Neko ashi dachi
Karate stance
猫足立ち
- Type
- Stances
- Martial arts
- Karate
- Japanese
- 猫足立
- Meaning
- Cat stance
- Classified as
- karate stance
- Listed in
- Stances (Shotokan karate), Low frontal stances (karate stances), Gallery (karate stances)
Neko ashi dachi (猫足立) is a karate low stance where all weight rests on the back leg, which is bent at the knee. In the stance, the rear foot is turned at about 20-30 degrees out and the knee sits at the same angle. Only the toes of the front foot rest on the ground, positioned in front of the back heel at about the same distance as the front foot of moto-dachi. There is no weight on the front foot, and there is no bent in the ankle joint - front knee, front shin, and the rise of the foot (but not the toes) form a single line, vertical in Shitō-ryū, tilted in Shotokan.
Kanji in 猫足立
The name word by word
Each part of the romanized name looked up in the JMdict Japanese dictionary.
Other Karate stances
- Front stance
- Hachiji dachi
- Horse stance
- Moto-dachi
- Musubi-dachi-heiko
- 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 Q72589070 (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.