King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Sōkutsu-dachi

Side long stance – a Karate stance

Type
Stances
Martial arts
Karate
Japanese
側屈立
Meaning
Side long stance
Listed in
Low sidewise stances (karate stances)

Often conflated with kōkutsu-dachi, this is a variant of kōkutsu where the head faces the direction perpendicular to the line on which the feet stand.

Kanji in 側屈立

side, lean, oppose
on: ソク
kun: かわ、がわ、そば
11 strokes · JLPT 2
yield, bend, flinch
on: クツ
kun: かが.む、かが.める
8 strokes · JLPT 1
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

text quoted from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); kanji data KANJIDIC2 and KanjiVG. Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0); KANJIDIC2 (CC BY-SA 4.0); KanjiVG (CC BY-SA 3.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.