A block (uke in karate, makgi in taekwondo) meets an attack with your forearm or hand and turns it away from its target. Your guard is where your hands sit between techniques, covering your head and centre. Blocks are a big part of traditional training: a count of 1,183 techniques in the 27 common Shotokan kata found significantly more blocks than counterattacks. From the front, the app reads your chambered start, the block path, the finish position, your pull-back hand (hikite) and whether your guard stays up.
Pick and chamber the block
Pick the block by the height of the attack. Use the low block (gedan-barai, arae-makgi) for attacks at the lower abdomen and below, a middle block (uchi-uke or soto-uke, momtong makgi) for attacks to the body, and the rising block (age-uke, eolgul makgi) for attacks to the head.
low, middle or high: one block for each level.
Chamber before you block. Bring the blocking arm across your body and keep the other hand out in front, ready to pull back. For the low block, start the blocking fist high, so it sweeps down past the shoulder on the same side. Exact chamber positions differ between styles, so copy the one your instructor teaches.
the blocking arm loaded across the body.
Block and pull back the other hand
Swing the forearm along the block's path. The low block sweeps down and across your front. An inward middle block travels from outside your body toward your centre line, and an outward middle block travels from the centre out. Shotokan and Wado-ryu use the names uchi-uke and soto-uke the opposite way round, so learn each block by its path, not its name.
the forearm sweeping through, not punching out.
As the block lands, pull the other fist back to your side, just above the floating ribs, with that elbow drawn in and back. In a front stance, the low block finishes with the hips turned back to about 45 degrees. That half-facing position (hanmi) shows less of your centre and loads the hips for a counter.
block out, other fist home, hips turned, all at once.
Finish with the elbow bent, not locked. ITF Taekwon-Do teaches a 15 to 45 degree bend so the arm meets the attack at an angle, and says never to reach past the point you are blocking. Drop the blocking shoulder slightly at contact.
a firm, bent arm, shoulder down.
Check the finish for each block. Low block: in Shotokan the fist stops about one fist-width above your front knee, covering the groin. Rising block: the forearm ends above eye level, in front of your forehead, not resting on it. Nakayama's teaching is cited at 90 to 120 degrees of elbow flexion. ITF high and middle blocks: the fist ends at eye level for a high block and at shoulder level for a middle block.
the forearm stops where it covers the target.
Eyes, recovery and guard
Look where the block goes. In World Taekwondo poomsae, your eyes not following the direction of the technique is a major (0.3) deduction.
eyes on the attack, not on your arm.
Recover straight into your guard: hands up between you and the attack, covering your head and centre, ready to block again or counter. In ITF Taekwon-Do the blocking arm comes back right after contact, with few exceptions. In kihon and kata, finish the position cleanly before the next move. Don't let the non-blocking hand drop.
block, then hands straight back up.
Feel it
A good block feels like one snap of the whole body. The blocking arm sweeps through its path, the other fist lands at your ribs, and the hips turn, all at the same moment. The elbow stays bent and the shoulder stays down. The forearm stops where it covers the target, not past it, and your eyes stay on the attack. Afterwards your hands come straight back up to guard instead of hanging at your sides.
Fix-its
- You use the wrong block for the height Match the level: low block for low attacks, middle block for the body, rising block for the head. In WT poomsae, a rising block in place of a low block is a major deduction.
- Your low block stops short or high Sweep down until the fist is about one fist-width above the front knee. If it stays higher, your stance may be too tall or the block is not covering the groin.
- Your rising block finishes too low Drive the forearm up until it sits above eye level and in front of your forehead, with the elbow still clearly bent.
- You lock the arm and reach past the target Keep a bend in the elbow (ITF teaches 15 to 45 degrees) and stop the forearm where it covers the target. Lower the blocking shoulder slightly.
- The other hand does nothing or your guard drops Pull the other fist to just above the floating ribs as the block lands. Then bring both hands straight back up to guard.
Drill
- Shadow each block slowly in a natural stance, facing a mirror or the camera. Check the chamber, the path and the finish height.
- Step forward in front stance with low blocks. Check that the fist finishes about a fist above the front knee, the other fist is at your ribs and the hips are turned to about 45 degrees.
- Level calls: a partner or coach calls low, middle or high and you answer with the matching block. This trains picking the right block for the height.
- Block and guard: after each block, bring both hands straight back to guard with your eyes forward before the next call.
- Only add a partner's real attacks under an instructor. Start slow with light contact, because forearm-on-forearm contact can bruise. Stop if a wrist, elbow or shoulder hurts.
Sources
- Layton, C. — Blocking and countering in traditional Shotokan karate kata, Perceptual and Motor Skills (1993)
- Martins, Piemontez & Melo — Amplitude articular dos cotovelos no karate (elbow range in age-uke, shuto age-uke and gyaku-zuki), EFDeportes.com (2012)
- Kido Kwan — Blocking in Taekwon-Do (ITF blocking principles)
- GKR Karate — Technical checklists for First Kata (Taikyoku Shodan)
- Mutascio, M. (Mawashi Karate-Do, via FESIK) — Un po' di terminologia Wado-Ryu (uchi/soto-uke naming)
- World Taekwondo — Poomsae Competition Rules and Interpretation (in force 30 Sep 2024)
Last checked 2026-10-26.