The Mother of all Postures?

[kidswarrior]

Just to complicate matters even more I went digging through my MA mags last night and found a very long interview with Shaolin monk Shi Xing Hao who wanted to respond to all the internet criticism of the carnival show atmosphere unfolding at the main Temple in China.

He says there are now two sides to the Shaolin tradition, the internal fighting arts and the external Wushu displayed for tourists.

"There is no need to keep them too separate, and yet you cant allow them to be too close."

He demonstrated in pictures exactly what the difference is between the Wushu Horse and Arrow stance for the public...and the real stances as they are practiced in private.

Unlike the monks in the clip I posted he keeps his feet parallel for both styles.

You may want to go a little further than mags and check out Phillip Starr's book, Martial Mechanics. It's become a staple referent in my practice. Good pics and better explanations.

Also, P.S. was a member here at one time. May be able to contact him with some of your questions.

 

[Telfer]

You may want to go a little further than mags and check out Phillip Starr's book, Martial Mechanics. It's become a staple referent in my practice. Good pics and better explanations.

Yes I've read it...its an excellent source of thread topic ideas!

I was pleased to find I could do the balloon popping trick.

I have yet to read his first book 'The Making of a Butterfly'.

 

[kidswarrior]

I have yet to read his first book 'The Making of a Butterfly'.

Ditto

 

[Telfer]

One more thing...I was looking through a book on the Indian martial art Kalarippayattu today, and guess what?

They use the horse stance too while doing long breathing exercises...Pranayama.

The stance is not just similar, its exactly the same as the Shaolin monks in the clip I posted...feet pointed out, hands palm to palm!

 

[K-man]

One more thing...I was looking through a book on the Indian martial art Kalarippayattu today, and guess what?

They use the horse stance too while doing long breathing exercises...Pranayama.

The stance is not just similar, its exactly the same as the Shaolin monks in the clip I posted...feet pointed out, hands palm to palm!

Not so surprising when you consider that there are theories that the oriental martial arts originated in India. :asian:

 

[kaizasosei]

Some of the most premium spiritual stuff in india has roots in super ancient zoroastrianism. There are some amazing zoroastrian traces also in azerbaijan. I also find great the teachings of sushruta.

No horse stance no power. The 3 physical and astral powers of the tanden can only be developed by a wide stance. Also good is to have ones chin directly above the hips and not forward. So the forward stances and all low stances are just different variants or degrees of the horse stance. It is sortof like the bridge between crouching and standing. A wide stance is good for many things including fighting/manouvering. Just that one could get kicked in the nuts easier not to mention have one of you legs grabbed. Definately some things to look out for for the clever horse stance fighter. But i think it probably is just as valuable as an exercise if not more valuable.

 

[SahBumNimRush]

Very enlightening posts everyone. The horse stance is used in our dojang as both a leg muscle conditioner, as well as having dynamic uses in fighting/self-defense. The dynamic use of the horse stance in fighting enables you to create a lower center of gravity as well as a laterally stable posture. It also is very useful in take down applications when used dynamically. As with all stances, during an attack the precise timing of waste snap coupled with stance and equal and opposite hand movements all coming to its end point at the exact same time generates an enormous amount of power, and since the legs are the foundation of our body to the ground, they are of vital importance in generating and sustaining power. With a weak stance, all power can be reversed or reduced to be very unaffective. Everything in technique is done for a reason, and assuming your instructor knew how to properly execute them and you learned how to properly execute them, the proof is in the proverbial puddin'

I was unaware of the chi/qi/ki theories behind the posture. Very interesting!

Respectfully,

Benjamin