Koshi
虎趾
Ball of the foot below the toes, literally “tiger toes”. The striking surface of straight kicks mae-geri, the toes are pulled up during the kick.
Quick Facts
Term typeAnatomy, target levels and striking surfaces
LanguageJapanese
Formnoun
Pronunciation[koh-shee]
Alternative Namesball of the foot
Readings and romanizations
Reading (kana)こし
Hepburn romanizationkoshi
Word breakdown
虎kotiger
趾shitoe
Definition
Koshi (虎趾) means “tiger toes”: ko is tiger, shi is toe. In karate it thus denotes the ball of the foot below the toes, which is exposed when the practitioner pulls the toes up during a kick. In other schools the same surface is called chusoku (中足), “middle part of the foot”, or josokutei (上足底), “raised sole surface”. Koshi is the striking surface of the straight kick mae-geri and, in traditional karate, also of the arcing kick mawashi-geri. If the toes are not pulled up, they risk injury, which is why the shape of the foot is practiced already in kihon.