Foundation

[Siu-Lung]

How long can you guys hold a horse stance

[joedoe]

Not long. Why do you ask?

[buddajoe]

holding the horse stance is important. training a proper horse with a qualified teacher can be amazing. long ago i trained the horse set for two years for 45 minutes five days a week. i thought i was really strong. later i realized more study was needed. i am talking about a flexible moving horse and not a static,rigid type. when your feet feel as if you are walking in a sticky theater you are getting close to the right feeling.

[Laukarbo]

Its good to practise the horse stance..but sitting in it for too long without moving makes ur hips stiff..u can practise the horse while doing a whole set of stances..u know going from horse int bow..from bow into cross..etc.

just my 100 pounds:D

[Shaolin Master]

Difference between dead horse and live horse are important.

[BruceSteveRoy]

As long as it takes.

[bigdoing]

the longest i have been able to go is 4min and 15sec...thighs parrallel staff across with out the staff sinking into the hip area or rolling off the knees..

i cant imagine a whole inscense stick or whatever it is suppose to be.

[hskwarrior]

I always train my students to hold the horse, and sometimes make them compete to see who could stay longer. I use "you're a punk if you can't last" on them and it works because no one wants to look like a punk. One of my students had dropped to the floor twice now at about 6 mins.

Still, when i drill my students we always use a good horse while punching or kicking or just resting in a horse, my students are usually in their horses about an hour or so total. but this includes live horses, as well as dead ones.

Personally I haven't tested myself lately, but now i think it's about 12-15 mins. The horse stance is something really big in our school. My sifu wouldn't care about your hands, he and his sifu always checked out your horse. To them, the horse is the key to good kung fu.

hsk

[hskwarrior]

The incense things is when you mark it at 5 min, 10 min or 15 min intervals.

I believe an incense burns about 45 mins. Start by making a line on the incense and burn it down to the next one and stop until next time.

back in the days we used to place cups of water on our laps while doing the horse.

another drill we do is have someone stand on your horse while you are in it. It's pretty tough sometimes. but is really good at building your endurance.

hsk

[David Jamieson]

define what your horse stance is.

is it high? is it low? is it brutally low? is it 2 steps apart? 3? 3.5? 4?
quad parallel? shins perpendicular? more pentagram like?

there's lots of horses.

[hskwarrior]

the horse stance that is usually identifiable is as follows..........

feet are slightly wider that the width of your shoulders. Tail bone is parallel
to your knee caps. Toes completely straight and forward. Knees should be pointed outwards and not directlly over the toes.

feet grip the floor, while applying slight pressure to the outside edges of your feet.

at least thats the way we do it.

[David Jamieson]

in a deep square or more of a pentagonal shape?

[mantiskilla]

I think heavy squats are much better as it builds explosive energy, something extended horse stance training does not accomplish.
________
Lexus Is F Specifications (http://www.toyota-wiki.com/wiki/Lexus_IS_F)

[CLFNole]

I like working more lively stances rather than just holding a stance for an extended period of time. To me this is very important for CLF as our footwork should be active.

I practice Li Ma/Ng Lun Ma two ways: 1) with faster transitions between each stance and 2) holding the stance a bit. My sifu was never in favor of holding horse stances for long periods of time. For some styles it can be beneficial to hold stances for a long time but to me a solid stance that is lively is more important.

Peace.

[Shaolindynasty]

I practice Li Ma/Ng Lun Ma two ways: 1) with faster transitions between each stance and 2) holding the stance a bit

Exactly what i do most of the time. I train holding stances also but for CLF moving in and out of position quickly is important. I also find that training Ng Lun Ma certain ways is more challenging than normal stance work. I have also noticed allot more progress training this way than holding static stance like we did in my old longfist days.

anyway...
I only train holding for a few minutes nothing impressive like some of you guys;)