Kiba-dachi (騎馬立, Horse riding stance)
Stand in front of a mirror, examine your karate posture. Start with horse-riding stance (kiba dachi). Do you look like a bare-foot, bull-legged cowboy? You should, unless you're a cowgirl. Are your (1) feet spread apart so your feet extend beyond your shoulders? Remember, you are doing horse riding stance - so does you stance allow for a horse to sit between your legs? (2) Are your feet parallel with toes pointing to the front (shoman) of the dojo? If they are at an angle, you are standing in shiko dachi (sumo stance) instead of kiba dachi. But both are good stances.
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| Soke Hausel, stands in shiko dachi to teach white crane Shorin-Ryu at a UW clinic in Laramie. |
It is my experience, few beginning martial artists get their feet in a proper position in kiba dachi and end up in shiko dachi. There is nothing wrong with shiko dachi, it can be used for any technique used in kiba dachi; but by tradition, it is used in specific waza (techniques) in kata.
Typically, yori ashi (shuffle step) is employed when moving forward in kiba dachi, but you can just as easily move backwards with sugi ashi. Turn sideways and take a shuffle step with your lead foot followed by dragging your back foot - this is yori ashi. After you’ve tried this exercise, add a side kick (yoko geri keage or yoko geri kekomi) to your exercise regimen.
Shiko Dachi (sumo stance)
Shiko Dachi (sumo stance)
Shiko dachi can be used in place of kiba dachi, as both work well interchangeably. The only difference between the two is that shiko dachi is a slightly more relaxed stance.In many of the Japanese dojo (道場), there is an insistence that students practice kiba dachi where it is designated with no room for interpretation. However, many Okinawa schools are not so concerned with exact placement of feet. It is much more important to keep knees bent for effective self-defense. To the uninitiated, shiko dachi and kiba dachi look the same and they can be used interchangably.
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| Hanshi Andy Finley, 8th dan, stands in zenkutsu dachi while teaching nunchaku clinic at University of Wyoming. |
Critique your zenkutsu dachi (front stance), by checking your feet placement: be sure to spread your feet apart (front to back as well as side to side). Your front knee should be over your instep with toes pointing forward and there should be about 1.5 times your shoulder width separation between feet (front to back). Your back leg and knee need to be relaxed (not locked), and your back foot pointing forward at a small angle (10 to 20 degrees). And also constantly note that your feet should be separated right to left about one shoulder width separation (this is always a problem for most beginners). Each time you walk forward, check this width.
When you check your stance, look at the position of your knees and feet. If your back foot is perpendicular to your front foot, you are likely standing in fudo dachi or kokutsu dachi rather than zenkutsu dachi. Examine to see if your back is straight?
Walk forward in front stance keeping knees bent, your shoulders should remain at the same height (i.e., do not bob up and down). If your shoulders follow a sine wave pattern, you should be in physics - rather than karate. When you block, rotate your shoulders and upper body to match the angle of your feet. If you are punching, square your shoulders so they are nearly perpendicular to your stance.
Kokutsu Dachi
The back stance is slightly different for Shorin-Ryu karate than Shotokan karate. In most systems of karate, feet are perpendicular to one another with knees bent. However, in Shorin-Ryu, the back foot and knee are at a 100 to 110 degree angle with the front foot, with both heels slightly off-set off the embusen line rather than in a straight line. The separation of feet from front to back, and side to side, should be the same as in zenkutsu dachi. Kokutsu dachi is typically used for defense.
When you check your stance, look at the position of your knees and feet. If your back foot is perpendicular to your front foot, you are likely standing in fudo dachi or kokutsu dachi rather than zenkutsu dachi. Examine to see if your back is straight?
Walk forward in front stance keeping knees bent, your shoulders should remain at the same height (i.e., do not bob up and down). If your shoulders follow a sine wave pattern, you should be in physics - rather than karate. When you block, rotate your shoulders and upper body to match the angle of your feet. If you are punching, square your shoulders so they are nearly perpendicular to your stance.
The younger you are, the more you need to bend your knees. If you are over 60, take it easy, but remember to keep your feet on the floor and move in a smooth line so there is no perceivable up and down motion in your knees, head, and shoulders.
When you move in any direction in front stance, your feet need to scribe a semi-circular path on the floor with the ball of your foot always touching the floor as you glide forward, side to side, or backwards.
When you think that you have your stance correct, have someone check your posture to be sure that they agree it is correct. Once you have it right, practice, practice, practice, so that your body learns to do the correct stance.
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| Sensei Tyler Durfee, 3nd dan, stands in kokutsu dachi while training with kama, Seiyo Hombu, Mesa, Arizona. |
The back stance is slightly different for Shorin-Ryu karate than Shotokan karate. In most systems of karate, feet are perpendicular to one another with knees bent. However, in Shorin-Ryu, the back foot and knee are at a 100 to 110 degree angle with the front foot, with both heels slightly off-set off the embusen line rather than in a straight line. The separation of feet from front to back, and side to side, should be the same as in zenkutsu dachi. Kokutsu dachi is typically used for defense.
Neko ashi dachi (cat leg stance)
The cat stance is a great stance to defend from. As you practice cat stance, be sure all of the weight is on you back leg and both knees lie over the insteps.
As you practice this stance, periodically lift your front foot to see if you have to adjust your balance to keep from falling forward. If you do, you need to readjust and get all of your weight on the back leg.
The crane-foot stance (鶴足立), in Japanese is referred to as tsuru-ashi dachi (pronounced sue-roo ah-she da-chee). This stance appears in many kata in Shorin-Ryu including Pinan Yondan, Gankanku, Hakutsuru Dai, Rohai, Wankan Sho, as well as in many kobudo kata including Seiyo Sai no Kata and Suuji no kun.
The stance is also known as sagi-ashi dachi, which translates as heron-foot stance (鷺足立 ). Typically, it is used in avoidance of foot sweeps, shin or foot strikes, and was featured in the Karate Kid movie. In some cases, we interpret its use in kata, as an exercise to assist students in building leg muscle and balance.
A very important stance in traditional karate, used when we bow, and found at the beginning and ending of kata. The stance, known as 'musubi dachi', is complete with heels touching (joining), and toes split along a 45o angle. It is used to perform a formal, and respectful bow, rei (礼) - the most important technique (waza) you will use in martial arts.
The cat stance is a great stance to defend from. As you practice cat stance, be sure all of the weight is on you back leg and both knees lie over the insteps.
As you practice this stance, periodically lift your front foot to see if you have to adjust your balance to keep from falling forward. If you do, you need to readjust and get all of your weight on the back leg.
Tsuru Ashi Dachi
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| Soke Hausel in crane stance during karate demo at Chinese New Year. |
The stance is also known as sagi-ashi dachi, which translates as heron-foot stance (鷺足立 ). Typically, it is used in avoidance of foot sweeps, shin or foot strikes, and was featured in the Karate Kid movie. In some cases, we interpret its use in kata, as an exercise to assist students in building leg muscle and balance.
Musubi Dachi (結び立 - Joining stance)
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| Soke stands in musubi dachi at UW clinic in Laramie |
A very important stance in traditional karate, used when we bow, and found at the beginning and ending of kata. The stance, known as 'musubi dachi', is complete with heels touching (joining), and toes split along a 45o angle. It is used to perform a formal, and respectful bow, rei (礼) - the most important technique (waza) you will use in martial arts.Periodically check your feet placement, and be sure your heels touch. This stance is different from heisoku-dachi (閉足立), feet together stance), which is rarely used in Shorin-Ryu.
Iaigoshi-dachi (居合腰立, Kneeling stance)
This stance shows up in a couple of kata such as gankaku, empi, sword-taking kata, nunckaku shodan kata, and others. The stance is used to get below your uke’s strike, or to give you a little extra time against and downward cut or strike. Kneel on the rear leg. with front leg bent. The distance from back to front foot is one shank length plus one fist length, and is typically one fist width wide.
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| Iaigoshi dachi (kneeling stance) demonstrated by Hanshi Neal Adam, 8th dan, at Seiyo Hombu in Mesa, Arizona |
Stances are the foundation of good martial arts and self-defense. As one begins a journey in martial arts, they must first learn to walk and stand. In Shotokan karate (mainland Japanese branch of Shorin-Ryu), students are taught exaggerated wide and deep stances - which are good if you are young or middle aged. But, nearly all Shorin-Ryu systems teach students to stand in more upright, positions.
When you practice kata, learn which stances are emphasized in each kata bunkai. Some techniques and stances are best for attacking, and some are better for defending, some are better for more than one opponent, others are good for groin protection. Remember, there is a lifetime of learning martial arts, so if you don’t have it right yet, there is still plenty of time.
"Secret to punch, make power of whole body fit inside one inch, here.” - Mr. Miyagi
There are many different stances in karate. It is most important to practice kata and bunkai in proper stances so that your muscles memorize stances so you do not think about them when you defend yourself. Is there a perfect fighting stance? The answer is yes, it is the one that makes your opponent run away.
"Punch! Drive punch! Not just arm, whole body! Hip, leg, drive punch!” - Mr. Miyagi
As a teenager, I used the perfect stance many times to avoid altercations on the street. Preparing myself, I stepped into a fighting stance (kumite dachi) and nearly every time, my stance defeated my opponent! How?
In these situations, my potential opponent was shocked and typically asked - "What's this? Karate?” My answer was "Yes"! And just like that, the fight was over with comments from the aggressor stating that he did fight people trained in karate. Or even more interesting were comments about not fighting someone whose hands were registered (not sure who started the rumor that martial artists had to register their hands, but it came in handy [pun intended]). Hopefully, all of your battles will end as easily as many of mine.
One of the favorite battles happened when I was working as a lecturer at the Hansen Planetarium in Salt Lake City as a college student. This event occurred when two female employees from the planetarium walked out to get into their cars one evening and were stopped by two aggressive males who would not allow them to close their car doors and leave. When I walked out into the parking lot, I challenged them. As they walked towards me, I stepped into kokutsu dachi, and like magic, their eyes swelled in their sockets and both turned quickly and ran away. My thought was - wow, my stances are getting really good! But then reality hit me when my co-worker, Louis Williams, ran past me chasing the two thugs with a 2” x 4” in hand.
I remember an interview with Bruce Lee – I don’t remember where it took place, but it was the talk of the dojo in the 1960s. Some Chinese martial artist was interviewed with Bruce Lee. The individual indicated he had a strong immovable stance; so strong that it was impossible to push him off balance. Lee accepted the challenge. The martial artist took his stance and Lee walked up to him and kicked him in the groin! Not fair, but it moved him. Whether a true story or not, it provided a valuable lesson: block! There is much more to a strong foundation than just a stance.
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