proper horse stance...

[Non]

ok ok.

 

People at my school say horse stance is this:

 

feet HAVE to be pointing forward as much as possible, meanwhilst the femur bones (upper legs) are pretty much parallel to the ground.

 

Wth? How do you do that?

 

I mean in front of the mirror I can do something like it, but it's never perfect. My feet are never able to be completely pointing forward.. they point outside a bit. If I try anymore the insides of my feet raise. Also I'm pretty sure my knees go past my toes anteriorly.

[Non]

also is there a difference between the southern and northern horse stance? What are they if so?

[doc benway]

Our guys will accept a little toe out, thighs parallel, knee over toe, sit back enough to feel the tension in the thighs.

They are northern. I never studied southern.

[NeiChuan]

I believe southern allows toes out a bit more. Aswell as thighes being wider apart.

 

The tail bone usually isn't tucked in southern aswell, so all the energy (pain) is directed to the thighs. While northern to deter the pain, the tail bone is tucked, and the glutes are targeted aswell.

 

The whole knees over toes thing isn't an amazing rule being your knees can be slightly over them/ahead even. Just keep your knees right above your feet. Keep the burn in your thighs not your knees.

 

And if you think your knees are too weak for it, condition them with high reps of squats for a couple weeks.

 

I'll add another post on actually doing horse stance, rather than just correct.

 

Neichuan

[doc benway]

The tail bone usually isn't tucked in southern aswell, so all the energy (pain) is directed to the thighs. While northern to deter the pain, the tail bone is tucked, and the glutes are targeted aswell.

 

 

Some northerners do this as well - tail bone not tucked, sit back, stress the thighs.

It's quite impressive how sitting back just a tiny bit can dramatically increase the work of the thighs.

[Non]

well.. Our school stresses keeping the butt in as opposed to out, which keeps the back straighter and not tilted forward. The knees push out so there's a stretch being felt (supposedly), it's the boxed type of horse stance. and the curriculum is mostly northern until you advance and you're taught cheung kune pai(southern emperor's longfist) and also some hung gar and southern praying mantis. It's mixed I know..

[zerostao]

dang i hate horse stance

http://www.shaolin.org/general-2/horse-stance.html

[thelerner]

dang i hate horse stance

http://www.shaolin.org/general-2/horse-stance.html

 

I've always kinda liked it since long practice periods from my Shotokan Karate days. Not too much structural details, just Lower, Lower & Your only as strong as your Horse.

 

Since then I'll tuck my tail bone when I do it. I walk like a duck so I my feet are a bit angled.

[ChiDragon]

ok ok.

 

People at my school say horse stance is this:

 

feet HAVE to be pointing forward as much as possible, meanwhilst the femur bones (upper legs) are pretty much parallel to the ground.

 

The goal is to have the upper legs parallel to the ground, but not for a beginner. A novice starts with 15 degrees with the Vertical ground, then increase the angle progressively to 25, 35, 45 degrees and so on until 90 degrees. Do the 15 degree for 15 minutes then increase the time limits as the days go by.

Edited June 16, 2011 by ChiDragon

[Harmonious Emptiness]

dang i hate horse stance

http://www.shaolin.org/general-2/horse-stance.html

 

Awesome link! I found this especially interesting:

 

[following horse-stance or chi kung training]

 

"Whether you bring your feet together in an ordinary way, or perform “Chi Focusing at Dan Tian”, remain standing upright in a totally relaxed manner with your arms hanging comfortably at your sides. Then think of nothing and do nothing for 5 to 10 minutes. This thinking of nothing and doing nothing is most important. If you relaxed sufficiently, you will find yourself swaying gently due to your internal chi flow. This is called in Shaolin Kungfu in Chinese (Cantonese pronounciation) as Yew Foong Pai Lau, or “Flowing Breeze and Swaying Willows”, sometimes read in classics but seldom understood by the uninitiated.

 

“Flowing Breeze and Swaying Willows” is one of the secrets in Shaolin Kungfu. As far as I know, I am the first person to explain it in public. If you do not perform “Flowing Breeze and Swaying Tree” after horse-riding stance or any chi kung exercise, you would lose more than half the benefits. It is this “Flowing Breeze and Swaying Willows” that generates the internal force in the horse-riding training, without which it becomes merely physical exercise."

Edited June 15, 2011 by Harmonious Emptiness

[ChiDragon]

[Otis]

One of the dangers of following forms is that the form is supposed to describe the optimum stance, not always the necessary one. But it often gets translated as: if you're not doing this specific stance, then you're doing it wrong.

 

Whereas, the stance that (I think) one should start at, is the one that makes sense for your body, right now. Once you find some comfort, then there's no reason you can't ease your way toward the optimum stance. But respect your body, over the rules that arose from the movement of someone else, who has likely been dead for centuries.

 

Forcing a stance on a body that's not yet ready to cooperate, is putting the outer over the inner, form over function, appearance over ease. Outward-in is all ego. That is all exactly opposite from a path of growth, IME. The form is there to serve the organism, not the other way around.