King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Kosa dachi

Cross-legged stance – a Karate stance

Type
Stances
Martial arts
Karate
Japanese
交差立
Meaning
Cross-legged stance
Listed in
Stances (Shotokan karate), Middle height front stances (karate stances), Gallery (karate stances)

Kosa dachi (交差立) is a karate middle weight stance. From moto-dachi, bring the back leg forward so that the back knee is tucked in to the back of the front knee, with only the toes and ball of the back foot on the floor. Depending on the style, the back foot may be directly behind the front foot, or out to the side of the front foot, so that the legs are crossed.

Kanji in 交差立

mingle, mixing, association
on: コウ
kun: まじ.わる、まじ.える、ま.じる、まじ.る
6 strokes · JLPT 2
distinction, difference, variation
on: サ
kun: さ.す、さ.し
10 strokes · JLPT 2
stand up, rise, set up
on: リツ、リュウ、リットル
kun: た.つ、-た.つ、た.ち-、た.てる
5 strokes · JLPT 4

Other Karate stances

Japanese terms for stances

TermReadingMeaning
大上段daijoudanholding a sword above one's head (kendo posture)
二枚腰nimaigoshiposture in which the legs are firmly planted (in sumo and judo)
死に体shinitailosing posture; falling position from which it is impossible to recover
変わり身kawarimichange of attitude (stance, position)
騎馬立ちkibadachihorse stance

External links

Facts from Wikidata Q136799167 (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.