Heikō dachi
Parallel attention stance – a Karate stance
平行立ち
- Type
- Stances
- Martial arts
- Karate
- Japanese
- 平行立
- Meaning
- Parallel attention stance
- Classified as
- karate stance
- Listed in
- Stances (Shotokan karate), High stances (karate stances), Gallery (karate stances)
Heikō-dachi (平行立ち) is a karate stance where both feet are shoulder width apart, and their outer edges are parallel.It is a high stance, meaning that the knees are bent very slightly. Heikō-dachi is a common transitional stance in many kata.
Kanji in 平行立
The name word by word
Each part of the romanized name looked up in the JMdict Japanese dictionary.
| Word | Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heikō | 並行 | へいこう | going side-by-side; going abreast |
| dachi | 立ち居 | たちい | movements; sitting and standing |
Other Karate stances
- Front stance
- Hachiji dachi
- 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
- 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 Q136746728 (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.