83 words a student meets on the floor.

Rising block

A rising forearm block that deflects a descending or head-height attack upward and away, finishing about a fist’s width above the forehead.

Technique page → · See also: jodan , hikite

Rising punch

A punch travelling upward in a shallow arc to the underside of the jaw, used at close range.

Technique page → · See also: ura-zuki

Footwork

The management of the feet: sliding, stepping, switching and turning without losing balance, height or guard.

Technique page → · See also: suri-ashi , tsugi-ashi , ayumi-ashi , maai

Walking step

Stepping through so one foot passes the other, as in ordinary walking. Covers ground but changes the lead, which is a decision, not a side effect.

See also: ashi-sabaki

Analysis, application

The study of what a kata movement is actually for against a person. Serious bunkai is a technical judgement made by qualified instructors, which is why nothing in this library presents an application as authoritative without a recorded technical review.

See also: embusen

Straight punch

The straight punch from the natural stance, without stepping or hip rotation. The punch every other punch is measured against.

Technique page → · See also: seiken , hikite

Middle level

The torso, from the collarbone down to the belt. It is the level most often attacked in basic practice, because it is the largest target and the one a beginner can strike with control.

See also: jodan , gedan

Performance line

The floor pattern a kata traces. A kata should finish where it started; a performance that drifts off its embusen has lost something measurable.

Elbow strike

A strike with the point of the elbow, in any of five directions. The most powerful weapon available at close range.

Technique page → · See also: kime

Rooted stance

The length of a front stance with the even weighting and outward knee pressure of a horse stance. Also called sochin-dachi.

Technique page → · See also: zenkutsu-dachi , kiba-dachi

Stamping kick

A downward stamp with the heel or foot edge into the knee, shin or instep. The one kick that does not re-chamber, because it becomes the next stance.

Technique page → · See also: sokuto , kakato

Lower level

Below the belt. As a level it names the low blocks and the stamping techniques. Whether it is a permitted target is a matter of the competition rules in force, and so is not stated here as a fixed fact.

See also: jodan , chudan

Downward sweep

A downward sweeping block clearing an attack to the lower level, finishing a fist’s width above and outside the front knee.

Technique page → · See also: gedan , hikite

Late initiative

Receiving the attack and then countering. The initiative is taken back after the opponent has committed.

See also: sen-no-sen , tai-no-sen

Five-step sparring

Five prearranged attacks, five blocks, then one counter. The first partner exercise, and the one that teaches distance under a known attack.

See also: sanbon-kumite , kihon-ippon-kumite

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.

Technique page → · See also: oi-zuki , hanmi , hikite

Open-leg stance

Feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly out. The ready position from which kihon begins.

Technique page → · See also: yoi , shizentai

Instep

The top of the foot, toes pointed. The usual contact surface for a roundhouse kick.

See also: mawashi-geri

Ridge hand

The thumb-side edge of the open hand, with the thumb folded underneath and out of the way.

See also: haito-uchi

Ridge-hand strike

A strike with the thumb edge of the open hand, swung in a wide arc that curves around a guard.

Technique page → · See also: haito

Half-moon stance

A short front stance with both feet turned in and the knees squeezed toward each other, named for the crescent path of the stepping foot.

Technique page → · See also: sanchin-dachi

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.

See also: kamae , kokutsu-dachi , gyaku-zuki

Closed-feet stance

Feet together and parallel. A gathering point passed through rather than held.

Technique page → · See also: musubi-dachi

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.

See also: kime , choku-zuki

Knee

The knee, both as a striking surface at close range and as the joint whose position defines every kick’s chamber.

See also: mae-geri

Semi-free one-step sparring

One announced attack, from free-fighting distance and guard, with both partners moving. The bridge between prearranged practice and free fighting.

See also: kihon-ippon-kumite , jiyu-kumite

Free sparring

Free practice with neither attack nor defence prearranged. Not the same thing as competition, which adds rules, scoring and a referee.

See also: shiai-kumite , jiyu-ippon-kumite

Upper level

The head and the neck — both as a target and as the level at which a technique is named and performed. Jodan-zuki is a punch to that level; jodan-uke is a block against one arriving there.

See also: chudan , gedan

Cross block

Both forearms crossed at the wrists to receive an attack in the fork they make. Usually becomes a grab.

Technique page → · See also: gedan , jodan

Heel

The heel, used in back kicks, hook kicks and stamping techniques.

See also: ushiro-geri , ura-mawashi-geri , fumikomi

Wedge block

Both forearms driving outward from a crossed position to part a two-handed grab.

Technique page → · See also: hangetsu-dachi

Guard, posture of readiness

The position taken up facing an opponent — feet, hips, hands and eyes together. A good kamae threatens without committing, and gives away nothing about what is coming.

See also: maai , hanmi , zanshin

Form

A prescribed sequence of techniques performed alone against imagined opponents. The way the art was transmitted before it was written down.

See also: bunkai , embusen

Spirited shout

The shout at the moment of a decisive technique. It tightens the abdomen, forces the exhalation that kime needs, and commits the person making it. Kata specify where it falls, and it is scored.

See also: kime

Horse-riding stance

A wide, square, evenly weighted stance with both feet parallel and the knees pushed outward.

Technique page → · See also: fudo-dachi

Basics, fundamentals

The individual techniques practised in isolation and in simple combinations. The vocabulary the other two divisions of karate are written in.

See also: kata , kumite

Basic one-step sparring

A single announced attack, blocked and countered. Everything is known except the timing, which is the whole exercise.

See also: jiyu-ippon-kumite

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.

See also: zanshin , hikite

Jab, leading-hand punch

A front-hand punch, usually with a short slide of the front foot. Less mass than a reverse punch, and far sooner.

Technique page → · See also: gyaku-zuki , kamae

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.

Technique page → · See also: zenkutsu-dachi , hanmi , shuto-uke

Ball of the foot

The ball of the foot, used with the toes pulled firmly back. The same word also means the hips, which is a source of confusion worth naming rather than avoiding.

See also: mae-geri

Sparring, grappling hands

Practice with a partner, ranging from wholly prearranged exercises to free fighting and competition.

See also: kihon , kata

Engagement distance

The distance between two people, understood as a relationship rather than a measurement: the same gap is close for a tall fighter and long for a short one, and it changes the instant either moves. Controlling it is the largest single skill in free fighting.

See also: kamae , zanshin , ashi-sabaki

Front kick

The straight kick to the front with the ball of the foot, from a raised and folded knee.

Technique page → · See also: koshi , hiza

Roundhouse kick

A circular kick from outside to inside, delivered with the instep or ball of the foot. The most-used kick in competition.

Technique page → · See also: haisoku

Crescent kick

A kick swinging in a crescent across the body, often used to clear a guard rather than to strike.

Technique page →

Augmented block

An uchi-uke supported by the other hand pressing against the inside of the blocking forearm.

Technique page → · See also: uchi-uke

Double-hand punch

Both fists delivered together, trading the acceleration hikite gives for combined mass.

Technique page → · See also: hikite

Joined-feet stance

Heels together, toes turned out. The stance of the formal bow.

Technique page → · See also: heisoku-dachi , rei

Cat-foot stance

A short stance with almost all the weight on the rear leg and the front heel raised, so the front foot can kick without any weight shift.

Technique page → · See also: kokutsu-dachi

Lunge punch

A punch with the hand on the same side as the stepping foot, arriving exactly as the step lands.

Technique page → · See also: gyaku-zuki , zenkutsu-dachi

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.

See also: musubi-dachi

Three-step sparring

The same exercise as gohon kumite over three steps, usually with the attacks varying in level.

See also: gohon-kumite

Hourglass stance

A short rooted stance from the Naha-te lineages, feet turned in and knees drawn together. Not a Shotokan stance; documented for cross-reference.

Technique page → · See also: hangetsu-dachi

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.

See also: choku-zuki

Initiative ahead of the initiative

Attacking into the opponent’s attack as it begins — after they have committed but before it lands.

See also: go-no-sen , tai-no-sen

Competition sparring

Sparring under a competition rule set, in front of officials, for a result. The rules are versioned and change; nothing about them is permanent.

See also: jiyu-kumite

Natural posture

Standing naturally and at ease, but not slackly — the posture from which anything is still possible.

See also: hachiji-dachi , yoi

Knife hand, sword hand

The muscular outer edge of the open hand below the little finger, fingers together and thumb tucked.

See also: shuto-uke , shuto-uchi

Knife-hand strike

A strike with the little-finger edge of the open hand, travelling in an arc to the neck, temple or collarbone.

Technique page → · See also: shuto , shuto-uke

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.

Technique page → · See also: shuto , kokutsu-dachi , hanmi

Foot edge, sword foot

The outer edge of the foot, with the edge turned down and the toes pulled up.

See also: yoko-geri-keage , yoko-geri-kekomi , fumikomi

Outside block

A block travelling from outside the body inward, striking the attacking limb with the outer forearm.

Technique page → · See also: uchi-uke , chudan

Sliding foot

Moving by sliding the feet along the floor without lifting or crossing them. The default footwork of free fighting.

See also: ashi-sabaki

Simultaneous initiative

Meeting the attack at the same moment it is launched, so both techniques travel together and the better structure wins.

See also: sen-no-sen , go-no-sen

Body management

Moving the body off the line of an attack while staying close enough to answer it.

Technique page → · See also: ashi-sabaki , maai

Vertical-fist punch

A punch that stops with the fist vertical rather than rotating fully to palm-down. Suits medium range.

Technique page → · See also: choku-zuki , seiken

Palm heel

The heel of the palm, with the wrist bent back and the fingers lifted clear of the target.

See also: teisho-uchi

Palm-heel strike

A strike with the heel of the palm, wrist bent back and fingers clear. Forgiving of imperfect alignment.

Technique page → · See also: teisho

Hammer fist

The padded little-finger side of the closed fist. Robust enough to strike hard targets a straight punch should avoid.

See also: tetsui-uchi

Hammer-fist strike

A strike with the padded little-finger side of the fist, swung like a hammer.

Technique page → · See also: tetsui

Following foot

Bringing the rear foot up to the front foot and then stepping forward with the front. Covers distance quickly without crossing the feet.

See also: ashi-sabaki

Inside block

A block travelling from inside the body outward, meeting the attack with the inner forearm and clearing the centre line.

Technique page → · See also: soto-uke , morote-uke

Reverse roundhouse kick

A circular kick from inside to outside, hooking back to strike with the heel or sole.

Technique page → · See also: mawashi-geri , kakato

Close punch

A short punch with the fist palm-upward and the elbow still bent, for ranges where nothing longer fits.

Technique page → · See also: age-zuki

Back fist

The back of the first two knuckles, the arm whipping out around a fixed elbow. A small, hard surface delivered fast rather than heavily.

See also: uraken-uchi

Back-fist strike

A whipping strike with the back of the first two knuckles, the forearm snapping around a fixed elbow.

Technique page → · See also: uraken

Back kick

A thrusting kick straight to the rear with the heel, the head turning to find the target first.

Technique page → · See also: kakato

Ready

The command to take the ready position, and the settled, alert state it names.

See also: hachiji-dachi , shizentai

Side snap kick

A snapping kick to the side with the outer edge of the foot, travelling in a rising arc.

Technique page → · See also: sokuto , yoko-geri-kekomi

Side thrust kick

A thrusting kick to the side driven through the target. Shares its chamber with keage, which is a tactical asset.

Technique page → · See also: sokuto , yoko-geri-keage

Remaining mind, continued awareness

The alertness that continues after a technique has finished. A karateka who scores and then relaxes has demonstrated the absence of zanshin, and in competition it is judged as part of the technique rather than as an extra.

See also: kime , maai

Front stance

A long stance with the front knee bent over the foot and the back leg straight. About sixty per cent of the weight is on the front leg.

Technique page → · See also: kokutsu-dachi , kiba-dachi