A loud voice blasts out “Right Forward Stance, Move”. Numerous arms and legs slide, hop, jump, and shift into place. A few seconds pass and each person starts to feel pressure and tension in their muscles. As with life, we feel pressure and tension. There are so many subtleties and lessons to be learned as we live. The stance is a metaphor for life.
The forward stance has a long list of points people try to correct:
- Knee hides the view of the toes;
- Shin is 90 degrees;
- Right foot is pointing straight ahead;
- Back left foot is pointing 45 degrees;
- Left leg has a slight bend;
- The hips are open with the left hand pulled back in a tight hikite;
- Hips are tucked under, the back is aligned straight;
- The head is aligned with the back; focused intently ahead looking for the next target.
At this point, you notice the black belt at the end of the line has swiftly and smoothly completed the movement. At the other end of the line, the white belt struggles to keep up and has questions of: Is this right? What does it mean? Why is this hard but seems so easy?
The room echoes “Left Back Stance, Move” and the process starts again. But, the white belt does not realize that the black belt is thinking: Did my hips rotate properly? Was I collapsing/contracting then expanding into the next move? Did my knee collapse? And, my alignment was weak…
The class continues on as the students learn and practice the basics – “Kihon”. Both the white belt and black belt question themselves. This is the process of learning. The complexities and subtleties of moving from one stance to another stance are just like the subtleties of life. Both require alignment and balance.
Alignment
When our body mechanics are properly aligned; our posture and foundation are strong; our techniques are performed without any wasted motion, we are faster, more powerful and less likely to breakdown. In many facets, whether it be sports, play or work, our body mechanics allow us to reach further and move faster with more force when we use proper body mechanics. Now replace your understanding of the body and body mechanics and watch a person who has aligned their workouts, food, and sleep. Now compare this person who aligns basic goals with a person who wishes they could feel better but watches TV, sees the next commercial fitness fad and tells you that is what they need. The person who aligns the basics will outperform the person who sits back and wishes they had the next “it” thing.
Most successful people align their mind, body and spirit. They focus on aligning their goals of family, work, fun and faith to be supporting each aspect. They focus on the little things and make sure they all work together to make a greater sum. The expert masters the basics. If you ask the most successful person you know, I doubt they will tell you it was easy; they just wished and success was there. More likely their success all started with the basics. Wishing our technique is better does not achieve the same level as the hard work it takes to do the small things.
Regarding karate, one of the smallest things is The Stance. When you to get into your stance, make your body the tool. Make note of your bad points. Keep working on improving posture, alignment, and strength as you move in and out of each stance. Smooth out the rough parts and polish the technique as you get better each day. The alignment of your body is like a chain. If your alignment is too loose, you lose stability and power. The video “The Science of Karate Stances (Biomechanics) explains the importance of alignment of your body.
Alignment and Balance
When we have our body in proper alignment and are conditioned to hold the stances, we start to notice our balance and our breath. We start to notice how our breath and balance change when we move. We can start using our mind and relax our muscles. We allow our mind to control our stance rather than our muscles. We start to use our balance and our breath and relax as we move from stance to stance. As our alignment improves, we then start to relax and
gain more balance.
Your alignment effects your balance and your balance is so easily affected by small movements. Examples of balance can be seen anywhere or on anything. In class we observe the impact of balance on everyday tasks; like moving large objects. Our 65 lb. middle school students learn to hold 150 lb. fighting dummies with one hand. Their balance skills were learned over time as they learned proper technique. Simple things like a stance require focus on alignment and how alignment effects your balance.
A very interesting example is shown in the video Siries 4 – Correct Posture, Elbow Position and Focus make techniques become stronger. In this video at the 45 seconds mark, Naka Sensei works with a student to show the impact of alignment in a back stance with a knife hand block. Small things make a big impact. Some martial artist practice a stance called Poll Standing or Zhan Zhuang. This stance is done 30 minute or longer, the focus is on your alignment and your breath. They learn to control their breath to relax and relax to control their breath.
If we focus on being relaxed and not consider good form or stances, then our technique is soft or weak. If we focus on strong technique and not learn to breathe, contract and release, then we lose energy or speed. Again, our stance reflects a perception of life. Life is no fun without balance. We do not grow without balance. If we just play and not have pressure to work on tasks that are difficult, will we not grow? If we only focus on one goal or task, we miss the life
experiences outside that task. We need to focus on balancing our stances as we move from technique to technique. In life we need to focus on balancing our goals as we move throughout the day. Once again it all starts with Kihon, the basics. Ask a black belt and they will tell you they are still learning the basics. Ask a parent and they are still learning the basics. A stance is more than a stance. It is a metaphor for life.
By Ken Biggs