What is the single most important stance of your system and why? What does it develop? Where does it take you? How does it influence your other stances? Note, I know that all the stances are important, but I’m curious as to that one stance that is the foundation of all others. But, if you don’t have a single stance that does the job, what set do you use and why are those stances necessary?
In my opinion this is an obvious answer-horse stance. This stance is the foundation to all CMA and most other systems. This is where our training starts. To put it quite simply… this is like asking a basketball player what shot on the court is the best to master. This would be the free throw shot because this is the only shot that every player is guaranteed to take numerous times during his career. The horse stance will enable you to become stable on your feet and is the pre-cursor to all other stances.
AOF
The one you happen to be standing in. Better make sure you have the ability to change from it, have a good pushing and pulling angle too.
One that is properly balanced.
Other than that, go play. Wrestling and boxing are both staggered, but so what, as long as you can throw a punch, shoot the takedown, and not fall over, the issue of “stance,” isn’t a very useful one.
Just don’t cross your feet while you move 
The one that is best for that situation.
plausible deniability. without a doubt, my favorite stance.
okay, serious answer: my practice doesn’t really have stances beyond the ‘sparring stance.’ basically a boxing stance. perhaps a little higher, to allow for faster kicking.
stuart b.
The most important stance: upright.
“Poised like a scale, lively as a wheel…your center of gravity displaced to one side”
-Tai Chi classics
“Make your ordinary bearing the bearing you use in martial arts, and make the bearing you use in martial arts your ordinary bearing”
- Miyamoto Musashi
The stance of no-stance is the most important…stance.
“The one your are standing in.”
**** skippy
Originally posted by Merryprankster
[B]One that is properly balanced.
Other than that, go play. Wrestling and boxing are both staggered, but so what, as long as you can throw a punch, shoot the takedown, and not fall over, the issue of “stance,” isn’t a very useful one.
Just don’t cross your feet while you move [/B]
Merry, Actually, stances are a kind of footwork training. In fact, most stances end in “bu” which means step in Chinese.
Problem is, most people don’t get that. He.ll!!! I didn’t get it for a while. But the idea of fighting out of a stance is, IMO, ludicrous.
Water-
Nah, I pretty much agree:
Forms=Shadowboxing/wrestling.
Stances=footwork…
That is, they equal footwork as long as you are DOING something with it instead of, as you point out, FIGHTING out of it.
I guess my point was more that I’ve seen guys with a very staggered stance and guys with a more neutral stance (like Judo) and guys with a very narrow stance (very fast people usually.) and they all worked because they were well balanced, vice a “stance”
So, in light of Merry’s above post, let me rephrase the question.
What is the fundamental stance/step/footwork of your system?
triangular footwork. advancing and retreating on a 45-degree angle to your opponent. facilitates zoning, mostly.
stuart b.
I’m sorry… I’m making things annoyingly difficult.
My apologies.
The only stance/step/footwork in my system is that of the opponent.
Originally posted by apoweyn
[B]triangular footwork. advancing and retreating on a 45-degree angle to your opponent. facilitates zoning, mostly.
stuart b. [/B]
Hakka?
Hakka?
Filipino?
Yup, could be Filipino or Indonesian as well.
Our most important stance is the Bai Jong or forward stance. This stance, unlike some other CMA stances, is used both to initate and terminate most of our movements. It offers mobility, stablity, ability to kick from the front or rear leg, protects the groin, and angles the body to present a small target. Our most important steps are the following: Shuffle step forward or back, exchange step forward or back, side shuffle either side, embracing step forward or back, 3-angle step. There are a few more steps but I’ve never used them in sparring and would not rely on these in a confrontation. The most important of these steps is the shuffle step forward.
Another step/stance I like is to sink from my Bai Jong into a deep horse, throwing a body shot with the lead arm. This isn’t part of Wing Chun.
-FJ
Arhat
to be honest I totally disagree with you on your generalisation. Not all CMA are fopunded or find the most important stance is the Horse stance, far from I would say. In Taiji the Peng stance (from an energetic point of view) is considered the base plate of postures to work with. Plus someone has already quoted the Taiji classics by saying stand balanced like a scale but with the weight dropping through one foot or one side of the body. The horse stance in Taiji is condiered impractical due to Yang Cheng Fu’s commentary of it displaying double-weightedness. I am not dissing to eternity just saying that not all Chinese Martial arts consider it too be important.