcome to the Board

Easy way to get into a good horse stance is to stand with your feet together.. then push your heels out (so you're pigeon-toed), then your toes out so your (duck-footed) then pigeon toed again, (knees should be shoulder width apart) (you don't want your toes to be pointing outward, bend your knees and Sit down, keep your back straight , weight should be evenly distributed on both feet, push your knees out, tuck your butt under, You shouldn't be able to see your feet when looking down.
Eventually with practice, the deeper the horsestance you'll achieve.

Hope this helps

Tess

 

[rmcrobertson]

If you ski, it's a snowplow...

relax your shoulders and neck; try to tuck your butt in, keep your chin up, and get your weight a) towards the outsides of your feet, b) (harder still) back on your heels.

You will have trouble with keeping your heels out, and your knees bent.

If the tops of your thighs start to burn, you're doin' it right...but don't go completely nuts for a while.

And breathe; breathing is perfectly OK up through Brown belt.

But please note: the advice only really works for American kenpo. Other styles should do it that way, but don't...

 

[Blindside]

Tess and Ceicei gave good advice.

I will add that you should try to grip the floor with your toes, particularly the big toe. This will even our the weight over the foot, most people are too heel heavy in this stance.

Lamont

 

[KenpoTess]

Yeppers about the weight on outside of the foot, I tend to leave that out as my right foot was paralyzed for a few years (from back surgery) and that's one area I still don't 'feel'
Good advice

 

[Blindside]

If you ski, it's a snowplow...relax your shoulders and neck; try to tuck your butt in, keep your chin up, and get your weight a) towards the outsides of your feet, b) (harder still) back on your heels.

Hi Robert,

This makes it sound like your horse stance is pigeon toed (toes in), is this correct?

And I do think its funny that our advice sounds like it completely contradicts the other.

Lamont

 

[rmcrobertson]

Yep. Part of the general theory has to do with opening, "lines of entry," when you splay the toes out. It also has to do with some claims about movement, since the same would apply to a neutral bow.

 

[Chronuss]

Originally posted by KenpoTess
You shouldn't be able to see your feet when looking down.
Eventually with practice, the deeper the horsestance you'll achieve.

exactly...if you're in you're own "natural" horse stance, your knees should block out the view of your feet. weight should be equally distributed along the feet. theoretically, you should be able to hold double the weight when in a correct horse stance...we usually display this by having two extra people stand on the quads of the one in the stance...usually we stand on Seig.

 

[pete]

all this feet stuff... whoof. the best advice i have is to keep the inside edges of your big toes parallel and straight ahead... this will make you feel as if they are pointing in, but they are not.

knees should bent, to the point just before your thighs start trembling. tuck your pelvis in and sit back.

your weight should feel distributed evenly across the whole foot, and balanced evenly between both feet and a third imaginary foot directly below your tail bone.

try to get the feeling that your head is being pulled up while your tailbone is being weighted down. this will keep your back straight. if you can, try to get the feeling that your lower back is reaching to the back of the room.

relax the upper body completely, and release the power only at the apex of a strike.

hope this helps...

pete

 

[CloudChaser]

thanks for all the excellent tips, everyone! so the proper distribution of weight should be balanced throughout, but mostly on the outside and back of the heels then? i never thought about gripping with the big toe but i'll give it a try...

how long should a beginner be able to hold a good horse stance and what's a reasonable length of time i should be aiming for? i'll postpone from asking ppl to stand on my thighs for the time being, heh...