What's the point in having stances on forms?

[Flying Crane]

Umm I'm not really new to training. Been training for 5 years. And I get what u saying


-Julian

Ok, I must have misread an earlier post, I thought you had just begun.

If you get what I am saying, then does that help answer your question? The stances in the forms, and the transitions between stances in your forms, should be helping you develop that connection that drives your techniques from your feet and legs. Focus on that very specifically, when practicing your forms. If your school is fight/self defense focused, and not XMA or performance focused, then your forms should be a tool for developing your skills. They are a training tool, not performance art.

 

[FlamingJulian]

I know it can be difficult to remember which stance goes where when you learn a form, and that can be frustrating, but they do have value.

Maybe we could give you some examples that are actually from your forms. What forms does your school teach? (Taegeuk forms, Palgwe forms, Chang Hon forms, etc.)

WTF school. Teaches Kibon Il Jang- Taegeuk Pal Jang. Koryo for black belt


-Julian

 

[FlamingJulian]

Ah, but the point of doing them then was so that they would be more "natural" now - and not feel complicated. That time that feels like it could have been spent elsewhere is why your stances are what they are today. Leave that out, and much else would become more complicated.

True


-Julian

 

[Dirty Dog]

WTF school. Teaches Kibon Il Jang- Taegeuk Pal Jang. Koryo for black belt


-Julian

You mean KKW school. The WTF does not have schools, nor a curriculum, nor award ranks.
Kukkiwon. Not WTF.

 

[Touch Of Death]

You mean KKW school. The WTF does not have schools, nor a curriculum, nor award ranks.
Kukkiwon. Not WTF.

This guy know WTF he is talking about.

 

[Touch Of Death]

There was another organization who's initial fit with, I'm a Terrible Fighter, but I don't remember which.

 

[JR 137]

There was another organization who's initial fit with, I'm a Terrible Fighter, but I don't remember which.

I wish I could rate this as hilarious rather than just funny.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

This guy know WTF he is talking about.

Does anyone know if they ended up changing their name/initials to prevent jokes like this?

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Is there a benefit to stances in forms (poomsae, kata....)? They're so complicated and idk they just don't make sense ugh!

If you train "hip throw", you need to learn "horse stance". After you have found out that if your horse stance is

- too wide or too narrow,
- too high or too low,
- ...

it won't work well, you will then find the correct horse stance.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

If you train "hip throw", you need to learn "horse stance". After you have found out that if your horse stance is

- too wide or too narrow,
- too high or too low,
- ...

it won't work well, you will then find the correct horse stance.

By this logic, why do different styles have a high horse stance and a low horse stance? One would think that they would be unable to do certain movements if the entire style is doing the horse stance too high and narrow.

 

[Juany118]

Stances serve all different purposes. Some stances you fight in, some you just train in but they all serve a purpose.

 

[WaterGal]

WTF school. Teaches Kibon Il Jang- Taegeuk Pal Jang. Koryo for black belt

To clarify Dirty Dog's post, which is correct but IMO slightly pedantic.... the World Taekwondo Federation is actually the sports organization that oversees Taekwondo competition, while Kukkiwon ("The World Taekwondo Headquarters") is the governing body for this style of Taekwondo. My understanding is that, because Kukkiwon is part of the Korean government, they can't be the world governing body for the sport of Taekwondo for geopolitical reasons. So they started the WTF to handle that end of things, and the WTF is now more famous than Kukkiwon, so schools tend to use that name to describe their style of Taekwondo instead. But when you get your black belt, the certificate will say it's from Kukkiwon and have the KKW President's signature on it.

Anyway, that aside......

Let me give you two examples from Taekgeuk Pahl-Jang.

Think about the "middle line" of the form, where you do a front kick to the left and right. The tiger stance loads all your weight on the back leg and has your front leg just touching the ground, which allows you to snap out a kick with that front leg very fast. Then, you drop into a front stance in order to close the distance between you and your opponent and get into punching range. Then, after punching them, you retreat back into tiger stance to block their imaginary counterattack.

Now, think about the "bottom line" of the form. You block your opponent's strike while in a back stance, which gives you a very narrow profile. Then, after you block, you grab your opponent with your open hand and shift over into a front stance, which gives you the stability to pull them in and give them an elbow strike-backfist-punch right in the face.

 

[Balrog]

I agree with all the concepts of weight control, power generation, etc. I'll also add that they are a training aid in learning self-control and self-discipline.

 

[Jedmus]

Stances may be difficult and take a while to learn but they are there for good reason. Stances help you to understand your weight control, how to generate power and also your coordination when performing techniques

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

By this logic, why do different styles have a high horse stance and a low horse stance? One would think that they would be unable to do certain movements if the entire style is doing the horse stance too high and narrow.

The height of a horse stance is not the issue. When you lift weight from the ground and over your shoulder, you have to change from a low stance to medium stance, high stance, and then to straight legs.

It's the width of the horse stance that can be an issue. If your horse stance is too

- wide, your opponent can "spring" your leg from inside out,
- narrow, your opponent can "sweep" your leg from outside in,

and take you down.

 

[JowGaWolf]

By this logic, why do different styles have a high horse stance and a low horse stance? One would think that they would be unable to do certain movements if the entire style is doing the horse stance too high and narrow.

This is true. Certain techniques only work at certain stance height levels.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

This is true. Certain techniques only work at certain stance height levels.

Agreed. This is precisely why some styles use different stance heights - it facilitates specific techniques. Of course, some techniques can also be altered to fit a different stance, but that's another discussion entirely (given that it may change which principles are used, so is it actually the same technique?).