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Pankratiast in fighting stance, Ancient Greek red-figure amphora, 440 BC. In martial arts, stances are the distribution, foot orientation and body positions (particularly the legs and torso) adopted when attacking, defending, advancing, or retreating. In many Asian martial arts, the most widely used stance is a shallow standing squat. This ...
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.
Many other Indian martial arts such as Mardhani Khel and Paika Akhada survived by practitioners practicing the art in secret, or by telling the colonial authorities that it was a form of dance. While many regional Indian martial arts forms are fading into obscurity, martial arts such as Gatka and Kalaripayattu are experiencing a gradual resurgence.
A popular dance in Mizoram in the north-east corner of India is Sawlakin, a word that "means spirit of the slain." Traditionally, the dance was led by the warrior who had hunted a big game or killed a man. He would wear his best clothes and a plume of red feather. He would wield a gun or dao and a shield. He would be followed by other dancers ...
Port arms: The weapon is brought out in front of the soldier, and held by the right hand on small of the butt, or equivalent, and the left hand about the forestock, or equivalent. High port arms: The weapon is brought out in front of the soldier in the form similar to Port Arms but higher so that the butt and forestock or equivalent is raised.
Each child who grew up in a samurai family was expected to be a warrior when he grew up, so much of his childhood was spent practicing different martial arts. A complete samurai should be skilled at least in the use of the sword ( kenjutsu ), the bow and arrow ( kyujutsu ), the spear ( sojutsu , yarijutsu ), the halberd ( naginatajutsu ) and ...
Describing and mastering proper dance positions is an important part of dance technique. These dance positions of a single dancer may be further detailed into body, head, arm, hand, leg, and foot positions; also, these positions in a dance couple can additionally take into account connection , the relative orientation of partners, and ...
Within the stance, arms are generally positioned across the vital points of the centerline with hands in a vertical "wu sau" ("protecting hand" position). [62] This puts the practitioner in a position to make readily placed blocks and fast-moving blows to vital striking points down the center of the body, i.e. the neck, chest, belly, and groin.