Choku-zuki 直突き
Straight punch
The technique, and its job.
The straight punch delivered from the natural stance, without stepping and without rotation of the body. It is the first punch taught and the one every other punch is measured against, because it isolates the single question that matters: does the fist travel straight to the target and arrive with the body behind it?
Application. Rarely used in this exact form against a moving opponent. It exists to build the mechanics that oi-zuki, gyaku-zuki and kizami-zuki then apply at range.
Mechanics
What each part of the body does, in the order it does it.
- Stance
- Hachiji-dachi, hips square, weight even.
- Starting position
- Fist chambered at the side of the ribs, palm upward, elbow behind the body line.
- Hips
- Square and still. Choku-zuki deliberately removes the hip so the arm action can be examined alone.
- Shoulders
- Down and relaxed throughout. A rising shoulder shortens the reach and announces the punch.
- Elbows
- Stays close to the body until it passes the ribs, then extends. The elbow never flares outward.
- Hikite
- The other hand withdraws to the opposite hip at exactly the same speed, palm turning upward. The two arms are one action, not two.
- Trajectory
- Straight out from the chamber along the shortest line to the target, the fist rotating palm-down through the last third of the travel.
- Contact surface
- The first two knuckles, wrist straight, forearm and back of the hand in one line.
- Kime
- A momentary full-body contraction at the point of impact, released immediately.
- Recovery
- The arm returns along the same line it went out on, without dropping.
- Breathing
- Sharp exhale into the moment of kime.
What survives when the name is forgotten.
- The shortest line is the fastest line. Any curve in the path is time given to the opponent.
- Hikite is not decoration: the withdrawing hand accelerates the punching hand, and it is also the hand that has just grabbed something.
- Kime is a moment, not a state. Tension held after impact is tension that slows the next technique.
Common errors, and how to fix them.
Naming a fault teaches nobody. Each one below carries why it happens and what corrects it.
Why it happens. The arm is trying to generate power the body should be supplying.
The fix. Punch with a partner’s hand resting on the shoulder. The shoulder should not lift into it.
Why it happens. Weak wrist, or a fist that is not properly formed.
The fix. Punch a makiwara or a pad slowly, checking the alignment of the knuckles, wrist and forearm at contact.
Why it happens. Attention is entirely on the punching arm.
The fix. Practise the withdrawal alone, then together, insisting both hands finish on the same beat.
Drills
- Slow repetitions with attention only on the line of travel.
- Alternating punches on a count, checking that both hands finish together every time.
- Punching with the back against a wall so the shoulder cannot travel forward.
Where it appears.
Kihon is the vocabulary, kata is the literature, kumite is the conversation. Every link below was written down deliberately; none of it was inferred from a name matching.
- Oi-zuki Lunge punch, stepping punch
- Gyaku-zuki Reverse punch
- Kizami-zuki Jab, leading-hand punch
- Age-zuki Rising punch
- Tate-zuki Vertical-fist punch
- Ura-zuki Close punch, inverted punch
- Morote-zuki Double-hand punch, augmented punch
The Japanese, explained.
- Choku-zuki 直突き
- Straight punch. The straight punch from the natural stance, without stepping or hip rotation. The punch every other punch is measured against.
- Hikite 引き手
- Withdrawing hand. The hand that pulls sharply back to the hip as the other technique goes out. It is not decoration: it accelerates the working hand by opposing rotation, and in application it is the hand that has just grabbed the opponent and is pulling them onto the technique.
- Kime 決め
- Focus, decision. The instant at which every part of the body arrives at once and the technique becomes solid — and the instant immediately after, when it relaxes again. Kime is a moment, not a state. Tension held after impact is tension that slows whatever comes next.
- Seiken 正拳
- Forefist. The front two knuckles of the closed fist, with the wrist straight so the bones of the forearm sit directly behind them. Nearly every punch in the syllabus lands here.
Video
No recording in the register is tagged to Choku-zuki. MMAKF has not filmed this technique, and the discovery pass did not find an external recording specific enough to attribute to it without guessing.
Nothing is shown here rather than a search link dressed up as a demonstration. What has been found, checked and registered is listed in full on the source register.
The video source register →