“Five-step” Horse-Riding Stance
Question:
First I wish to say thank you for sharing your information on flexibility training. I am an admirer of your work, and because of the information in Stretching Scientifically, my basic kicks got much higher than they ever were before—a lot of people noticed that in the dojang where I practice taekwondo. I recently received my copy of Flexibility Express and I am excited to do the exercises presented on it. I am able to squat deep with my hips below parallel and feet slightly wider than shoulder width (four-step-wide horse-riding stance), with toes slightly pointed out at about 15 degrees and my knees going in the same direction as my toes while maintaining a decent upright posture with a very light weight (10 pounds to start). I am currently working on widening my stance and deepening it because I am new to squatting wide and deep; however, I am familiar with horse-riding stance from taekwondo where they taught us to have our toes and knees pointing out at approximately 45 degrees. My question is how acceptable is it to have the toes point out, and to what degree (how far?) should they be allowed to point out when squatting wide and deep? And by doing them this way, will I be able to effectively use isometrics to strengthen my legs in this way as I get wider (to a six- to seven-step horse stance)? Or should I keep them pointed in the direction I currently do? I noticed you demonstrate them pointing more forwards in your video when you squat. Please if you could advise me on this topic it would be a great help, and if you require more information I will try to provide it.
Thank you very much,
James in Canada
Answer:
First, about the horse-riding stance:
In fighting, as a rule (and thus, with exceptions), the horse-riding stance is used for projecting force sideways. It is easier to exert force to the sides or to the front from a proper horse-riding stance (with feet pointing practically straight forward, no more than 12 degrees out of the sagittal plane) than from the stance with feet pointing out at 45 degrees. You can try both stances to compare the strength of punches you can generate from either; the ease of handling heavy weapons, such as the long pole; and stability and mobility for grappling, and then ask yourself why you wasted your time on fake teachers.
Second, how much can your toes point out:
In wide squats, the amount the toes point out should be such as to give you good stability in the gradually widening stance—because if you lose stability, you are likely to get seriously hurt.
For the correct knee and foot angles in squats, see the MWod “woman/man” test shown here:
MWod “woman/man” test
Generally, you can quickly find out why people do things in a certain way and whether some other way is better: By doing both those ways yourself.
* * *
