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There are a few things you might try. I will mention up front that this is from a Hapkido perspective, and if you have a variation of the stance that isn't quite the same this won't perfectly fit. The wushu horse stances I've seen are similar to ours, except that you tend to go much deeper than we usually emphasize. Let's look at the basic elements of a ...

Depending on your chosen style, going for a 90 degrees angle right from the start may not be the proper position for the horse stance. In shorinji-ryu karatedo, for instance, we usually go for about 45 degrees with the knees about shoulder width. Although we eventually end up going lower as a training exercise to build leg strength, we don't advocate doing ...

I believe most of people have ingrained into system a social unwritten law. We do not hurting other people. The law is unconscious and generally it is a good thing. Fighting systems do teach how to go over the psychical restriction, or I should rather say fighting systems should do it. Your problem is common and you need to work on it. I remember the first ...

I have two methods I rely on when I become a counter-puncher (or counter-thrower, or passive grappler). The first is to simply attack constantly. You will become tired. That's okay, you'll get in better condition. You will make mistakes. That's okay, mistakes are what practice is for. Start every round (against competent, non-noob partners) with an ...

You could try to focus on counter attacks for a while. As soon as you receive a kick (and preferably block it) you immediately answer it with a kick on your own. This helps your reflexes, may catch you opponent off-guard and -most importantly- you don't have to think about when might be a good time for an attack: your opponent gives you the command for ...

We got this exact question over at fitness.SE. Essentially you just get back into it a little slower, with a little less intensity (less weight on the bar, running shorter distances, sprinting a little slower). Not much special to it, except crossing your Ts and dotting your Is. Make sure the sickness is really gone and start training carefully.

The technique depicted in this picture is called "mantis spies the cave" in 7 Star Praying mantis style.The right hand would be pulling an apponent into your space while the back of the left wrist is striking the face.The stance as you have said is Seven Star Stance and is used to signify a low sweep/stomp on the toe with heel/hooking into an apponents leg ...

I have not trained in Seven Star Praying Mantis; I will defer to anyone with even a modicum of specific knowledge. I also admit my ignorance with respect to the hand position. I can state that within Tai Chi there are several stances that are backweighted like that, and where the heel is down and the toe is up. When I came to tai chi from aikido that ...

Northern styles have more legwork, acrobatics, and jumping moves. Contrastly, Southern Chinese kung fu systems focus more on short moves and stable stances. Actually, that describes the differences between the unarmed techniques, to an extent the weapons forms are the other way around. The way I heard it (at least 20 years ago, and I have forgotten the ...

imho, you can do it in 3 ways; I am not sure what could be applied in kung fu, but here it is: hard: your block itself is so strong and hard that it will hurt the attacking arm/leg (like in shotokan) soft: let the attack fall through, attack at the same time (some variations of aikido) semi-hard: cross the direction of the attack with your vertical punch ...

A good attack is an attack that succeeds. In order for an attack to succeed, it has to make contact with a proper area on the partner's body. In order for an attack to make proper contact, the way has to be clear, that is to say, it must not be blocked. So, how do you throw an attack that does not get blocked? Throw the attack so fast that the partner ...

I think you are pretty much on the right track when you say 'mental block'. You are not attacking; and it is very likely that you are not attacking because: 1 - you don't have enough confidence in your knock-out power 2 - you are afraid you will be exposed and counter-attacked. for the first one, I would train control and precision. Train in ...

The claim From Kalaripayattu Bangalore's website: Marmas are the specific points in the body where the application of pressure or insertion of needles (Bhedan karma) will effect the flow of vital energy or Prana along a complex system of subtle channels calls Naadis. A knowledge of such specific points is called Marma Shastra. Marmam has three ...

I don't wear them whilst training but on a bicycle (only on safe paths and often with just one ear in place) - the Klipsch Rugged S4i or maybe their Sport a5i. They have an oval tip and big silicon earpieces that make them very secure. As a ruggedized headset I think they would survive sweat from training and would just run the wire inside a shirt. I did ...

The way I learn to avoid bad habits is sometimes to suffer the consequences of why they are bad in the first place. Spar with fake knives... perhaps some markers as you can see where they hit. Sometimes full contact (like boxing) is good as well. Multiple attackers are also excellent practice for learning the limitations of defensive combat. Another option ...

There are already a bunch of good answers here, but let me indulge myself and try to rationalize the experience I've had in both learning myself and learning along with my classmates. The most common reason for this blockage is usually fear. There are several types of fear and consequently several ways of overcoming the fear: Fear of getting hurt. This one ...

This question has already been kicked around here a few times in slightly different forms. There is a whole list of things I could mention but personally I think the key thing is to gain experience, which you can only do by training more and sparring more. The exact 'thing' required is different for each person. For me (many years ago) it was the ...

A good part of the answer seems to genetics, distance, and culture. Northern Chinese people are, on average, inches taller than people of Southern China. Body breadth, skin coloring, and other patterns of physicality are often cited as being clearly different North to South. Different physical builds naturally lead toward different athletic expressions. ...

Geography, population differences, influences, etc. Same reasons everything is different over space. For example, one reason I've heard is that southern styles were influenced by ship-board fighting, for which large, sweeping moves are contra-indicated, and short, stable stances are a necessity because of deck motion. Oceans in the south, mountains in the ...

Every time I've ever done a butterfly kick, I've arched my back. I've found that if I let my back be straight or slightly rounded, my hips drop and I lose the height needed to keep my body elevated enough for the kick to completely finish. Unless your sifu specifically says otherwise, I'd go with what feels comfortable and allows you to complete the kick. I ...