Zenkutsu Dachi
前屈立ち
Literally: forward-bending stance
A long forward karate stance with a bent front knee and a straight back knee; it carries strikes forward and forms the basis of the first kata.
Quick Facts
⚠️ Common Mistakes
Bending the back knee, failing to push the front knee outward, a stance that is too wide or too narrow, hips turned the wrong way, and the back foot turned out too far.
Katas containing this technique
About
Zenkutsu dachi, literally a stance bent forward, is a long forward stance that underlies most basic karate techniques. The front foot points straight ahead and its knee is bent roughly above the big toe, while the back leg stays straight. The stance is about shoulder-width wide and two shoulder-widths long; the front knee is bent at least forty-five degrees and the back foot turned out at least forty-five degrees. About two-thirds of the weight rests on the front leg. Gichin Funakoshi deliberately lengthened the stance when shaping Shotokan, so practitioners would build the thigh strength needed for an explosive advance. The stance is strong against a frontal attack and presents little of the body to the opponent, but it is vulnerable from diagonal angles and limits sideways movement. In Shotokan it underlies the first kata, Heian Shodan, and the JKA grading syllabus places it as early as 9th kyu. Its mirror image is the back stance, kokutsu dachi, where most of the weight rests on the back leg. Taekwondo has a similar stance called ap kubi, only measured in foot lengths.