Tate-zuki 立て突き
Vertical-fist punch
The technique, and its job.
A punch that stops with the fist vertical — thumb uppermost — rather than completing the rotation to palm-down. The shorter rotation suits medium range, and the vertical alignment is naturally strong for the wrist.
Application. Medium-range straight punching, particularly to the body where the elbow has less room.
Mechanics
What each part of the body does, in the order it does it.
- Starting position
- Chambered at the hip or held in guard.
- Hips
- As gyaku-zuki, if delivered with the rear hand.
- Elbows
- Remains slightly bent at full extension.
- Trajectory
- Straight, the fist rotating only ninety degrees so it finishes vertical.
- Contact surface
- First two knuckles, wrist straight, fist vertical.
- Distance
- Medium — closer than a full straight punch, further than an ura-zuki.
What survives when the name is forgotten.
- The rotation is shortened because the distance is shortened. The two are the same decision.
- A vertical fist is a strong wrist alignment and a natural one for many people.
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. Habit from choku-zuki.
The fix. Practise slowly and stop the rotation deliberately.
Drills
- Alternating tate-zuki and choku-zuki on a pad so the difference in range is felt, not memorised.
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.
- Bassai Sho To storm a fortress, minor
- Choku-zuki Straight punch
- Oi-zuki Lunge punch, stepping punch
- Gyaku-zuki Reverse punch
- Kizami-zuki Jab, leading-hand punch
- Age-zuki Rising punch
- Ura-zuki Close punch, inverted punch
- Morote-zuki Double-hand punch, augmented punch
The Japanese, explained.
- Tate-zuki 立て突き
- Vertical-fist punch. A punch that stops with the fist vertical rather than rotating fully to palm-down. Suits medium range.
- 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 Tate-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 →