Stance training, one of the most demanding task for the novice Kung Fu student to endure; It is sometimes used by some instructors to test and weed out insincere or lazy students. For those who endure it, it provides the foundation of their entire martial arts future. Stances are the foundation which the rest of one's Kung Fu skills such as, striking, blocking, kicking, grappling, jumping and all other martial movements, are built.

Like a house, if one's Kung Fu foundation is weak, it will not stand up to the test of time. One of Kung Fu's twelve motion principles says: "Stand like a mountain". So one can conclude that the stance must be as firm as a mountain.

The most common of all stances is ping ma or the horse stance and is named like so because the practitioner may appear as if riding a horse. The feet are placed an equal distance apart with the knees bent and the weight distributed evenly over both legs. The torso is kept upright with both fist to the sides. This stance can be found in virtually every Chinese martial arts. The endurance and strength derived from training the horse stance enables you to perform other stances well. It also lowers your center of gravity from somewhere at your chest level to your abdomen, making you alert and well balance both physically and mentally. This stance is sometimes used by the Sifu (instructor) as a form of discipline.

After stance training, you must practice leg-stretching exercises so that your legs will not only be strong and solid, but also agile and supple. A light stretching must be done before training to avoid injury and a heavy stretching after training to increase your flexibility.

If you are a Martial Artist, be diligent in your stance training and it will surely pay off at the end. To have Kung Fu without good stances is to have poor Kung Fu, so, don't try to put the wagon before the horse.

Written By Sifu Rino Côté