The Asian Squat vs. The Western Squat

trogdor9

What are your experiences with the Asian/Western squats? Before watching the video, I squatted naturally just to see how I squatted without any bias. After watching the video, I realized that I, an American with no (AFAIK) Asian heritage. I can't even manage the Western squat.

/Maybe Scrym/Mr. Period can make this a poll.
//Wink wink, nudge nudge

Apreche

/Maybe Scrym/Mr. Period can make this a poll.
//Wink wink, nudge nudge

Or you can.

trogdor9

Son of a bitch. Ok, the poll is up now.

TheWhaleShark

Wow, I really thought I'd be able to do an Asian squat, but alas, I'm too gaijin. I can only do the Western squat.

ProfPangloss

I'm able to do both, but I find the Asian one much less comfortable.

Rob From the Army

I do both, but like MasteroftheUniverse, the Asian one is not very comfortable after a few min.

Vhdblood

I can do the Western, but not the Asian. I can start the Asian, but when I get almost to my feet, it starts hurting in my leg. Almost like my joint won't bend like that.

Kite

I'm asian and I do the asian squat naturally and never noticed other people did it differently. The western squat.. why are you guys balancing on your toes, practiving to be ballerinas? Maybe asians just have a better natural sense of balance, out ancestors were ninjas, kungfu masters and shaolin monks after all

Cramit

I have succeeded in performing the asian squat but I find myself fairly unstable and it hurts my calves.

Johannes Uglyfred II

I find the western squat easy and comfortable; the only problem with it is the rather tenuous balance. As for the Asian squat, it strains the muscles in the back of my calves, which is rather uncomfortable. Also, if I don't take care in balancing, I feel like I could easily fall back onto my hindquarters. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, or maybe I just have a big ass, but the Asian squat is not as perfect as it's made out to be in the video. :P

Corbin

I can do both, but I find the Western squat more natural, which is to be expected. I also find that after a while the Asian squat actually strains my quads (the thigh muscles) more than my calves. I think to do the Asian squat I would probably have to stretch more often than I do currently. I think it has to do more with elasticity, although I'm sure muscle mass has a big part to play in the success. I could be wrong, have been before.

tuttle88

I can do neither, but then I have to have knee surgery.

MagL33To

I can do both easily. However, I can now see the advantages of the "Asian" squat.

Jameskun

I can do both, but I can't stay in the Western squat position for any long period of time. (Well, I can but it is not comfortable). If I position myself right (feet apart, etc) I feel like I could squat forever using the Asian method. I need to be more conscious of this though to make it habit, as my natural tendency when squatting is to go into the Western squat.

I think if any of us grew up with the Asian squat toilets, then we would have learned to do the same thing. That is not a place you want to be in an unstable/uncomfortable squatting position ;p

Rym

The Asian squat hurts my knees if I try to do it for more than a few minutes. At least with the Western squat, I can move around enough to keep my circulation up and last longer.

Nuri

The Asian squat hurts less when doing fieldwork in hiking boots because of the flat feet. Thus, I am practiced in its ways. ^_~

Rym

The Asian squat has one important deficiency: it's useless in the staging of an ATOMIC SIT-UP.

Andrew

I find that the Asian squat is extremely uncomfortable for me, mostly because my legs are not flexible enough to spread apart horizontally so I end up having to balance on the inside edge of my foot. Besides, I find that the Western Squat is better if you need to quickly react to something or stand up.

Erwin

I can do both and I am neither Asian nor Caucasian.
I am a homo sapiens

thaneofcawdor

I can do both and I am neither Asian nor Caucasian.
I am a homo sapiens sexual

HA HA, etc.

HeavyCruiserLost

I can do both but the difference is in the position of my feet. With the Western squat I can maintain balance and comfort with my feet together or at shoulder width apart with my feet either pointing straight forward or turn slightly away form my body. Whereas with the Asian squat I can only do it with my feet at shoulder width apart or slightly greater and my feet must be pointing about 75 degree away from my body for me to place my full weight flat-footed and maintain balance. The Asian squat is uncomfortable for me because it squishes my insides. I think my intestines are abnormally large or something and make my tummy push out a bit more than normal; they even did so when I was working out a few years back and had mad abs and the like. But who knows? I'm no doctor.

Brineshrimp

You can't squat 10 races!

Kidder

I'm Chinese, but for some reason I find the Asian squat very uncomfortable and unnatural to me. Maybe I've been Westernized! o_0 Having said that, the Western squat is quite hard to hold for a long period of time.

Churba

I wasn't able to asian-squat for quite a long time, but I learnt to do it while Learning Pentjak Silat.

SK3L3T0R

The Western Squat sounds more like torture. "...torture he underwent: the "banana posture," the "shabah" (body stretching with hands tied to a chair), "invisible" blows and the "frog posture" (being forced to stand for hours on the toes in a crouching position)". (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/871239.html) I'll stick with the asian squat.

Tasel

Have to say after trying both I'm definitely going to switch.
For those that can do both... Any martial arts in the past? I did some long time ago, and wondering if that could be the reason behind it.

Drex

I find the Asian squat more comfortable than the western equivalent for long periods of time. Tasel, i think the ability to do both isn't from martial arts but from the improved balance which martial arts provides as the western squat is harder to stay in if you have bad balance.

letseatcake

I'm Asian and I don't find the Asian squat to be too revolutionary. I generally do the Western squat if I only need to squat for a little while. When I attempt the Asian squat, I find myself falling backwards! My solution to the debate is just to sit down or stay standing.

bodtchboy

I can't do the Asian squat. My body won't balance correctly. What does this mean?!?

Hyuga no Butsu

I can do both, I think its all my training in martial arts, and working on construction sites(specifically on roofs)...
But either is comfortable... Maybe I'm just a wee bit abnormal.

...

Both the Western and Asian squat suck, neither is comfortable, and I know comfort when talking about squats, for I, NINE! Use my own squat. Nine's squat is superior. It basically just starts as a Western squat and then move one knee to the ground whilst you turn in the other direction. e.g. Right knee to the ground, turn left. Till you are 90 degrees from your starting position and your foot on your other leg is flat on the ground. Of course you can choose to actually put your knee on the ground, or not, and if you want to sit on your heel (note: sit on one of your but cheeks. Tendon up the ass != comfortable), or not. The advantages of this squat is that you are somewhat more stable then the western squat (you can increase stability by setting your feet further apart and/or turning your flat foot outward), and you can endure this squat longer than the western squat. Also you can turn to the opposite squat and see what was behind you in a quick swift motion, making it easier to keep taps on your surroundings. And it both shows and demands respect, since the knights of the middle ages squatted like this. Both demanding respect for they were knights, and greeted their king on his thrown this way. Also ninja's used this squat iirc.