To study the dynamic response of a rigid block standing unrestrained on a rigid foundation which shakes horizontally, four modes of motion can be identified, i.e., rest, slide, rock, and slide and rock. The occurrence of each of these four modes and the transition between any two modes depend on the parametric values specified, the initial conditions, and the magnitude of ground acceleration. In this paper, a general two-dimensional theory is presented for dealing with the various modes of a free-standing rigid block, considering in particular the impact occurring during the rocking motion. Through selection of proper values for the system parameters, the occurrence of each of the four modes and the transition between different modes are demonstrated in the numerical examples.