Newb Question

Pardon my ignorance, but I have been trying to figure this our for a few days and none of my research is turning up anything. I have just started training traditional jujutsu, and at the beginning of our first class, sensei began a warmup with the class where they all stood in a basic stance- as he yelled, they moved to different stances (approx 10 of them). Couple questions:
(1) Is this a normal routine done by most jujutsu classes, using "well-known" traditional stances?
(2) Are there any resources that would help me visualize or understand these stances?

I will be asking for more info in my next class, but was hoping to use the next 3 days to practice them. Many thanks in advance.

Kiba dachi (Horse stance) - also called a side stance, feet are parallel to each other, about two and a half shoulder widths apart. Your back should be straight and you should be straight up. Your knees should be bent at about a 130 degree angle. Your hips are pointing parallel to your feet.

Zenkutsu dachi (Front stance) - Your front knee is bent just enough so that it covers up your foot in your field of vision, it should be almost directly above the foot. Your other foot is about two shoulder lengths back and straight, but the knee should never be locked. Front foot is pointing forwards, rear foot should be pointing about forty five degrees off of your centre line, your hips are pointed forwards.

Kokutsu dachi (Back stance) - Your weight is primarily on your rear leg. The front leg is bent and should be resting lightly on the floor. Your rear leg is directly underneath you and should have a slight bend in it. Your front foot is pointed forwards, your rear foot is pointed perpendicular to that. Your hips are pointed forwards. If you pivot on your back leg and put the knee down behind your front foot there should be just enough room to place one fist.

If you type the names of the stances into google I'm sure that you can find images of each. Obviously there are many more stances, but those are the basic ones.

Thanks for the reply- going to google now. Additionally, I will probably just ask next class to I can get the names of the stances in sequence order- and google those as well. Many thanks

I gave the japanese names just for completeness. Unless your instructor is very traditional he will most likely use english most of the time.

i thaught kizz-mi-azz stance was where... you suck get lost.

10 stances? and this is a biginners class, that seems awfully complicated. Remembering the right times to bow is hard enough in your first lesson.

horse stance, side stance, front stance, back stance, cross legged stance, cat stance, long back stance, low sweep stance, free sparring stance, crane stance.

That's 10, you shouldn't need to know all of those your first classes, you don't see some of those in forms for a long long time.

Thanks for the replies- my next class is tonight and hopefully I will be able to gain some clarity. Perhaps I phrased the question wrong in this forum... I am talking about a series of stances or postures that you can can practice on your own, as a series of movements...

I do know Kiba Dachi is the first of the series... it flows into another stance. Anyway, will come back late tonight or tomorrow and post.

Sounds like a kata off some sorts?

thanks for another enlightening post.. they are really helping us with our technique.

in my first lesson we only used one stance, would appear it was the front stance. Which we used for the few evasion moves, throws and locks that we went through.

the biggest problem i had was doing everything at the same time.. because i was thinking about every move i made half the time i'd forget about the foot work because i was too busy concentrating on what my hands were doing. Only managed to get both working right at the end of the class. Hopefully my next lesson will show some improvement.

It'll get easier, after a few classes you'll naturally start going into the stances.

Cordination and what not will come with time, just stick with it n u'll get there!

Back from class and I have the answer- everyone calls it kata. You start in shizenhontai, move into jigohontai, do some hanmikazuki Hoko, into several defensive postures such as mae hidari jogitai. After, you move into the cat stances (neko ashi dachi). The second phase is blocking postures, like joda age uke, chudan ude uke and gedan harai uke. Apparently these are only two phases, which are followed by a fist striking and foot striking kata.

Thanks again for all of your help folks.