From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Karate stances
Karate stances
Karate has many different stances, each used to create acter レ (or letter L). The weight is kept 70% on the rear
power, flexibility and movement. Some stances focus foot.
more on mobility than stability, and vice versa. These are Teiji-dachi (丁字立, stand like the character 丁)
the most common stances in karate: Similar to renoji-dachi, but if the front foot is brought
back, its heel will touch the middle of the rear foot, thus
High stances the foot print is shaped like the character 丁 (or letter T).
Side Seisan Like the forward-facing Seisan stance, the
In all these stances the knees are bent very slightly. feet are aligned the same but pointed off to the side at a
There are no stances where weight rests on a leg with a 25-30 degree angle.
completely straight knee.
Special high stances
Frontal high stances Sagiashi-dachi (鷺足立 Heron-foot stance) also known as
Heisoku-dachi (閉足立, Feet together stance) Tsuruashi-dachi (鶴足立 Crane-foot stance)
Feet together. This is usually a transitional stance, al- This is the stance on one leg, where the other leg is raised
though it is used as the ready stance in some kata. and bent so that its foot touches the knee of the base leg.
Musubi-dachi (結び立, Knot stance) The exact form of contact between the foot and the knee
Heels together, toes open at about 45 degrees. This stance depends on the style or even on the particular version of
is used to perform the formal respectful bow, rei (礼). the kata where this stance is used. For example, different
Musubi-dachi-heiko (結び立-平行) versions of the kata rōhai use different sagiashi dachi.
From musubi-dachi, open heels until both outer edges of
feet are parallel. Some styles don’t distinguish this stance
from heiko-dachi.
Middle height stances
Hachiji-dachi (八字立, natural stance, literally "stand
like the character 八") Middle height front stances
The feet are at the shoulder width, toes open at about Naihanchin-dachi (內步進立)
45 degrees. Sometimes this stance is called soto-hachiji- The feet are wider than the shoulder width, with their
dachi (外八字立). This is the basic ready stance in Karate. outer edges parallel. Legs and buttocks should be tensed
Uchihachiji-dachi (内八字立, literally "stand like the upwards, while keeping the weight low and the knees
upside-down character 八") bent inwards. This stance has strong tension in the legs
The feet are at the shoulder width, toes facing inwards and is the basis of the kata Naihanchi.
at 30-45 degrees, knees tense. This stance is used in some Sanchin-dachi (三戦立 Three Battles stance)
formal exercises, for example the tsundome. Also called The stance is fixed and tensed in the same way as
Chun’be. Naihanchin-dachi. It can be described as Uchi-hachiji-
Heikō-dachi (平行立, parallel stance) dachi with one foot moved forward until the toes of the
The feet are at the shoulder width, and their outer edges rear foot are on the same horizontal line as the heel of
are parallel. This is a common transitional stance in the front foot. This powerful stance is used in the mul-
many kata. titude of katas attributed to Kanryo Higashionna, from
Seisan (Universal) The feet are shoulder with apart, Sanchin to Suparimpei. Many advanced breathing tech-
as in Heiko-dachi, but one foot is forward to where the niques are exercised in this stance.
heel is parallel with the big toe of the back foot. Hangetsu-dachi (半月立, Halfmoon stance)
A version of sanchin used in some karate styles, particu-
Sidewise high stances larly Shotokan. This stance is longer than sanchin-dachi,
Renoji-dachi (レの字立, stand like the character レ) but retains the same tension and inward rotation of the
Feet are at the shoulder width. The foot in the front is ful- knees. It is the basis of the kata Hangetsu.
ly frontal (toes facing forward), the rear foot is turned 90 Moto-dachi (基立, Foundational stance)
degrees out, and is positioned in such a way that if the The stance is shin length and around two fist widths
front foot is brought back, its heel will touch the heel of wide, with both legs slightly bent, the front foot facing
the rear foot. Thus the foot print is shaped like the char- straight forward and the back foot pointed outward at
about 20-30 degrees. The body should be squarely for-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Karate stances
ward unless a half-turn han-mi is applied. The basic ready rest on the ground, positioned in front of the back heel at
stance for kumite is Moto-dachi. about the same distance as the front foot of moto-dachi.
Kosa-dachi (交差立, Crossing stance) There is no weight on the front foot, and there is no bent
From Moto-dachi, bring the back leg forward so that the in the ankle joint - front knee, front shin, and the rise of
back knee is tucked in to the back of the front knee, the foot (but not the toes) form a single line, vertical in
with only the toes and ball of the back foot on the floor. Shitō-ryū, tilted in Shotokan.
Depending on the style, the back foot may be directly be- Iaigoshi-dachi (居合腰立, Kneeling stance)
hind the front foot, or out to the side of the front foot, so Kneeling on the rear leg. Distance from back foot to front
that the legs are crossed. foot is one shank length plus fist length. Stance is one fist
Han Zenkutsu-dachi (半前屈立, half zenkutsu), also width wide.
known as Sho Zenkutsu-dachi (小前屈立, short zenkut-
su) Low sidewise stances
Shortened and raised zenkutsu-dachi, this stance is Fudō-dachi (不動立, unshakable stance) also called
slightly lower than moto-dachi. The rear leg is straight Sōchin-dachi (壯鎭立) after kata Sōchin
at the knee just like in the regular (low) zenkutsu-dachi. The body is positioned similar to shiko-dachi turned ei-
This stance is sometimes seen in kata, for example in ther 45 or 90 degrees to the side, except for the head
Matsukaze. which still looks forward. The front foot moves one foot-
Han-Kokutsu-dachi (半後屈立, half kokutsu), also length forward, increasing stability and making it possi-
known as Sho Kokutsu-dachi (小後屈立, short kokutsu) ble to perform a strong attack with the rear foot.
Shortened and raised kokutsu-dachi. Kōkutsu-dachi (後屈立, back long stance)
This is a mirror image of zenkutsu-dachi, where the rear
Low stances leg is bent strongly at the knee and the front leg is either
straight or slightly bent, depending on the style. The rear
The height of all these stances is, ideally, exactly the foot is turned 90 degrees to the side. The body is turned
same, so that the transitions from zenkutsu to kokutsu 90 degrees or more away, except for the head which looks
(defense) or kokutsu to zenkutsu (attack) happen with- to the front. Kokutsu-dachi is a great defensive stance
out loss of energy which would be necessary to move the because of the amount of energy stored in the rear leg,
body’s center of mass up and down. ready for a counter-attack.
Sōkutsu-dachi (側屈立, side long stance)
Low frontal stances Often conflated with kōkutsu-dachi, this is a variant of
Kiba-dachi (騎馬立, horse stance or rider stance) kōkutsu where the head faces the direction perpendicu-
Feet are parallel and wide, weight is central and low, with lar to the line on which the feet stand.
the back straight and the knees and feet pointing slightly
inwards. This stance is not used in all styles of karate be-
cause of strong tension that it requires, instead it is often
Gallery
replaced by Shiko-dachi. • Heisoku dachi
Shiko-dachi (四股立, square stance, often called • Musubi dachi
horse stance where kiba-dachi is not used)
Same as Kiba-dachi but the toes face out at about 45 de-
grees.
Zenkutsu-dachi (前屈立, forward stance)
This is a long frontal stance where the weight is mostly
on the front leg. It has exactly the same height as shiko-
dachi, but the rear leg is completely straight at the knee
and extended back. The front foot is placed frontal (toes
facing forward), the rear foot is turned out 30 degrees,
just like Moto-dachi, but never 90 degrees as seems nat-
ural to new practitioners because this precludes any for-
ward motion. The heel of the rear foot rests on the
ground. Zenkutsu-dachi is one of the most common
stances in kata.
Nekoashi-dachi (猫足立, cat paw stance)
All weight rests on the back leg, which is bent at the knee.
The rear foot is turned at about 20-30 degrees out and the
knee sits at the same angle. Only the toes of the front foot • Hachiji dachi
• Uchi hachiji dachi
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Karate stances
• Heikō dachi
• Teiji dachi
• Renoji dachi
• Zenkutsu dachi / Fudō dachi / Sochin dachi
• Moto dachi
• Kōkutsu dachi
• Sagi ashi dachi / Tsuru ashi dachi
• Kiba dachi
• Shiko dachi
• Neko ashi dachi See also
• Sanchin dachi
• Tae kwon do stances
• Hangetsu dachi
• Kosa dachi
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Karate stances
References
• "Shito-ryu karate-do Volume 1: Basics" by Shihan
Keiji Tomiyama, 7th dan.
• "Karate Stances". North Austin TKD.
http://www.natkd.com/stances.htm. Retrieved
2007-05-09.
• "Shitō-ryū Stances". Karate-do Shito-kai Canada.
http://www.shitoryu.org/skills/stances/
stances.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
• "Shotokan Keiko Fundamentals". Shotokai, Tokyo.
http://www.shotokai.jp/japanese/keiko/
fundamentals.html. Retrieved 2007-05-09. (in
Japanese)
• "Mawashi-ryū Stances". Mawashi-ryū Karate-do.
http://mawashido.free.fr/jdj/postur.htm. Retrieved
2007-05-09. (in French)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Karate_stances&oldid=429735892"
Categories:
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• Japanese martial arts terms
• Martial arts stances (Japanese)
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