Musubi-dachi 結び立ち
Joined-feet stance, heels together with toes out
The technique, and its job.
Heels together, toes turned out about forty-five degrees, legs straight. It is the formal stance of the bow at the beginning and end of practice, and it belongs to etiquette as much as to technique.
Application. Formal etiquette: the opening and closing of practice, the bow to the shomen, the bow to a partner before and after an exercise.
Mechanics
What each part of the body does, in the order it does it.
- Weight distribution
- Even, upright, relaxed but not slack.
- Feet
- Heels touching, toes turned out roughly forty-five degrees.
- Knees
- Straight without being locked.
- Centre of gravity
- Spine vertical, shoulders down, hands relaxed at the thighs.
What survives when the name is forgotten.
- It is where reigi — courtesy — is expressed physically. Standing badly in it says something.
- Feet together means committed to nothing, which is exactly right for a bow and exactly wrong for a fight.
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. Treating the bow as a formality to be got through.
The fix. Bow from the hips with the spine long. Where the eyes go during the bow differs by dojo convention; follow the instructor.
Drills
- Practised every session at the opening and closing bow, which is drill enough.
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.
- Zenkutsu-dachi Front stance
- Kokutsu-dachi Back 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
- Heisoku-dachi Closed-feet stance
- Hachiji-dachi Open-leg stance, "figure eight" stance
The Japanese, explained.
- Musubi-dachi 結び立ち
- Joined-feet stance. Heels together, toes turned out. The stance of the formal bow.
- Rei 礼
- Bow, courtesy. The bow, and behind it the whole idea of reigi — the etiquette that frames practice. Karate begins and ends with it, which is a statement about what the practice is for.
Video
No recording in the register is tagged to Musubi-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 →