The Fort: The Cane-Do Kai’s Impenetrable Guard

The Cane-Do Kai doesn’t have fancy stances. Our basic cane guard stance is called “The Fort”.   The Fort assumes your opponent is armed.  It’s designed to protect your vital anatomy yet allows you to mount an aggressive power shot attack.  Those trying to defend against a power shot onslaught from The Fort soon learn that trying to side step the attack is futile. The Fort allows  cane practitioners to effictively cut the side stepping angles without interrupting the continuous attack.

So what does The Fort stance look like?  Practitioner’s hips face the opponent, both forearms of the lead hand (containng the cane) and the cover hand (covering the chest and heart region) cover a rectangular area to protect the body’s centerline and corner angles.  The foot of the lead leg is slightly turned inward to quickly defend against lower attacks.  The ball of the foot of the rear leg makes contact with the ground and the heel is lifted to allow for a forward charge.  Think of the way a sprinter sets up.  The head is kept straight and the chin is tucked down on the chest.   Armed with a hardwood cane or a Robaina Raven, The Fort stance allows the Cane-Do Kai practitioner to explode into Juggernaut mode (see “The Juggernaut” article) making him/her a formidable force to the chagrin of the bad guys.