[QUOTE=A BIONIC LEG;1229390]
I do want too get something out of the way however. I get the biggest kick (no pun intend however funny) out of no educated or ignorant individuals that view “stances” as the only way martial artists fight. “Hang on let me get into my stance” bwahahahahaha always makes me laugh REALLY hard. I believe that stance training in general is to increase flexibility and strength required to execute different techniques.[/QUOTE]
Well, yes, the name of the technique, MA BU, means horse STEP not horse stance. It is a common misconception. All of the kung fu steps are methods of walking and transferring weight or lifting/squating momentarily as opposed to static postures. They are dynamic movements.
The static postures are used to develop strength and flexibility and agility. If you can do the most extreme movements then moving in the normal frame of movement is effortless.
[QUOTE=RenDaHai;1229422]All of the kung fu steps are methods of walking and transferring weight or lifting/squating momentarily as opposed to static postures. They are dynamic movements.[/QUOTE]
When talking about kung fu step, if you want to change from horse stance into a left bow-arrow stance, will you turn your right foot on your ball or on your heel? The longfist way is to turn on the ball.
[QUOTE=YouKnowWho;1229426]When talking about kung fu step, if you want to change from horse stance into a left bow-arrow stance, will you turn your right foot on your ball or on your heel? The longfist way is to turn on the ball.
Well, both feet turn. And generally yes, we say the front leg (bent) is turned more on the heel and the rear leg (straight) is turned more on the ball.
But the focus is less specific then that and more ont he overall power and structure so in fast action it is not easy to see exactly what pivoted where.
This transition is very common in training but in application it is rare to use it, with the other more direct transition superseding it such as Xu bu—Gong bu without the need of an intermediate, and the gong bu collapsing immediately after use.
[QUOTE=RenDaHai;1229433]such as Xu bu—Gong bu without the need of an intermediate, [/QUOTE]
In longfist, we move Xu Bu (empty stance) into 4-6 stance, and then into Gong Bu.
Xu Bu (0-100) -> 4-6 stance (40-60) -> Gong Bu (70-30)
Since 4-6 stance is the variation of the horse stance, we can still call it goes through horse stance, the transaction when you shift weight from one leg into another.
[QUOTE=YouKnowWho;1229507]In longfist, we move Xu Bu (empty stance) into 4-6 stance, and then into Gong Bu.
[/QUOTE]
An excellent transition to be sure. We tend to use SiLuBu and Ma bu from ‘entanglement’ that is the phase of combat where for whatever reason our arms have become intertwined with the enemies. From this position reaction time is much faster since you can sense their body and powerful grip of the floor is necessary to prevent being thrown.
However often times the combat takes place at ‘detached’ phase, where the fighters are striking but pulling their hands back not maintaining contact. Where the eyes are the main source of perception. In this phase we tend to use XuBu and JinJiDuLi and ‘pounce’ from Xu bu to gong bu so that upon landing the strike is made. In this case there is not time for intermediate. Similarly we use variations of JinJiDuLi to guard against kicks, and land from this stance directly into gong bu. Also the ‘butterfly’ transition is often used.
On a side not Shaolins XuBu in application is almost identical to DingBu that is that the empty leg is very close to the solid leg, almost touching at the feet. Not extended like in many of the photos. And on another note in my sect Gong Bu is only used when striking with the front hand, for the rear hand yao bu is used and the transition is more like walking.
funny that no one mentioned application yet. In 8 step like many other styles the horse stance is where you END in after an application, not to fight from it is the end result of a move not the position from enguard.
For mere training only internal as well as external this position strengthens the body, increases the YIN flow of the kidneys, aligns the hui yin, fu zong chin, and the bai wei.
A proper horse the feet point straight, the quads are parallel with the floor and the sacrum is tucked in to align the spine, chamber the fists tight to the sides and tuck the elbows toawasrds each other so that the fists are perfectly facing forward.
tongue of the soft pallet of the mouth, eyes focused 6 feet ahead of you on the floor. hold as long as you can . When you reach 15 minutes you are starting to begin the excersize then work your way up to as long as youcan even if you shake hold the position, in about 6 months you should be a the 30 minute mark