Horse stance

[Seeker of Wisdom]

I've seen horse stance mentioned as a powerful exercise; so I'd like to hear more, and will be trying it for a while.

 

I tried it for the first time today, and now have a warmth in my lower spine, perhaps kundalini stirring a tad - though that could be from my other practices.

 

What exactly does horse stance do, and any other comments on it?

Edited February 27, 2013 by Seeker of the Self

[adept]

http://longwhitecloudkungfu.com/2010/07/horsestance-training-–-10-reasons-why-you-should-do-it/

 

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

Edited February 27, 2013 by adept

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

Well as long as sinfe-Protector is all serious about it, im sure he'll have pearls of horsedom to drop in.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

http://longwhitecloudkungfu.com/2010/07/horsestance-training-–-10-reasons-why-you-should-do-it/

 

YAY!

[GrandmasterP]

You have come to the right place.

Sinfest/Protector on here is the guru of Horse Stance.

Our horse has his old avatar picture pinned up in its stable, the guy is so revered by horses that he's almost a demi-god to them.

[Protector]

haha

 

Hey look, finally another horse stance thread!

 

It makes yang energy shoot out by itself, the pain and the heat makes it do that but you need to direct it to do something. If you leave it as it is, it will just make you more healthy.

Through micro-fractures your legs will obviously get stronger in the bones, any movement makes your bones have very small cracks that get filled and over time your bones get stronger. It's like when you break your arm and then later break your arm again, it will never break in the same spot because the healed part became more reinforced. Stupid wiki has nothing on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microdamage_in_bone

 

Horse stance also encourages the creation of more fresh blood. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hematopoietic_stem_cell This blood is very good for you, like most blood is, all the renewal makes you live longer. I bet all the fresh blood is the main reason why most kung fu masters who don't do any qi gong still live a lot longer, unlike the Olympic athletes who are shortening their lifespan while doing similar exercises, though kung fu is more static.

 

The fresh blood also helps with the memory, in the mind and the body. Or maybe it's just the pain, you will remember everything if you feel like you're going to die. I hear in the olden times even the studying was done in the horse stance, and not just the martial artists.

 

There's so much pain, and the pain is good for the nerves. There's a lot of meditations and such for making oneself feel good and experience bliss, but these practices dull the system. Think about it, pain is so awful that you want to escape it but you stay still in the horse stance. Chi follows the course of less resistance, it will find a way. You will think of reasons to stop, your body will shake and try to get away. BUT WHEN YOU'RE DONE YOU FEEL REFRESHED. Pain signifies damage and you want to stop damaging yourself, but there's no damage and only pain. So much energy wants to escape from pain, that's when you direct it where you want it. In horse stance you have a lot more energy then you can normally summon yourself, it's your power that comes from the will to survive from your core or your root, if you will.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sciatic_nerve

That's where all the yang energy comes from, yang is the active side and the warmth. Chi powers the intention(chi > yi) so whatever you do while you have all this power becomes more powerful. That's why a lot of people practice punches in a horse stance, but it has to be painful, it always has to be.

There are more specific postures for the horse stance where the energy gets directed into a more specific area. You can stretch out your arm and keep pushing and you might even feel the wall. If you can just summon the will to survive, you can do things that might seem impossible.

[RiverSnake]

I always found Tai Chi very enjoyable, but one of the reasons I never really got fully into it was because it was to easy and not intense or difficult enough for me. Sounds like this would be something great to integrate into my practice when I am able to start again. I am curious does Horse Stance have any Internal Development benefits?

 

My 2 cents, Peace

Edited February 28, 2013 by OldGreen

[Protector]

If you know the intentions of each move, you can hold them down to get a better effect from them

Here's a Xingyi example

 

 

This posture is supposed to be held like the horse stance and the visualization part is called the six direction force, head suspended from a string, palm is pushing forward, right index points left , left thumb points right, middle of the back backwards, and either dan tien is made heavy to point downwards or the tailbone needs to feel like it's touching the ground.

 

Each posture in Tai Chi needs to be held down with the right intentions, too. For example, san ti shi looks like part of the opening move. In Yang style you stand on one leg most of the time so that's almost like doing the horse stance through the whole thing.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

Hey, i am falling for the horse stance propaganda. kudos sinpro

[GreytoWhite]

Hey Old Green hit up Nick Scrima in your neck of the woods. Taiji is quite challenging when done properly in a martial manner.

[GreytoWhite]

Oh sorry, looks like he moved to Tampa. Don't know who to bug in the Miami area for some martially oriented taijiquan.

[Cheshire Cat]

In the past, people like us (who were called mystic at that time) had only Christianity to play with...

they haven't Zhan Zhuang, but we know that many Saints (especially orthodox) used to pray with their arms raised to the sky in a rudimentary form of the standing exercise.... for hours of course.

We know that St. Seraphim did it for few nights in a row after he was severely wounded at the spine.

[Seeker of Wisdom]

Wow, great posts. I'll try chanting the Zhunti mantra when in horse stance, direct the chi to the heart that way.

 

Is there a version for opening the central channel?

Edited February 28, 2013 by Seeker of the Self

[JustBHappy]

I always found Tai Chi very enjoyable, but one of the reasons I never really got fully into it was because it was to easy and not intense or difficult enough for me. Sounds like this would be something great to integrate into my practice when I am able to start again. I am curious does Horse Stance have any Internal Development benefits?

 

My 2 cents, Peace

If Tai Chi is too easy or not difficult enough, then your clearly doing it wrong.

 

It can be as easy or difficult as you want to make it. One of the most obvious ways is to simply slow it down. Do the form normally and time yourself. If it takes you 10 minutes, then try doing it slower so it takes 20,30, 40, or an hour.

 

Take individual postures such as An, Dan Pien, Ji, or Peng, and hold them for 10-20 minutes or more with a goal of working up to an hour. See how relaxed you can get while holding correct form. See how perfect you can get your form.

 

If all of this is too easy or not difficult enough for you then you are one of the top Tai Chi Masters ever! From my standpoint, it's impossible to ever master an art like Tai Chi, or even a simple horse stance for that matter. There is always room for improvement no matter how many decades a person has been practicing. If it was easy, then it could be mastered in a decade or less.

 

All the true masters I have been lucky enough to train with, practice diligently every single day of their lives working towards mastery. On the other hand, the arrogant lazy charlatans stop practicing, get fat, write books, and go around telling everyone what a great master they are.

[zerostao]

If you know the intentions of each move, you can hold them down to get a better effect from them

Here's a Xingyi example

 

 

This posture is supposed to be held like the horse stance and the visualization part is called the six direction force, head suspended from a string, palm is pushing forward, right index points left , left thumb points right, middle of the back backwards, and either dan tien is made heavy to point downwards or the tailbone needs to feel like it's touching the ground.

 

Each posture in Tai Chi needs to be held down with the right intentions, too. For example, san ti shi looks like part of the opening move. In Yang style you stand on one leg most of the time so that's almost like doing the horse stance through the whole thing.

thanks for sharing about san ti shi, a stance so useful, that an entire IMA springs from it.

i have gone spontaneous from san ti shi, i dont remember ever going spontaneous from horse stance.

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

what does horse stance genuinely fall under, or is it entirely independent?


Qi Gong?

Taijiquan?

Yoga?

[adept]

Gong Fu

[Seeker of Wisdom]

I'll try chanting the Zhunti mantra when in horse stance, direct the chi to the heart that way.

 

That definitely adds something. It felt like a gathering force was trying to go up the central channel to the heart chakra. The h.c. and tailbone are warm, and there's a little pressure on something that feels like a flap or valve inside the h.c.

[i am]

I'll need to check out some horse stance instruction. There was a time that I thought zhan zhaung and horse stance were the same thing, but clearly not.

 

There's a ton of online info on standing properly. Similar resources for not hurting myself (really actually hurting myself) in horse stance?

[Vanir Thunder Dojo Tan]

Gong Fu

 

Is that a particularly strict association?

[GRANTGRANT]

I want to know about the heat/pulsation in the base of the spine, is it just normal or kundalini?

( i am doing the stance and then basic meditation in the mornin)

Edited February 28, 2013 by Homserat Tember

[Seeker of Wisdom]

Well, Homserat, I get that heat to some extent from all my practices, and it's a common experience. I think it's just a sign of more chi flowing, and kundalini waking up slightly. No worries.

Edited February 28, 2013 by Seeker of the Self

[Protector]

Not using the hands, are we?

[Seeker of Wisdom]

I just have fists at my waist, like this: http://www.shaolin.org/images-3/general-5/horse-stance04.jpg

 

Tips regarding hand position?

Edited February 28, 2013 by Seeker of the Self

[Lemon_Squeezy]

Like any high-quality chi kung practice, it may be best not to learn or practice the Horse Stance from books. Otherwise, you could have deviations.

Any deviation now, will result in you being thousands of miles away a decade later.

 

The Horse Stance is a method evolved over thousands of years by chi kung practitioners to develop internal force. Why try to outsmart this wisdom? It is best to seek a qualified teacher, who should look healthy and radiant and full of internal ofrce himself.