The stance in karate is the foundation of the martial art. It is thanks to the way the athlete stands that it will depend on whether he will be able to use the necessary techniques or protective blocks during the fight, as well as whether he will win over his opponent.
A careless attitude to the stance during a fight, even if it is a sporting one, nullifies all the skills of a fighter and inevitably leads to defeat. If the body is not given proper balance and stability, all other skills will be simply useless.
The entire cycle of training a karateka has quite clearly defined stages. Hard training consists in acquiring the skill quickly and without hesitation to get into one of the stances (depending on the situation, whether it is necessary to defend, prepare for an attack, or wait until the enemy starts to get nervous and opens up to strike).
If an athlete is negligent in learning these fundamentals, then he will never be successful. The rules in karate are strict and for lax behavior on the tatami, the participant can be removed.
All karate stances have one general rule: "The base must be strong." All other movements of the arms and legs come from this base. Basically, the racks differ from each other in the position of the legs (the very base). The back is always perpendicular to the ground, keeping it straight. After holding the reception, the fighter returns to the original stance or another, which is required in the current situation.
The experience of a fighter is often formed precisely from mastering the basics of combat. Not only punches, blocks, throws, but also the ability to quickly and correctly, according to the situation, choose one or another stance. It should fully correspond to the situation, and a minimum of effort and time should be spent for further movement out of it.
It is important to practice a lot in performing various stances. Younger athletes love to copy the movements of their more experienced colleagues. But they have such advanced stances come out awkward. And all because they do not yet know how the legs and arms should really be correctly positioned so that, with external firmness, the muscles are in a relaxed state and are ready for any movement.
All stances are conventionally divided into three main groups: natural, defensive and combat.
Natural stances are used at the beginning of the battle, when it is necessary to "probe" your opponent, they are just called (translated into Russian) - information-attentive stances. These include: Heisoku-dachi (feet together); Heiko-dachi (feet hip-width apart); Teiji-dachi (T-bar); Musubi-dachi (socks apart); Haichiji-dachi (open leg stance); Renoji-dachi (L-shaped stand).
The main purpose of the defensive stands is to give the fighter a solid support, which will allow him to effectively block from the opponent's blow and quickly go on the attack. Defensive ones include: Kokutsu-dachi (back defensive posture); Kiba-dachi (stance with legs wide apart - rider); Shiko-dachi (square rack); Fudo-dachi (rooted stance); Neko-ashi-dachi (cat stance), etc.
Combat stances are used as support to strike. They are derived from the above protective ones.
Naturally, there are also combined stances in karate, which are essentially derived from three basic types.
The perfection of the stances is brought to such an extent that the student can withstand any of them for a long time. And at the same time he did not get tired. If the muscles are tense (and this will become visible in one or two minutes - the knees will shake, etc.), then he is making a mistake and we must continue training.
