In order to do a good hip throw,
I think the horse stance is mostly an endurance exercise, with some strength benefit but it's mostly for leg and mental endurance. I agree a heavy squat would build more strength.
We mainly did them in class on 2 ways. I know this question wasn't for me, but wanted to share with you when we did them. Mostly at the very end of class, last thing before bowing out. We would go for about 5mins, very few could last the whole 5. We also have done them in the main footwork workout, we made lines, one guy at the other end is pivoting and working on footwork, another guy is duck walking down and a guy on the other side is holding a static horse stance, 2 mins of changing positions until every one has completed all 3.
There is a bit of irony here, but my personal record is 1-hour 54-minutes, and I was beat by three of my students. We have a festival each year in the spring and have all kind of fun, competitive events after our first yearly tournament. We have not done it in several years but we used to have a horse stance competition. We got all technical about it where your feet had to be at least 1-1/2 times wider than your shoulders and knees had to stay bent. You could move but not out of the stance.
And if you can’t answer then you can’t answer
Your damm right I did
Which makes it not worth answering. And is ironically why outdated modes stay - people assume their way is better so they don't listen to the possible benefits of other methods.
Standing around with your knees bent is both boring and pointless it’s nonsense like that why less and less people are bothering with traditional styles yes it’s for strengthening legs but there are way effective and more interesting ways to do that plus the fact it has absolutely no purpose for martial art technique and any kind of fighting makes it even more pointless
It strengthens the tendons and ligaments in the knee. But research has also found that it has a positive effect on lowering blood pressure professional body builders are actually finding more value in lifting lighter weights and using isometric holds and slower movement. Here's an example of my chest workout (dumbbell press) in the order that I perform them.
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I'm not arguing for against it. I'm pointing out that you asked for an honest answer of why people choose to do that, then admitted that you had made your decision before hearing any answers. That's not an effective way to learn new things, or engage in honest discourse.
It's not outdated. You just have to understand it along with what the use of it is.
It doesn't have to be deep. The deep stance is geared toward grappling and getting under someone and preventing your opponent from getting under you.
For these purposes isshinryu uses what is commonly called "seiunchin" stance taken from the kata of the same name. It is like a horse stance but with the feet turned outward about 45o. This kata is a stand-up grappling kata to a large degree and has goju-ryu origins. It is used in other kata as well and not as deep as some other styles use.
Good post! I could definitely see the benefits of the type of training you do. Light weights are good to train with too as you said. I use both heavy and light resistance in my training, but do more light resistance lately. I think you can get a better pump from the type of training you do(lower weight higher reps) and i could see it being able to do more dynamic training with the lower resistance. I knew a pro boxer who loved shadowboxing with his 5lb pair of weights, some of the guys in the gym either thought it was too heavy but he made it work. And for bodybuilding you're right, tons of guys are lifting lighter but jacking up the intensity and chasing the pump.It strengthens the tendons and ligaments in the knee. But research has also found that it has a positive effect on lowering blood pressure professional body builders are actually finding more value in lifting lighter weights and using isometric holds and slower movement. Here's an example of my chest workout (dumbbell press) in the order that I perform them.
1. 10lbs - 40 reps (dumbbell press)
2. 10lbs - move the weight as slowly as possible. The slower the movement the more demand that your place on your muscles.
3. 10lbs - Start from the top (extended arms) lower the weight slowly until you reach the halfway mark then hold for 10 seconds and then push the weight for 20 reps but never passing the halfway mark.
4. 10lbs - Start from the top (extended arms) lower the weight slowly until you reach the halfway mark then hold the weight for 10 seconds and then lower the weight for 20 reps but never pushing past the halfway mark.
5. 10lbs - 40 reps (dumbbell press) alternating between hand position which would be normal thumb pointing towards body and thumbs pointing towards head.
Then repeat #1-#5 2 more times.
After this increase the weight at 5-pound increments.
The toughest part is not the 40 reps but the slow movement and the static holds. When I lift weights, you can see me struggle with 10lbs and everyone in the gym looks at me like "What the hell is wrong with this guy." But you can just ignore them. Those who workout often will understand why you are struggling with the 10lbs.
The 40lbs helps with strength and muscle endurance. I usually take 1-minute break for 10lbs and a 2 2-minute break for 20lbs. I also do a similar workout with my legs using either dumbells or the leg press machine.
Same concept that you see here but I go slower than what he is doing.
The reason I have to explain all of this is because it's like my horse stance training. Because the training is so demanding, I usually take off a week of using the weights and just do the stance training without the weights. I will sometimes go through my form only doing the leg parts of it within reason
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Professional Body Builder Take on the issue.
A pro bodybuilder explains why lifting lighter weights can build more muscle — if you do it correctly
Nick 'The Mutant' Walker trains for bodybuilding competitions with a technique called slow negatives, or eccentric reps, to maximize muscle building.
Other examples
The upper right black and white photo (with the guy being carried across the shoulders) shows seiunchin stance. This whole series of moves is found in the popular karate kata Wansu.
It's Chinese wrestling (Shuai Chiao, or Shuai Jiao).
For striking art, the horse stance may not be that important to you. But if you want to train the throwing art, the horse stance is required.
