Kokutsu Dachi
後屈立ち
Literally: backward-bending stance
A back karate stance with the weight on a deeply bent back leg and the body turned sideways; it sets up defense and a fast counterattack.
Quick Facts
Katas containing this technique
About
Kokutsu dachi, literally a stance bent backward, is a long stance in which most of the weight rests on a deeply bent back leg. The front leg is straight or only slightly bent depending on the style, the back foot is turned out ninety degrees, and the torso turns sideways while the head stays facing forward. It is a defensive stance: the energy stored in the back leg allows an immediate switch from a block into a counterattack, and the front leg, carrying only a smaller share of the weight, can be lifted quickly into a kick. In Shotokan it is taught in the first kata, Heian Shodan, and the JKA grading syllabus places it at 8th kyu, where it is practiced as a forward step with a knife-hand block (kokutsu shuto uke). Shito-ryu also uses it. Kokutsu dachi is the mirror image of the forward stance zenkutsu dachi. It is also close to the cat stance nekoashi dachi, in which the front leg carries no weight; karate literature holds that the two stances were once used interchangeably and that kokutsu dachi lengthened over time in Japan. Taekwondo has a similar stance called dwit kubi.