Drop Stance (Pu Bu): How to Get Low and Stay Stable

What is the drop stance (pu bu)?

Pu bu roughly means crouching or lying stance. Your body sinks over one leg almost to the floor while the other leg extends flat to the side. In forms it is used to duck under an attack or slide low and forward before rising again.

For training it pays off twice: the bent leg works like a very deep single-leg squat, while the straight leg gets a stretch along the inner thigh. That makes pu bu one of the best drills on the road to side splits, see learn the splits.

How to do the drop stance step by step

1. Step into a wide straddle, a little wider than your Horse Stance (Ma Bu).
2. Shift your weight onto one leg and bend it deeply. The knee points the same way as the toes.
3. Keep the heel of the bent leg on the floor.
4. Extend the other leg fully, toes pointing forward or turned in slightly.
5. Press the whole sole of the straight leg flat into the floor, inner edge included.
6. Keep your back as straight as you can, chest open, eyes toward the extended foot.
7. At first, rest your hands on the floor in front of you or on the bent knee; later they take the position from the form.

The goal is for the thigh of the bent leg to rest on the calf. Until then, any height is fine as long as both soles stay flat.

Pu bu mistakes and fixes

• Rolling onto the foot edge: the classic. The straight-leg foot rolls to the outside and the inner edge lifts. Stay higher and press the whole foot down.
• Bent-leg heel lifting: you end up on the ball of the foot and wobble. Turning the foot out a little more often fixes it.
• Knee caving in: the bent knee follows the toes.
• Rounded back: a sign the hips are not open enough yet. Put your hands on the floor for support.
• Bent straight leg: the stretch disappears. Lengthen the knee, pull the toes up.

Drills if you cannot get low yet

Hardly anyone nails a full drop stance on day one. Warm up for 5 minutes, then use these builders:

• Deep squat: feet shoulder width, all the way down, heels on the floor. 3 × 30 seconds, holding a door frame if needed.
• Side lunges: shift side to side, getting gradually lower. 2 × 10 per side.
• Pu bu with hands down: as low as you can, hands supporting. 3 × 20 seconds per side.
• Seated straddle: for the inner thighs, 2 × 45 seconds.

If your heels will not stay down in a deep squat, stiff ankles are often the reason. Practice the squat short and often and it usually improves.

Drop stance switches and transitions

Once you can hold each side, add the switch: glide from a left drop stance through the middle into a right drop stance without standing up. It builds serious leg strength and control. Start with 2 × 6 slow switches, pausing 2 seconds on each side.

Further along, pu bu becomes the launch point for many techniques. The sweeps start here: the Back Sweep (Hou Sao Tui) and Front Sweep (Qian Sao Tui), where the straight leg sweeps in a circle along the floor. The animal forms use it too. The Snake Combination opens with a pu bu switch, and the Dragon Combination starts deep in the drop stance before a controlled rise. Another low stance that pairs well with it is the Crossed Stance (Xie Bu).

Four-week plan to sink deeper into drop stance

Train three or four times a week after your warm-up. The plan takes about 10 minutes and fits nicely at the end of another session.

• Week 1: deep squat 3 × 30 seconds, pu bu with hands down 3 × 15 seconds per side.
• Week 2: side lunges 2 × 10, pu bu with hands down 3 × 20 seconds per side.
• Week 3: pu bu with one hand down 3 × 20 seconds, first switches 2 × 4.
• Week 4: hands-free pu bu as low as you can hold cleanly, 3 × 20 seconds, switches 2 × 6.

If one side is clearly harder, give it an extra set. That is normal and evens out over time.