Perfect Fighting Stance

[Sima Rong]

Thanks for sharing your experience YouKnowWho,

When I was training in Shorinji Kempo, we used certain stances and hand positions to invite the opponent to attack 'unguarded areas'. It seemed like a good strategy, but yes, I agree, if you are willing to open up your guard to the head to invite a head punch, or open up your body to invite a body punch, or deliberately put your weight on your front leg to invite a sweep, you need to be good enough to deal with the attack well and relaxed enough so you don't respond to an attack at the onset but when the opponent is committed, because otherwise you will get nailed if someone feints and then takes advantage of your behaviour.

I think you have to make the best of what position you have, so training to fight from as many positions as possible is a good idea. A fixed fighting stance is dangerous, for the reasons you have gone over. It's important to be flexible, to train on both sides, from different stances.
But if you are the attacker,there needs to be somewhere to start, I guess. As youve said, you need to know the weakness of the stance and be prepared.
That's my ramble, anyway.

[-N-]

To open yourself up to invite your opponent to come in is a valid strategy "if you are ready for it".

Brendan Lai's teacher, Wong Hon Fan, liked to use a forward facing upright stance with a high low open guard - one hand very high, and one hand very low.

It pretty much was a trap.

Some of us liked to use that also, but opponents would not attack if they caught us smiling.

[Dragonzbane76]

situation dictates stance

[RenDaHai]

No one stance is strong.

Rather it is the ability to transition, to change that is strong.

That is why we say the 'stances' are not stances but steps, methods of walking. If you have the ability to turn your waist fast between in line and square, if you have the ability to shift your weight suddenly, if you have the ability to crouch down or lift your knee fast, then you have no need to stay in any stance. LiuHe dictates the feet move to accompany the hands (amongst other things).

[Yum Cha]

No one stance is strong.

Rather it is the ability to transition, to change that is strong.

That is why we say the 'stances' are not stances but steps, methods of walking. If you have the ability to turn your waist fast between in line and square, if you have the ability to shift your weight suddenly, if you have the ability to crouch down or lift your knee fast, then you have no need to stay in any stance. LiuHe dictates the feet move to accompany the hands (amongst other things).

Ai Ya! this is the good oil!

A stance is not a stance, but a pearl on a string of transitions. Mobility is the key, from hand to hand to army against army.
The objective is to pass the danger zone into the attack zone and destroy or be destroyed.
Strength and balance at the expense of your opponent's strength and balance is what stance does for you in a dynamic engagement.
So, there is no perfect stance, to my mind, only superior footwork. After years of playing with this question and trying all kinds of approaches, I finally gave up any static approach. I keep moving and changing shape.

[TAO YIN]

"Stance is not a T or a V, you don't attack I won't attack." Works pretty good.

[YouKnowWho]

After a fight starts, there is no stance but step (footwork). Before the fight start, there is a better way to arrage your body posture.

When I was young, oneday I got into some argument with a guy. The 1st thing that I did was to turn my body 45 degree (so my chest won't exposed 100%) and move back half step (to be outside of his punching range). This way I didn't have to raise my arms to guard my head. That would be too much before a conflict even started.

[YouKnowWho]

"Stance is not a T or a V, you don't attack I won't attack." Works pretty good.

You may want to say that "if he moves, I'll move faster than he does." The only problem is if you respond to fast, people may think that your deliever the 1st punch.

Another way is when your opponent attacks, you move back to let everybody to see that he throws the 1st punch. You then jump in and start that fight. Of course you have to be good in retreating footwork.

[Neeros]

May be you want to use it as a bait? When you put weight on your leading leg, your opponent may sweep you. If you are good at bending your leg at your knee joint and sweep back at your opponent's sweeping leg, it will be to your advantage.

Sometime when you and your opponent both have strong stances with nothing exposed, neither party will want to make initial attack, the fight may drag for a long time. To open yourself up to invite your opponent to come in is a valid strategy "if you are ready for it".

alright, I can see that. :-)

[MightyB]

the answer is pigeon toed.

[sanjuro_ronin]

"Make your fighting stance your every day stance, and make your everyday stance your fighting stance" Miyamoto Musashi

This is the correct.

[MightyB]

This is the correct.

Nope, pigeon toed.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Nope, pigeon toed.

Pigeons don't have toes.

[MightyB]

Pigeons don't have toes.

LOL -

seriously, my thoughts are 50/50 at the start, turned to minimize openings, hands up like a boxer, knees slightly bent... but constantly shifting depending on the situation.

[sanjuro_ronin]

LOL -

seriously, my thoughts are 50/50 at the start, turned to minimize openings, hands up like a boxer, knees slightly bent... but constantly shifting depending on the situation.

Stances are always, ALWAYS dynamic and fluid, NEVER static, ridged OR set.