The trailing leg can be held straight or slightly bent. The trailing foot is angled outward at a 45 degree angle, with the heel lined up with the heel of the leading foot. The lead foot is pointed straight ahead, with the lead leg bent slightly. Translated as 'bow stance', Gong Bu is also known as 'Deng Shan Bu' (mountain-climbing stance) or 'Gong Jian Bu' (bow and arrow stance). For instance, in bái hè quán (白鶴拳), the knees are bent inward and almost touching, unaligned with the toes. Many kung fu masters required students to be able to hold Ma Bu for at least five minutes before learning the forms of a style.ĭifferent styles of kung fu often teach variations on the horse stance. Ma Bu is frequently used for conditioning and building up knee strength.

Equal weighting (50-50) is given to each foot, making for a very stable stance. The torso sinks down as if following a plum line and the sacrum curves forward and in or arches. The feet are parallel, straight forward, and the knees are bent at 90 degrees. The stance typically begins with the feet a shoulder-width apart.

In actual attack and defense, Ma Bu is sometimes viewed as a transitional stance, from which a practitioner may quickly switch to other stances. The Ma Bu/Pu, known as 'horse stance' or 'horse-riding stance,' is a fundamental stance found in nearly all styles of wushu. In contemporary wushu there are five basic stances: 'Gong Bu' (bow stance), 'Ma Bu' (horse stance), 'Xie Bu' (rest stance), 'Pu Bu' (flat stance), and 'Xu Bu' (false stance).

Medieval sword fighting stances