Gyaku-zuki 逆突き
Reverse punch
The technique, and its job.
A punch delivered by the hand on the opposite side to the front foot, powered by rotating the hips from half-facing to square. It is the most-used scoring technique in the sport and, by most accounts, the most powerful single punch in karate — because the hip rotation, not the arm, throws it.
Application. The counter-punch of karate, and the single highest-scoring technique in competition kumite. It follows a block, it follows an evasion, it follows a feint, and it is the second half of most combinations in the sport.
Mechanics
What each part of the body does, in the order it does it.
- Stance
- Zenkutsu-dachi, starting hanmi and finishing square, the stance itself unmoved.
- Starting position
- Rear hand chambered at the hip, hips half-facing, rear foot flat and loaded.
- Hips
- The whole technique. The rear hip drives forward and around, rotating the body from hanmi to square. The punch is the last thing to arrive, not the first.
- Shoulders
- Follow the hips, never lead them. Relaxed until the instant of impact.
- Elbows
- Close to the body until past the ribs.
- Hikite
- The lead hand withdraws sharply to the hip, adding to the rotation rather than merely retreating.
- Trajectory
- Straight from chamber to target, the fist rotating palm-down in the last third.
- Contact surface
- First two knuckles, wrist straight, arm not locked.
- Kime
- Hip rotation, rear-leg drive, hikite and fist arrive on one beat, and the whole body braces for an instant.
- Recovery
- Return to guard immediately. A reverse punch admired after it lands is a counter invited.
- Distance
- No step required, so it can be thrown from a guard already established.
- Breathing
- Sharp exhale into kime.
What survives when the name is forgotten.
- The floor, the back leg, the hip, then the arm — in that order. Reverse the order and it becomes an arm punch.
- The back foot must stay grounded. It is the anchor the rotation works against; if it slides, the power leaks into the floor.
- It needs no step, which is why it counters everything. The opponent commits, the hips turn, the punch is already there.
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 faster and more obvious, so it goes first.
The fix. Punch with the hands on the hips at first, feeling the rotation alone. Then add the arm and keep the same sequence.
Why it happens. Over-rotating, or a stance too long for the hips to turn in.
The fix. Keep the back foot planted and shorten the stance until the rotation can happen without it.
Why it happens. Reaching for distance the stance is not providing.
The fix. Fix the distance first. The spine stays vertical over the hips.
Why it happens. Trying to add reach at the end of the technique.
The fix. Shoulders and hips finish square together, and no further.
Drills
- Hip rotation alone, hands on the hips, from hanmi to square and back.
- Gyaku-zuki against a pad from a fixed stance, checking that the back foot has not moved.
- Block-and-counter with a partner, where the counter must arrive before the attacker has recovered.
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.
- Heian Nidan Peaceful mind, second level
- Heian Sandan Peaceful mind, third level
- Heian Yondan Peaceful mind, fourth level
- Bassai Dai To storm a fortress, major
- Kanku Dai To view the sky, major
- Jion Compassion and kindness; also the name of a Buddhist temple
- Go-no-sen Late initiative — block, then counter
- Sen-no-sen Initiative ahead of the initiative
- Combination attack Combination technique
- Kihon ippon kumite Basic one-step sparring
- Jiyu kumite Free sparring
- Choku-zuki Straight punch
- Oi-zuki Lunge punch, stepping 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
Gyaku-zuki appears in these shapes.
These are conceptual families, not MMAKF grading combinations. The federation has approved no combination list, and none is invented here.
- Lead hand into reverse punch — Open the guard with something fast, then land something heavy behind it.
- Kick into reverse punch — Use the kick to close the distance, and land the punch as the foot comes down.
- Hand, kick, hand — Move the guard twice and finish where it is not.
- Receive and counter — The foundational defensive unit: receive the attack and answer into the opening it leaves.
The Japanese, explained.
- Gyaku-zuki 逆突き
- Reverse punch. A punch with the hand opposite the front foot, powered by rotating the hips from half-facing to square. The most-used counter in the sport.
- Hanmi 半身
- Half-facing. The hips turned roughly forty-five degrees away from the opponent. It narrows the target presented and pre-loads the rotation a counter will use, which is why so many blocks finish in it.
- 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.
Video
No recording in the register is tagged to Gyaku-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 →