Hi everyone! Recently the Winelands JKA Dojo classes have been focussed on building proper leg strength. One of the stances that are best for building leg strength (and which we have been practicing a lot) is Kiba Dachi.

Kiba Dachi (or “horse riding stance”) provides great sideways strength and can be used to deliver side kicks and strikes, as well as a landing position from a side technique. The stance is extremely solid when performed correctly and on the surface looks quite simple. Your feet should be placed 2 shoulder widths apart and parallel to each other, facing the same direction. The knees should be slightly bent and outward in the direction of the feet. The back should remain upright and naturally straight. Think of a squad exercise, but with parallel feet. See graphic below.

However, some students tend to make some common mistakes when performing this stance, such as stances too high or too low, feet facing outward instead of parallel, feet too far apart, shoulders slumping and concaving the chest, or collapsing the knees inward instead of outward.

There are many different training exercises where kida dachi can be used. Come to Winelands JKA in Durbanville to see how we use it to train stronger legs for great karate!