I was 16-17 years old. I was in high school. I stayed out all night and I didn't call my dad. I got home the next day and he was pissed. He told me I had a choice. I could be grounded for a month or I could do a 10 minute horse stance. I chose the horse stance...
The rules of the horse stance punishment: I had to have my thighs flat in the stance, I had to stay in that position the entire time, and if I came out of the stance at any point I had to start the entire thing over.
I got into the stance. I had no idea how hard this would be. The first few minutes were fine as I had done a horse stance fairly consistently for a couple of years at this point. Then the pain starts to set in. It simply got worse and worse until I couldn't hold my back up straight any longer. I was literally screaming in pain near the end. My body was bent over but my thighs were flat. At the end my dad made me lift my back up to the point where I could see the clock to know when the punishment had ended. The whole thing not only tested my body but my mind as well.
I knew that if I were to give up at any point the whole experience would start again. That was not going to happen no matter what. My mind was continually fighting itself. Part of it telling me I had to give up. It was to much pain. The other part telling me if I give up I'd have to do it all over again. Either way I made it through but I would never want to do it again. After that experience I knew I could do anything so long as I didn't listen to my brain when it said to give up. Good lesson.
After I completed the horse stance I did not have the strength to stand up. I fell backwards on purpose and to my surprise my legs were so cramped that they stayed in the horse stance position as I was lying on my back. It took about 30 seconds for them to finally relax enough for me to be able to straighten them and stand up.
Standing up was now a problem as well. I had to keep my legs locked. When I first stood up I bent my knees a little bit and I fell back down. My legs didn't have the strength to hold me up. I recovered fairly quickly after a hot bath and some massage but the next few days my legs were hurting for sure.
The main reason I chose the horse stance option was because I was willing to go through whatever I had to go through so I could continue going to my kung fu class for that next month. I was back in class the very next class and had a blast as usual. There is no feeling in the world like knowing that you've gone through something like that and that you've conquered your self to make it happen. If you want to do it make sure you've got someone there to make sure that your not cheating yourself. It is hell to go through but you come out the other side stronger than you went in.
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