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Karate Articles - over 70 articles from a variety of leading authors >

Shikodachi and Nifanchin dachi – modern form does not match Okinawan form?

Shikodachi and Nifanchin dachi (horse stance) – does the modern low form match kata origins from Okinawa?

by Shihan Jason Armstrong

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Note the height of all the below founders of modern karate & compare the stance geometry to what one sees in tournament these

days as "correct" form…. If one is trying to pass on the traditions of karate as represented by some of the founders, why do we

often see a different stance type rewarded in tournaments and belt tests?

Photos 1-6, Left to right: Mabuni (founder of Shito-ryu founder) doing Pinan Nidan & Seinenchin; Tani (founder of Shukokai) doing

Seienchin in ceremonial dress; Goju's Yagi sensei, (Meibukan founder & senior student of Chojun Miyagi); Motobu Choki performing

Naifnachin.

Photo 7: In comparison, left is a classic WKF competitor at international level

performing shikodachi.

Firstly, let me start by saying I am all for getting students low in a stance to work the

legs & get a handle on a low center of gravity. However, I have heard so many

torunament judges critiquing a stance position; or belt test panel members, claiming

something should be a certain way to "maintain the traditions standard". Hence this

article is to spark some thought on the nature of "horse" stances and what is actually

tradition. As a side note, a similar article exists on this website re WKF rules and the

back edge of the foot in reverse punch/kata (click here...).

While the implementation of shiko & naifanchin stances do condition the legs, its

origins lie in grappling and position/height relative to an opponent. Obviously,

different bunkai will have different stance height requirements and the height of the stance is additionally dependent on the height

of one’s opponent. Modern karate (post world war II) has made the stance very low to produce what is often considered best

“form”, but such heights often result in a weakened stance and may over exaggerate how low someone needs to drop to perform

certain bunkai. When I began living in the USA in the early 1990s, I was intrigued at a couple of Okinawan seminars when

shikodachi stance strength was tested visiting Okinawan's as almost all participants were too low. My first insight into this was

through visiting Okinawan Sensei Oshiro. The older sensei who correct shikodachi they feel are too low also cite decreased mobility

in addition to a weakened stance.

Photo 7: Greg Story Sensei as a 5th dan in 1985 attending a Seienchin Tokyo seminar. Sensei Greg

is of the Tani Shito-ryu lineage and can be seen with a slightly higher shikodachi stance than most

tournament karate-ka would utilize.

As a related but more advanced topic, competition karate also expect a technique in shikodachi to be

executed at a fixed height e.g. the opening 3 moves of seienchin (including both the transitions

between shikodachi stances and the "kake uke" performed within a given stance position). This is not

necessarily true when one looks at certain Okinawa practitioners, particularly those of higher Dan

ranks who may have begun to free themselves from the basic approach/form and become far more

focused on the inner feel of a technique after decades of repetition (typically above 5th dan). An

example video link is below which shows an oscillating belt height in shikodachi (circa 1990) and

documents some of Goju Meibukan's training (it also includes an interview of Yagi Meitoku, a senior

student of Chojun Miyagi and the person who received Miyagi's belt after his death). See the 4min 15sec time frame of the kata

seienchin at:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=955879918698282211

A video of a well known Okinawan practitioner changing height between shikodachi positions can be found in Chinen Sensei (a Goju

Jundokan practitioner) while performing the kata seipai. See video in the Chinen sensei article page at the 6min 10sec timeframe...

Video 2: This 2nd short video clip shows an up & down body weight flow while in a fixed shikodachi poition in the kata seienchin

(similar to that seen in the above video link to the Meibukan style). While this is something I do in my own training of the kata it is

not something I teach to students below 5th Dan (a lifelong study of the art of karate gives people decades to move from one

approach to another, only after somewhat getting a handle on basics). For more thought around patience in the progression of

one's approach to kata/kihon as a Dan rank see article...

Seienchin - the Book

Karate technique selection

& Street Fighting Statistics

& Medical Outcomes

Seipai - 50min DVD

or Download video

Shikodachi and Nifanchin dachi – modern form does not match Okinawa... http://www.downloadkarate.com/karate-articles/shiko-dachi-and-nifanch...

1 of 2 11/6/2012 12:12 PM

Photo 8:

Myself competing

in the Australian

shito-ryu

championships

(The Mabuni

Cup, Melbourne circa 1989). The stance depth I used in those days is not a depth I advocate in my seienchin training anymore (see

Seinchin - the Book, ISBN 978-1-4092-3733-4).

Photo 9: While dropping one's weight/height for a kata motion may have a very

simple application intent (and there is nothing wrong with simple!), other uses of

shikodachi or naifanchindachi may be multi-pronged. For

example, pictured is myself implementing one bunkai option of shikodachi

in seienchin where the weight drop is being use to simultaneously:

- avoid a heat butt

- release the hands from a grab

- corrupt my opponents left leg via my knee impact to their leg

- shoulder impact my opponents solar plexus (very opponent height dependent)

Further detail on the full implementation of this bunkai can be found on Page 110

of the 2nd Edition of "Seienchin - the Book", ISBN 978-1-4092-3733-4).

With all the above said, I do expect students under 4th dan to assume relatively low shiko/naifanchin stances (but still with a slight

"temple roof" like angle to the thighs). I also do not suggest karate-ka perform an oscilating weight change (e.g. above video) while

performing techniques within a skihodachi position, unless above 4th dan. I also feel instructors at grading panels and tournaments

should be careful saying that a person's shikodachi is too high. I say this as if one is trying to pass on the traditional form of karate

as the founders pictured above represented, there is somewhat of a mismatch expecting karate-ka today to do something different.

What is most important is that a student can explain the bunkai associated with a particular stance height at a given position in a

kata (probably the best resource on this website for variant uses of shikodachi can be found in the Seienchin download text...).

See articles & biographies on the sensei mentioned in this article

Yagi Sensei...

Greg Story Sensei...

Chinen Sensei...

Mabuni Sensei...

Motobu Sensei....

See full karate biography of the author Jason Armstrong of Shito-ryu...

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