How to Learn Karate at Home: Stances, Basics and Kata

Karate was built to be practised alone. Kihon (basics) and kata (set forms) are solo training by design, which makes it one of the most home-friendly martial arts there is.

What you can and cannot learn at home

At home you can learn the three core stances, the basic punches, blocks and kicks, and your first kata. You cannot learn kumite (sparring) timing, distance against a real opponent, or the corrections a sensei gives you in the first five minutes of class. Home work gets you to the dojo with good habits instead of bad ones.

The stances

• Zenkutsu dachi (front stance). Long and wide, front knee over the toes, back leg straight, hips square. Most beginner mistakes start here: a stance that is too narrow, like standing on a tightrope.
• Kokutsu dachi (back stance). About 70 percent of your weight on the back leg, back knee pushed out, front foot pointing forward.
• Kiba dachi (horse stance). Feet parallel, twice shoulder width, knees pushed out over the toes, back upright.

Hold each for 30 seconds, rest, repeat three times. Then step forward and back in each stance without your head bobbing up and down.

The basics

• Oi zuki (lunge punch) and gyaku zuki (reverse punch). The power comes from the hips turning, not the arm. The pulling hand (hikite) returns to the hip as hard as the punch goes out.
• Gedan barai (low block), age uke (rising block), soto uke and uchi uke. Start each block from the correct chamber, or it is just a wave.
• Mae geri (front kick). Knee up first, snap the foot out, snap it back, put it down under control.

See the full list with cues and common mistakes on the karate technique page.

Your first kata

Start with Taikyoku Shodan or Heian Shodan, depending on your style. Both use front stance, back stance, the low block and the lunge punch along an I or H shaped line. Learn it in three pieces, then join them. Say the count out loud. Once it flows, slow it down: most errors hide in the transitions.

A 4-week home plan

Three or four sessions a week, 30 minutes each, after a five minute warm up.

Week 1, stances. Holds and stepping in all three stances. Ten reverse punches from a fixed stance per side, slowly.

Week 2, basics. Add the blocks and front kick. Work lines across the room: step, block, punch, turn.

Week 3, kata. Learn the first kata in pieces. Five full run throughs a session.

Week 4, polish. Kata at full speed, then at half speed. Film one run from the front and one from the side.

Safety notes

Warm up hips, knees and ankles before kicking. Do not lock out your knee or elbow at full speed. Train barefoot on a surface that does not slip, keep kicks low until balance is solid, and stop if a joint hurts.

How to get feedback when you train alone

Film a round of basics or one run of your kata and get it reviewed by mmaGPT first. Upload the clip in your phone browser and in about 30 to 45 seconds you get timestamped notes on stance depth, hip rotation and chamber plus one drill for each mistake. Nothing to download on iPhone or Android. Then bring it to class: show your sensei the same clip and the fix you have been drilling. mmaGPT supplements a sensei, it does not replace one.

Get your first karate review free

Related: AI karate coach, karate techniques, karate video analysis, how to learn martial arts at home