Base

While moving in any stance, the feet should always stay at least a shoulder width apart. This insures you always maintain minimum balance.

Settling

Once in correct position for a particular stance, settle the body weight/mass/center of balance down into the stance. You should feel as though you are making yourself very, very heavy; so heavy that no one could pick you up, but at the same time, you should feel light on your feet so that you can still move quickly.

Foot Pressure

When you are settled into a stance, the force of the body's mass is transferred to the floor through the areas of the soles of the feet (the footprint) that make contact with the floor. For most stances, these areas are primarily the heel, the ball of the foot behind the big toe, and the big toe itself. When standing in a formal stance, think about where the feet are making contact with the floor and keep your weight concentrated over these three points. This is commonly called "rooting." During movement, the amount of pressure on each of these three points may vary, but after the movement is completed, the body should once again become rooted.

Hip Height

When lifting the leg for a kick, do not raise the hips. Raising the hips will raise the center of mass, weaken stability, and weaken the kick.

Movements

Movement may be linear (forward or backward in straight or nearly straight lines), circular (in circles or curved lines), or perpendicular (side to side in straight or nearly straight lines). Learn to move quickly.

Movements are a series of contractions and expansions. Contraction refers to bringing the arms and legs inward toward the centerline of the body, and expansion refers moving them away from the centerline. While performs patterns, we first chamber and contract the arms and legs, and then expand into the technique and stance. During turns, it is important to contact the body as close to the rotational axis of the body as possible. Ever notice an ice skater doing a "scratch spin." The skater starts to turn rather slowly with the arms extended (expanded). As the arms contract closer to the body, the spin gets faster and faster. You turn faster with your arms contracted than with them expanded. When performing a 270-degree turn in Taekwondo, you start from a forward stance with the arms and legs held away from the center of the body. As you start rotating, you cross the arms close to the body and bring the legs under the center of gravity. The rotation is stopped by extending the arms and legs away from the torso. For smooth turns, the hips need to rotate directly over the base foot and the head and shoulders should remain in line with the hips.

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