When you were a baby there were certain milestones that you had to achieve in order to progress along the road in life. You had to crawl before you stood, stand before you walked, and walk before you ran. Karate is a lot like that. Like a building you need a good foundation or you will topple to the ground. All right go ahead and ask what do you mean a good foundation. For those wondering what a building’s foundation and Karate stances have in common, it is balance. Balance is needed for everything from walking, to executing a throw even throwing an effective punch.

The ways that we form a good foundation are our stances. There are four basic ones that will be discussed in this article. They are the forward, horse, ready, and fighting stances.

Ready Stance - Let's start with the ready stance. In a typical Karate class all the students line up with feet together while the instructor stands in front of everyone. Students then exchange a bow with their sensei (instructor) and then to the flag of the United States. Then the instructor yells out ready stance. To do this stance a student’s right foot will move to the right until their feet are shoulder width apart. Their knees will be slightly bent, and the hands will be held in front of them. Their hands should be lightly closed and held away from the body approximately six inches. Their eyes should be focused straight ahead. Their shoulders square with their body. From this stance you’re “ready” for anything.
Forward Stance – Moving on from the ready stance into a forward stance you have a choice. They sensei will tell you right or left forward stance. For the sake of expedience assume you are stepping forward into left forward stance out of a ready stance. This is a deep stance and if executed properly it’s hard for your opponent to pull you off balance.

From a ready stance take the left leg straightforward the distance of two shoulder widths. The right leg should be straight, the feet pointed forward with the left knee bent and directly over the heel almost as if there were a steel rod driven through the knee and out the heel. Your hips and shoulders should be square with one another while the back is straight.

The left arm comes up in front of you. Your fist is closed and just below the eyes held parallel to the left shoulder, back of forearm and fist facing forward. The right arm is held horizontally across the body the right hand held in a fist touching the left elbow. The arms change positions when walking the line (alternating left and right).

Students do not use this guard during a fight. To check your stance place your right knee on the ground make two fist from your right knee to your left heel should be four fist widths distance. Another name for this stance is called a walking stance.

Horse Stance - This one is one of the easiest to learn. Assume we are going into this one from a left forward stance. This stance is called horse stance because basically it looks like you are sitting on a horse. First of all twist your feet ninety degrees to the right allowing your body to turn with it dropping both hands to waist level palms up hands in fist. The shoulders should be square with both your feet and hips. Now here’s the tricky part. Both knees are bent, the back is straight, the feet are pointed forward double shoulder width apart “basically when it feels like your butt's hanging out in mid air your pretty close to having it.” Eyes forward.” In tournaments the deeper the stance the better “on the street double shoulder width is as far as we want to go as this gives us a good base and still allows us full rapid movement.

Fighting stance – Last but not least is the fighting stance. Some styles of martial arts don’t even teach the fighting stance until students acquire their first colored belt. The belt colors will vary depending on the style of martial art.

This stance is simplicity itself. Begin by turning your side to your opponent. Assuming you the reader are right handed, your right side should be facing forward. Your feet are shoulder width apart with your knees slightly bent. You will want your right hand held in front of you balled into a loose fist held between the eye and the mouth. The arm is in proper position when it runs the same line as the body and the elbow is kept close to the body. Styles will vary as to where to place the left hand. In American Freestyle this hand is held up around the left cheek, in other words a boxer’s stance.

These are the beginning stances for American Freestyle Karate. There are a couple more stances but if you practice these they’ll get you started. Practice is imperative to be able to flow from one to the other quickly, and smoothly. Remember your balance must be better than your opponents. It’s a lot easier to push over a three-legged chair than one with four legs.

Practicing these stances is good exercise for the legs. They will help to strengthen thigh and calf muscles while helping to protect them and you in combat. Each one of them can be exaggerated to work as excellent warm up stretches.