Basics

The basics of goju ryu karate are punches, kicks, blocks and stances. We practice these mainly on our own in the lineup but also with a partner and whilst doing our applications.

The main punches are the high (jodan, joe-dan), middle (chudan, chew-dan) and low (gedan, gay-dan) which are to the nose, solar plexus and groin respectively. Similarly we have three basic high, middle and low blocks.

Kicks are the front kick (mae geri, my-ghe-ree), the side kick (yoko geri, yo-ko-ghe-ree), roundhouse kick (mawashi geri, my-washa-ghe-ree) and back kick (ushiro geri, oo-shiro-ghe-ree).

The core stances are the parallel stance (heiko dachi, hi-ko-da-chi), the attention stance (musubi dachi, mur-su-bo-da-chi), the forward leg stance (zenkutsu dachi, zen-koot-su-da-chi), the horse stance (shiko dachi, shi-ko-da-chi), the hourglass stance (sanchin dachi, san-chin-da-chi) and the cat stance (neko ashi dachi, ne-ko-ashee-da-chi).

Pages in this section: 

• What is karate?
• What happens in a typical class?
• Basics
• Kata
• Applications
• Belts
• FAQ
• Terminology