People often ask me what is the "Basic 8"? Why do we do the Basic 8? The person's tone that they ask the question will usually dictate my answer. Often is the case with most Master's of a trade. I believe there are multiple honest answers, I will attempt to explain them in this report. The Basic 8 are the eight stances used in Kung Fu San Soo. That's it, only eight stances. Not- 17, 24 or whatever every young student try's to create. Most students will think they are doing a stance correctly (Not deep enough and/or standing to high and usually they to narrow in a stance or turn their toes the wrong way), but, they are not correct. This is normal not done from a malicious lazy place, it is normal. If you ever put a key in a lock, and it is rounded off? It may or may not work, right? Maybe it will work but you have to struggle with it. Well this is exactly the same with stance's. We all have a right of passage to struggle with them in training. But, we train them so we are strong in a life threatening crisis. Stance's are the key to Kung Fu San Soo. Stances are the foundation of the art of Kung Fu San Soo. No one would build a multimillion dollar structure on sand or a poor foundation would they? This is where I need to share with you the value of stances; Combat applications: Lowers your center of gravity so an attack becomes a glancing blow vs. a kill strike. If you miss your target you will not struggle to regain your balance. If hit your target you will have more power and not recoil off your target. You will have better mobility against a single attacker or multiple attackers. Technique application: All of Kung Fu San Soo is based on angle's, projectory, trajectory, and power being at the right place at the right time. A weak stance will kill a student's confidence in training. When a student struggles with a technique, 95% of the time it is due to weak stances. Health application: The legs are our biggest muscle groups. Working the Basic 8 burns calories. Focused practice burns more calories! Engagining the mind and body and silencing the mind reduces stress. Allows one to sleep better, when you sleep your body repairs it's self. Too much sleep deteriates muscle and makes you susceptible to illness and injury. Discipline application: So many people start martial arts because they want to improve their discipline. Then they make excuses for their lack of. Just before that they find short cuts in classes or home training. Many instructors see it and chose their battles. We all are happier when we have discipline it feeds our self esteem. When our self esteem is healthy we are less attractive to a predator. Mental Health application: The movement is for one's self. To quiet the mind is difficult to do particularly in today's fast pace culture. One time (for a long time) I was building a deck. I had no previous experience doing this in my life. I found myself flustered, a lot! When I figured out that I could walk away from it and come back...the process was much faster, smoother and turned out better. Stepping into your Kung Fu San Soo takes you away from life and makes you healthier when you return to your challenges with more optimism and a much clearer perspective of the priorities in your life. Typically practice in the Basic 8 will start facing North and rotating to ones left (West). If the students practices a full cycle they will do the 8 stances on the right side also. Some people say there are 16 stances. This is fine. I do eight stances, I do them right and left sided.
*A Master's Golden Nugget~ Every skill set that is low count of numbers (Technique, practice drill, or exercise). It is expected and in the student's best interest to perfect that skill. The saying "less is more" is very true in the art of Kung Fu San Soo. Before I spell out each stance it would be appropriate to address what the hands are doing in the Basic 8. Details of the hand work will be explained after the stances are clearly described. There are only two blocks in Kung Fu San Soo. They are called "Windmills". First is the "Outside Windmill" the second is the "Outside Windmill". During the first half of the Basic 8 cycle we use "Outside Windmills". The second half of the Basic 8 cycle we use "Inside Windmills". Simply executed they are large circle in front of you. Not at the same time and same place or it looks like a bad 70's dance move. When one hand is up the other is low. The Basic 8 Stances in order; Start position feet are together toes pointed out in 45 degree angle. Knee's are bent, hands are chambered at hips in a fist, palms up. We call this a COBRA STANCE. Step #1~ FULL HORSE; Chinese Name- The LEFT foot moves to the left side (toes pointed North). Right foot does not move. Back, neck and head are straight. The feet are just outside shoulders width. Toe's are straight forward. The student is facing North. Abbreviation for notes; FH Typical Combat usage; Fitness Benefits: Isometretic exercise have less probability of energy. Doing the Basic 8 engages mind and body. When we engage mind and body we reduce stress, break the bad toxins lose, and stimulate muscle. The student engages calf's, quads, hamstrings, buttocks, lower back, abdomen, and the joints are being worked.
*A Master's Golden Nugget~ How many people have poor posture. When the straighten up their posture get an injury. When we do the basic 8 we correct our posture and our health improves and our risk for injury is reduced. Step #2~ LEFT HALF HORSE; Chinese Name- The Left foot moves to the left (Toes pointed West). The right foot stays the toes pivot 45 degree's (North- West). The left knee is bent. The right leg is extended long (the knee is slightly bent). Abbreviation for notes; LHH Typical Combat usage; Punches and kicks are projected at the predator from this position. This is the most used stance that we use in Kung Fu San Soo. Particularly in the beginning and intermediate levels of training. To be honest to skip or not train this stance to its full potential is crippling in the advanced levels of the art. *A Master's Golden Nugget~ When a student does a half horse they need to have a straight back, neck and head. The student shoulders should be in excellent posture. Most people need to train themselves to good posture. Learning early will avoid having to break bad habits later. Many who have to correct this later experience frustration and slight set back in confidence. Most persevere through it. *A Master's Golden Nugget~ Shifting to left half horse there would be an invisible line between the student's feet. Left foot on one side and the right on the other (rear leg). This is a balanced position. Easy to excitute when focused on the task. When it is built into the muscle memory, Kung Fu San Soo becomes much more enjoyable! *A Master's Golden Nugget~ When the student is doing a right or left half horse they should have their lead knee bent and should not be able to see their toes.
Step#3~ LEFT CAT STANCE; Chinese Name- (Jimmy in a RIGHT Cat Stance) Pull the left foot back toward the right foot. The heel will lift the toes and front ball of the left foot will be on the ground. The toes will be facing West. The right foot will be in a 90 degree and toes will be pointed North. Both knees are bent. The general weight distribution opion is 80 % on the right leg and 20% on the front left leg. Personally I do 90/10 in weight distribution. Eventually most student ask me, how far should my front foot be from my rear foot? The further the foot out is, the cooler the stance looks and the more it loses its function (mobility, balance and speed). The answer is approximately 3 to 6 inches away. They key to having this stance is training the position of the toes correct and bending the rear knee. Kung Fu San Soo students use this stance a whole lot. In techniques we find speed, several of our kicks come from this structure and we use it as a transitional stance. Abbreviation for notes; LCAT S Typical Combat usage; Most commonly used in close quarter combat. Very often we use the Cat Stance as a transition stance because it is fast! Snap kicks and piston kick pass through the Cat Stance to stabilize and gain balance for maximum power on impact. *A Master's Golden Nugget~ Jimmy H. Woo would stand in a Cat Stance while visiting (most of the time). I was non-aggressive and invisible to most. He would simply shift his weight from one Cat Stance to the other. Was it for posture? Strengthening himself at all times? Was it the discipline to integrate Kung Fu San Soo into the real world? Was Kung Fu San Soo his world and reality or real life was an inconvience? Or simply because he was prepared for any situation?
Step #4~ SLIDING LEFT HALF HORSE; Chinese Name- Slide your left foot foreword 4-6 inches past your original placement of your LEFT HALF HORSE. This is a standard Left Half Horse. When we come from the Cat Stance we slide the 4-6 inches and land in a Left Half Horse. This slide should be done without tipping the head and shoulders or thrusting the hips forward (eventually). If one tips or has to exaggerate the motion its "telegraphing" or a "Tell". And the skill is off balance anyways and not a good choice. By the time the student recovers their balance so they can have the power to deliver an effective strike, I hope the student gets lucky! Abbreviation for notes; SLHH Typical Combat usage; Sometimes the predator will get hit and move away from the student. Not far enough away to take another stance. This is a segway stance to get back into range. We use this stance to cover space between the student and the predator. The economy of motion need to be fast in combat application and slow in training scenarios. *A Master's Golden Nugget~ This is the very first glimpse the student gets of "The Glue" of Kung Fu San Soo. In a formal training exercise. The report on "The Glue" is to necessary do separately, sorry.
Step #5~ RIGHT OVER LEFT CROSS STANCE; Chinese Name- Slide your right foot in front of your left foot 4-6 inches past your original placement of your LEFT HALF HORSE. The left knee is two inches above the ground. The right knee is bent to adjust the height of the left (rear) knee. The hard part is to keep the back straight and not tip with fatigue. Abbreviation for notes; RCRSS Typical Combat usage; Mobility and power. *A Master's Golden Nugget~ Anything that comes after the Cross Stance... If it lands on the chosen target. It will be devastating. *A Master's Golden Nugget~ This is the hardest stance. Conditioning with this stance is strongly recommended!
Step #6~ SECRET STANCE; Chinese Name- From the Cross Stance, shift shoulders and torso to the left. Although it looks like a full horse / left half horse. It is not. The toes of both feet are turned in a 45 degree angle (South East). This stance has more mobility then a half horse or a full horse. It lacks the power that the other stances have but makes a great transitional stance. Abbreviation for notes; SS Typical Combat usage; Speed to cover distance or swiftly gain position on the predator. *A Master's Golden Nugget~ Most Masters (including myself) use this stance instead of a half horse when demonstrating a technique for the safety of the student we are working with. We may say "Left Half Horse" and do this stance. When a Master goes into a half horse... It's going to hurt someone. Master's have spent THOUSANDS of hours in full horse's and half horse's. The power is always on, but, this is like hitting a nitrous button. My suggestion is that you do as the Master advises.
Step #7~ Knee touch to RHH; Chinese Name- (a) (b) (a) A beginner should put their right knee down into the flooring. When they lift their knee there will be an impression from the knee cap in the flooring. Take the right toe softly trace a line to the indentation and make a 90 degree line to the south. Stopping in a right half horse (b). An intermediate and advanced student will not touch their knee, they will practice getting as low to touching the knee as possible. Abbreviation for notes; RKSPMA Typical Combat usage; My opion is that Kung Fu San Soo has been around for 2,000 + years. There had to be a technique that would close distance against a long weapon, such as a Bo staff, Kwon Do, Monk Spade, Spear, or even a Sword. It is a great training skill to slip punches.
Step #8~ RETURN; Chinese Name- There are two ways to accomplish "The Return". 1) Slide the left foot to the 12-16 inches to the left turn torso North and of your LEFT HALF HORSE. 2) a) Bring the rear foot (Left) to the right foot. b) Slide the left foot out North to a Left Half Horse. Abbreviation for notes; LRtrn Typical Combat usage; 1) Is for turning around 180 degrees in a large space or area. 2) Is for turning around 180 degrees in a small space or area. *A Master's Golden Nugget~ The rear leg is called "The chambered Leg". Usually the chosen foot to kick with. The Basic 8 is a base for the art of Kung Fu San Soo. The more time one spends practicing the Basic 8 the more enjoyable the training becomes. I would wish for everyone that they never have to apply these tools in a combat sinario, but, it is probably not the case. I believe it would be a nightmare to have to think about how to do a stance. The Physical, mental benefits are amazing and if that were the only benefit. We could all be very proud of.