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6 Stances (Chwa Seh)

• Natural Stance (Cha-yun Seh)

Any stance which feels natural to the average person is a natural stance. It is a relaxed posture with the upper body straight and shoulders natural.

The position in the front line (picture above) is the standard natural stance. Both legs are usually straight within the body line, feet about shoulder width apart, and arms extended slightly forward.

• Horseback-Riding Stance (Kee-mah Seh)

This stance is used for a finishing blow in full power as it provides a very strong base for attacks as well as blocks. Since this is a static stance, one cannot easily move away from or into his opponent using it. This stance is, however, important as a training stance that provides strong balance.

Step sideward with your left foot about twice the standard natural stance width, both feet exactly on a line and hold them stationary. Bend your knees outward and sink down as if mounted on a horse. The hips should be pushed to the rear with your upper body straight, and centered in the middle of both legs. Head and eyes face straight ahead. The chest is open and shoulders relaxed while all muscles on the legs through the hips remain tense. Both feet stay flat on the floor parallel to each other.

• Side Stance (Yup Seh)

The side stance is the same as the horseback-riding stance only it is executed when the opponent is on the side. Very often a short side stance (which is the same as the horseback-riding stance but with the distance between both feet about one and a half times that in the standard natural stance), is used for fast pick-up purposes while stepping or turning on the side. The use of the side stance in free fighting leaves a limited opening for the opponent's counterattack. It is natural to use the side stance as a base when executing side kicks and side punches.

Straight Stepping in Side Stance. Assuming the opponent is on your left side, move into him by bringing your right foot over your left, stepping behind the left, or on a straight line to the side, and pushing out to the left. Reverse the procedure for moving away.

Pivot Stepping in Side Stance. This stepping is executed by pushing off with front or rear foot and pivoting either forward or backward in a tight circle toward or away from the opponent. Keep watching the opponent while turning in either direction. Your knees and hips should always be kept bent as they are in the static position and your head remains on the same level while stepping.

• Forward Stance (Chun-gool Seh)

Forward stance is used for both stationary techniques and for moving in a back or forth direction. This stance provides a means of stepping a comparatively long distance in which the advancing motion of the body provides an additional forward force for punches, strikes, kicks, and blocks. Many find moving in this stance unnatural in the beginning but constant training makes the stance smooth and natural. Forward stance in actual application leaves wide openings on the body, but it provides the strongest body movements and balance. This is one of the most frequently used stances in basic drill.

To make the forward stance from the natural stance, move your right foot diagonally back to a distance of about twice the width of your shoulders. The width of the lines between your left and right feet is about the same as with the original ready position in natural stance. Both feet stay flat on the floor. Your front toes face straight forward and the knee is bent with the lower part of the leg straight up. The toes of your rear foot point in an approximate 30-degree angle to your right, the knee is straight, and the right hip is pushed forward. Your upper body is straight in a front-facing posture with the arms relaxed but the chest is widely open. The distribution of the body weight is about 60 per cent on the front foot and 40 per cent on the rear foot. A half-front facing posture is sometimes made in forward stance.

Stepping in Forward Stance. To step forward from forward stance, first bring your rear foot to the front so your body advancement is made with a natural motion. Then, continue to extend the rear foot forward at about a 30-degree angle toward your right, with the knee slightly bent. While stepping, the right foot travels forward only slightly off the floor with the left knee remaining bent until it locks to straighten the whole leg at the last minute. At the same time the front foot is placed on the floor. The distance and width of the feet in the new forward stance must be about the same as in the previous one.

When a middle punch accompanies the stepping in forward stance, the position of both arms with relation to the body posture remains unchanged, and only when the right foot returns to the floor is the punch delivered with the other hand cocking back. When stepping backward, the whole move begins by bending the rear knee first and repeating the same procedure in reverse direction.

• Back Stance (Hoo-gool Seh)

The distance between the front and rear feet in back stance is shorter than in forward stance and longer than in cat stance, which will be explained in the following section. Therefore, it is applied as an intermediate-distance stance in free fighting. Both offensive and defensive body movements are executed from the back stance, and it is usually made with the body in either a half-front or side-facing posture, although a front-facing posture is occasionally used. This stance generally provides more flexible body movement than forward stance because of the shorter distance between the two legs. Back stance is primarily a mobile stance and is often used in basic form practice. Many karate styles prefer back stance as the main free-fighting stance, because it is easy to shift from it to either a long-distance or short-distance stance.

How to Make Back Stance. To make back stance from a natural-stance ready position, bring your right foot back to form a right angle with the front foot. The distance between the front and rear feet is about one and a half shoulder widths, and the heels of both front and rear feet lie on a straight line toward the opponent, with the front toes facing forward and the rear toes to the right. Both feet stay flat on the floor. The rear leg, hips, and body are on an almost vertical line. The front knee is bent, but it is pressed toward the body to push the body weight toward the rear leg. Therefore, the front foot extends from the body farther than the knee. The upper body stays straight upright whether in a front, half-front, or side-facing posture. About 70 per cent of the body weight is supported by the rear leg.

Stepping in Back Stance. Details of stepping in back stance are covered in later chapters dealing with its application to free fighting. However, some points are worth remembering in order to practice basic-stepping movements.

Any punches, strikes, blocks, and kicks can be effectively practiced while moving in back stance. Stepping from one back stance to another is relatively easier than moving in forward stance, because the distance of stepping is not so great as to require an extra body maneuver. Therefore, the weight transfer is made smoothly in back stance, as both knees are already bent, which makes the stepping smoother by moving the whole body on a straight line without the necessity for raising or lowering it. Caution must be taken to maintain most of the body weight on the rear leg while punching or kicking following the stepping. Avoid the unconscious transfer of the weight to the front foot while striking or punching forward, through lack of control of the thrusting force.

• Cat Stance (Tuit-bal Seh)

Cat stance is made with a narrow distance between the front and rear feet. The body is usually in a front- or half-front facing posture, although a side posture can be used. This stance is most often used for defensive or counterattacking purposes. Some karate styles prefer cat stance to other stances and use it often, because it generally gives a fast pick-up for body shifting and for delivering a kick with the front foot without telegraphing it, since there is almost no weight resting on this foot. However, the body movements executed in cat stance are generally weak because of the short distance through which the move travels, the uneven weight distribution and the lack of body advancement in stepping. Needless to say, cat stance is also a mobile stance.

How to Make Cat Stance. To make cat stance from a natural-stance ready position, bring the right foot directly behind the left foot, so the feet almost touch. Most of the body weight rests on the rear foot which is flat on the floor with the knee slightly bent, while the ball of the front foot simply touches the floor so that it can be easily lifted without shifting the body weight. Tense the rear knee inward to support the forward body direction.

• Others

In addition to those karate stances we have covered, there are many others which are often used in training: even stance, inward bent knee stance, low stance, and short forward stance will be briefly explained in this section.

Even Stance (Koroo Seh). A good example of even stance is side stance; the body weight rests evenly on both front and rear feet. However, even stance is often used in free fighting as a variation of back stance. The toes of both feet point inward, so that the whole body remains tense. The upper body stays straight upward in either a half-front facing or side-facing posture with the eyes watching straight forward along the left leg line. This type of stance can be used in free fighting as a static stance to arm block or guard in a tight position against your opponent's offense, without making a defensive body shift.

Inward Bent Knee Stance (Moorup Ohkoohryo Seh). As a variation of even stance, inward bent knee stance is sometimes used in practicing karate (tae-kwon do) basics in a tense leg position. Both feet remain flat on the floor and toes point in an inward direction. Both knees are bent, tensing inward, with the front knee directly over the big toe of the front foot and the rear knee bending farther inward. The distance between the left and right feet can vary from that of natural stance to that of side stance, and both feet stay somewhere between the side and front direction. From this stance, short hand moves are primarily applied in a side or forward direction. Occasionally this type of stance is used in free fighting to make a sudden stop of the body advancement or to change the direction of motion for a continuous offense.

Low Stance (Natchwoh Seh). Low stance is an extension of forward stance primarily used for hand attacks with a thrusting motion. In general, the distance between the front and rear feet is longer, the diagonal distance between the left and right feet is shorter, and the upper body remains lower than in forward stance. This type of stance results from making a thrusting attack in free fighting, but it also can be used to cover a long distance and ultimately provides a stronger body advancement than regular forward stance. The weight distribution of the body between the long distance of both feet hinders a fast body shift, and the narrow distance between the feet makes the body balance weak from a side angle.

Short Forward Stance (Pahn Chun-gool Seh). As the name implies, short forward stance is very similar to forward stance except the distance between the front and rear feet is less, and the body is higher than in forward stance. The shorter distance between the feet usually provides better mobility for shifting. Because of the shorter distance, the rear knee can sometimes be bent slightly.