Shimabukuro Zenpo demonstrating shiko-dachi (horse/Sumo stance)
A common complaint about karate, and its kata, is that the stances are impractical–that one would never use such stances in a “real fight.” This goes along with the general complaint about kamae (postures) found in kata being impractical guards for fighting from (as discussed in this article: LINK). This tends to stem form the fact that the word tachi (which changes to “dachi” when it is a suffix to another word) literally means “stand,” which implies a static, inactive position. Indeed, Chibana Chosin (founder of the Kobayashi branch of Shorin-Ryu) preferred calling them steps instead of stances because of this, and his insistence that there were no static postures in kata. According to Pat Nakata, Chibana said that “we do not take stances, but rather the ‘foot work’ ends up in a position that is moving the body weight (or hara) for the transmission of the technique. (LINK).” In other words, the way you have to move your body in order to apply the technique in the kata is such that you end up moving into the positions that most people call “stances.” They are not intended to be “fighting stances” that you stand in and move around, waiting for an opponent to attack, or waiting to find an opening in your opponent’s guard. Karate was intended to be used in situations where this is not done–you simply transition into the techniques of the kata directly from whatever position you find yourself in when you are attacked. The stances are also not simply varying but irrelevant platforms for your upper body techniques in the kata–they are integral to the function of the techniques you are using.
Andre Bertel demonstrating zenkutsu-dachi (front leaning stance)
Consider zenkutsu-dachi (front/forward leaning stance), which is a very common stance found in nearly every style of martial arts, in some variation or another. Putting aside the minutiae of requirements like length, depth, angle of the foot, etc., the classic front stance accomplishes two major things. First, it moves your center of gravity (usually located in your hara–the lower stomach–as Chibana called it) forward and downward at the same time, if you assume that you are moving from a neutral position into the stance. Second, it braces you against pressure from the front by having one leg extended behind you. This means that transitioning into zenkutsu-dachi generates power for techniques that move forward and downward, as well as giving you the ability to maintain forward pressure against resistance. The most basic example of a technique utilizing these features would be throwing a straight punch downward into the opponent’s bladder, which benefits from dropping your bodyweight into the strike, as well as advancing forward to penetrate into the target, and having support to ensure that the force of your strike doesn’t push you back on impact. Strikes are not the only techniques that benefit from such movement, however. Throws, even simple ones, such as the application for gedan-barai/uke (low level sweep/receiver) that Iain Abernethy teaches as part of Pinan Nidan (LINK), make use of the same transition.
Funakoshi Gichin’s neko-ashi-dachi (cat foot/leg stance)
Another example to consider is neko-ashi-dachi (cat foot/leg stance), which also shows up in a number of martial arts, again with varying minutiae of requirements. In general, your body weight is mostly supported by your rear leg, which is beneath your center of gravity, while the lead leg is extended in front, to some degree–usually, but not always, with the heel lifted off the ground–and carries very little bodyweight. Transitioning to this stance from a neutral standing position will generally result in either dropping your bodyweight down and to the rear, or straight down while reaching the lead leg forward. This transition of weight frees the lead leg to be utilized in a number of ways. Most simply, as can be seen in Muay Thai, it allows the lead leg to quickly lift to throw a kick or knee strike, or to check an opponent’s kick. In truth, though, if you were standing in a more front-weighted stance, and wanted to use your lead leg for such things, you would likely transition through a neko-ashi-dachi type of posture as you shifted your weight back. Aside from the striking perspective, the same weight shift can be useful for foot sweeps, such as the sasae tsurikomi-ashi (supported lifting pulling foot) or deashi-barai (advancing foot sweep) seen in Judo.
Sumo Yokozuna, Hakuho, in shiko-dachi as part of a traditional opening ceremony for Sumo competitions and demonstrations
Shiko-dachi (Sumo/horse stance) is another commonly-found stance, with several variations, but is bit different from zenkutsu-dachi or neko-ashi-dachi, in that it distributes bodyweight evenly to both feet. This stance is very versatile because of that, and can be used to move your bodyweight down, as well as in any direction away from your starting point, although the even weight distribution does mean that less of your bodyweight moves in that direction than it might with a different stance. For example, one can move forward and drop into shiko-dachi, and gain power by doing so, but less of their bodyweight will go forward than if they had stepped and dropped into zenkutsu-dachi. In exchange for giving up a bit of power, shiko-dachi grants a good deal of balance and stability, which makes it very useful in grappling exchanges. Indeed, the jigotai (defensive posture) of Judo is a variant of shiko-dachi, and Sumo (which is actually where the name of the stance comes from) features it prominently as well.
An example of stance transitions applied in a flow drill, as seen in Waza Wednesday 3/14/18
Of course, stance transitions do not always happen from a neutral, standing position. Sometimes, based on the techniques being used, you will transition directly from one stance to another. My late Sensei, Richard Poage, often brought this up in training to emphasize the importance of stance transitions in power generation (LINK). This often shows up in the case of takedown techniques, where the opponent is off-balanced prior to the actual takedown, or when dealing with an opponent that has resisted your initial technique, and you must transition to another one. For example, if one looks at the takedown found near the end of Pinan/Heian Godan (seen demonstrated by Yamashiro Yoshitomo on Naka Tatsuya, here: LINK), most versions perform some sort of offensive technique, then lift their arms and, in some cases, their stance, before turning (or jumping) and dropping to the ground to finish the throw. This is, essentially, the kata going through the three stages of a throw, as described in Judo; kuzushi (off-balancing), tsukuri (positioning), and kake (execution). As an example of transitioning between techniques, one can consider this sequence (click here to see the full video: LINK) from Passai, where the first naname-zenkutsu-dachi (slanted front stance) is used to avoid the initial attack and get beneath it, then rising into hachiji-dachi (figure 8 stance) is used to apply an elbow wrench, before shifting back to naname-zenkutsu-dachi in the other direction to counter the opponent’s resistance and apply another armbar, and then shifting forward and behind the opponent with neko-ashi-dachi (cat foot/leg stance) in order to take them down if they resist the second armbar.
Kinberly Novaes transitioning into zenkutsu-dachi to pressure Heather Jo Clark against the cage in their fight in Invicta FC
It can sometimes be difficult to see how these stances manifest themselves in actual fighting, especially if all one ever sees is static examples. A good way to see these positions and transitions in action is to watch a combat sport that incorporates standing grappling, such as Muay Thai, Sanshou, MMA, etc. Of course, since such combat sports tend to be fast-paced, and the techniques are done with intent, it can be helpful to slow the footage down for review. In this example, you can see MMA fighter, Kinberly Novaes, step forward with her left leg into zenkutsu-dachi as she pressures her opponent, Heather Jo Clark, into the cage. By doing this, she made it more difficult for Clark to slide along the cage, and is able to lower herself down to a position where she could get a stronger grip on Clark’s left leg in order to attempt a takedown. This is not very different from a technique which can be found in Kusanku (LINK), and gives a simple example of how the stances of kata can manifest themselves during fighting. Such examples can be seen quite frequently, once a viewer is tuned in to look for them.