Are We Galloping Away From The Horse Stance?

The horse stance (also called "Kima Stance" in TangSooDo) is one of the most common stances in the martial arts. It is found in nearly every martial arts system that deals with striking. In fact, some of the throws in Judo and Jujitsu (such as the throwing escapes from behind where you let your torso drop forward toward the floor in order to throw your attacker) require that you have a solid horse stance in order to be able to execute the technique. People who train in a Chinese Martial Art (such as Shaolin, Wushu, or TaiChi) swear by it. Although TaeBo is a derivative of the martial arts and not a combat oriented system, it also has drills that are done in this stance.

Why is it that the horse stance is so sorely neglected? Is it just neglected by people that practice TangSooDo? No. Perhaps it's neglected because of one simple fact: it HURTS.

Yes, it hurts when you are first learning how to do the horse stance. You will be lucky if you can hold it for more than a few seconds. However, practicing in this stance does have it's benefits:

• stronger legs
• better cardio-vascular endurance
• better mobility
• better balance
• gives you the ability to fend off some leg sweeps and kicks
• is good for building up internal energy.
• is a good fat burner because it works the thighs and the legs
• gives you the ability to fight lower to the ground if needed

I know that a lot of Chinese Martial Arts systems train beginners in the horse stance A LOT. That is because they know that if the student starts off with a good foundation, the more advanced techniques will be stronger in the long run. Yes, you can learn how to hurt people without practicing the horse stance. You don't see boxers standing their with thier legs far apart and they can fight. You see them MOVING. This is true, but I would like to submit one idea for you that I learned from reading about the theories in Tai Chi: STILLNESS PRECEEDS MOTION. For example: I returned to the martial arts after years of not training. I used the boxing drills I learned along with the kicks. I could bob, weave, and slip quite well. BUT: once I started the horse stance practicing, I noticed I had stronger legs. The stronger legs meant that I could move faster, and the faster movement improved my bobbing, weaving, and slipping. My kicks were stronger as well.

Unfortunately, even I don't practice the horse stance as much as I should, and have only recently begun digging it up again. Good thing for me is that the form I am learning--Nahanchi One--is done almost entirely in the stance, so I am getting in my practice and then some. After the Nahanchis I have set a goal of getting up to the point where I can hold the stance for five minutes (it is going to take a while, believe me). It may be a bit ambititous, but hey, we all need goals to strive toward or we stagnate. If a big 6' tall 200 double-plus man like me can try to learn how to do it, why can't the rest of you!

If you think that the horse stance does not really relate to your particular style, think again. If you are training in an empty hand Asian martial art, you are training in a system that has part of it's origins in Chinese gung fu. Some people have even called the non-Chinese styles "watered down Shaolin", but I don't tend to go for that type of elitist thinking. Even the art that I study, TangSooDo, has some Chinese forms. The Okinawans, who taught the Japanese their form of Karate-do, had Chinese influence in their techniques. Since there has been a lot of contact over the thousands of years between the Asian countries in other areas of human activity, it is naive to assume that one applies to one art could not POSSIBLY apply to another. And these days, since we live in an ever shrinking planet, if you have also never been heard of Western Boxing, grappling, street fighting (read "dirty fighting" by some), and Capoera, or ever considered learning Arnis, Escrima, or other weapons systems, OR have never considered learning how to use a firearm, you are a bit behind the curve in the martial arts world. Even I have a hard time keeping up. And don't let a lot of die-hard "traditionalists" fool you; it IS considered TRADITIONAL to cross train. A lot of people may TEACH one style, but they have dipped their hands in the cookie jars of other styles so that they can choke you, jab you, throw you or shoot you if their lives depend on it!