horsestance, how many times
horsestance, how many times
For a beginner what would be a good amount of times to do horsestance (in a day or week)? Are these the only things you need to do for side splits (besides the split stretch itself)? thanks in advance
If you are refering to the horse riding stance for the isometric split(as opposed to martial arts stance training) i would say start with twice per week.This is assuming you are ready for isometrics(gained enough strength first).
After getting accustomed to this exercise you can step it up to 3,maybe 4,times per week.
Dragon.
After getting accustomed to this exercise you can step it up to 3,maybe 4,times per week.
Dragon.
I'm not familiar with your art form, but in my art form there isn't a specific height for a horse stance. the correct feet, knee and hip positions make up the stance. How low you do it depends on much strength you have and at what height you can hold the stance comfortably.CrazyBoy wrote:So, in order to improve your side split, the horse stance must be low, right? For example, I practice a knockdown karate and the Kiba Dachi I teach is one where the thigh are almost parallel to the ground, but i've seen other instructors who teach a higher Kiba Dachi.
As I understand it if you are using the horse stance method of doing the splits, you should be aiming to go as low as possible, and aiming to go lower & wider. If you can do it with thighs parallel to the floor, then you try doing it wider (7-step or 9-step as in Mr.Kurz's book).
Cheers,
Mat
From my experience it's mainly Chinese martial arts that have strict guidelines for the height/position of stances.mat wrote:I'm not familiar with your art form, but in my art form there isn't a specific height for a horse stance. the correct feet, knee and hip positions make up the stance. How low you do it depends on much strength you have and at what height you can hold the stance comfortably.
The Kung Fu style i practice uses Shaolin foot position(4 step) for horse riding stance and thighs should be parallel to the ground.
Southern systems in particular(Hung Gar for example) uses very low wide stances.
Dragon.
The correct position for stances/squats is to have your knees tracking your feet(usually).Pu-key wrote: It looks like Mr Kurz's legs are dinting in on the video.
For the purposes of flexibility training though,at some point your feet have to go wider than your knees to fully adopt a side split.
Here's a pic:-
http://www.stadion.com/column_stretch2.html
Dragon.
Forgive me for slightly veering away from the topic...
When you guys practise the Horse stance, do you manage to keep your feet pointing perfectly straight ahead? I struggle to do this and with a lot of effort I can just about get my feet slightly toe-out when doing horse stance.
I'm very wary of trying to force my feet to point straight ahead, as I feel this would be very bad for my knees.
I naturally have a bit of a Charlie Chaplin waddle, my feet tend to point outwards, this is much better now as a few years ago I started to practise walking while consciously holding my feet straight. I still find it very hard and uncomfortable to hold my feet straight ahead while practising horse stance though.
Has anyone else experienced this and what steps can I take to resolve it?
Cheers,
Mat
When you guys practise the Horse stance, do you manage to keep your feet pointing perfectly straight ahead? I struggle to do this and with a lot of effort I can just about get my feet slightly toe-out when doing horse stance.
I'm very wary of trying to force my feet to point straight ahead, as I feel this would be very bad for my knees.
I naturally have a bit of a Charlie Chaplin waddle, my feet tend to point outwards, this is much better now as a few years ago I started to practise walking while consciously holding my feet straight. I still find it very hard and uncomfortable to hold my feet straight ahead while practising horse stance though.
Has anyone else experienced this and what steps can I take to resolve it?
Cheers,
Mat
Without knowing about your structural problems it would be hard to say.A couple of things to try though:-
1)You may be trying to slide into a wider split than you are ready for.For example,if you can stand upright with both feet together(pointing forwards) then i would assume you could achieve the splits in the same position as the flexibility comes from the adductors.The reason why your feet may be turning out is because your feet/lower legs are sliding further apart but your thighs are not.This will cause the knees to buckle in,placing pressure on your knees.
2)If you do have a structural problem that doesn't allow this,then perhaps performing the side split with toes pointing up would be a better/more comfortable option.
Dragon.
1)You may be trying to slide into a wider split than you are ready for.For example,if you can stand upright with both feet together(pointing forwards) then i would assume you could achieve the splits in the same position as the flexibility comes from the adductors.The reason why your feet may be turning out is because your feet/lower legs are sliding further apart but your thighs are not.This will cause the knees to buckle in,placing pressure on your knees.
2)If you do have a structural problem that doesn't allow this,then perhaps performing the side split with toes pointing up would be a better/more comfortable option.
Dragon.
I'm talking generally about performing the the horse stance, rather than specifically using it for the split. To illustrate my problem better, I found this picture on the net:dragon wrote:You may be trying to slide into a wider split than you are ready for.For example,if you can stand upright with both feet together(pointing forwards) then i would assume you could achieve the splits in the same position as the flexibility comes from the adductors.The reason why your feet may be turning out is because your feet/lower legs are sliding further apart but your thighs are not.This will cause the knees to buckle in,placing pressure on your knees.
http://www.frixo.com/sites/fitness/exer ... /horse.jpg
My horse stance is very similar to this - fairly low but with toes pointing outwards somewhat. Yet in the pictures of Mr. Kurz practising the horse stance, he manages to keep his feet perfectly parallel.
Any comments?
Mat