Hachiji dachi
Karate stance
- Type
- Stances
- Martial arts
- Karate
- Japanese
- 八字立
- Meaning
- Outward feet stance
- Classified as
- stance
- Listed in
- Stances (Shotokan karate), High stances (karate stances), Gallery (karate stances)
Hachiji dachi (八字立:はちじだち) is a stance used in karate. In English, hachiji roughly translates to "the character for eight," but in context means something more like "shaped like number eight." Note that this refers to the shape of the kanji for the number eight: 八, not the arabic numeral "8". Dachi (立:だち), the pronunciation of tachi (立:たち) when the word is second in a compound, translates to "stance," referring specifically to the body's position from the waist down. The term "hachiji dachi" is frequently used interchangeably with "shizentai" (自然体：しぜんたい), or "shizentai dachi", which translates to "natural stance" (literally, 'natural body,' or 'natural body stance'). In most styles, shizentai is identical to hachiji dachi.
Kanji in 八字立
Other Karate stances
- Front stance
- Horse stance
- Moto-dachi
- Musubi-dachi-heiko
- Neko ashi dachi
- Sanchin dachi
- Kōkutsu dachi
- Renoji Dachi
- Zenkutsu-dachi
- Fudo Dachi
- Uchi Hachiji Dachi
- Sagi Ashi Dachi
- Chokusen-seisan-dachi
- Han Zenkutsu-dachi
- Han-Kokutsu-dachi
- Kosa dachi
- Seisan-dachi
- Sōkutsu-dachi
- Musubi dachi
- Hangetsu dachi
- Heikō dachi
- Heisoku dachi
- Karate stances
- Iaigoshi Dachi
- Shiko dachi
- Naihanchi-dachi
- Katashi Dachi
- Yama Dachi
- Teiji Dachi
- Tsuru Ashi Dachi
Japanese terms for stances
| Term | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 大上段 | daijoudan | holding a sword above one's head (kendo posture) |
| 二枚腰 | nimaigoshi | posture in which the legs are firmly planted (in sumo and judo) |
| 死に体 | shinitai | losing posture; falling position from which it is impossible to recover |
| 変わり身 | kawarimi | change of attitude (stance, position) |
| 騎馬立ち | kibadachi | horse stance |
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q5637042 (CC0); text quoted from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); kanji data KANJIDIC2 and KanjiVG. Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.