Horse posture training, what is it? The horse stance is a beginner martial arts stance or stance that can be found in almost every style of martial arts and is thousands of years old. It creates a firm foundation on which all other martial arts techniques can be built.
Beginning with advanced martial artists, “assume the position” and then hold the position for as long as you can. Beginners usually notice their legs start to burn and their muscles stop cooperating after only a few seconds. For this reason, many teachers suggest that students practice this stance for fifteen minutes every day with the promise that after two years they will have a decent horse stance.
Horse stance is performed with feet approximately twice shoulder-width apart. So the knees are bent. Some styles bend the knees until the thighs are parallel to the floor, others bend the knees until they can only see their little toes when looking down at their feet. Anyway, the idea is to have your feet open and your knees bent.
Benefit #1 – Better Balance
Regular horse stance training allows you to develop a solid foundation and gets you used to having very wide feet. So when someone pushes you, instead of taking a small step, losing your balance and falling, you will take a big step and stay on your feet.
Benefit #2: Lower Center of Gravity
Along with balance, regular training also helps the student develop a lower center of gravity. This is known as “shifting levels.” Many styles of martial arts use tripping and throwing techniques to defeat an opponent. With a well-practiced horse stance, a student discovers that his center of gravity is nice and low and that his opponent has a much harder time knocking him down.
Benefit #3 – Powerful leg muscles for kicking
Another benefit of regular training is the strength that is developed in the leg muscles. Later, in a student training, they will learn kicking techniques. Regular horse stance training done above will give them more powerful kicks.
Benefit #4 – Yin and Yang
Most students find standing in a horse position very boring. To liven things up, blocking and punching exercises are practiced while standing in a horse stance. With each strike or block, the students will give a spiritual shout, known as a kiai. This cry helps the student to breathe, which provides the oxygen necessary for the muscles to work. It also helps the student learn to be flexible yet well grounded and is a beginning master of yin and yang.
Benefit #5 – Energy, Awareness, Health
Along with all of these benefits, many students are taught to do “rock pushes” while standing in a horse position. Boulder push is a breathing and strengthening exercise that increases “chi”. Chi is universal energy. By increasing their chi energy, students begin to experience greater mental awareness and improvements in their health.
The path to great kung fu or karate or jujutsu begins with the horse stance. It’s a rite of passage. There are many other benefits of regular posture training, but you can only learn them if you start your posture training today. Find an experienced teacher, if you don’t already have one, and experience the many benefits of this timeless exercise.