The Power of Horse Stance - 5 Minutes a Week Can Change How You Move!

NOTE! The Vivobarefoot code has now changed to "THEBIONEER15" Thanks!

Ma Bu(horse stance)training has been a staple of my training since the eighties. It doesn’t require equipment and is a fantastic rehabilitative exercise that helped me walk again after the brain surgery in 2010 and the recent craniotomy 03/21/2023.

3 weeks ago, I started Horse Stance for 1 minute as part of Leg Day warm up. It is so, so humbling.

Horse stance and holding primal squats have both improved my mobility so much and made me stronger and more confident in calisthenics movements in particular. Definitely extremely valuable!

Bro! Shenmue! Thanks for taking us down memory lane.

Awesome video! The horse stance is one of my favorite exercises of all time. Doing this for years as a kid gave me a sort of "permanent" level of mobility that has been very useful for martial arts practice and general fitness as I've gotten older. I would also credit horse stance training for giving me the pistol squat for free. It's an all-around superb exercise that checks a ton of boxes, and for anyone interested in improving their usable mobility, focus, and leg endurance, it's a no brainer! This video is a top-tier breakdown of the movement! Well done, Bioneer. 🙏

About 45 seconds after you settle in you realize this is serious business.

Horse Stance (Ma Bu) is basic prerequisite training for many Kung Fu styles. I have practiced it for over 20 years. Best to do it every day and slowly build the time it is held. It can be used as an exercise but also contains a martial function. Love the comment on rooting which is really important.

Crazy, I tried the horse stance directly after watching this thinking I could do at least 2 minutes and could only do it for like 15 seconds 😅 feels so good in the hips, knees and core after doing this! Definitely something I will include in my training!

This is killer! As someone who can do 3 sets of 12 pistol squats, I’m humbled. Only managed a minute on my first go 😂

There are many layers to Horse Stance that are generally unknown or overlooked. In baguazhang, the legs are held closer together (3 foot-lengths wide) and the depth is lessened. This opens up more mobility/plyometric options. The internal training element comes from how the legs are held. The name gives it away; one imagines holding something along the inside of the legs with more engagement than the outside of the legs. As if you are holding something between them. In Zhan Zhuang (Standing Post), this effort is mirrored in the arm position; intention to the inside of the arms, relaxation to the outside while maintaining the structure. Intention travels along these circles; energy flows throughout the body from the relaxation element (Song). Connective tissue is conditioned, supported through fascial engagement.

I used to train in stances heavily when I was self-training in my teens. Was out with my friends and there wasn't enough chairs at the table... but they didn't know that because it looked like I was sitting as I just chilled there in a low stance the entire time as if I was sitting down. With proper training the amount of endurance and leg strength you get from simply holding these traditional stances is something you can easily take for granted. Keep your body strong and conditioned.

Used to do these at a hung gar kung fu dojo my uncle taught in when I was 10 - 12 We'd start with two minutes per stance. Once we started to master two minutes we'd have to adopt a better posture with a bo staff behind our legs And once we perfected that we moved to 5 minutes, bo staff behind legs, arms straight out with weighted rings on our arms! Doing this twice a week made me a monster in primary school! Best part was we had to 100 bunnyhops straight after without losing balance

Man this is exercise is fire🔥 Nothing hurts more than this. I’ve been able to reach 2 minutes, but I’m not so consitent with it. Want to be able to hold for 5 minutes now.

I'll definitely add it to my routine ! I've practiced karate so sometimes for my legs I'm just doing some zenkutsu very low or kokutsu too but this one is the challenge I need right now !

Love your content, especially because you're a dad and your little tips here and there about how you try to incorporate training into busy family life is super. ;) Started horse stances a while ago and didn't really focus on it or do it regularly but my time that I can stay in the stance has doubled already. About 1:30

I reached 1 min 10 secs in a week's time. I have been doing weight training both heavy and light for past 5 years. And this horse stance has given me the all new direction to manage and take my fitness to the whole new level. I have now started adding a few martial arts and calisthenics movements in my workout routine. And this shift is doing wonders in a very short period of time.. thanks and kudos for sharing such valuable info.

This video brought my fire for Ma Bu back. When I was in my latter teens I was doing half hour horse stances no problem. My record was 40 minutes but I wasn't super deep and because of my long femur had to turn my toes out some but still I could jump like nobody's business. Just did a 2 minute set while watching your video ahah so I'm going to make it a daily thing till I get back to at least 15 minutes with solid form. And as a practitioner of martial arts since I was a small child thanks for taking the time to get to know your stuff before you made a video about Gong Fu and our training.

Ive added this into my stretching, DDP Yoga days. I love it. Getting the Horseplay into practice, headphones on with chilled out Synthwave and Tool's "Fear Inoculum" soundtracking the trance and stance. Thanks again for videos like this.

I've actually been experiencing some ankle and knee pain lately and in just doing some of these horse stances on the first day of seeing this vid seems to have lessened the pain just a little. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!