Karate stances
Body position used to create power, flexibility and movement
Karate has many different stances, each used for different types of power and movement. In Japanese the general term is tachi (立ち) changed to dachi when used as a suffix. Some stances focus more on mobility than stability, and vice verse.
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
- Heikō dachi
- Heisoku dachi
- 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 Q1512259 (CC0); text quoted from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.