Kiba Dachi
騎馬立ち
Literally: horse-riding stance
Also known as: Naihanchi dachi, Naifanchi dachi
Wide horse-riding stance in karate with parallel feet and the weight low in the middle; the whole kata Tekki is practiced in it.
Quick Facts
Katas containing this technique
About
Kiba dachi, literally horse-riding stance, is a wide stance in which the practitioner stands with the feet parallel, the knees bent as if in a saddle, and the weight distributed evenly and low between both legs. The back stays straight, and the knees and feet turn slightly inward. The stance demands great tension in the legs and at the same time develops it. Its story is tied to the kata Naihanchi. It came to Okinawa from Fuzhou in China; Anko Itosu, who according to sources took it over from Sokon Matsumura, may have split it into three parts. Gichin Funakoshi called it Naihanchi in his 1922 book, by 1936 was writing about it as Kibadachi, and finally renamed it Tekki, iron horse. All three tekki are practiced entirely in this stance. Okinawan schools, however, use the narrower naihanchi dachi, only shoulder-width, with the toes turned inward. Kiba dachi differs from the similar shiko dachi in the turn of the feet: in shiko dachi they point outward at roughly a forty-five degree angle. A modified version with raised heels also serves as a combat stance, and both the width and the height vary between schools.