Fundamental Mistakes With The Back Stance (kokutsu Dachi) In Shotokan Karate

Shotokan Karate is one of the most significant karates styles in the world

, so many styles are derived from this system, and thus are tainted with some very incorrect concepts. Thus, whether you study Shito ryu, Isshin Ryu, Kyokushinkai, or any style that utilizes the Heian kata, you probably are making the errors I am detailing in this article. It doesn't mean your karate stance is a disaster, it just means if you make a couple of adjustments you can improve it.

A good karate stance should be a perfect blend between mobility and solidity. Mobiity is when one can launch their body quickly in one direction. Solidity is when one can grip the ground with their feet and become virtually immoveable.

In the Shotokan kokutsu dachi stance, however, the balance between mobile and solid has been compromised. If you study the legs you will see that they are angling in directions that are more than 90 degrees apart. This means the stance can't decide whether it is supposed to be mobile or solid.

If the rear foot is facing away from the target the thrusting muscles are not pointing towards the target. The foot being incorrectly positioned means that there is not going to be enough traction when one pushes off. The leg being pointed in the wrong direction means that the major thrusting muscles of the leg aren't in a position for maximum push.

in addition, the hips won't be facing the right way, and when one pushes with the leg there will be an 'energy leak,' in the body. That is to say that the hips will not be strong enough to maintain the energy of the push. This can be severe enough to weaken the back, and even (in rare cases) lead to damage to the lower back.

To fix this stance all one needs to do is turn the rear foot towards the target to about 45 degrees or less. This will angle the foot for better traction, and set up the major muscles for the push when one launches the body towards the target. Of course, this is going to alter the basic nature of the stance.

Thus, when you turn the foot to the proper angle, you are going to have to figure out the better angle of the hips, and put the weight more on the rear leg. Doing this will prepare the body for maximum launch, but shotokan instructors will usually not like this alignment of the body for a simple reason: it lacks the sensation of shotokan power. But this merely proves that the system has been corrupted for sake and sensation of power, and not for the balance between gripping the ground and launching the body.

To deal with this, Shotokan masters have made the style specific to rely on overly aggressive front stances. What they have done is okay, but only in special situations, and the proof is in the fact that the back stance is more for holding the ground than for launching the body. Thus, there is a decision to be made, do what you are told in Shotokan Karate classes, or other classical martial arts styles, or estimate the validity of the physics I have presented here and change your stance to match these physics.

by: Al Case

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