Zenkutsu Dachi (front stance)
1. The stance should be approximately two shoulder widths long, from back foot to front foot, This varies slightly from person to person and apporximately one hip width.
2. Between 60% and 70% of the body weight should be on the front leg.
3. The two basic body positions, when practicing front stance are Shomen (square) and Hanmi (side facing). The shomen body and hip position is predominately used for oizuki (stepping punch) and gyakuzuki (revese punch), in the earl days of karate practice. The hanmi body and hip position is predominately used for blocking in the early days of a karatekas training. But there are certain strikes with the front arm, that use the side facing position, eg. Kizamizuki (jabbing punch), uraken (back fist), etc.
4. When in zenkutsudachi, keep the chin pulled in, the crown of the head pushing up and the stomache pushing down.
5. Keep the same height when moving forward and backwards.
6. As you step forward or backward, try and move in a straight line. To be able to move in a straight line, you first need to be in a stance that is not too wide. Shoulder width is more than sufficient. Ideally between hip width and shouldre width.
7. When stepping forward, start the movement by pushing the front knee forward, then everything else comes into play, ie, legs, hips and upper body.
8. When stepping backward, start the movement by bending the back knee as you start to move back, then everything else comes into play, ie, legs, hips and upper body.
9. When stepping backwards or forwards, DO NOT rely on the body weight alone, to drive you, use your legs to push yourself forward and back.
10. If stepping forward with the right leg, once you are at the halfy way point with the knees together, drive off from the floor with the left leg.
11. The same applies when stepping backwards. If you are stepping back with the right leg, once you are at the halfy way point with the knees together, drive off from the floor with the left leg
Kokutsu Dachi (back stance)
1. Weight distribution for back stance is 70% of your weight on your back leg and 30% on the front leg. (some Dojo practice 80% back leg and 20% front leg)
2. Feet should be at a 90% angle to each other and heels in line.
3. Push the back hip forwards at a 45% angle and pul the front hip back
4. Roll the hips up and try not to let your hips stick out.
5. Keep your back straight
6. Your back knee should be heavily bent and if you drop a line down it should just come inside your back legs big toe.
Kiba Dachi (horse stance)
1. Weight distribution for kiba dachi is weight central.
2. Stance length depends on the length of your legs, but one shoulder width and a half is a good guide to start.
3. Feet should be both facing forward as much as possible.
4. Bend the knees naturally, do not push the knees out or let them collapse inwards.
5. Roll the hips up and try not to let your hips stick out.
6. Keep your back straight
7. Tighten the inside of the thighs.
8. If you drop a line down from either knee it should come down inside the big toe.
Hangetsu Dachi (half moon stance)
1. Weight distribution for Hangetsu Dachi is central, so 50% of your weight on your front leg and 50% on the back leg.
2. Feet should be hip width to shoulder width apart and this width will decrease as you advance in your karate.
3. Stance length depends on the length of your legs, but one shoulder width and a half is a good guide to start.
4. Front foot should be turned in slightly and back foot should be facing forward as much as possible.
5. There are two hip positions with half moon stance, they are side on for blocking and turning into the punch when punching reverse punch.
6. Roll the hips up and try not to let your hips stick out.
7. Keep your back straight
8. Do not push your knees in or out, both knees should be bent over the inside of the big toes.
9. If you take a straight line from both big toes, it will form a triangle which the apex of, should be approximately 5 to 6 foot in front of your face.
10. Tighten the inside of the thighs.
Neko Ashi Dachi (cat stance)
1. Weight distribution for Neko Ashi Dachi is 90% of your weight on your back leg and 10% on the front leg.
2. Feet should be together when testing the stance width.
3. Stance length may vary a little from dojo to dojo but we have front foot just in front of the back foot, so the heel of the front foot is only just in front of the toes of the back foot.
4. Bend that back knee as much as possible.
5. Back foot should be facing forward as much as possible.
6. Front foot should be facing forward with heel up.
7. Roll the hips up and try not to let your hips stick out.
8. Keep your back straight
9. Keep your knees in close, if your front knee is brought back, it should be next to the back knee.
10. Tighten the inside of the thighs.
Musubi Dachi (Heels together, feet turned out at 45 degrees)
This stance is used when you bow (rei).
1. Place the feet together, side by side.
2. Keeping the heels together, turn the toes out at roughly 45 degrees.
3. Keep your back straight
4. Keep the shoulders relaxed.
Many shotokan karate dojo bow in musubi dachi then move into the Yoi (ready position).
Heiko Dachi (parallel stance)
Heiko dachi is the stance karate go into when making the Yoi (ready position).
This stance is used after you bow (rei), in kihon, kumite and most kata.
1. Weight distribution for Heiko Dachi is central.
2. Feet should be hip width to shoulder width apart.
3. Feet should be facing straight forwards.
4. Keep both feet flat but have a little more pressure on the big toes.
5. Keep your back straight
6. Keep the shoulders relaxed
Shizen-tai or yoi dachi also translate as “natural stance” (literally, ‘natural body,’ or ‘natural body stance’). While in heiko dachi, the karateka is usually in the yoi (ready) position, arms slightly in front of the thighs, fists clenched. The way the arms move into the yoi position varies from Dojo to Dojo.
Hikite translates as pulling hand. So with the straight punch Choku tsuki, the hikite or pulling hand is the opposite hand with which you are punching with.
In basic kihon, the hikite meaning is the arm comes back to the side of the body, just under the ribs, there’s the obvious opposite reaction to the punch, stronger the pulling arm, stronger the punch, but there’s a lot more hikite meaning than just that!
IMPORTANT
For your black belt exam, your hikite must be strong and accurate.
Although we talk about self defense in the videos below, please make sure that on every punch and block technique we require the hikite to be in the correct position at the side of the body, or the stomach in the case of shuto uke.
Please work hard on your hikite and here are three videos to help understand this important part of Shotokan karate.
Hikite translates as pulling hand. So with the straight punch Choku tsuki, the hikite or pulling hand is the opposite hand with which you are punching with.
In basic kihon, the hikite meaning is the arm comes back to the side of the body, just under the ribs, there’s the obvious opposite reaction to the punch, stronger the pulling arm, stronger the punch, but there’s a lot more hikite meaning than just that!
Try not to have the elbow is up in the air. If your elbow is up at the back, the shoulders are up, making everythings weak. Drop the elbow down at the back, keeping the wrist straight.
Keep your elbows in.
Keep your shoulders down. Make sure your elbows are close to your body.
Feel like you are grabbing someone and pulling them towards you with every hikite.
Use your legs and hips, not just the arm.
Don’t forget to immediately rotate the arm a quarter of a turn at the start of the pull back.
On completion of a basic hikite, feel like you are striking with a low ushiro empi (back elbow).
Shomen and hanmi are an important part of shotokan karate basic training, this is an area that should be practiced diligintly.
Karateka who have been training a short time find shomen hanmi very difficult.
Many shotokan karate dojo place tremendous importance on this area, but karate Sensei differ in the way they teach and practice shomen and hanmi, so please, if you are new to karate classes, ask your dojo sensei for an explanation of shomen and hanmi.
A beginner to shotokan karate will be told that hanmi (side facing), is used for the basic blocks in front stance.
And shomen (square facing), is used for the two basic punches oi zuki (stepping punch) and gyaku zuki (reverse punch).
A big mistake people make when going from a blocking position (hanmi) to a reverse punch position (shomen), is the front knee moving from side to side.
When in zenkutsu dachi (front stance), try and make sure the front knee stays still as you rotate through shomen and hanmi.
Another common mistake is moving the head from side to side. Try and keep the head stationary, eyes facing fully forward when blocking and punching.
One more mistake when working on shomen and hanmi, is coming up and down in the stance, down on the reverse punch and up on the block, try and keep the same height.
Along with the rotation of the hips and body, the feeling should also be forward.
This is one of the most important areas of shotokan karate basic training, mastering this will not only give you correct technique, but the ability to generate tremendous power.
Shomen and Hanmi is classed as shotokan karate basic training, so if a karateka cannot master this, then the advanced karate will always be out of reach.
My Sensei would always be shouting ‘KIME!‘, but what does it mean?
A Karate master i trained with said, kime is when the body naturally stops itself! Other karate Sensei say kime is when you tighten your muscles on impact, other Sensei say it’s your level of intent on any given technique, or stopping everything as fast as possible.
Well, they are all correct!
Breathing in karate should be silent or as quite as you can. Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Hangetsu is an excellent training kata for breathing. When you breathe in, push the stomache out and when you breathe out, pull the stomache in.
Your breathing should be controlled at all times, focusing on control when training gets difficult.
With partner work, you should always be concious of yours and your partners breathing, be sure and not to show your breathing to your partner.
If you can see or hear your partners breathing, the best time to attack is just as they finish breathing out, because at this point, for a fraction of a second, your partners whole being will be focused on breathing in and living!
Try not to breathe with the chest, your partner should not know if you are breathing in or out!
The Japanese phrase Ikken Hissatsu is made up of three kanji, (ichi) meaning “one” , (ken) meaning “fist” and hissatsu meaning “certain kill or death”. To kill with one blow (ikken hissatsu) is a martial arts concept that, in todays modern world, very few karateka adhere to. No one knows for sure when ikken hissatsu first came into karate, but it may have originated from the samurai. Ichi Geki Hissatsu is an old samurai maxim which means “One strike, certain death“
A karateka who lived by this concept was the legendary karate Master, Masutatsu Oyama (pic1) 1923-1994 He became known as the ‘Godhand’, a living manifestation of the Japanese samurais’ maxim, Ichi geki Hissatsu or “One strike, certain death”. In 1950, master Mas Oyama started testing his power by fighting bulls. He fought 52 bulls, three were killed instantly, and 49 had their horns smashed off with knife hand strikes. During later years, he took on all challengers and had fights with over 270 different people. Nearly all of these fighters were defeated with one punch! Most of the fights lasted a few seconds and none of the fights lasted more than three minutes. To Masutatsu Oyama, Ichi geki Hissatsu, was the true purpose of karate techniques.
A modern day karate master who also lives by this concept, is the amazing Mikio Yahara (pic2) 8th Dan, who established the Karatenomichi World Federation in 2000. Master Yahara lives by the concept of Ichi geki Hissatsu and is one of the few modern day karate masters who pushes this amazing philosophy.
Many years ago, I remember training with Master Yahara and on one occasion I watched him perform his favourite karate kata, Unsu (cloud hands). It was beautiful and scary, all at the same time. I can only explain every karate technique within the kata, was like his life depended upon the outcome. It was REAL, no hollywood performance, no thrills, no stupid facial expressions, just raw, deadly, but beautiful, karate. To emphasise the importance of ikken hissatsu, my karate sensei used to explain that each karate move we made, should be executed like your life depended upon it. This feeling is absolutely essential in applying this concept and Master Yahara lives and breathes this concept.
I am all for karate and health over continuous full contact training (which we have all done and you simply cannot sustain such training), but i am tired of watching these so called karate champions performing karate kata like they are on a hollywood film set. They should look at karateka like Master Yahara, where to him, his life really is on the line, for every karate move!
What Does Hit With Intent Mean?
Some people have it, but most need to work at it, what is it?
Hitting With Intent!
At speed, you need to hit hard, fast and accurately, but more important than all of those, you must hit with intent!
If you are practicing on the focus pads, try and not only break the pads, but also the hand that is holding the pads!
Hitting things is great fun and if done correctly, will develop very strong techniques, but many karateka just go through the motions, now there is nothing wrong with practicing karate for health and well being, but if you want strong techniques, you must hit with the intent to do harm!
I believe all karateka should have a punch bag, focus pads and makiwara. To me, this area is an extremely important part of karate practice and its great fun!
All karateka should be striving to become better people by following karatedo (the way of karate), but there needs to be something a little nasty on the end of your techniques.
Flowing Techniques Does Not Mean Floppy Techniques
Relax Tense Relax
Here’s a short follow along class where we work on kizami tsuki and flow.
Robotic karate is an area that karateka can fall into easily. With effort and trying a little too hard, what should be relaxed fluid movement, turns into stiff robotic karate.
Try and work on relaxed movement and then only at the completion of a technique, do you tighten the muscles.
Most karateka are fine with the first two parts of kime, but the third and final part is to relax again after the tightening of the muscles and this is where karateka hold the tension and try and move on to the next technique.
Mushin no shin (無心の心) is a Zen expression meaning the mind without mind. Mushin is a mental state into which very highly trained people are said to enter, who can also practice this mental state during other everyday activities.
Mushin is achieved when a person’s mind is free from thoughts of anger, fear, or ego during combat or everyday life. No thoughts of what comes next, no fear, everything just happens, the mind is in free flow, so the person is totally free to act. In combat, they react towards an opponent without intention or direction, no hesitation.
Mushin can be accomplished through many arts that train and refine the mind and body.
The highest level of karatedo is one where there is no thought process in any of your actions, the mind is completey free of thoughts, emotions and ego. It just happens, or as Bruce Lee said, ‘I do not hit, it hits all by itself‘
The state of mushin in karatedo can only be reached through practice and repetition, once reached you are in free flow and trust in yourself implicitly, letting your karate just happen, kumite or kata, it just happens, no thoughts, with everything naturally coming from the instinctual subconsciousness. A karateka’s techniques become truly free to move by themselves.
Repetition is imperative to train and get things planted into the subconscious. In a state of mushin, a karateka is not thinking what should be the next move, their natural instinct takes over.
Mushin is very closely related to another state of mind known as heijoshin. Heijoshin literally translates as constant stable spirit.
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