Footwork
Footwork is by far the most important aspect in martial arts. Good balance and footwork is the foundation for mounting attacks and escapes. Good footwork is also essential in generating power in techniques.
Footwork
Footwork is by far the most important aspect in martial arts. Good balance and footwork is the foundation for mounting attacks and escapes. Good footwork is also essential in generating power in techniques.
STANCES
Footwork starts with stances. The basic three stances are:
Front Stance
Horse Stance
Back Stance
FRONT STANCE
Here is how you do a proper front stance (make sure to keep your hands up once you get the basics):
Front stance can be used to increase strength in the legs if you go deeper into the stance. At an extreme position it is basically a lunge. Lunges are an essential part of any workout. Yoga also uses the same movement calling it ‘Warrior I’. When a front stance is used with the same leg forward as the dominant hand (right leg) its also called a standard stance. When the left leg leads forward its called a southpaw stance.
Horse Stance
A horse stance is very similar to a squat. The only difference is that the shoulders stay up and the back stays straight. Here is a good video on doing a squat properly:
Horse stance/squats is also a critical part of a complete workout. Great exercises to increase the depth of your horse stance:
Back Stance
Finally, here is a combat application of horse stance (also called a staggered stance or open stance) ‘Iron Mike Tyson’ shows how it can be applied to devastating effectiveness:
Basic Back Stance:
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