Shomen and hanmi are explained to new karate students, but it sometimes takes a little while to understand. There are different explanations of shomen and hanmi. My karate instructor always referred to hanmi and shomen as, Hanmi = side facing and Shomen = Square facing.
Many shotokan karate dojo place tremendous importance on this area, but karate Sensei differ in the way they teach and practice shomen and hanmi, so please, if you are new to karate classes, ask your dojo sensei for an explanation of shomen and hanmi.
A beginner to shotokan karate will be told that hanmi (side facing), is used for the basic blocks in front stance and shomen (square facing), is used for the two basic punches oi zuki (stepping punch) and gyaku zuki (reverse punch).
Sunday, 17 July 2011
Monday, 4 July 2011
Shotokan Stances Kokutsu Dachi
Many shotokan karateka find this karate stance the most difficult. Kokutsu dachi should be roughly two shoulder lengths, front foot facing directly forward and back foot facing 90 degrees to the side. The front leg slightly bent and should not be locked straight. The back leg is bent strongly, but naturally, do not force the knee outwards. 70% of the weight should be on the back leg and 30% on the front and the heels should be in a straight line.
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