Karate Workout 1: Immovable Stances (lower body strength, balance) <10 minutes
Warm-up with stances - Total 5 minutes for white-purple belts, 9 minutes for brown and black belts
These cartoon drawings show outward tension stances in the top row — this means: Seal your whole foot on the floor while squeezing your knees outward to solidify your stance. The first 3 drawings on the left are shotokan stances. The second row shows inward tension stances -- that means: Use your knees and thigh muscles to create a inward protection of your groin. The third row show neutral (neither outward nor inward tension) natural ‘standing’ stances.
The workout:
1. Hold Zen kutsu dachi (translated as front stance) Left leg forward for 1 minute without bobbing, shaking, or standing up.
2. Hold Zen kutsu dachi (front stance) Right leg forward for 1 minute without bobbing up or shaking.
3. Hold Kiba dachi (Horse-riding stance) for 1 minute without creeping up.
4 Hold kokutsudachi (back stance) Left leg forward for 1 minute without coming up.
5. Hold kokutsudachi (back stance) Right leg forward for 1 minute without coming up.
6. (for brown and black belts) Hold nekoashidachi (cat stance) with each leg forward for 1 minute and hold sanchin dachi (hour glass stance) with each left forward for 1 minute (additional 4 minutes)
It is critically important to not stand up during each stance. Your legs may get tired but your mind has to be strong. No one ever died or broke anything, got a bruise, or snapped a bone or muscle holding a stance in a low position.
