Seishan Dachi
半月立ち
Literally: half-moon stance
Also known as: Hangetsu dachi, Seisan dachi
Half-moon stance: a longer version of sanchin dachi with the knees turned inward, the base of the Shotokan kata Hangetsu, formerly Seisan.
Quick Facts
Katas containing this technique
About
Seishan dachi, called hangetsu dachi or half-moon stance in Shotokan, is a stance with evenly distributed weight and the knees turned inward. It is longer than sanchin dachi but holds the same tension. It is taken with a characteristic step: the back leg traces a half-circle toward the centre and then forward. The terminology dictionary of the Japan Karate Federation lists it as seishan dachi in two forms, yoko and tate. Its name comes from a kata. The Okinawan kata Seisan belongs to the naha-te tradition, and Gichin Funakoshi renamed its modified Shotokan version Hangetsu; he placed it instead of the kata Sanchin, with which it shares the principle of expansion and contraction. Funakoshi studied under teachers of both main Okinawan lineages, Sokon Matsumura (shuri-te) and Seisho Arakaki, so Hangetsu contains slow, tense movements, otherwise rare in Shotokan. The kata has forty-one movements; the first part is practiced slowly with forceful breathing. Other styles perform the kata Seisan in other stances: Uechi-ryu in sanchin dachi, Seibukan Shorin-ryu in shiko dachi and zenkutsu dachi.