Fight in Low stance? or Stand up stance?

[koreantiger81]

Fighting in a low stance has it's advantages. Particulary if you're tall, you can lean your weight back and make your oponent work harder to get to your target areas..In other words, you can lean back thus creating a greater distance for your oponent to get to your target areas. Another advantage is that you can fire your front leg with quickness. The drawbacks of a low stance are less mobility and difficult execution of the back leg. Personally, I think it's good to fight in both stances..Sticking to one particular stance has its limitations...

[monkeygirl]

In my opinion, low stances are useless except in forms. In forms you use low stances to show flexibility and leg strength.

 

I have only ever seen one person fight in a low stance, and that was a girl who practiced Kung Fu. I was fighting her at a tournament in Harrisburg. She was down by two points, and (trying to freak me out, presumably) she went into one of her low, weird stances. I paused, gave her this "What the...?" look, and kicked her in the gut I win! (3-point matches)

 

Sparring/Point Sparring:

 

To be in a low stance, you pretty much have to stand flat-footed. That and the fact that your legs are bent in half adds up to Zero Mobility. True, it is more difficult to use your back leg, but back leg kicks aren't really a good idea, because you can see them coming a mile away. For normal sparring, front leg is best.

 

Since I'm a kicker, I like to keep my stance short with my knees barely bent at all. I put nearly all of my weight on my back leg. This allows my upper body to be far away from my target while still in kicking range, prevents sweeping of the front leg, and allows super-fast kicks because all stepping is eliminated. You can just bring up your leg and kick out.

 

Self-Defense:

 

You may find that in a street situation someone is pushing you. You could use a deep front balance (standing square with your target, feet diagonal from each other, front knee bent, back leg straight) to prevent pushing. Right after that, though, you want to get out of that stance and attack your agressor. In a street fight you want every advantage you can take, and mobility is one of them.

 

So to summarize: I don't suggest that you handicap yourself with low stances. Perhaps someone else can point out advantages to low stances, but until then, I'm sticking with my short stance.

[tessone]

I don't see the point of fighting in low stances. For one thing, your movements are going to telegraph a lot more easily, because you have to launch out of that stance, then kick, rather than just going for it.

 

Low stances are for making forms look good and strengthening your legs, no more (in my opinion).

[Radok]

kicking with the back leg is a bad idea? um..... NO. spinning round kicks very good because you can break theyre arm when they block or their ribs when they dont block. Can't generate anything close to that power with th front leg.

[koreantiger81]

well, I personally don't stick to one stance when I spar...I like to vary my stances...I fight upright when I want to attack my opponent. I go into my low stance when I want to be defensive. Sometimes I stick out my head on purpose, so I can draw a kick...I just believe no one gives the low stance enough credit...By fighting in both upright and low stances, it adds more diversity to your sparring...Sometimes you have to readjust your distance in sparring. Going into a low stance can influence distance quickly....

[Xtreme Fury]

I don't think low stances are great, but I think with enough training you could become mobile while still in it, since ninjutsu has low stances. Or at least it does from what I've seen. I like standing up and hopping around better, isn't that most effective? or is just standing without hopping better?

[Ironberg]

I don't even study JKD, but I have admired it for a long time. I think Bruce Lee would have some words of wisdome on fixed positions that would shut this thread up forever. Just a passing thought.

 

Aside from my cynicism I also harbor a bit of biased towards low stances, simply because I am extremely tall and experiment with grappling every once in a while. There was a quote I spewed at my school that no one really laughed at:

 

"Oh! Look at my mighty horse-riding stance! Just right to get kicked in the groin!"

 

I don't want to sound extra critical, just passing out my thoughts. Someone could just as easily pass some comments like this about my obsession with the "all-powerful spinning kicks".

[Kyle-san]

I'm not a big fan of low stances, but they do have their uses in sparring. I've seen them put to very good defensive use, but they aren't something I'm inclined to try out.

[kicker]

Well for me I think that a low stance is not that great in a fight. I prefer to be standing up when getting into a fight. Maybe if the person you are fighting against is on the ground or ontop of you or something then it would probably be the better stance it depends what kind of fighting skills you have and which is better for you.

[G95champ]

The ability to change is important.

 

Low stance - people say you can't move. Well IMO that is not true. You just have to work it and know how to move. However do or would I say fight in it. NOPE.... Can it be used to give you an advantage? YEAH. So don't just say its useless. Its like high kicks. I hate them and won't use them in real life but I still try and learn them and don't pass them off as a wast of time.

 

Stand Up Stance - Well is this means just standing in one place you better stick to the low one. I assume you are talking about any sort of freestyle stance with the legs bent and moving. Anytime you stand still you become a better target so the idea with any stance is to move. Freestyle stances are more natural but that don't mean they are better.

 

Bottom line is you have to do what works best for you at the time and place when you are called on to use it. Lets say you get in a fight while in a Coal Mine. That low stance will help then. LOL.

 

Like Gereral Patton said. "A answer applied with vigor now is better than the correct answer applied 10 mins. later."