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Stances are used to develop strength and suppleness. Stance changes are used to promote power development and body evasion. More will follow soon...
Zenketsu (front) |
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Front knee bent, back knee almost straight (used to be fully locked out straight) with the feet shoulder width apart. The front foot is pointing forwards and the rear foot pointing as close to forward as possible.
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Kokutsu (back) |
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70% of the weight on the back leg with both heels in line and both knees bent. The front foot is pointing forwards and the rear foot is pointing 90 degrees to the front foot.
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Kiba (side/straddle) |
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Even distribution of weight between both feet, both feet pointing parallel to each other and both knees bent.
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Neko Ashi (cat) |
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Back knee is bent and takes 90+% of the body weight with the front foot barely touching the floor with the ball of the foot.
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Sochin (strong) |
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A cross between kiba dachi and zenkutsu dachi, feet in same place as zenkutsu dachi with the same feeling of even weight distribution as in kiba dachi and with the hips turned in and both knees bent.
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kosa (locking) |
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Rear knee locking behind the front knee with both knees bent and hips at 45 degrees to the front.
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Gankaku (crane on a rock) |
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Standing on one leg with the other leg tucked up with the foot behind the other knee. Standing leg has the knee bent (looking like a crane or flamingo).
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Hangetsu (half-moon) |
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A cross between sanchin dachi and zenkutsu dachi, looking like sochin dachi with respect to where the feet and hips are pointing but with the stance being pulled inwards rather than pushed outwards.
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Sanchin (hourglass) |
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A short stance, one foot infront of the other (heel inline the opposite toe), both knees bent and pulled in creating an hourglass look with the legs bending in at the knees.
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Zenkutsu, Sochin and Kokutsu dachi stances are all examples of outside tension stances, where the knees are pushed to the outer extremes of the stance creating a strong and stable stance.
Sanchin, Hangetsu and Neko Ashi Dachi are all inside tension stances, where the feeling is pulling the legs together at the knees creating a rooted feeling in the stance.
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