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The Korean martial art Taekwondo 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, and are critical for balance, precision, and good technique in the martial art.
There are two major organizations of Taekwondo: the World Taekwondo Federation and the International Taekwondo Federation. 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.
| Diagram | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Attention stance Also known as:
| In this stance, the arms and legs are straight and touching each other, with toes pointing forward. The arms are straight and held stiffly at one’s side. In ITF style Taekwondo, the feet are put at a 45 degree angle as opposed to straight in WTF style. This is the stance that all bows come from. |
 | Closed Stance [2] Also known as:
| Found in ITF taekwondo. This is mostly seen as a ready stance at the beginning and end of patterns, but can also be seen less frequently during pattern execution. Feet are placed together, and weight is distributed evenly between them. |
 | Front stance Also known as:
| In this stance, the legs are held one in front and to the side of the other, in a wide and deep pose with hips facing forward. The front leg is bent and the other is straightened. This is a very firm and steady stance, one of the first learned by beginners, and is often used in poomsae / tul. There is a variant of this stance called Nachuo Seogi or Low Stance which is One foot length longer (as illustrated). The stance can be either Full, Half or Reverse half facing. This variant is found in ITF taekwondo. |
 | Back stance Also known as:
| In this stance, one foot is in front of the other, with the back foot pointed 90 degrees perpendicular, and the front foot pointed straight. The majority of the body weight is placed on the back leg. There is a variant of this stance called Gojung Seogi or Fixed Stance which is One foot width longer, the weight distribution is 50-50, So when performing this stance one should just be able to see the toes of one's back foot over the knee. This variation is found in ITF taekwondo. All techniques in L-Stance can only be half facing. |
 | Ready stance Also known as:
| In this stance, the legs are straight, with toes pointing straight forward, feet shoulder width apart. The arms are held in front of the body, with closed fists and elbows slightly bent, hands about six inches away from the navel. This is the position that all poomsae forms start from, and return to. Not all ITF tul start and finish in this stance, but it is still used as a ready stance in the Chang Hon pattern set. |
 | Rear foot stance Also known as:
| In this stance, the legs are held bent and close together, with the back foot perpendicular to the body and the front foot straight and en pointe. This stance is found in the higher level forms. |
 | Sitting stance Also known as:
| In this stance, the legs are in a squat position, with feet far apart facing forward and knees bent. This stance can also be used as a stretch. The object is typically to keep the back straight while lowering the buttocks down to the ground with the legs spread keeping shins perpendicular to the floor. |
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.
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.
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.
A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee. This type of attack is used frequently by hooved animals as well as humans in the context of stand-up fighting. Kicks play a significant role in many forms of martial arts, such as capoeira, kalaripayattu, karate, kickboxing, kung fu, MMA, Muay Thai, pankration, pradal serey, savate, sikaran, silat, taekwondo, vovinam, and Yaw-Yan. Kicks are a universal act of aggression among humans.
Pankration was a sporting event introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC, which was an empty-hand submission sport with few rules. The athletes used boxing and wrestling techniques but also others, such as kicking, holds, joint-locks, and chokes on the ground, making it similar to modern mixed martial arts. The term comes from the Greek παγκράτιον [paŋkrátion], meaning 'all of power', from πᾶν (pan) 'all' and κράτος (kratos) 'strength, might, power'.
Taekwondo, Tae Kwon Do or Taekwon-Do 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. The literal translation for tae kwon do is "kicking", "punching", and "the art or way of". They are a kind of martial arts in which one attacks or defends with hands and feet anytime or anywhere, with occasional use of weapons. The physical training undertaken in Taekwondo is purposeful and fosters strength of mind through mental armament.
Hapkido is a hybrid Korean martial art. It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other striking attacks. It also teaches the use of traditional weapons, including knife, sword, rope, nunchaku, cane, short stick, and middle-length staff, gun, and bō (Japanese), which vary in emphasis depending on the particular tradition examined.
Shitō-ryū (糸東流) is a form of karate that was founded in 1934 by Kenwa Mabuni. Shitō-ryū is synthesis of the Okinawan Shuri-te and Naha-te schools of karate and today is considered one of the four main styles of the art.
A strike is a directed physical attack with either a part of the human body or with an inanimate object intended to cause blunt trauma or penetrating trauma upon an opponent.
Taekkyon,Taekgyeon, Taekkyeon, or Taekyun is a traditional Korean martial art.
International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) is an international taekwondo organization founded on March 22, 1966, by General Choi Hong Hi in Seoul, South Korea. The ITF was founded to promote and encourage the growth of the Korean martial art of Taekwon-Do.
The front kick in martial arts is a kick executed by lifting the knee straight forward, while keeping the foot and shin either hanging freely or pulled to the hip, and then straightening the leg in front of the practitioner and striking the target area. It is desirable to retract the leg immediately after delivering the kick, to avoid the opponent trying to grapple the leg and to return to stable fighting stance.
Front stance, sometimes also called forward leaning stance or forward stance, is a basic stance used in various Asian martial arts. 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.
A cartwheel is a sideways rotary movement of the body. It is performed by bringing the hands to the floor one at a time while the body inverts. The legs travel over the body trunk while one or both hands are on the floor, and then the feet return to the floor one at a time, ending with the athlete standing upright. It is performed in a variety of athletic activities, including performance dance and some types of Indian dance, in gymnastics and cheer, and in the martial arts of capoeira. It is called a cartwheel because the performer's arms and legs move in a fashion similar to the spokes of a turning (cart) wheel. In classical Indian Karana dance, it is called talavilasitam, and in capoeira is called aú. Its first use has been recorded in 1925 by Matthew Douglass, the leader of a popular circus based in Gosforth, Newcastle, who used the trick when dodging flaming spears.
The horse stance is a common posture in Asian martial arts and takes its name from its resemblance to the position assumed when riding a horse. It is called mǎbù (馬步) in Chinese, kiba-dachi (騎馬立ち) in Japanese, and juchum seogi or annun seogi in Korean. This stance can not only be integrated into fighting but also during exercises and forms. It is most commonly used for practicing punches or to strengthen the legs and back. The modified form of horse stance, in which heels are raised, is fighting stance in International Karate Tournaments. The Chinese form of horse stance is fighting stance which changes into front stance while using hip rotation to develop punching force.
A roundhouse kick is a kick in which the practitioner lifts the knee while turning the supporting foot and body in a semicircular motion, extending the leg striking with the lower part of the shin and/or the instep. The ball of the foot can also be used to strike the target and is preferable when power breaking thick boards. This type of kick is utilized in many different martial arts and is popular in both non-contact and full-contact martial arts competitions. The kick has many variations based on stance, leg movement, striking surface, and the height of the kick.
Static trapeze, also known as fixed trapeze, is a type of circus art performed on the trapeze. In contrast to the other forms of trapeze, on static trapeze the bars and ropes mainly stay in place.
Karate has many different stances, each used for different types of power and movement. In Japanese the general term is Dachi (立ち) changing to dachi when used as a suffix. Some stances focus more on mobility than stability, and vice versa.
In martial arts, stances are the distribution, foot orientation and body positions adopted when attacking, defending, advancing, or retreating. In many Asian martial arts, the most widely used stance is a shallow standing squat. This position is generally employed as it is a neutral and agile position from which both attacks and defences may be launched. It provides for the delivery of force when attacking and stability when defending.
Stances are a highly fundamental part of all Chinese Martial Arts. Wushu is characterized by low, wide stances designed for mobility and protection. Stability is another key concern of Chinese martial arts, and the wushu stances reflect this sensibility. There are five key stances utilized in both contemporary wushu and traditional wushu. Many others exist, and different styles of wushu prescribe a particular protocol for "correct" stance.
Taegeuk Pal Jang is the last of eight taegeuk taekwondo forms practiced by the Kukkiwon and the World Taekwondo Federation. A form, or poomsae, is a choreographed pattern of defense-and-attack motions. Taegeuk Pal Jang is often practiced by students of Kukkiwon/WTF-style taekwondo with rank of 1st geup. First geup students of Kukkiwon/WTF-style taekwondo practice this form in order to advance to the next rank, at which students then begin studying a new sequence of black belt forms.