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The Basic Stance

Before beginning the practice of Meditation it is important to define the physical stance that you are going to adopt in order to meditate. The Chinese call this stance the ‘Mar Bou’ or ‘horse-riding stance’, and a variation of it exists in every martial art that I have ever studied. As my Martial Art studies continued, I realized that there was only one correct way for this stance to be taken in order to locate the body’s centre of gravity at the Tan T'ien, channel gravity correctly through the skeleton and finely tune the physiological balancing mechanisms in the body. When you stand correctly in Mar Bou the force of gravity holding you to the planet and your bodies center of gravity are brought together. The force of gravity holds us to the planet and holds the planets in orbit to each other and is a force of incomprehensible magnitude yet we can experience it directly as it flows through us. Every physical object has a center of gravity that is a place where the force of gravity predominates or concentrates when these two aspects (the force of gravity and it’s center of gravity) are not aligned then the object will be imbalanced. This is what occurs when you lean forward or back, the force of gravity moves up and away from your center of gravity. If you stand correctly in Mar Bou the force of gravity locates down into the Tan Tien (your center of gravity). Moreover the force of gravity has a tremendous effect on our blood supply when we stand correctly with a strong foundation the upper body can relax more which allows the force of gravity to pull the blood down in your body which induces a different blood circulation which helps to stop energy rising in your body. When Bodidharma (see here) originally instructed the monks in this stance he was quite specific: the feet should be parallel, the fists held upwards at the level of the waist, the knees slightly bent and the weight evenly distributed. In the original Kung Fu schools it was not uncommon for a new student to practice nothing but the Basic Stance for a year or longer, such was the importance that was placed upon it. It is the most balanced posture that a human being can stand in and by taking this physical posture you begin to affect your balance, which through the Principle of Resonation affects other areas of your functioning such as your mind and emotions. What follows is a description of this stance starting from the feet and working upwards to the top of the head. I will go into various aspects of ‘Mar Bou’ in more detail as you progress through the Meditation exercises, but for now follow the description whilst referring to Photographs 1 and 2. There are also instructional videos available for this and other techniques throughout the course of the book. Please click on the hyperlink next to the relevant technique to view it.

An introduction to the instructional videos can be found here: http://bmsmartialart.com/iwv

Marbou or the Basic Stance:

http://bmsmartialart.com/marbou-horse-riding-stance-iwv

1 Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart to provide a wider base and therefore more stability to your upright structure (see Align the Body). The wider you put your feet the more leverage you can get from the ground, but you lose mobility; the closer your feet are together the more mobility you can get, but you lose leverage.

2 Make sure that your feet are parallel to each other. This is crucial for correct alignment of the body – having your feet parallel is the natural placement for them, which means that the ligaments in the feet and the knees will be strengthened and balanced correctly in accordance with gravity (see The Art of Walking).

3 Bend slightly at the knees. Bending at the knees lowers the centre of gravity in the body, locating it to the Tan T'ien. Bending the knees works closely with the width of your stance to give you balance between power (from the ground) and mobility. The bend in the knees should allow you to drop your centre by approximately 6 inches, which is the optimum place for the centre of gravity to be located and also makes the body feel more grounded, which affects the mind and the emotions.

4 Make sure your spine is straight. A straight spine is the most essential ingredient in maintaining our biomechanical health. It also allows us to judge distance accurately (an indispensable self-defence skill).

5 Make sure you are not leaning forwards as in Photograph 3, or backwards as in Photograph 4.

6 Adjust the angle of your head by tucking your chin in slightly; try to feel that there is a string pulling you up from the top of your head.

7 Hold your hands in a loose fist at about the same level as the navel, gently touching the sides of the body. Tuck your thumbs outside the fist. The hands and arms are not essential for maintaining uprightness but we need to give them an exact form and place when meditating.

Take your time to learn the Basic Stance correctly. It might seem a bit boring but its effects on your health and your ability to practice holistic self-defence are far-reaching. It is this physical stance that forms the root of all other physical positions and techniques; also, by giving a precise form to our physicality we take a great step in bringing form to our thoughts and emotions.