Kokutsu-dachi 後屈立ち
Back stance
The technique, and its job.
The defensive counterpart to zenkutsu-dachi. Most of the weight sits on the rear leg, which withdraws the body from an incoming attack while leaving the front leg light enough to kick or to slide. It is the stance of shuto-uke and of most of the receiving positions in the Heian series.
Application. Receiving a committed attack while removing the head from its line, with the front leg already loaded for the counter. In kumite the full stance rarely appears, but the idea underneath it — weight back, front leg free, hips half-facing — is present in almost every defensive posture.
Mechanics
What each part of the body does, in the order it does it.
- Weight distribution
- About seventy per cent on the back leg. The front foot rests rather than carries.
- Feet
- The feet form an L: the back foot points to the side, the front foot forward, both heels on one line. That heel line is what makes the stance stable rather than merely leaning.
- Knees
- The back knee is bent deeply and pushed out over the back foot, not allowed to fall inward. The front knee is slightly bent, never locked.
- Centre of gravity
- The hips are half-facing — hanmi — which narrows the target presented and pre-loads the rotation for a counter.
- Movement
- Changing stance rotates around the back heel rather than stepping wide. The withdrawal is a turn, not a retreat.
- Breathing
- Exhale as the block arrives; the stance and the technique finish together.
What survives when the name is forgotten.
- Weight back is distance bought without moving the feet. The head leaves range while the front leg stays in it.
- The front leg is free. A stance that loads it has thrown away the kick it was holding.
- Hanmi is not decoration. The half-facing hips are what let the block become a counter without a preparatory movement.
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. Insufficient hip external rotation, or simply not attending to it.
The fix. Push the knee out over the little toe of the back foot and hold it there. As with the front stance, this is a joint-preservation issue, not an aesthetic one.
Why it happens. Confusing "weight on the back leg" with "lean away".
The fix. Keep the spine vertical over the hips. The weight goes back by bending the back knee, not by tipping the torso.
Why it happens. Stepping into the stance without reference to the back foot.
The fix. Set the back foot first and place the front heel on its line. A stance built front-foot-first almost never finds the line.
Drills
- Alternating kokutsu-dachi and zenkutsu-dachi on the spot, feeling the weight travel without the head rising.
- Front-leg mae-geri from kokutsu-dachi with no weight shift beforehand — this proves the front leg was genuinely free.
- Shuto-uke stepping backwards down the floor, checking the heel line at every stance.
This one is not settled.
The seventy-thirty weight distribution is the figure usually taught in the JKA line; other Shotokan organisations teach sixty-forty and some teach a deeper stance again. The principle — clearly weighted to the rear, front leg free — is not in dispute.
It is written here rather than resolved silently, because a student whose instructor teaches it the other way should find that acknowledged and not contradicted.
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 Shodan Peaceful mind, first level
- Heian Nidan Peaceful mind, second level
- Heian Sandan Peaceful mind, third level
- Heian Yondan Peaceful mind, fourth level
- Heian Godan Peaceful mind, fifth level
- Bassai Dai To storm a fortress, major
- Kanku Dai To view the sky, major
- Zenkutsu-dachi Front stance
- Kiba-dachi Horse-riding stance
- Fudo-dachi Rooted stance, immovable stance
- Neko-ashi-dachi Cat-foot stance
- Hangetsu-dachi Half-moon stance
- Sanchin-dachi Hourglass stance
- Musubi-dachi Joined-feet stance, heels together with toes out
- Heisoku-dachi Closed-feet stance
- Hachiji-dachi Open-leg stance, "figure eight" stance
The Japanese, explained.
- Kokutsu-dachi 後屈立ち
- Back stance. Roughly seventy per cent of the weight on the rear leg, the feet forming an L with both heels on one line, hips half-facing.
- 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.
- Shuto-uke 手刀受け
- Knife-hand block. An open-handed block cutting outward with the hand edge, almost always in kokutsu-dachi, with the other hand at the solar plexus rather than the hip.
Video
No recording in the register is tagged to Kokutsu-dachi. 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 →