The

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

martial art Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

has several stances used for different activities. Taekwondo has a wide varietyits repertoire. These stances are most commonly seen in the form competition of

Hyeong The Korean terms hyeong, pumsae, poomsae and teul (meaning "form" or "pattern") are all used to refer to martial arts forms that are typically used in Korean martial arts such as Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do. * Hyeong is often romanized as ''hy ...

, and are critical for balance, precision, and good technique in the martial art.

Basic stances

There are two major organizations of Taekwondo: the

World Taekwondo Federation World Taekwondo, called the World Taekwondo Federation until June 2017, is an international federation governing the sport of taekwondo and is a member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). The ''World Taekw ...

and the

International Taekwondo Federation International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) is an international taekwondo organization founded on March 22, 1966, by General Choi Hong Hi (Korean: 최홍희) in Seoul, South Korea. The ITF was founded to promote and encourage the growth of the Ko ...

. These two schools, while similar, show variance in their teachings of some of the stances. Individual schools within these larger umbrellas will also vary slightly in their teachings, but not to the large extent seen between WTF, ITF and LTF taekwondo.

Different stances

Fighting stance

This stance varies with the martial art and practitioner, but is the basic all-purpose stance used in sparring and combat. Common features across the arts include turning the body to the side to present a smaller target, slightly bent knees for balance and agility, feet about two shoulder widths apart, and hands up, protecting the head. In an art relying heavily on kicks, the body's mass is usually shifted slightly to the back leg, making the front leg easier to lift and increasing the speed of kicks. Regardless of the exact stance, this is the most familiar stance for a martial artist. All other stances, blocks, and attacks flow from this stance. Interestingly enough this often results in an increased power level.

Diagonal stance

Sasun Seogi. Found in ITF taekwondo. This stance is very similar to the sitting stance, however one foot will be slightly more forward than the other.

Crouched stance

Oguryo Seogi. Found in ITF taekwondo. In this stance, the feet are spread wide apart, one foot slightly in front of the other. The knees are bent inward.

References