Full Stance: Fighting from a Defensive Stance

The full stance is principally a defensive stance used in the primary response.

It allows you to maintain a safe distance from aggressors and to cover your most vulnerable targets. It also permits easy forward and backward body movement for quickly retreating and advancing in the opening moments of a confrontation.

Full stance is important defensively. If you assume a committed stance too
early in the fight, your opponent can set you up for an easy counterattack. Full stances should be used throughout the primary attack and in the early stages of the secondary attack to “feel out” the direction of the encounter and remain flexible until an opening appears.

The full stance emphasizes the use of the front arm and leg for blocking and the rear arm and leg for countering movements. It also is ideal for quick transitional moves like grabbing or lightning strikes to the face and lower body.

By combining quick frontal movement with easy body shifting, full stance allows you to close the distance abruptly and move to your secondary response. The position of your hips also makes it easy to perform rear leg and arm spinning movements as counterattacks. In full stance, your rear foot is at a one hundred eighty degree angle to your front foot. From this position, you can turn your upper body to the rear and shoot your rear leg out on a straight line to initiate the spinning movement. This is much more economical than executing from half stance.

In a defensive posture, the weight of the body is neutral (equally balanced on both feet) or shifted slightly to the rear foot. Half stance can be used offensively by shifting the weight to the front foot. This will, however, create a more committed and less mobile stance than a neutral or backward stance.

All of the movements made from full stance have a clear advantage. They allow you to strike quickly and economically while protecting the vital points along the centerline of your body.