Stances

Stand very straight, with your feet together and with your hands straight down at your sides, in line with the seams of your dobok.

Parallel Stance is performed by standing with the feet side-by-side at shoulder width, measured from the outside edge of the feet, with the outside edge of the feet parallel to each other, with the arms slightly bent and with loosely held fists, about one or two fist's widths apart, just below the navel and about a fist width away from the body. Muscles are relaxed to promote speed of movement from this position.

In Sitting Stance the feet are placed about two shoulder lengths apart with the knees bent. The shins should be kept perpendicular to the floor: this requires the knees to move outwards away from the body. The hands are held in fists, on the hips at belt level, with the thumbs up. When a punch is thrown, the hand rotates 180 degrees to turn knuckles up before making contact. The wide stance provides a lower center of gravity, giving greater stability. The weight distribution of this stance is 50%-50%.

In Walking Stance the body should be relaxed with one foot placed straight ahead of the other, about one and a half shoulders width between the toes of the front foot and the toes of the rear foot), with about a shoulder length, to one and a half shoulder lengths gap between them: this should place the front foot diagonally ahead of the rear foot. The trailing leg should be straight, or nearly so, with the heel on the floor and the toes turned outward about 45 degrees. The weight should be distributed 70-30 (front-back), with the front shin perpendicular to the floor. The direction of most stances is defined according to which leg supports the greatest weight (i.e. a Right Walking Stance is one where the right leg is ahead).

L Stance focuses on shifting weight about 70-30 to the back leg, as that offers much more control and makes it easier to kick off the front leg. The body faces to the side, with the front foot facing forwards with the leg bent and with about one and half shoulder widths between the toes of the front foot and the heel of the rear foot. There should also be about a fists width gap between them. The back leg is bent slightly more, with the knee positioned above the foot and the foot turned outwards perpendicular to the front foot forming the short length of the 'L'. The direction of most stances is defined according to which leg supports the greatest weight (i.e. a Right L Stance is one where the left leg is ahead).

Fixed Stance is a lengthened variant of L Stance, so the body faces to the side, with the front foot facing forwards with the leg bent and with about one and half shoulder widths between the heel of the front foot and the heel of the rear foot (so about a foots length longer than L Stance). There should also be about a fists width gap between them. The back leg is also bent, with the foot turned outwards perpendicular to the front foot, but (unlike L Stance) the body is equally balanced between the legs with 50-50 weight distribution. The direction of most stances is defined according to which leg supports the greatest weight, but Fixed Stance has equal distribution so, being a variant of L Stance, the back leg is deemed to define the direction (i.e. a Right Fixed Stance is one where the left leg is ahead).

Vertical Stance is a shortened variant of L Stance, so the body faces to the side, with the front foot facing forwards and about a shoulders width ahead of the back foot which is turned outwards perpendicular to the front foot. The legs are straight, with about a fists width gap between them and the weight is distributed 60-40 (front-back). The direction of most stances is defined according to which leg supports the greatest weight (i.e. a Right Vertical Stance is one where the right leg is ahead).

Closed Stance is a variant of Attention Stance and is performed with both feet together and the body held erect. Variant A (aka Moa Chunbi Sogi 'A') involves holding the hands together in front of the face at about mouth height so that the arms form a pyramid, with the left hand wrapped over the right fist (signifying soft and hard, respectively) about a fists width from the face. Variant B is similar to variant A, but with the hands held about a fists width away from the navel and with the forearms parallel to the floor. Variant C has straight arms and flat fingers, with the left hand over the right, lining up the middle fingertips, about a fists width in front of the abdomen.

In Bending Stance the stationary leg bears all of the body weight and is slightly bent. The other leg is raised and bent, with the foot placed level with and just slightly in front of the knee. Variant A involves twisting the raised foot up, so that the outer edge (foot sword) is held parallel with the ground and angled nearer to the knee. Variant B is very similar to variant A, but the raised foot is held flat to the knee. The direction of most stances is defined according to which leg supports the greatest weight (i.e. a Right Bending Stance is one where the left leg is raised).

In X Stance one foot is crossed over or behind the other, with the toes next to the outside edge of the supporting foot and only the ball of the foot touching the ground. Both knees are bent and the front foot is turned inward by about 15 degrees, while the rear foot is turned inward by about 25 degrees. The weight distribution is 90-10, with almost all of the body weight on the stationary foot. The direction of most stances is defined according to which leg supports the greatest weight (i.e. a Right X Stance is one where the majority of the weight is on the right leg).

In Rear Foot Stance, stand with your front foot facing forwards, but turned inward by about 15 degrees and your back foot turned about 65 degrees to the side, with about a shoulders width between the toes of the front foot and the heel of the rear foot, keeping the heels almost in line with each other. The rear leg is bent until the knee cap is over the toes and supports the majority of the weight (about 90-10 weight distribution), so the front foot is only for balance and you can kick from it with ease. Additionally, the front foot should be up on the ball of the foot (heel off the ground). The direction of most stances is defined according to which leg supports the greatest weight (i.e. a Right Rear Foot Stance is one where the majority of the weight is on the right leg).

Low Stance is a lengthened variant of Walking Stance, so the body should be relaxed with one foot placed straight ahead of the other, about one and a half shoulders width between the heel of the front foot and the toes of the rear foot), with about a shoulder length gap between them. The front leg is bent, while the rear leg should be straight with the heel on the floor and the toes turned outward about 15 degrees. The weight should be evenly distributed (50-50). The advantage of this stance is the ease with which one can extend the intended attack. The direction of most stances is defined according to which leg supports the greatest weight, but Low Stance has equal distribution so, being a variant of Walking Stance, the front leg is deemed to define the direction (i.e. a Right Low Stance is one where the right leg is ahead).

One Leg Stance is a variant of Bending Stance, except that the supporting leg, which bears all of the weight, is kept straight. The other leg is raised and bent, with the foot placed level with and just slightly in front of the knee. Variant A involves twisting the raised foot up, so that the outer edge (foot sword) is held parallel with the ground and angled nearer to the knee. Variant B is very similar to variant A, but the raised foot is held flat to the knee. The direction of most stances is defined according to which leg supports the greatest weight (i.e. a Right One Leg Stance is one where the left leg is raised).