The Front Stance is one of the most basic and most used stances in Taekwondo. The stance is used in both Taegeuk and Palgwe forms. Following are the important elements to remember when practicing this stance:

1. The forward leg should be bent at the knee, when you look down you should be able to see the top half of your foot.

2. The back leg should be straight and rigid. You can literally have someone stand on the back leg and it should not buckle

3. The feet should be on the ground. It is common for new students to move from stance to stance with their heel up in the air- that is a no-no. If your heel is up off of the ground, just lay it down. It will be in the perfect position.

4. Your back should be straight, with your shoulders also square.

5. Feet should be about shoulder width apart or more. I always tell my students, "wider is better."

The walking stance is not used in the old Palgwe forms. I never saw it until I started to learn the Taegeuk forms. This stance has also been called the Natural Stance because it looks almost like how we naturally walk.

1. Feet should be about shoulder width apart

2. The gate or stride should be about 12 to 15 inches.

3. Legs and back straight

The back stance is one of the more difficult stances to grasp. Students tend to distribute their weight evenly, when their weight should be mainly on the back leg- hence, back stance 

1. I have my students stand on one leg in an "L" shaped stance with their front leg out to the front. Then I tell them to bend their back leg until their front foot touches the ground. You should be able to lift your front foot off the ground without falling.

2. Your feet should form an "L" or 45 degrees.

The cat stance is a back stance, where you pull your front foot in. The same things apply as with the back stance: most of your weight should be on the back leg and you should be able to lift your front foot with out falling forward. 

 

 

 Horse Riding or Middle Stance

As the name implies, when done correctly, you will llok like you are in the saddle of a horse. Legs a bit more than shoulder width and bent at the knees and hips. Not too wide, if your legs are too wide you will have trouble moving your legs quickly. The feet should be pointing straight in front of you, not pointing out at 45 degree angles. 

 

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