The Secret to Striking with Power

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The irony of the title of this post is that developing striking power isn’t secret at all. For those of you who have taken a karate class before, you learned “the secret” on your first day. The secret to hitting like the God of Thunder is the horse stance. The horse stance is taught in many martial arts systems. In Chinese Kung Fu it is considered the “mother of all stances.”

In the old days, Kung Fu teachers would have their students stand in a horse stance for an hour every day. This is a torturous exercise. But teachers knew that the talent of their students would be limited if they did have the ability to do this. Now days, instructors are not so cruel to their students. Unfortunately, this also means that less people understand the importance of the horse stance.

Consistent horse stance training improves:

1. Your balance and hip flexibility,
2. Internal energy flow,
3. Will power,
4. Strength and endurance,
5. Fighting abilities,

The horse stance is the ultimate exercise for building strength. It activates muscles throughout the entire body. It targets the quads, hamstrings, inner thighs, calves, glutes, and lower back.

You will develop effortless power

You don't have to know anything about "chi" to generate power. Striking power comes from the ground up. When your lower body is weak you must exert more energy to generate force. Imagine trying to hit someone with a kite floating in the sky. The kite is connected to the earth by a string. This is like someone without a solid base. If you tried to hit somebody with the kite, you would have to exert a lot of energy to swing it. Even then, it would not hurt. Now, lose the string and attach kite to a broom handle. The broom handle has form, structure, and weight. This is how you are when you have a strong, deep base.

How to do a horse stance

1. Stand up straight then put your legs apart making sure that your feet are facing forward.
2. Make sure your posture is flat.
3. Bend your knees and lower your body as if you were on a horse.
4. Your thighs should be parallel, or close to parallel to the floor. Styles vary on this.
5. Your hips should be loose. If they are not you will start to feel pain.
6. Now what do you do with your hands? You can put them on your hips, hold them in a fighting guard, or a prayer posture.

Set a goal of holding the horse stance for 1 minute. Once you can do that try for 3m, then 5m, and keep going up.