Karate / Taekwondo skills
19 skills, beginner to advanced. 18 of them you can film on a phone and get measured. No fake scores.
Skills by level
You can film18 of 19 skills
Beginner 5
- Stance FundamentalsStances (tachikata) are the foundation of every karate and taekwondo technique — power comes from a stable base. The most important is the FRONT STANCE (zenkutsu-dachi): the front knee bent so it tracks over the ankle (above the big toe — bent enough that you can't see your front toes), the back leg long but NOT…
- Straight & Reverse PunchThe punch (tsuki) teaches the core principle of the striking arts: power comes from BODY MECHANICS, not the arm — it flows from the feet through HIP ROTATION into the fist. The straight punch (choku-zuki) goes out from the chamber at your hip with the fist ROTATING to palm-down late (after the elbow leaves the…
- The Front KickThe front kick (mae-geri) is the first kick most people learn, and it teaches the universal 4-STAGE kick structure that underlies every kick: CHAMBER (lift the knee) → EXTEND (snap the foot out) → RETRACT (re-chamber) → RETURN (to stance). You lift the KNEE first (using your stomach), snap the foot forward striking…
- Blocks & GuardBlocks (uke) and a solid guard are how you defend, and they teach the same body principles as strikes. A block (like the downward block, gedan-barai) starts from a CHAMBERED position — one arm pulled back to the hip (hikite) as the other sweeps across to deflect — finishing firm, with the forearm protecting your body.
- Balance & FootworkBalance and footwork tie everything together — every stance, strike, and kick depends on a stable, mobile base. You move by shifting smoothly between stances while keeping the SAME height (don't bob up and down), staying balanced over your base, and driving movement FROM THE HIPS.
Intermediate 5
- The Roundhouse KickThe roundhouse (mawashi-geri / dollyo chagi) is one of the most-used kicks, and its power comes from HIP ROTATION plus a SUPPORT-FOOT PIVOT — not just swinging the leg. It follows the same 4 stages, but with a twist: CHAMBER the knee (pointing it toward the target), PIVOT your support foot so the toes point AWAY…
- The Side KickThe side kick (yoko-geri) is a powerful linear kick delivered sideways, striking with the HEEL or the blade (outer edge) of the foot. It follows the 4 stages with its own shape: CHAMBER by lifting the knee across toward the opposite shoulder (foot cocked), then THRUST the leg straight out to the side as your HIP…
- Lunge Punch & CombinationsThe lunge punch (oi-zuki) is a stepping straight punch — you STEP forward into a front stance and punch with the SAME-side arm as the stepping leg, timing the punch to land as your foot plants so your whole body weight is behind it. It's the foundation of moving combinations, where you link techniques (e.g.
- Intro Kata / PoomsaeKata (karate) / poomsae (taekwondo) are choreographed SEQUENCES of stances, strikes, blocks, and kicks performed the SAME way every time in a fixed floor pattern (embusen) — the cornerstone of traditional practice and a judged competition discipline. A beginner form teaches you to link techniques with correct…
- Knife-Hand & Elbow StrikesBeyond the basic punch, the striking arts use the KNIFE-HAND (shuto — striking with the outer edge of an open hand) and ELBOW strikes (empi — short, very powerful close-range strikes). Both follow the same principles as the punch: power from HIP ROTATION and the body, a chambered start with the other hand pulling…
Advanced 5
- Spinning & Back KickSpinning kicks add rotational power and are signature taekwondo techniques — the BACK KICK (dwit chagi) and the SPINNING HOOK KICK (dwit huryeo chagi). The back kick: turn your body AWAY from the target, look OVER YOUR SHOULDER to spot it, and thrust the back leg STRAIGHT back striking with the HEEL — the turning…
- Jumping KicksJumping (flying) kicks add height and airtime — a jumping front kick, jumping roundhouse, or jumping spinning kick. The mechanics: drive the rear KNEE up to both generate the jump and start the rotation, keep your posture TALL, let the rotation lift you (don't throw yourself off balance), deliver the kick at the…
- Advanced Kata / Poomsae ScoringAt advanced levels, forms are scored on two axes that mirror official judging: ACCURACY (correct stances, techniques, angles, and floor pattern — the technical content) and PRESENTATION (power, speed, RHYTHM, balance, and focus/kime — the performance). A high-level form has a full, correct technique at every step,…
- Kime & PowerKime — 'focus' — is the hallmark of advanced striking: the instantaneous TIGHTENING of the whole body at the moment of impact, then immediate relaxation. Power in the martial arts comes from this relaxed-then-tight cycle plus full-body mechanics: you stay LOOSE and fast through the technique (tension slows you…
- Hooking & Circular StrikesCircular hand techniques add angles your straight punches can't reach — the HOOK punch / roundhouse punch (mawashi-zuki), the back-fist (uraken), and the roundhouse elbow (mawashi empi). They strike on a horizontal or circular ARC, generated by HIP and shoulder ROTATION, to get around a guard or strike from the side.
Insane 4
- Full Form Mastery & Sequence-MatchMastering a full kata/poomsae is the pinnacle of traditional practice — and it's the app's SIGNATURE feature because forms are a fixed, known sequence already judged on technical accuracy + presentation. Mastery means: the SEQUENCE flawless and automatic (every technique in the correct order, correct direction,…
- Kick Power & Hip MechanicsElite kicking power comes from HIP MECHANICS and the full kinetic chain, not leg strength alone. Every powerful kick connects the ground up: the support-foot PIVOT lets the HIP ROTATE fully through the kick, the core transfers that rotation, and the leg WHIPS out from a tight knee chamber with a relaxed-then-snap…
- Spinning-Kick Balance & ControlThe hardest kicks — spinning, jumping, and multi-rotational (back kick, spinning hook, tornado, 540) — are won or lost on BALANCE and CONTROL, not power. The keys across all of them: SPOT with your head (whip it around to find the target first), keep your posture TALL and your axis vertical through the rotation,…
- Training Load & Lower-Limb CareFor the solo/forms practitioner, the real injury picture is OVERUSE, and managing it is what keeps you training for years. Poomsae/forms athletes' chronic-overuse prevalence runs ~71-73%, the leading cause is EXCESSIVE TRAINING and chronic fatigue, and the top sites are the PELVIS/HIP and the KNEE/hamstrings (from…