Catstance

[P.A.L]

I agree with PAL on this. The way Pal described the cat stance is exactly how I practice as well and I have devoloped mine where it is very strong. However it didn't come easily and took some time. Also as already said you are using different muscles in your legs then you are probably used to and that makes a difference. Strengthen your legs more but take it slow. I have gotten to the point where last time I tried I was able to leg press 600lbs when I weighed less then 130lbs. karate stances are great to build leg strength.

how the leg press works?what's the setup or machin?

[Brandon Fisher]

It was so long ago I really don't remember. It was in a high school weight room downstairs from where we were training at the time. It did use free weights and had a large platform to place your feet on to push the weight up with.

[hawkfish]

Below is a link on bodybuilding.com with a picture and video of the leg press.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.php?MainMuscle=Quadriceps&Equip=Machine&Isolation=Compound

It's the second exercise on the page.

[Rick_72]

Actually, the Matsumura Seito cat stance (not sure if this is what you meant) width is almost non exsistant. Looking in the mirror, your front foot should cover your back heel. You should only see the forward part of your back foot. There shouldn't be any light between your forward and back foot in the mirror.

Try this. Stand in a front stance. Then put all of your weight on your back leg (it will cause it to straighten out). Slowly draw your front foot back into a cat stance position. As you do this, roll your hips forward. As you roll your hips forward, your back knee will automatically start to bend, and the hips will force your back to remain straight. It ain't comfortable, and really takes some getting used to and to get it good and low.

Something I noticed is that the more I sat in seiza, the better my stances got. I now arrive at the dojo 20 or so minutes early to stretch, and I sit in seiza as my last stretch for about 10 minutes.

[bushido_man96]

When we were taught the back stance, we were taught to make an L with our feet, and then the front foot goes 3 feet lengths forward, and then bend the knees. For the cat stance, we were taught it was half of the back stance length, or 1 1/2 feet lenght, and up on the toes of the front foot.

[Rick_72]

When we were taught the back stance, we were taught to make an L with our feet, and then the front foot goes 3 feet lengths forward, and then bend the knees. For the cat stance, we were taught it was half of the back stance length, or 1 1/2 feet lenght, and up on the toes of the front foot.

In Shorin Ryu the back foot is either straight forward, or 45 deg's to the front. I'm not aware of any Shorin Ryu stances that have our feet in the L shape. When I did a little Aikido training it was very hard to get my feet to do that after training in Shorin Ryu. Tough to break muscle memory lol.

[bushido_man96]

When we were taught the back stance, we were taught to make an L with our feet, and then the front foot goes 3 feet lengths forward, and then bend the knees. For the cat stance, we were taught it was half of the back stance length, or 1 1/2 feet lenght, and up on the toes of the front foot.

In Shorin Ryu the back foot is either straight forward, or 45 deg's to the front. I'm not aware of any Shorin Ryu stances that have our feet in the L shape. When I did a little Aikido training it was very hard to get my feet to do that after training in Shorin Ryu. Tough to break muscle memory lol.

Yes, very much so. That is the only downfall to cross-training, but with time, it gets to where doing both isn't as difficult.

[Sohan]

When we were taught the back stance, we were taught to make an L with our feet, and then the front foot goes 3 feet lengths forward, and then bend the knees. For the cat stance, we were taught it was half of the back stance length, or 1 1/2 feet lenght, and up on the toes of the front foot.

In Shorin Ryu the back foot is either straight forward, or 45 deg's to the front. I'm not aware of any Shorin Ryu stances that have our feet in the L shape. When I did a little Aikido training it was very hard to get my feet to do that after training in Shorin Ryu. Tough to break muscle memory lol.

I can think of three instances. The "sit and pull" in Seisan and Ananku, and the "grabbing the stick" phase in Kusanku Sho. Each of these utilizes an "L" shaped stance with different foot placements.

With respect,

Sohan

[Rick_72]

I can think of three instances. The "sit and pull" in Seisan and Ananku, and the "grabbing the stick" phase in Kusanku Sho. Each of these utilizes an "L" shaped stance with different foot placements.

With respect,

Sohan

I've actually just begun training in Seisan, and haven't yet learned Kusanku, so I wouldn't know about them yet.

However, I know Ananku very well, but I'm not sure what your referring to with "sit and pull". The only stances that we use in Ananku are front stance, cat stance, and horse stance. No L shaped stance. Of course this could just be due to different teacher's or Shorin Ryu styles.

I do know there are some L shaped stances in some of our Kobudo kata's though. I think Tsuken Sai has some....I have to think harder on it though as I don't practice that kata often.

[Sohan]

I can think of three instances. The "sit and pull" in Seisan and Ananku, and the "grabbing the stick" phase in Kusanku Sho. Each of these utilizes an "L" shaped stance with different foot placements.

With respect,

Sohan

I've actually just begun training in Seisan, and haven't yet learned Kusanku, so I wouldn't know about them yet.

However, I know Ananku very well, but I'm not sure what your referring to with "sit and pull". The only stances that we use in Ananku are front stance, cat stance, and horse stance. No L shaped stance. Of course this could just be due to different teacher's or Shorin Ryu styles.

I do know there are some L shaped stances in some of our Kobudo kata's though. I think Tsuken Sai has some....I have to think harder on it though as I don't practice that kata often.

I've seen various versions of Ananku practiced. The way we are taught it in my style is somewhat different from some other styles I've seen, as we end the kata with a series that includes an identical "sit and pull" series that is done in Seisan. You may be doing it differently, as I've seen some versions that do not end that way at all.

With respect,

Sohan