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[dethhead]

osu!
does anyone know another name for fighting stance? ive read it is Kamae dachi but my shihan uses a different name although he does say its also called kamae dachi. i forgot what he calls it. anyone know?
thanks.
osu!

[ksan]

Osu,

I have heard it beeing called han-zenkutsudachi. It is close i think, though for me my kamae dachi differs slightly from my han zenkutsudachi.


Osu

Ksan

[Satori]

Osu dethhead,

We call it "re dachi", with some instructors pronouncing it "rei". I don't know how to spell it though.

The classical fighting stance is kokutsu dachi.

[seienchin]

OK - stance names.
Another name for fighting stance is the literal Japanese translation - "kumite dachi". That may well be what you have been hearing, perhaps with various pronunciations.

Han-zenkutsu dachi means "half" zenkutsu dachi... a short zenkutsu, so it sort of is fighting stance, but not really. Some people's Kumite Dachi might be a han-zenkutsu dachi, but not a really good fighter.

Cheers

[Bloke]

Seinchin beat me to it.

[kakatootoshi]

“Kamae” means posture.
“Dachi” means way of standing.

A fighting stance is usually called “Kumite Dachi” or “Kumite (no) Kamae” but mostly just “Kamae” (most common name I think). I think there are slight differences between the meaning of “Kumite Dachi” and “Kumite Kamae” (and in actual usage too) but this is not a language school so we can skip it.

Dear dethhead,
No disrespect to your Shihan but I am afraid “Kamae Dachi” is a bit strange.

Dear Satori,
I am not from Seido so I have no right to commend. Never heard of “Rei Dachi” but I could be wrong. Could this “Rei” actually be part of the command before the “Dachi” as in “Otagaini Rei”, but not part of its name?

Dear ksan,
“Han” means “half” so you know the name itself does not exactly translate into fighting stance. One can refer to “han-zenkotsu dachi” as his or her own kamae though.

OSU!

[Ninsho]

Osu,

Another name for the stance is moro ashi dachi, or at least the name of another 'very similar' stance. I'm not sure the exact translation but I think 'moro ashi' would translate to 'more then one leg', probably some indication of the equal weight distribution on each leg?

Osu

[Satori]

Osu kakatootoshi,

If you speak Japanese you have every right to comment!

The "Rei dachi" is not part of any other command. My instructor uses the stance at [almost] every lesson, so there's no way I've taken it out of context or misheard.

Now, there exists the possibility my instructor is heavily mispronouncing the stance. Alternatively the stance may have a longer name and "rei dachi" is only the accepted abbreviated norm. I've tried to google the stance in various spellings and have come up with very few results, but I have found some:

:: Seido-Karate Germany ::

Uncommon as the word may be, at least this confirms we're not the only dojo using the term

Also keep in mind that although we have tens (hundreds?) of thousands of members, Seido is very poorly documented on the internet. There are only a few sites that give you even a rough outline of our syllabus and I haven't found a single site which shows Seido karateka performing kata.

[feels]

All my instructors speak Japanese, we say "kumite dachi" for fighting stance. But say "kamae te" to get into position.

[Spirit]

WE use Kumite Kamae

[ksan]

Originally Posted by kakatootoshi

Dear ksan,
“Han” means “half” so you know the name itself does not exactly translate into fighting stance. One can refer to “han-zenkotsu dachi” as his or her own kamae though.

OSU!

I just remembered Kazumi Sensei`s fighting stance was kinda han zenkutsudachi (lowered center of gravity, also see his movement training video`s).

Osu

Ksan

[Martin H]

I kind of think of han zenkutsu dachi (forward leaning fighting stance -yes I know that is not a translation, but more of a description), han kokoktsu dachi (backward leaning fighing stance -same there), natural fighingstance and a few other (like han kiba dachi -although not many kyokushin guys use sidestance in fighting, "half" or otherwise) as examples of kumite dachi .

Kumite kamae is more the hand position, used with whichever kumite dachi stance you use (fist guarding at face level). And there are several variations there aswell. The line between kamae and dachi often becomes blurry though, as many kamaes exclusively use one stance.
Although I have never seen any hard rules, or detailed explanations of what kumite no kamae, or kumite dachi, formally is anywhere.
Would enshin no kamae be considered as a kumite kamae? it is a specific kamae afterall, even if the main difference is that enshin no kamai has open hands where the common kumite no kamae has closed fists. How about more esoteric guards like maeba no kamae or other kamaes almost never seen outside Sosais book advanced karate?

[nzproud]

Originally Posted by feels

All my instructors speak Japanese, we say "kumite dachi" for fighting stance. But say "kamae te" to get into position.

Osu. That sounds right to me.

[kakatootoshi]

Dear Ninsho,
This “Moro Ashi Dachi”can be seen in many teaching materials.
You can find it in:
YouTube - Kyokushin stances
Some do it with more overlapping of the two feet and some less.

I do not think it is the same as a “Kumite Dachi”.

Dear Martin H,
Sorry but I cannot agree that “Kumite Kamae” is more of the hand position. It might be more accurate to say that it is the whole body posture. I can think of examples where in some cases one will be more “natural” then the other but these differences are totally negligible if not meaningless when translated into English or other languages.

OSU!

[Ninsho]

Kakatootoshi,

Nice link. I learned a different 'Tachi no Kata' with a different progression of stances, but it is along the same idea.

I still believe that they are the same, or at least closely related. If there is a difference it is more in terms of Moro Ashi Dachi being more related to street fighting and Kumite Dachi being more geared towards Knockdown, with the physical difference being very minute. In our dojo and at special trainings I have heard both terms used interchangably.

Osu!

[Spirit]

Originally Posted by kakatootoshi

Dear Martin H,
Sorry but I cannot agree that “Kumite Kamae” is more of the hand position. It might be more accurate to say that it is the whole body posture. I can think of examples where in some cases one will be more “natural” then the other but these differences are totally negligible if not meaningless when translated into English or other languages.

OSU!

That is how we see it as well, an "attitude", "posture" of the whole body...
Most Japanaese instructors that I know use both kamea for the whole body and dachi just for stance
Example, if doing kumite drills, kumite dachi would be called, if doing kumite, kumite kamae would be called out...