Philtrum (jōdan)

Upper-lip midline target

The philtrum is recorded here as the jōdan (high-level) face target retained in the kata attack vocabulary. Its point is shown on the upper-lip midline because the manuals name the face line rather than provide normalized diagram coordinates. This is a historical target label for the kata tradition, not a strike instruction.

Philtrum (jōdan)Philtrum (jōdan)Temple (anatomical-right)Temple (anatomical-left)Jaw / mandibular angle (uke)Carotid side of neck (anatomical-right)Carotid side of neck (anatomical-left)Heart / precordiumEpigastrium (chūdan)Floating ribsTestes / groinOuter thigh nerve lineKnee joint

Point 1 of 12 in Atemi-waza — Judo-Jujutsu Vital Strikes

Cross-tradition overlaps

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Sources

Kodokan Judo Institute, Kime-no-kata (primary_canonical)

The Kime-no-kata technical specification, in its jōdan face-attack sequence, documents the high-level face/upper-lip line represented here; the normalized coordinate is editorial.

Jigoro Kano, Kodokan Judo (primary_canonical)

Kano’s Kodokan Judo, in its discussions of kata and self-defence, documents atemi as an auxiliary striking element within judo’s broader throwing and control curriculum; it does not supply the normalized body coordinate used here.

Kenji Tomiki, Judo: The Japanese Physical Culture (secondary)

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