Which styles stances should I learn next??

"The first thing you should do in your martial art class is learn how to stand" Me starting BJJ: welll

To be honest, I wanna see Seth compare his USA Karate to old school Okinawa. Maybe even practice with an Okinawan Karate dojo so he can actually feel and realize the differences

I actually thought it is going be a roasting video, just like that conversation between martial arts 😂.

Krav Maga's stance is holding a gun at your face lmao

I think what Im most impressed with is that all of these different instructors are open to getting together and sharing. I have tried this so many times and every school; karate, TKD, Judo, and BJJ, have all said that I need to pay and sign up before they will discuss their system with me. I have invited them to our open mat time and even asked a few if they just wanted to grab a cup of coffee and talk martial arts and they all get mad for even suggesting it. The only one that was open to it was a Uechi Ryu instructor that I have formed a good friendship with over the past few years. It is so refreshing to see instructors open to sharing their experience with another instructor.

This is what I got from the video. Muay Thai focus on practicality Taekwondo focus on the sport Karate focus on adaptability Kung Fu Wushu focus on self-improvement

Should have called Shintaro and included the grappler stance

I need a full body armor vs kali, GET YOUR REVENGE SETH

Yooooo whrestling styles from around the globe 🌎 that would be sick

Hi Seth, I want to touch on the Taekwondo Stance because I felt there is more that could and should of been explained of why the stance is the way it is. In the video he mentions the back kick. Yes I would like to say in Taekwondo the back kick is the most dangerous kick to worry about. Not only we are protecting our body with being sideways, the stance is made for Counter attacking mostly with a back kick being halfway ready so its explosive and fast. I just thought bringing an extra enlightment to the Taekwondo Stance will be appreciated.

interesting to me that the muay thai and taekwondo guys both said stepping back to get into stance. i come from a kyokushin/enshin karate offshoot style, our stance is similar to the muay thai stance but with a more even weight distribution between the feet as opposed to more weight on the back foot and we were taught to step forward into stance.

I was for 27 years ITF Taekwon-do but i love Muy Thai training to mix and switch these 2 styls was sometimes hard but very useful and suprising benefits

So as someone who has trained Wushu (traditional) in both in the U.S. and China (for 3 years). The eight stances are transitional stances while your din shi is your fighting base stance. The transitional stances generally work for either footwork or wresting depending on the stance. Also not all styles have eight transitional stances or are all eight the same between styles. Also deep version of a stance is used more for conditioning than actual application.

I feel like this video is going to be as popular as the different roundhouse kicks one🔥

Would be nice to see an ITF perspective for Taekwondo aswell

The reason taekwondo is similar to karate is because the founder of Taekwondo, general Choi actually learnt karate for many years becoming fourth degree I believe, or it might have been second, but any way he came from a karate background and went on to adapt it. Quite interesting actually. He went on to teach it to the Korean military

Muay Thai stance is perfect. That stance is Defence for counterstrike.

Yet another entertaining, informative, and positive video. A gentleman, and a scholar you are. 🔥

what i really liked about your last bit (full circle) was it emphasizes that most of the time, stances are fluid and snapshots of movement. maybe just talking about myself, but i distinctly remember personal pitfalls of rigidity in stances, becoming immobile in sparring due to worry of standing wrong or not perfect enough. great comparison

I'm an old Kyokushinkai. The primary fighting stances that I fight from is the cat stance or the back stance. Front hand is generally a little under chin height, elbow held close to the ribs to protect the ribs. Back hand is close to the chest, just under the chin in order to block and in good position to strike from.

So nice always making the TKD guys feel included in real martial arts

I really like these videos, because it’s so interesting to see the differences between martial arts.

Great video!!! And in every style, every practitioner has it's own personal adjustments.

I'm glad you at least mentioned that the taekwondo was the WT version. I would like to have seen an addition of the ITF version of taekwondo. They are so different from each other.

I'm starting in kyokushinkai and the small intro of the Muay thai stance was a little more similar than I expected

Loved that you stitched a Karate Culture vid as a reference!

I truly do appreciate the time effort and sacrifice that you put in to make such an informative and powerful video

Thank you Mr. Seth for trying to make the clarification on your video between Sport Taekwon-Do and Original Taekwon-Do. I am still watching your videos and making sure not only that you educate the people correctly but you also know that there is a big difference between the two styles. For example when the TKD guy said that we don't need the chin in, of course that doesn't apply to the ITF Taekwon-Do since we do punch when we get close. While we stay back and rely on the kicks, yes we want to keep that head away from any round house kick or axe kick, but as soon as we come close is like boxing, guard need to come up and chin in. At my Dojang I teach my students boxing for the same reason, because we use both hands and feet. Also in our case while we cannot use excessive force, we not only worry about the point but also to get kick in the chest since we don't use the chest protection that WT uses. Also explain your TKD guy that not to get offended if you are trying to distinguish his style from ours, because it is different. Thumbs Up from me this time on this video.

Good job. Even kinda pointed out Deep, Kung fu stances are for training. Using Isometrics is very now. No one fights in a deep stance. Nice connection with, slightly changing everybody's basic stance not dissimilar to everyone else's. We all use the same body structure and there are only so many ways with which to use that structure. Makes me proud. Getting choked up a little. 😭😭😭 So Dame Proud.

Thanks Sir,i love this video about all different styles were discussed together instead of which style is stronger!Subscribed!

I really commend the curiosity and the work you put in!

i feel like for traditional martial arts, stances are a misnomer. you did a good job with tkd and karate in differentiating between self defense and sparring/competition, but in wushu too, i'm sure most schools (if they do spar) they don't spar in those stances solidly. Wushu sanda ofc being the prime example

For Wushu I feel like one key difference between it and other styles is that the stances are meant to be rooted. You're not supposed to bounce or fidget or even move at all because in modern Wushu they aren't used for fighting; the stances are purely performative. They also work as training since the 'ideal' bow, horse, etc. stance requires an _absurd_ degree of flexibility, balance and strength.

you know i like this series there's something to appreciate.

Liked the Way u keep the Neutrality in the different Fighting forms specifically their stances without trying to Rank it nor judge it. Nice

Interesting; thanks. I notice in the ring for full contact, all styles start to look the same as far as stances go.

In Taekwondo sparring (mostly point sparring) I like to call the stance as "The Neutral Stance". There is the "Offense Stance" and "Defensive Stance", especially if we see or use the old (rules) fights. In Taekwondo sparring, 90% points are score on the counter attack. With this in mind, old fighters usually kept their defensive stance in the ring. But, there are also the offensive fighters who like to initiate attack. Usually they use more "Offensive Stance". The Offensive Stance usually put more weight on the front leg, while the Defensive Stance will put more weight on the rear foot. The idea was that, Taekwondo offense won’t stop at one or two kicks, it will go in 3-4 combo, so that we use front leg to start the momentum going eithee with jumping/skipping kick (for initial attack), or to start the combo kick. It's also to steal some steps in the ring since naturally, opponent will move a step or two back when they see an attack is launch, with the exception if they wanted to intercept the attack. While otherwise, if you're prepare to counter an attack, you would preprare to move back a half-step or one step while launcing your counter kick. Usually people do slide back and kick, or just simply half-slide, half-shuffle and kick. So, the Neutral Stance like the Taekwondo Master shows, would look like the riding stance with higher center of the gravity, when we look it from the side view. The idea of Neutral stance is that you can easily change your stance to offense or defense quickly in the middle of fight. So, you have a very comfortable stance to do both attack or counter attack. With this Neutral Stance, you won't be stuck with a single strategy in sparring. Although Olympic Sparring probably has another view on these stances since we hardly see counter attack anymore in modern tapping games, other than the spinning kick.

I really like how you like to learn and make connections with various martial arts. Keep up the good work!

TKD instructor here, just wanted to say cool! this was a fun vid ^_^

It would be cool if you invited Mike to see the best stance for self defense

Seth you will be a lifelong martial arts learner. Great open minded attitude

Fantastic video! Keep up the great work

really fun, educational video that compares the martial arts in a non-competitional way.

Do you have a video on pros and cons of bouncing for fighting? I see that its more common on point based matches, but I do wonder how useful it is on a contact match or sparring. the timing might be easier to figure out but being kind of a heavy guy I find that it helps me be way more agile and explosive while moving!

What happened to mr. “safe space karate”! Lol 😂

Nice summary at the end. The stances as well as styles are modified to fit their functions.

Cool! Thanks Sensei Seth!

A word on wushu: my teacher taught me that the stances are purposefully exaggerated and overcorrected, so that you do it properly in a real fight. If you start off all loosey goosey with your stances, in a real fight, your stance would be that much worse.

extra note its way easier to move with your hands low by your centre of gravity

I took shorin-ryu karate in my 20s for several years. I still remember some of it. Great workout!

Super cool to see you mention the "sport vs defense" standing in karate. I was taught it as one for distance covering and in and out entries vs for standing and trading. I dont think a lot of people teach the second and its pretty sad.

My taekwondo school (ATA) taught a sparring stance that was more similar to the karate stance than the taekwondo stance you showed. None of this hands down stuff that gets your head knocked off. Instructors were constantly on us to protect our head. There are multiple stances, too, including front, back and side stances and you choose which to use based on technique and strategy, though in general the karate like stance is what we called sparring stance. I totally get why people can think taekwondo is ridiculous after watching WTF sparring, especially since that is the style represented in the Olympics, but not all organizations follow those idiotic rules and quite frankly it's frustrating to see taekwondo represented that way. ATA is not a taekwondo school that restricts punching in competition (except spinning back fists iirc), so your hands are up for offense as much as defense and in training and sparring we spend as much time punching as kicking, perhaps more.

In my experience and what I’ve been told, stances and hand position in Kungfu mimic the position that style would hold their weapons in. A lot of the stances are mores transition of movements rather than a solid stance to be held, though this isn’t so much wushu… Just something interesting to add

Great summary at the end.

Awesome Video Sensei Seth!

Sensei Seth, a video on comparison of katas across various styles of Karate will be cool For eg: difference between a Goju Ryu Seiyunchin and a shito ryu Seiyunchin Or difference between a Naihanchi kata of SHOTOKAN and a Naihanchi of Shorin Ryu

Would have been interesting to see BJJ in here. Coming from boxing to self-defense BJJ a couple years ago, I had to rethink my stance more around being able to sprawl, guard against headlocks, etc.

Thank you for the lesson I understand my confusion on different opinions now

Awesome video!!!

Im coming from ITF tkd and created my own taekwondo style with a more square stance, some punches and a guard. I also opened my own dojo to teach it to some people Nice video btw🤜

Anyone who grew up playing fighting video games got a headstart on fighting stances.

TKD, Karate, and Chinese Martial Arts are all connected and so much of their old foundations are the same but the modern context of each diverge them into much more distinct differences. Cool video

That was a great video! It's not easy to make an almost 15 minute video on stances and keep it interesting.

I thought you might have gotten a sanda/sanshou instructor to teach your Gong fu stance.

Please do a video about how to avoid breaking your leg when throwing kicks, especially Muay Thai kicks. See Uriah Hall vs Chris Weidman and Chris Weidman vs Anderson Silva.

Great video sensei

Very interesting. Thanks Sensei.

I will be really happy if seth talked some time about chupa porrazo its a Mexican martial art

Different Kung fu styles have different stances

Cool video Seth. Thanks.

The sparring stance I learned in the TaeKwonDo school I trained in is much closer to the Karate stance you described mixed with the Muay Thai stance than it is to this TaeKwonDo instructor's stance. It's clear that even within the different Martial Arts there are differences!

Wushu Kung Fu: head up, shoulders back, chest forward. is this supposed to be a joke about exactly what you should Never Ever do in a any scenario Ever?

TDLR TKD: long range kicking defense Muay Thai: close range brawling defense Karate: a little bit of both All in all if you get too close a karate guy to where elbows become a threat, if the karate guy is good he’s gonna know to bring his hands closer and he’ll start to look like a Muay Thai guy until he once again establishes distance that favors him

Great video as always. Thank you. Namaste

Thanks for this video.

Why is wushu even included? lol

I swear to god I swear to god I swear to god I was searching about this last week so badly ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

2 oclock at night and im here, couldnt be happier though

My stance I was taught in karate was a mixture of karate an taekwondo in the UK but since I box now I’ve combined them all with a lead left jab palm hand half extended out an a tight right hand temple guard for a power shot with a wide left foot forward stance

This video is awesome :)

I like the spirit of the video. I would also like to see traditional styles or combat versions of martial arts as well of the more modern "sport" types... As Many of the older versions of these same arts were grappling arts as well, so the stances and strikes had MUCH more meaning and applications. And as my old instructor would say... "Stances are stationary in training... but should mature into the understanding of simply being transitional movements." Again... love the spirit of you guys... Love what your team is doing!!! Keep the fun videos coming.

I like what you said about why the karate stance has further away hands because of not wanting to get hit by your own fist if you're not wearing gloves. When we work on our boxing techniques, this is one of the reasons we don't use the peekaboo hand position for self defense, but will use it for kickboxing (along with other positions).

I love your content ❤️

Great vid, cheers bro.

Enjoyed the comparison. I am currently training in Taekwondo to learn how to utilize my legs more but typically spar more squared due to wrestling/boxing background

nice breakdown

I remember a Wushu dude telling me that twos part of the origin for their horse stance, variations of the bow stance, and hand positions were 1: they originated from army training where you might have to change direction quickly (either to the side or even to your back) as both an individual and as a group, so they were more symmetrical/reversible and 2. that because weapons training was involved the stances are meant to to require the least amount of alterations to be used in either unarmed or armed combat (with different weapons) but that over time these practical origins got blurred, for the reasons you mentioned at this video's end

Imari is pretty. Good video again, you have great content 👍🏼💯

I've been really getting into switch stepping . Literally studying Willie Pep . It's so game changing its like opening up a 4th dimension. You can go from the worst place for an authodox to the best place for a southpaw in one step . While they block the left hook you pivot back into authodox and send a straight right in at 90 degree to there guard .

On Kung Fu stances... The deeper stances and taolu (kata) seem to mostly originate from Shuaijiao (Chinese Wrestling based on sweeps and throws) which is one of, if not the oldest form of Kung Fu. They serve two purposes. One is conditioning the core and legs because in most forms of sport Shuaijiao you lose points if you make three points of contact on the ground, so leg and body conditioning is a must...Also most of the deeper stances are variations of set ups for throws, etc. Take the bow stance shown in the video, the modern wushu form is a slight variation of the Shuaijiao form of an over the shoulder throw where you will twist and shoot your back leg up to leverage the opponent over your shoulder. Also this transfers over to arts like Tai Chi as well. When you watch a practical application from a sports perspective it's almost indistinguishable from Chinese Wrestling and a lot of the movements are set ups for reaps, sweeps, and arm drags...And in self defense form you add in clinch elbows, shoulder hits like you see Jon Jones and Connor throw, and a few other clinch strikes. It's interesting seeing how historically a lot of the stances originated in grappling but were modified for performance for modern Wushu. Basically most of what you see are still based on tripping and throwing your opponents. (There's more stance stuff with Chinese striking arts, but from what I've seen it does seem to cross polinate with Shuaijiao still, but I need to research more into that. Anyway it's fascinating stuff.)

This vid was pretty cool

The bow stance from Wushu reminds me a lot of zenkutsu-dachi in karate! What's interesting to me is that in his book, Shoshin Nagamine describes it as a "desperate stance". If you experiment with the angle you keep your back at, I noticed you can maintain a ton of pressure and use your entire bodyweight against your opponent.

Very nice video.

You should do fighting stances vs training stances.

My karate sensei had us doing stances really differently. It came off more like a boxing stance with the strongest arm close to your face while the jabbing arm was extended like a boxer would do it. To be fair she was also teaching us Wing Chun techniques on the side because she was a martial arts nerd, she was already obsessed with MMA back when people were barely hearing about it.

I love finding the similarities in different martial arts. I had a wrestling and taekwondo background. When I trained at my first mma gym, we had a wingchun instructor, and after a little while, I started to notice the similarities between wingchun and taekwondo. Mind you, in my taekwondo class, we didn't do anything for competition. Was purely combos, forms and some shitty "self defense" moves. Some shadow sparring was included too. And then with capoeira, and various others I've done, just as many similarities.

Great video! Interesting display of zenkutsu dachi and kiba dachi by the wushu sensei, which shows the Chinese martial arts roots of karate (pre-Okinawan)! Karate itself has a range of default stances, next to the sports and shotokan fighting stance. For example: kyokushin, which is much more frontal, shorin-ryu, which has a higher stance, etc.

Excellent work! Liked how you analyzed the purposes behind the stances, how they evolved for their purposes, and ultimately found common ground. A deep Wushu stance with just a few adjustments could turn into a Muay Thai stance. Fantastic! I was hoping you could cover boxing to round out these stand up arts. As for future stance videos, I second one focusing on different forms of grappling, like wrestling, Judo, or BJJ. Maybe ask some Kung Fu practitioners, like Wing Chun, why do they keep their heads up. Is it a form and structure thing, or is there more to it? Anyway, great video!

All right sensei Seth. I’ve been watching so many of your videos. You have CONVINCED ME to do Karate rather than bjj. Mostly because I wanna kick like badass 🥋