Thoughts on zenkutsu dachi (front stance)
Front stance is the most common stance in shotokan and one of the first stances you learn when you put a gi on for the first time. Often when you first learn it these are some of the points taught:
Stand with feet hip to shoulder width apart.
Weight on front leg. (60/40 rule)
Knee of the front leg over the big toe.
Back leg straight.
Back foot pointed as far forward as possible or about 30 degrees turned out.
While these points are valid and good for teaching beginners proper form, I often fail to see instructors go back and adjust for function once the student is comfortable standing in this new way.
Lets go though the two of these that are the most commonly misinterpreted. Keep in mind the following is my interpretation based on years of instruction, practice and research. I’m aware that there are many varying opinions and am not looking to start some crazy front stance war. I’m simply trying to present my view. That being said let get going...
Weight on the front leg
The oft used definition is 60% of your weight up front, 40% behind. For some reason I see many instructor take this to the extreme and emphasize closer to 70-80% up front. If your questioning your stance right now, simply stand up and give it a try. Stand in a front stance with a 50-50 weight distribution and simply move about 10% of your weight up front. In mathematical terms, say you weight 120lbs (sorry kilo people), at 50-50 that 60 lbs / 60 lbs then with a shift thats simply moving about 12 lbs up front. If this feels like a lot less pressure on your front leg than your used to you may be overdoing it.
Straight back leg
Many instructors preach that the back leg should remain stiff and rigid. This just seems wrong from a mobility stand point. It also directly contributes to the first problem mentioned above (weight distribution). Having a rigid back leg will not only impede you ability to move backwards but cause a weight shift that will also slow you down.
So why is zenkutsu dachi taught this way?
Well lets look back. Okinawan karate has a much more upright set of stances. In pictures, Gichin Funakoshi (founder of shotokan) has stances that only vaguely resemble the stances of shotokan today. His stances tended to be very upright as in most Okinawan styles of karate. In actuality it was Funakoshi’s son Gigo who came up with low long stances that we recognize today. Gigo insisted in long low stances. Buy why? Well its hard to say, there are several theories. One is that because he was short but strong, he could generate incredible power staying lower to the ground. Another thought is that he was looking for a way to distinguish the shotokan style from Okinawan karate styles as his father was trying gain acceptance in mainland Japan.
Also at this time competition was introduced. Gigo’s stances lent themselves well to long range point sparring rather than the in-close kill’em style of Okinawa. And as kata competition was also introduced to Japan it became more form over function. Also as WWII wound down the need for karate to be functional became somewhat diluted, combine that with the Japanization of karate as an art, you now have perfect form taking precedence. Take a look at the first dojo kun, “jinkaku kansei ni tsutomeru koto”. There are several interpretations, but the most common are either “Seek perfection of character” or “ Seek perfection in the way”. If you notice, “perfection” is the common word. As typical in Japanese culture if your going to do something you do it right. So this includes not only perfect character but perfect everything, including form. But in order to have perfect form there has to a definition of form to begin with, hence a beautiful looking front stance is more desirable than a functional one.
So as kata competition and point sparring became more prevalent, stances became more “pretty”. Assuming that Gigo wanted to create powerful stances rather than pretty ones, how should we perform a functional front stance over a pretty one?
A true 60/40 weight distribution.
Feet hip to shoulder width apart
Stance itself slightly longer than your natural stride.
The back leg should be stiff with a slight bend at the knee but not rigid. Like bamboo with the feeling of a spring.
Relax the front leg, use it as a support. Create the pressure in the rear leg rather than the front.
Have the feeling that you can instantly drive forward but at the same time easily move backwards if you have to. (I’m not going to get into movement in this article but you get the idea.)
Also keep in mind zenkutsu dachi can be translated as a forward stance or a forward pushing stance indicating that its for driving forward. I think that when people hear and call it a “front” stance they misinterpret it a bit to mean that everything should be forward neglecting the back.
Well thats it for now. There are several more points but thats for another time. I hope my interpretation came across in this little article. Its often hard to write about such things to come across as you intended. Like I said before I’m not trying to start some war and don’t particularly want to argue with anyone, its simply my interpretation. Feel free to send me any comments or ask me any questions. Thanks for taking the time to read this.