A quick reminder

The new class starts tonight. See you at 8!

Stance of the week: dīngbù (T stance)

I've been trying to find a copyright free picture of this stance and haven't been able to, so here is a video instead. The video is of the 24-step form and if you stop it at 17 seconds, you will see the T stance just before going into Part the Wild Horse's Mane.

T stance is a lot like empty stance - your weight is on one leg and the other leg is empty. The leg with the weight in it (in this case the right leg) has the foot flat on the ground. The left foot is drawn in with the ball of the foot on the ground near the inside of the right foot. It is different from empty stance in that the feet are closer together. Also, in empty stance the toes on the foot of the empty leg are pointing forwards - in T stance they are not.

It is called T stance because the feet are at right angles to each other, forming a T shape. However, the angle of the empty foot is not so important as its position relative to the substantial foot, and the stance is often done with the feet at a smaller angle, especially when the body is turned away from the empty foot.

T stance is an in-between position, used when you are turning from one direction to another, as when you go from Begin the Form to Part the Wild Horse's Mane in the 24-step form.