Fighting positions

Stance, Posture, Distance, Position

Stances and postures are defining, how the kung fu practitioner is standing and moving but give no information about the distance to the opponent or the posture of the opponent related to our own body.

• A stance in kungfu is a posture of the lower body (core, legs, foots). In other martial arts, stances sometimes describe the foot stance and arm guard together.
• A posture (in a kungfu routine) is generally meant as a posture of the whole body including arms and hands and often stand as a unique symbol for a complex movement (technique)
• A distance describes the amount of space between two persons (or a range of space). Normally used to categorize what type of techniques are appliable.
• A position describes, how two bodies are related to each other e.g. if one person stands behind the other, if both have the same leg or arm at front or what type of contact they have

Distance

Fighting can be distributed into several distances. Every distance allows a set of techniques that are matching this distance.

Distance	Possible techniques	Description
Safety distance	Footwork only	Any distance that allows no direct punch or kick without any previous footwork. This distance can be further distributed into the type of footwork that is necessary to apply a direct attack. For example: sliding step, cross step (crab walking), sliding jump step, full(regular) step, jump step. See for example Dr. Yang Ywing Mings Video on [Shaolin Kung-fu fundamental training]
File:Distance Kicking.png Kicking	Long range Kicks	The kicking distance is the most distant unarmed fighting position in which consistent contact can be made with the opponent. The combatants can use far-reaching quick kicks to the legs, body or head of the opponent. Martial arts such as Taekwondo emphasize the kicking distance in fighting. (Text from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-up_fighting)
Punching	Low-kicks, Punches	The punching distance is the zone where punches can be thrown, and this is the distance from the furthest jab to the closest hook, as long as no grappling is taking place. (Text from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-up_fighting)
Infight/Grip fight	Knees, Elbows, Grappling, Sweeps	An even closer distance, where elbow and knee strikes can be applied but opponents are still moveable and not within clinch
Clinch	Hold, Locks, Throws, Limited knees & elbows	The closest distance in stand-up fighting where opponents applying hold and grappling techniques, normally this results in a more limited movability where punches are harder or impossible to apply without increasing the distance.
Ground fight	Hold, Locks, Pins, Submission, limited punch, elbows & knees	As the safety distance, ground distance containing actually a range of distances from clinch distance on ground up to loose contact while one opponent is on ground and the other is standing up as long as there is a contact.

Position

Fighting positions are common situations in a fight in which the bodies of two opponents are in a specific relation to each other. Although every real situation are highly individual and such a concept can never fully support every detail of a real situation, naming positions have several advantages:

• Allowing to talk and write about such situations for teaching and research purposes
• Supporting the understanding of the fighter if he is in a 'strong' or 'weak' position
• Group techniques that are possible only within certain positions to lower complexity of fighting in general

Existing position namings

Distance	Martial art	Example position names
Kick distance	Taekwondo	Open/Mirror stance (orthodox vs. southpaw), Closed/Inverted stance (both orthodox or both southpaw)
Punch distance	Boxing	Orthodox, Southpaw (these are only defining your own posture but not the relation to the opponent)
Infight distance	Judo/Shuai Jiao/Jiujitsu	Mostly grips on clothing (Gi): Aiyotsu(both have equal grip), Collar grip, sleeve grip, two on one (arm) grip
Clinch distance	Wrestling	Bear hug, Collar tie, Overhook, Pinch grip tie, Underhook (See: wikipedia)
Ground fight	BJJ/MMA	Rear mount, Mount, Side control, North-south position, Turtle, Half guard, Guard (See: wikipedia)

There is a general lack of nomenclature for the infight positions without clothes (no Gi). And this is for a reason. Generally, as closer the opponents are and as more binding(contact) they have, as more 'stable' is this position. Stable in this context means, that the positions cannot be changed easily. If the opponents have no binding at all (like in kick distance) it is needless to define position names regarding the arm posture, as one can change his arm guard very fast and without any effort. As more binding the opponents have, as more stable is the position and this makes it easier to define, which techniques can be applied, how 'strong' a position is compared to another and which strategy one should follow regarding his positioning. Therefore, all ground fighting arts are mostly aware of the pros and cons of every possible position within this distance. Most fighters have a well trained set of techniques to change between positions in order to gain a stronger position to apply a finishing technique (These kind of techniques are called 'Transition techniques' in our wiki).

The distance, our interpretation of kungfu is mainly operation in, leads from punching to clinch distance, with a main focus on the Infight.

1. Contact building in our theory takes part mostly in punching distance.
2. Transition techniques are leading into the closer infight distance and often results in throw attempts.
3. Clinching distance may be reached for single techniques but is generally avoided (due to the lower movability)

As a result, this interpretation of (northern) kung fu operates mainly in the infight distance but has generally more stable positions as regular boxing or kickboxing like interpretations. This is because in kungfu routines, the opponent is often bound or 'sealed' by wrist/elbow/neck grips and leg bounding. Thus, we developed a system of position names for the infight distance to describe kungfu routine applications more accurate.

Kungfu-wiki position namings

To describe a Position, we need to define, how two bodies relate to each other, where they are bind, and how. The direction (left/right) is generally not necessary to categorize a situation because if both opponents switching sides, the same position occurs (just on the other side). As in kungfu both directions (left/right) of a technique are mostly are wanted to be equally trained, such differentiation would not be necessary. On the other hand, thinking and visualizing positions in much easier, when we assume a concrete situation (e.g. we stand left front, oppontent stand right front). Also, in routines, a technique is always applied on a specific side. The technique would be also possible to apply on the seperate side, but in this exact posture it is shown in one direction. So talking about how an application is meant in a specific routine posture requires also information about the stance and arm orientation.

To develop a powerful position system for the infight distance, we utilized the following parameters of a situation:

Parameter	Possible values
Stance orientation	Left foot front; Right foot front; Both foots equal
Stance relation	Mirror; Inverse
Front foot position	Distant; Inside; Outside
Arms orientation	Left arm front; Right arm front; Both arms equal
Arm binding	No bind; Front to front; Back to front; Front to back; Back to back; Double front; Double back; Double cross; Double trap; Double inside; Double outside;
Arm binding position	Inside; Outside; Below; Above
Seal	yes; no

Stance orientation

• Left foot front: Our left foot is in front and right foot is behind (right figure)

• Right foot front: Our right foot is in front and left foot is behind (left figure)

• Both foots equal: Our both foots are at same level (like standing normally with feets at shoulder width)

Stance relation

• Mirror: Opponents stance relates to ours like 'looking in the mirror' e.g. we are right front, opponent is left front

• Inverse: Opponents stance is 'mirror inverted' to our own stance, meaning we have both the same orientation (e.g. we are both right front)

Front foot position

• Distant: There is some distance between our front foot and the opponents front foot. We are not able to make contact between our legs or foots without making any kind of step

• Inside: Our front foot is placed at the 'inside' of the opponents front foot. Although it may be that we currently have no contact, a binding to the inside of his leg or foot is easy and fast to apply without making a real step (left figure is inside, right figure is outside)

• Outside: Our front foot is placed at the 'outside' of the opponents front foot. Although it may be that we currently have no contact, a binding to the outside of his leg or foot is easy and fast to apply without making a real step (left figure is inside, right figure is outside)

Arms orientation

• Left arm front: Our left arm is in front and our right arm is behind (left figure ist right arm front, right figure is left arm front)

• Right arm front: Our right arm is in front and our left arm is behind (left figure ist right arm front, right figure is left arm front)

• Both arms equal: Our both arms are at same level (like when applying a double block)

File:PositionExample BothArmsEqual.png (left figure has both arms equal)

Arm binding

Binding means contact between our arms and the arms or body of our opponent. The quality of the contact may vary from a single 'touch' up to a strong grip

• No bind: There is no contact between our arms and the opponents arms or body
• Front to front: We have contact with our front arm to the opponents front arm

• Back to front: We have contact with our back arm to the oppontents front arm (left figure has contact back to front, right figure has contact front to back)

• Front to back: We have contact with our front arm to the opponents back arm or body (right figure has contact front to back, left figure has contact back to front)

• Back to back: We have contact with our back arm to the opponents back arm or body

• Double front: We have contact with our both arms to the oppontens front arm (right figure has contact double front outside)

• Double back: We have contact with our both arms to the oppontens back arm (right figure has contact double back outside)

• Double cross: We have contact with our both arms to both of the opponents arms in a way that our arms are 'crossed' (e.g left to left & right to right). A double cross bind can be applied 'below', if our front arm is below the opponents front arm. or 'above' if our front arm is above the opponents front arm (left figure has contact double cross below, right figure has contact double cross above)

• Double inside/outside: We have contact with our both arms to both of the opponents arms from inside or outside in a way that our arms are not 'crossed' e.g left to right & right to left. (left figure has contact double inside, right figure has contact double outside). The binding double inside can be applied from above or below whereas the outside bind is generally apllied from below

• Double trap: We have contact with our both arms to both of the opponents arms quite similar to the 'mirror' bind but in a way that we contact one arm from inside and the other from outside.

Arm binding position

The arm binding position is an additional information at which position we apply an arm binding

• Inside: We have contact on the inside of an arm, meaning the side nearer to the opponents chest than to his back.
• Outside: We have contact on the outside of an arm, meaning the side nearer to the opponents back than to his chest.
• Below: We have contact from below (left figure seals from below)

• Above: We have contact from above (right figure seals the front arm of left figure from above)

Seal

Either 'yes' or 'no'. There are techniques, where we hold only one of the opponent arms but 'sealing' the other arm below or above in a way, that both arms are controlled because they hinder each other.

Position examples

Right figure: Left Foot Front, Mirror Stance Inside, Left Arm Front, Double Front Bind Outside

Right figure: Left Foot Front, Mirror Stance Outside, Left Arm Front, Front To Back Bind Outside

Positions in kungfu routines

Fighting in general is a process, where both opponents can move freely anytime (as long as they are not bind, hold or otherwise limited). If we consider a fight or a technique application as a video, a position is like a single picture within this video. A position is just a snapshot of a dynamic situation. That is why it is not helpful to define names for 'unstable' positions, as they last only a very short amount of time that might be not long enough to gain advantage of the knowledge about the current position and its consequences.

When we talk about positions in the context of routines, we also have to talk about the point in time, this position refers to. We categorized each technique application (posture) into the following points in time:

• Before technique: This stage defining the Position before we apply a technique. It is important to know, in which situation a technique can be applied (although variations of the technique may be applied also in other positions).
• Intended position: This is the position we want to achieve with our technique. E.g. all throwing techniques will lead to a position where the opponent lie on the ground. Transition techniques are specifically for changing a current position into a stronger one.
• After technique: When we apply our technique and the opponent doesn't move at all, this would lead to our intended position. However, normally the opponent reacts directly to our intend with a kind of (often reflexive) defense. This may include, blocking, resisting against a force or dodging (e.g dodge a foot sweep by lifting the foot, dodge a punch by withdrawing)
• After opp. reaction: The direct defense against an attack is mostly done very quickly. After that the opponent may (or may not) perform an action. In routines, these actions are often making steps backward or forward, punching with the free hand, or further resisting against an ongoing force (e.g. a throw attempt)

Position rating

To generate a first rating about how 'strong' a position is, we rate some positions regarding the following aspects:

Legs position rating

• Binding is generally 'stronger' than no binding (more control, possible throw and sweep applications)
• Binding from outside is generally 'stronger' than binding from inside (throws are usually applied toward the outside/back of the opponent, counters are more difficult to apply for the opponent)
• Bind outside with mirror stance is generally 'stronger' than binding outside in inverted stance (in inverted stance outside, both opponents are in the same situation whereas in mirror outside stance its nearly impossible for our opponent to apply a direct throw technique)

Arm position rating

• Binding is generally 'stronger' than no binding (more control, possible sealing, joint lock and throw possibilities)
• Binding (or sealing) both arms is 'stronger' than controlling only one arm
• Bindings that allowing throw applications are 'stronger' than others
• Bindings that allowing joint locks or otherwise controlling joints are 'stronger' than just grips without such control

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