the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

middleway wrote:Good article on Horse Stance here, its a pity the images are missing as they are interesting comparisons.
cheers
chris

The images are here: http://www.trigram.blogspot.com/2007/11 ... rts-2.html

In my opinion, the purpose of horse stance is to develop continuous vertical force, to draw force from the feet (or earth, if you wish) through dang (crotch) and dantian further to the arms and fingers [and/or to the head and even above (as it is with kundalini, if you wish)].
Exactly as it is said in classics: Jin has root in the feet, is developed by the legs, and expressed by the palms and fingers.

Miro

P.S.: I forgot yao, sorry, that sentence should be: Jin has root in the feet, is developed by the legs, directed by lower back (yao) and expressed by the palms and fingers.

I'd add that Mabu training, when done right and progressively, is therapeutic as well. The knee injury I'd sustained from extended periods of circle-walking actually gradually went away after I was shown how to perform Mabu correctly and began incoporating it to my daily regimen. My knees are now stronger than they've ever been.