Front stance, sometimes also called forward leaning stance or forward stance, is a basic stance used in various

Asian martial arts There are many distinct styles and schools of martial arts. Sometimes, schools or styles are introduced by individual teachers or masters, or as a brand name by a specific gym. Martial arts can be grouped by type or focus, or alternatively by re ...

. Although the specifics of the stance vary by style, overall it is visually similar to a lunge, with the forward leg bent at the knee, and the rear leg straight, while the hips and shoulders remain squarely facing forward. The purpose of the stance is to teach musculo-skeletal alignment that adds as much mass of the earth to a strike as possible. The stance allows a great deal of power generation forward, but very little in any other direction.

Japanese martial arts

In Japanese martial arts, the is primarily practiced in

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

and its variants. Some variations include the version practiced by

Shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" throu ...

, where students generally place their feet at a longer depth, while

Isshin-ryū is a style of Okinawan karate founded by Tatsuo Shimabuku (島袋龍夫) in 1956. Isshin-Ryū karate is largely a synthesis of Shorin-ryū karate, Gojū-ryū karate, and kobudō. The name means, literally, "one heart method" (as in "wholeh ...

students place their feet shoulder width, but with much shallower length. Other variations are also practiced. The purpose of the front stance is to provide stability while projecting the body weight forwards, such as when punching. The straight rear leg pushes the center of gravity forwards, ensuring the full body weight is behind the strike, while the bent front leg supports the body weight. The front stance can be used when moving forwards or backwards, as long as the body weight or center of gravity is projected forwards. The back stance is by contrast used when the body weight or center of gravity is positioned on the rear leg, such as when leaning backwards to avoid an attack.

Korean martial arts

The front stance is primarily practiced by students of

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 ...

, where it is called ap kubi. Students of

Tang Soo Do Tang Soo Do (Hangul: 당수도, Hanja: 唐手道 ) refers to a Korean martial art based on Karate and may include fighting principles from subak (as described in the Kwon Bup Chong Do), as well as northern Chinese martial arts. Before the Ni ...

Kong Soo Do Kong Soo Do (공수도) is a name used to refer to Korean martial arts derived from Karate, that was used by couple of the original kwans before the unification and creation Taekwondo as the universal striking art of Korea. As with Tang Soo Do, ...

call this stance chun gul chase. Depending on the school's lineage, it will either be very similar to a Shotokan deep and long stance (Most Moo Duk Kwan or Chung Do Kwan lineage schools), or else appear more similar to a Shudokan or Renbukai stance, which is of shorter length (Most Jido Kwan, Han Moo Kwan or Chang Moo Kwan schools). {{DEFAULTSORT:Front Stance Stances Martial arts stances (Japanese)