Mobility Vs Stability

[GouRonin]

Many of the traditional arts stress low stances etc for stability, however, many modern arts stress mobility over stability. Which do you think your art stresses, why and to what benefit?

 

[fist of fury]

Stability and rooting are a big part of our art. But we still don't sacrfice mobility it just seems that way at first. Since we attack with 3 limbs at once balance and stability are important if you loose your balance and fall over then it's all over.

 

[Rob_Broad]

I believe you have to find the happy balnce between stability and mobility. The great thing with American kenpo the width of your stances is based on your body size, not some arbitrary distance. With the idea of tailoring in American Kenpo you decide/create the amount of stability/mobility neededby you.

 

[Cthulhu]

I think Okinawa-te stresses stability a little more than mobility. This can easily be seen by the reliance of a wide horse stance as a training tool. The forms can have more mobility, but they still have deeply rooted stances throughout.

This far into my FMA training (which ain't very far), I'd say my first impressions are that the FMA stress mobility over rooted stances. Granted, there is room for interpretation, but the ability to quickly zone off or move in and out of the ranges seems to be very important. That, and I don't think it's a good idea to just stand there when someone's swingin' a rattan stick at yer noggin'.

I think ideally one should train for some combination of both that would best suit your own body type and ability.

Cthulhu

 

[tshadowchaser]

I teach mainly Sikaran but I start my students out leaning the Oakinawan stances. I want them to be stable and well rooted when they deliver a punch and when they miss a block and get kicked. After a while I start them moveing more and learning a less static way of fighting. If a student stays long enough they lean to flow between static and mobile
Shadow

 

[Cthulhu]

Originally posted by tshadowchaser

I teach mainly Sikaran but I start my students out leaning the Oakinawan stances. I want them to be stable and well rooted when they deliver a punch and when they miss a block and get kicked. After a while I start them moveing more and learning a less static way of fighting. If a student stays long enough they lean to flow between static and mobile
Shadow

Interestingly enough, that's pretty much how my training ended up. My Okinawa-te training relied heavily on horse stances, with forward, back, cat stances tossed in here and there. Now, with my FMA training, I'm getting a bit more mobile (I hope).

Cthulhu

 

[KenpoTess]

What say some of the newer members

*reviving a good thread*

 

[7starmantis]

Well, I'm not neccessarily a new member, but I'll chime in.
Of course I train in CMA and everyone knows our infamous deep stances. But I think its important to understand that mobility is extremely important. Especially in mantis. We do train deep well rooted stances but not just static. You should be able to move quickly and effectively without loosing that deep root. The transition between deep stances is the important part, not the holding of a deep stance (but it makes a great training tool).

So I would say both are important, but must be maintained together to be effective.

7sm

 

[Jade Tigress]

Well, I'm not neccessarily a new member, but I'll chime in.
Of course I train in CMA and everyone knows our infamous deep stances. But I think its important to understand that mobility is extremely important. Especially in mantis. We do train deep well rooted stances but not just static. You should be able to move quickly and effectively without loosing that deep root. The transition between deep stances is the important part, not the holding of a deep stance (but it makes a great training tool).

So I would say both are important, but must be maintained together to be effective.

7sm

I train Sil Lum Kung Fu and can say ditto to 7sm's post. Deep stances are crucial in our system too, but we are not static. We move quickly and effectively. If you're center of gravity is too high you are more easily knocked off balance. I would think both stability and mobility are important in any art. We train both but low stances are integral to southern style Kung Fu systems. We also use alot of kicks and are very mobile.

 

[Andrew Green]

What say some of the newer members

*reviving a good thread*

I think you'll have to change your title from "Queen of pain" to "Zombie Queen" if you keep this up

Anyways,

Are the two mutually exclusive?

 

[KenpoTess]

I think you'll have to change your title from "Queen of pain" to "Zombie Queen" if you keep this up

Anyways,

Are the two mutually exclusive?

Ahems.. I'm just doing my job

 

[Andrew Green]

Ahems.. I'm just doing my job

Of course, and that title would reflect it

 

[Danny T]

I have had training in several arts over the past 40 years and all of the arts I have been involved in other than Pekiti-Tirsia, stressed stability in the beginning. The training is such to develop the leg strength in-order to maintain stability utilizing normal upright stances down to very low or deep stances. This doesn’t mean that is how the stance will be utilized in a fight. Stances are fleeting, but an instance in time. Once the leg strength is there, then mobility becomes quite important. There may be moments when the stance must hold extreme pressure yet in the next moment become mobile. Therefore both are important. Pekiti stresses from the beginning to be mobile and light from the beginning and rooted and stable as you progress through the system. I feel too often we get caught up in what stance should I use. Positioning is important and how to transition from one position to another is more so. In order to be effective, one needs Mobility, Agility and Stability.

Danny T

 

[still learning]

Hello, You will need both mobility and stability for fighing. You can't separate the two.

Watching boxing matches and Thai boxing. You have to move fast and you need a very strong stances to make hits/block work.

Old traditions have you practice in deep stances to build a strong foundation. Football lines men get set in deep stances and once the ball is hike they need mobility to block.

Study animals and you will see mobility first, but trap them and you will see strong stances before attacking.

Only old schools fight with deep stances, today you will need to move quickly.

I rather move out of the way than block you replies..........Aloha

 

[Icewater]

I think the point has been made, but the low stances that we train in CMA are to build the strength in our legs for both indurance and stability. I have used some low stances in the past to change heights on an attacker, but rarely stay that low because it wastes energy and I am less mobile.

 

[bdparsons]

Coming from a background of Kenpo and Hapkido it may be too obvious to state that learning both stability and mobility are crucial. What may be a bit different is that it's been my experience with these arts that learning both aspects in stances and maneuvering begins quite early in an individual's exposure. The sooner someone learns the relationship/give and take between the two, the sooner they will become comfortable with both. The "feel" of how to move and/or root comes quicker and more naturally. Does this mean that solid basics should be glossed over to get from one state to another? Absolutely not. It's my position as an instructor to ingrain the relationship between the two as one aspect of the basics. Whether it's a good neutral bow in Kenpo, or the art of the in-place pivot in Hapkido (examples only), the beginning student should be thinking almost right off the bat "How stable am I?" and "What would be necessary for me to move if I had to?"

I'm sure there will be more than a few instructors that may say, "Too much! Too soon!" To which I say, "Don't shortchange your student's intelligence (even or should I say 'especially' children)." Beginning students are open to nearly everything they're exposed to, if the relationship between stability and mobility is taught early and properly, it will become second nature quickly.

Just another voice crying in the wilderness.

Respects,
Bill Parsons
Triangle Kenpo Institute

 

[still learning]

Hello, Most people run standing up.....ever run in the squat postion?

One can hit very hard in the mobility position....don;t we do this all the time? ................Aloha

 

[MJS]

I would think that you'd want to have an equal balance of both. You'd want to be mobile rather than stiff and rigid. On the other hand, you also want to have stability when you're throwing your strikes.

Mike

 

[bcbernam777]

Both are equally as important and therefore both should be equally trained. One of the reasons I love Wing Chun is because it trains both of these aspects very effectivly.

 

[samurai69]

Both are equally as important and therefore both should be equally trained. One of the reasons I love Wing Chun is because it trains both of these aspects very effectivly.

I agree, i also studied wing chun which prometed both, i study aikido now where everything is about stability through movement,