King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Musubi dachi

Karate stance

Type
Stances
Martial arts
Karate
Japanese
結び立
Meaning
Informal attention stance, both heels touching and feet at 45° angle
Classified as
karate stance
Listed in
Stances (Shotokan karate), High stances (karate stances), Gallery (karate stances)

Musubi-dachi (結び立) is a karate stance where both heels are together, with the toes open at about 45 degrees. It is a high stance, meaning that the knees are bent very slightly. Musubi-dachi is used to perform the formal respectful bow, rei (礼).

Kanji in 結び立

tie, bind, contract
on: ケツ、ケチ
kun: むす.ぶ、ゆ.う、ゆ.わえる
12 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 Q136746724 (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.