Mobility for front stance?

[Chris Hansen]

Hi all,

 

I recently started in a kung fu class which I like and is a great workout. I've found that, while my horse stance mobility is great, I can't get into a very deep front stance and I really struggle to get my hips turned to the front.

 

Can anyone suggest stretches or mobility drills that would improve the front stance?

 

Thanks.

[Jonathan Pettit]

I do not know if a kung fu forward stance is the same as a karate forward stance, which is hips and shoulders square, front leg bent, back leg straight, feet shoulder-width apart.  In terms of mobility, the hip flexors and calves are often the sticking points.  This makes sense, because a forward stance is almost a hybrid of a standing lunge and a standing calf stretch.  Doing those exercises will help, as well as doing lots of stances to get the muscle memory down.

 

If you have a good horse stance, then you can use that to help your forward stance.  Imagine your room as a compass.  You are in horse stance facing NE.  By just pivoting your hips, you can straighten one leg and face North, then pivot back to horse stance, and pivot the other way to face East.  Focus exclusively on this pivot, on landing fully square.  The more you practice, the more it will make sense.  Though again, this assumes your kung fu stances are the same as my karate ones, which might be quite the assumption depending on style!

 

Here's a gif that roughly shows what I'm describing.  In karate we would keep the heel planted during the transition, and pivot more on a 45 degree angle rather than a full 90, but it's roughly the same.  http://www.osukungfu.com/crack_anim.gif

[Chris Hansen]

Thanks for the reply.

 

The kung fu stance is the same idea as your front stance. There's some minor differneces but basically the same.

 

I've been practicing like you describe except in the kung fu we'll start in the horse stance facing E and then pivot to face N. I find that it's hard to stretch my rear leg that far.

 

There's an example in this video at :20. Not the same drill but that type of footwork.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOml1VTyT6Q

[Keilani Gutierrez]

quads, tfl, glutes, psoas, piriformis and calves definitely! so everything you would do for lunge mobility. i've had some teachers care about the pelvic position and others not so much. having the extra mobility to "search" the place your teachers are trying to teach you in stance work is a good thing to have. trust me. after years of having "you're hopeless!" and "you're so stiff!" being thrown in my face, it can get pretty frustrating, especially when you're missing something as simple as mobility.