Stance help

[John G]

Laurie,

 

A little bit of research I have done with respect to walking stance.

 

Walking Stance: Ap Seogi

 

Classification:

 

Change of Major basic stance

 

Used to apply technique and relatively unstable at the same time

 

Dimensions:

 

Width: 1 shoulder

 

Length: 1 step length (approx 1 shoulder lengths)

 

Weight Distribution: 70% front leg 30% back leg, both knees locked

 

 

 

Front stance: Ap Koobi

 

Classification:

 

Major basic stance

 

Used to perform attack techniques

 

Dimensions:

 

Width: 1 shoulder

 

Length: 1.5 - 2 step length (approx 1.5 - 2 shoulder lengths)

 

Weight Distribution: 50% front leg 50% back leg, Front knee bent, back knee locked

 

 

 

Your opponent:

 

 

 

Same height, weight, build etc. as you, but really mean and wants to rip your head off, lets call him Bruce.

 

Scenario:

 

You're in the lab, and you accidentally set fire to Bruce's pet hamster Larry. Whilst trying to put Larry out by bashing the flames out with the latest edition of "Taekwondo Times" Larry expires and goes to hamster heaven.

 

Bruce is not happy..

 

 

 

Lets take the first two moves out of Taeguk sam jang

 

1.) Look left and move left foot into a left walking stance with a left low block toward "L-1".

 

Bruce comes in from your left, you turn, and you can see his right foot about to kick you in the groin.

 

You can A:

 

Take a 1 step stance (walking stance) to the left and with 70% of your weight on the front leg, block his right ankle (SP6) with your left arm, stare STRAIGHT into his red tear soaked eyes filled with horror and say "Your dead meat chum"

 

Or B:

 

Take a 1.5 - 2 step stance (front stance) to the left and with your weight evenly distributed on both your front an back legs, block his right ankle (SP6) with your left arm, stare UP into his red tear soaked eyes filled with revenge and say "Sorry about the rat Bruce".

 

 

 

2.) Execute a right front snap kick to "L-1" landing in a right front stance with a right then a left center punch.

 

 

 

Bruce reeling with pain from your well placed block hesitates. Now its time to finish him off (almost too cruel to continue, isn't it).

 

From a walking stance you already have forward intention. That is to say, you are already in an upright position with the majority of your weight (70%) moving forward. In the form you pause, however in real life you would continue moving forward after the block.

 

If on the other hand you were coming from a front stance, the movement from this lower stance, to the upright position would telegraph your intent.

 

One other thing, the information I have on Taeguk sam jang movement 2 doesn't state the height the front snap kick is medium/low? (Solar plexus/groin) as this could also have a bearing (distance?) on why a walking stance is incorporated into this sequence.

 

 

 

Anyway back to the story;

 

Stepping forward, you kick Bruce in the groin, give him the old one two to the solar plexus, Bruce falls to the ground with a thud, the crowd goes wild (no one like Bruce anyway) and you get busted by the RSPCA for setting fire to small fury creatures.

 

Laurie,

 

Hope I helped. If nothing else I learnt a new pattern and a new stance (Ap Seogi, walking stance ) your front (Ap Koobi) stance is exactly the same as our ITF walking stance (gunnun sogi).

 

 

 

Source information:

 

http://www.taekwon.net/korean/school/stance.html

 

http://library.thinkquest.org/16082/techniques/stance.html

 

http://www.ma-wired.com/tae3.html

[karatekid1975]

Hiya John.

 

Thanks. I am the type of person who wants to know "how" and "why" in MA. So that was most helpful. In TSD, there is no such thing as a "walking" stance, so obviously I didn't anything about it when I got into TKD. Now I'm going to play on the links ya have there Thanks again.

[ZR440]

Well? What happened to the hamster?

[John G]

Well? What happened to the hamster?

 

Larry expires and goes to hamster heaven. Armageddon!

[ZR440]

Aww rats.

[hobbitbob]

Caught but the tail of that story.....

 

Anyway, for those quick to bash WTF's Walking stnace, there is a tradition in Okinawan Karate to use upright stances.