How to Teach Your Child a Proper Horse Stance

Your child wants to learn Karate. Martial Arts training is expensive these days, costing one hundred dollars or more on a monthly basis. How do you determine if your child will be a long term student of the Martial Arts or merely one of the many who took Karate as a kid? One way to tell is to teach your child a few basic techniques. One of the most important techniques is the horse stance. Upon completing this lesson, you will teach your child the proper horse or horse rider stance, one of the essential building blocks for aspiring Martial Artists.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Stand at attention, with your feet together and your hands at your sides. Explain to your child that the technique begins this way because a straight form is a strong form. Standing at attention builds muscle and projects self confidence. Hands at the side are meant to protect vital nerves in the legs. If these nerves are kicked, the legs don’t work too well.
2. Have your child make both fists and cross his arms in front of his face. Explain that this is a protective movement, so he should not block his line of sight.
3. Step out. He should then step out to the right so that his feet are almost shoulder width apart, and his toes point straight forward and just slightly toward each other. As he steps out, he will uncross his arms and hammer the air about six out inches from his sides, and in a straight line with both of his hips.
4. Have your child repeat crossing and uncrossing her fists as she steps further to the right. With her legs shoulder width apart, she will then bend her knees and bow them out slightly, as if she is riding a horse. Explain that this low, deep, square stance is the foundation of all stances in the Martial Arts. Making this stance builds leg strength and balance, and is an excellent way to avoid a direct strike while setting up to do her own block or strike.
5. After he completes the horse stance, have your child slide his right leg back together with his left leg, and bring his hands back to his sides.
6. Bow when this stance is complete. Bowing is a gesture of respect and the Martial Arts begin and end with respect. Impress upon him that he should always keep his eyes forward, even when bowing. Part of respect is being aware of his opponent’s abilities and tricks.

Tips & Warnings

• Always wear safety gear when training in the Martial Arts.