When you are in horse stance, your legs look as if you are riding a big fat horse. The posture is as old as the martial arts and is found in virtually every fighting style in existence.
Some use it as a fighting stance, but I believe that it’s too deep and immobile to be of much value in a fight. However, just as there are people who violate “health rules,” and smoke and drink into their 90’s, there are a few karate fighters who violate “fighting rules,” such as tournament champ Bill “Superfoot” who has had an incredible career fighting from the horse stance.
I teach the stance as an exercise position to develop powerful legs, though we never just sit motionless. If you only sit in one position, you only strengthen your legs in that one position. Sitting motionless in horse stance is like doing an isometric exercise where you pit your strength against an immovable object. If that is the only position you do, you neglect strengthening the others. To eliminate this limitation, and to make the exercise more dynamic, squat up and down in the horse stance.
Assume a horse stance with your feet pointed outward slightly, about 10 degrees. They should never point straight ahead as this puts excessive stress on the ligaments and cartilage around the knee joints. As you squat, go as low as you can, but never let your knees extend forward beyond your toes, which also puts excessive stress on your tendons and cartilage. Concentrate on lowering your butt straight down as opposed to bending your knees. You go down either way, but when you think about lowering your butt, your knees have a tendency not to extend over your toes as much. Also make sure that your knees always point in the same direction as your toes. If you turn them inward, which is a common error, you put dangerous stress on your tendons. When you have gone as low as you are going to go, push yourself back up and count that as your first rep.
Do one set of 20 reps in a wide stance, but not so wide that you sacrifice your form, and then do a second set of 20 in a narrow stance. That’s two sets of 20 s-l-o-w reps.
Sitting in horse is a great exercise but not when held motionless. Instead sit high (L), and then slowly descend to a low position (R). And then come back up to the high position. Repeat for sets and reps.
Work only the Bottom Half
If you are feeling especially masochistic, work only the bottom half of the horse squat. Assume the position and lower yourself as low as you can go while keeping your back straight and not letting your knees extend past your toes. This is your starting place. Now, slowly raise yourself half way up and then return back down to your lowest position. Do 20 reps of these, never raising higher than half way. If it hurts too much, take two aspirins, but don’t call me in the morning.
After the first few months my students and I did these squats at the end of the class, we noticed a marked improvement in our kicks and - you will love me for this - all of our spouses gave us favorable comments on the nice shape of our legs and derrieres. Cool.
One-legged Squats
If you want a fun workout, don’t do these. But if you want one that is a painful killer on your gams and one that will give you fast results, one-legged squats are made to order. If you have bad knees, you should skip this one because it’s stressful on the joints.
Hold on to a chair if you need to or, if you have good balance, just hold your arms out to the side. Extend your right leg out in front of you and slowly lower your rear toward your heel. Go down until your squatting leg is parallel with the floor, then slowly push back up.
Start with one set of eight reps for each leg and slowly, over the weeks, work up to three sets of 10 reps. Do them at the end of your class or on off days.
Variation 1:
Assume your fighting stance with your left leg in front and kneel down on your right knee. Maintain your arms in your on-guard position as you drive yourself upward with your left leg and execute a front kick with your right. Snap your kick back and return it to the floor so you are again kneeling on your right knee. Do 10 reps on each leg. If you find these especially difficult, do only five reps on each leg the first week, and add one rep each week until you have a set of 10. You shouldn’t do these more than one workout a week, and if you have bad knees, you shouldn’t do them at all.
Begin in the kneeling position (L) and then drive yourself up and execute a front kick (R). Drop back to the starting position and repeat.
Variation 2:
Assume your fighting stance but with your left foot up on the seat of a sturdy chair. In one fluid motion, push yourself up until you are standing with both feet on the seat, snap out a right front kick and then set your right foot back down on the floor.
Do 10 reps on each leg. If these are especially hard for you, do only five reps the first week, and then add one rep each week until you have a set of 10. If you have bad knees, skip the exercise entirely.
3. ELASTIC CORD KICKING
I got one of these a few months ago and I really like the constant resistance it provides through the entire range of motion, whether it’s a straight-line kick or a circular one. With ankle weights, the poundage and Earth’s gravity forces your leg downward. I prefer the resistance to be in the direction of the kick, from the chamber to full extension. The elastic cord gives you that.
When you first strap it on, you might find that it’s hard to maintain your balance, but that’s a good thing. To keep from toppling over or flying backwards, you must consciously and unconsciously use all your support muscles. This alone will help you develop strong and stable kicking stances.
I do three sets of 12 reps with the front, side, back and roundhouse kicks. Sometimes I do them slowly and other times I do them between medium and fast speed. I’m leery of doing a lot of fast reps because I’m not convinced that it’s safe. It may very well be, but when it comes to the joints, I’d rather be conservative. I’ve broken one knee cap and it’s not a barrel of laughs.
The great benefit of kicking with these is that the cord strengthens your movement from the beginning to the end. It’s okay to hold onto something (at first).
4. CLIMBING THE TREE
I made up this name and, yes, it’s a stupid one. Nonetheless, it’s a good exercise that builds leg and hip strength. Here is how you do it.
Stand in front of your training partner and throw a roundhouse kick at his calf. Retract it into a tight chamber then launch another roundhouse, this time to his thigh. Retract to a tight chamber, then throw another to his groin. Retract to your chamber, and set your foot back on the floor. Those three kicks count as one repetition. Do one set of 10 reps with each leg, which adds up to 30 kicks for each leg, and then allow your partner to have a turn.
On your next turn, add a fourth roundhouse kick to his midsection. Do a set of 10 reps with each leg (now you are up to 40 reps with each leg) and then allow your partner a turn. Add a fifth kick the next time it’s your turn, this time to your partner’s chest. On the next and final set, add a kick to his head or as high as you can go. All together, you are throwing kicks to his calf, thigh, groin, midsection chest and head, which means you are kicking 60 times per 10-rep set with each leg.
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