Back stance

Back stance is one of the three main stances in Chinese Boxing along with Front stance and Horse stance.

When performing back stance your back leg should be bent with the foot pointing at a 90° angle to the front foot, about 70% of your weight should be on the back leg. The front leg should also be bent; the front foot should be pointing forward with about 30% of your weight on the front leg. The hips should be pulled around so when viewed from the front the upper torso is facing to the side. This turns all of the vital points (groin, solar plexus and throat) to the side making them harder to attack. The body must be upright, don’t lean as this will result in the stance being unstable. The length of the back stance should be about 2 shoulder widths

Back stance foot position

It is very important that you don’t allow the knees to collapse in, as this weakens the stance and could result in an injury (look after you knees). Never let the front knee be straightened in back stance as it could be stamped on by an opponent.

When moving forward in back stance push from the back leg driving the hips forward and bring the knees together staying the same height, (don’t bounce up and down) at the same twist the hips so they now face forwards, then step forward at the same time turn the hips back to the opposite side landing with the feet at a 90° to each other landing in back stance. When moving back push from the front leg driving the weight back over the back leg before stepping back bringing the knees together with the hips facing forwards then step back into back stance.

Back stance should be practised as low as possible to promote strength and flexibility. All blocks, strikes and kicks can be performed from back stance.