Anyone have tips on maintaining a horse stance?

Question

I'm bound to take a black belt test sometime that would have me in a 45-60 min. horse stance in the future but right now, I have trouble keeping a horse stance for more than 2 minutes. Does anyone have tips on enduring a horse stance? Also, after I do my horse stance my knees are sore and painful but it feels like the bad kind of pain from unhealthy knees. Can anyone explain this?

Answer 1

Try this solution. It worked for me.

For the build up of the horse stance it is impt to note the muscle groups involved. One method is the brute force approach which means a progressive increase in the timing and frequency of practice in the horse stance.

Another method is to use the first method - a progressive increase in timing and frequency and core muscle development.

Core muscle development simply means training the muscle groups from the stomach to the thighs.

Simple examples;

Sprint/ Jog - Sprint for 20 secs then jog for 20 secs
5 - 10 sets

Crunches - 40 slow crunches over 2 mins
5 sets per day

Half squats - 40 over 2 min
5 sets per day


Kata practice - Train to perform the kata from basic to the level you know at a really slow pace. It should take abt 15min to finish. Focus on the stance and the posture.

Horse stance against resistance.
Perform a horse stance with your back against the wall and hold the posture for a while. Increase the duration of the hold by 2 min each practice to a max duration of 20 min.

Loaded horse stance.
The old way was to get a friend to sit on the legs. The mordern approach is to load up a backpack and wear it. Then simply practice the horse stance and increase the duration of the stance till you can hit your target timing without shaking.

This is considered one of the most useful. During the grading, you'll be holding the stance without the backpack and you'll be able to notice the diff.

I hope these methods work for you and assist you.

Good luck....

Answer 2

Practice, Practice, Practice. I am in horse stance anytime I am not moving when at home, even when cooking. Everyone has a different comfort distance for horse stance. Start with feet together, rotate toes outside as far as you can, then rotate heals out, one more time with the toes until they are slightly pointing in. This will be a pretty good estimate for your proper distance. This comes out of Leapord Set. I had bad knees from college basketball, I do not have the pain anymore, took a couple of years to get past it, though.

Answer 3

The horse stance (kiba dachi) is something that you have to work at to maintain for long periods of time. Try doing them for gradually longer periods each week and see if you can increase the time that you stand in it doing your blocks and punches. You can also alternate into a sumo stance (sheiko dachi) at intervals to give your legs a slight rest without actually standing all the way up as you increase your stamina and endurance in the stance. Those rest periods should be very brief. You don't say how old you are but it is not a stance that is designed for older people in there 40s and 50s to try and maintain who have only recently started doing martial arts in the middle or late years in their life without a lot of straining.

The stance has several purposes. It is partly to develop your thighs, calves, and knees to make them stronger and less vulnerable to pain when hit or kicked and help elongate the ligaments in your knee. So yes it does put a strain on your knees when it stretches those ligaments. The stance also allows you to develop your blocks and punches at the same time as you develop your legs and the stance has its rudiments in early Okinawan karate when used to stand and straddle the sides of fishing boats while maintaining their balance.

Answer 4

Here are some tips that may help slightly.
1 While doing a horse stance keep your mind focused on your goal, not how your muscles feel.
2 Practice the stance with your pelvis pushed forward / in. This redistributes the upper bodies weight differently.
3 Practice, practice, practice.
4 If the pain is truly "bad", see a doctor. You may have joint problems.

Answer 5

As I am getting older, my knees are feeling worse in stances as well. I found that concentrating on my form has helped a lot.

First, be certain your feet are parallel. This takes a lot of pressure off of the knee ligments.

Second, be sure your knees are not extending past your toes. This too puts too much strain on the ligments and tendons.

Otherwise, it is a matter of stamina and focus that you have to build up to.

Answer 6

Only 45-60 minutes? In Shotokan, every special training, we sit in kibadachi for 90 minutes. Anyone will be shaking by 5-10 minutes. This is where the mind takes over. Keep trying it and build yourself up to it. If your knees are sore, you probably are dipping them in like this >< They should be even with your shoulders.

Good luck!

Answer 7

Yeah, Don't.

The horse stance is one of the worse stances I have ever seen. It just screams "kick me in the sac". It's almost impossible to pull off a kick. and one fart will cause you to fall flat on your face.

The only stance I have seen more retarded than this one is the split stance.

Answer 8

why do it if someone is attacking you are you gonna go into SQUAT mode ??
I have done this training before over and over mate trust me it has no relevance to help you with fighting its a croc and a total money waster

Answer 9

Mushin.... "no mind"