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Graziano
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Okinawa Karate Stances

Hello to everyone, I have got  some question  about karate stances

Are there difference beetween karate stance on traditional okinawa karate, and japanese karate?

Was there the Kokutsu dachi shotokan version ( with the plant of the feet on the ground)on okinawa karate?

Wy japanese karate like shotokan have got, some stance of some style of kung fu, like shao lin chuan of north, Hung gar etc. ?For example shotokan kokutsu dachi on kung fu is knew like San chi pu, and is really similar to Ban man pu .  

Here is a list of Japanese karate stances:

SHIZENTAI it includes

Musubi dachi

Heiko dachi

Hachi  dachi

Ura hachi  dachi

- Zenkutsu dachi

-Kokutsu dachi

-Kiba dachi

-Sanchin dachi

-Ne ko ashi dachi

-Shiko dachi

- Fudo dachi

- Hangetsu dachi

- Sagi ashi dachi

Are this part of curriculum of okinawa karate?

Wastelander
Wastelander's picture

Graziano wrote:

Are there difference beetween karate stance on traditional okinawa karate, and japanese karate?

Usually, yes. Typically, the Japanese stances are longer and lower than the Okinawan ones--more exagerated, if you will. That is not the case for all Japanese styles or practitioners, of course, but that is a generalization.

Graziano wrote:

Was there the Kokutsu dachi shotokan version on okinawa karate?

Yes, sort of. If you look at the old photos of Funakoshi from his books, the kokutsu-dachi you see there is done in some Okinawan styles, to this day. The bigger, longer, lower version that you see in more modern Shotokan, not so much.

Graziano wrote:

Wy japanese karate like shotokan have got, some stance of some style of kung fu, like shao lin chuan of north, Hung gar etc. ?For example shotokan kokutsu dachi on kung fu is knew like San chi pu, and is really similar to Ban man pu .  

They were exagerated to increase the athleticism of practice, and to build leg strength. In some Chinese arts, this was done for that reason, but in many cases it was done for grappling applications. That happens sometimes in Okinawan karate, as well. A good example can be seen in Kusanku with the drop after the one-legged turn (or jump, in some styles), but there is another drop into a low stance in some versions. You can see it after the classic twist/cover/chop in this old video of Yasuharu Makishi Sensei, who was a senior student of Nagamine Shoshin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKURGTA5AmM

Graziano wrote:

Here is a list of Japanese karate stances:

...

Are this part of curriculum of okinawa karate?

In some styles, yes, and in some styles, no. My branch of Shorin-Ryu does not have any kokutsu-dachi, for example, but other branches do. Shorin-Ryu, in general, does not have Sanchin-dachi, while Goju-Ryu does, but they do it differently than Uechi-Ryu.

Graziano
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My question  regards Kokutsu dachi born by fact who

A- Many say who there wasnt Kokutsu dachi on traditional karate on fact on  traditional kata Kokutsu was replaced by Ne ko ashi dachi.

B- I saw a video who show a kokutsu dachi similitaries to neko ashi dashi, that video is about kyukoshinkai a japanese style Basel on traditional okinawa kata.

My question was if was there Kokutsu dachi with i the   Plant of the feet on the ground, also goju ryu maybe have his version of kokutsu dachi. By the way what s your karate style?

Wastelander
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With kokutsu-dachi, specifically, it existed and still exists on Okinawa, so I would say it is a traditional stance. Neko-ashi-dachi is, in my view, both a traditional stance and an evolution of kokutsu-dachi. Some styles have both, for instance, while others have simply replaced one with the other. I practice Chibana-lineage Shorin-Ryu, and also study KishimotoDi, which is a Shuri-Te system that was not involved with Itosu and his alterations.