Stance Positions

Basic Standing Positions

READY POSITION is a natural posture position.  From it, you can move into any other stance.  When in the stance, the feet are parallel to each other and about one shoulder width apart.  The knees are slightly bent.  Grip the floor with your toes.

MIDDLE STANCE, sometimes called "horse stance" is one of the basic training positions.  The feet are parallel to each other and about two shoulder widths apart.  The knees are pushed out to the sides so that the legs are bowed.  Grip the floor with your toes.  You should feel pressure on the outer edges of your feet if your knees are pushing out properly.  When looked at from the front, the stance should look as if the student is riding a horse.  Since the stance is quite wide, it is very strong from the side.  However, because the stance is not very long, it is very weak from the front and back.

FRONT STANCE is a fighting position. From here, the student can move forward and back, turn and execute many techniques. The feet are parallel to each other and about one and a half shoulder widths apart. The stance is about two shoulder widths long from front to back. The front knee is bent so that the student cannot see the toes of that foot. The knee of the rear leg is straight (locked out). The locking of the rear knee and flexing of the front allows the hips and upper body to squarely face the front. Keep the shoulders directly over the hips. Grip the floor with your toes. This standing position is extremely strong from the front. When pushed from the front, the student should not be able to be moved backward.

BACK STANCE is a fighting stance.  From this position, the student can move forward and back, turn and execute many techniques.  Feet are perpendicular to each other and about one and a half shoulder widths apart.  The heel of the forward foot points to either the heel of the midpoint of the base foot.  The forward knee is bent and in line with the foot.  The knee of the base leg is also bent, and pushed out to the side.  The shoulders are directly over the hips and square.  The upper body faces the same direction as the base foot, but head looks in the direction of the forward foot.  Grip the floor with your toes.  This stance is extremely strong from the side.  In fact, when pushed from the side, the student should not be able to be moved backward.  Also, when done correctly, the student should be able to kick with the lead leg without having to shift his/her weight.

REAR STANCE is a fighting position.  The student can move forward and back, turn and perform many techniques.  When in the stance, the feet are perpendicular to each other and about 3/4 shoulder widths apart.  The heel of the forward foot points to either the heel of the midpoint of the base foot.  The forward knee is bent and in line with the foot.  The heel of the forward is just off the floor.  The knee of the base leg is slightly bent.  The shoulders are directly over the hips and square.  The upper body faces the same direction as the base foot, but the student’s head looks in the direction of the forward foot.  Grip the floor with your toes.  This position is excellent for kicking, since their is only a little weight on the forward foot.  Most of the body’s weight in on the rear foot.