Tachi Waza - Standing Techniques (Stances)

Karate is a stand-up martial art, meaning that most techniques are performed from a standing position.
Therefore, a karate student, or karateka, must develop powerful stances to maintain balance and establish
a strong foundation from which to deliver various techniques.

Traditional karate stances (postures) are the essential point of departure for launching or repelling an attack.
You are able to face an opponent better when you adopt a proper Karate stance. Here are a number of
traditional stances that you can employ in specific circum­stances.

Basic Karate Moves start with;

1. The correct relationship between the feet and floor. Karate starts from the ground.
2. Use of the ankles, knees, legs and hips to create stable Karate Stances and powerful Karate kicks.
3. The effective use of the upper body; shoulders, back, arms, elbows and hands to produce dynamic
    Karate Strikes and Karate Blocks.
Musubi Dachi can be formed from leaving Heiko Dachi and placing the balls of both feet out at 45°. Heels shall remain together. If you were to look down at this point your feet should look as if they were in a “V” position. Your knees are straight and instead of being locked are in a natural relaxed position. This stance is used when standing at attention
 
Heiko Dachi stance starts from Musubi Dachi and is formed by coming up on the balls of your feet and rotating heals so that feet are parallel with a shoulder with distance between them.
Sanchin Dachi is the root and substance to Goju ryu. Sanchin Dachi in known as immovable stance should be thought of as absorbing energy from the ground up and into your body and using its energy to your advantage not just gripping and holding onto the floor. To formulate Sanchin Dachi, the student should go back to Heiko Dachi. Place the right foot one-foot length ahead of the spot it was at (right heel just on the imaginary line that its toe ended at). Turn the right heel out 45°, next bring the right foot back a bit until the heel rests on the same horizontal line as the toes of the left foot. While grabbing the ground with the feet in a twisting out motion, the knees should be slightly bent inward as to protect the groin area from attack; the buttocks pushed forward, the inside and outside of the thighs tightened. Your center of gravity should be located at the point midway between both feet
Shizen Dachi - Fighting stance, natural stance - feet offset, feet shoulder width apart, one foot ahead of the other like walking step. Knees slightly bent & fists up
in fight position, tight and strong.
Zenkutsu Dachi is also known as (front stance).
In this stance, another one of the strongest stances,
with the center of gravity being midway between both feet. One way to achieve this position is to start from Shiko Dachi. Turn the right leg straight, without raising the head level, square the hips and shoulders into a linear posture with the left leg that will be considered
the front. Bend the left knee so as the front foot cannot be seen all the while keeping the right leg (back leg) straight. Keep the back sustained in a straight
position perpendicular to the floor. The front foot
should be turned slightly inward. Be careful not to
place too much weight on the front foot, and the front foot and back foot are not on the same imaginary line they are about four foot lengths in distance apart, and
about shoulder width
Neko Ashi Dachi (Cat Foot) is the essential fighting stance of Goju ryu. It is the other of the two major stances (the other being Sanchin Dachi) of this system of Karate do . Neko Ashi Dachi can be obtained from Musubi Dachi by turning the right foot forward and the moving it exactly one-foot length forward. Then lift the heel of the front foot off of the ground, and bending the knee of the front leg (general the front foot should now look as if it were in a four inch woman, high heel or at least of that position!). Now bending the back leg, push the hips back as if to sit down in a chair. 70% to 80%
of your weight should be distributed on the back leg while 20% to 30% remains on the front. This is to allow the front foot the ability to move quickly into defensive
or offensive positions since there is little weight on it. From the side and front view, this posture resembles that of a cat in combat or of a person sitting in a chair that’s not there.
Kosa Dachi - The crossed leg stance is used for turning in many items from Kihon Ido to Advanced Kata. Exploiting Sanchin Dachi as a starting point (lets say right foot forward), you can either A. Step across with your right foot and keep it on the same imaginary line
or B. Rotate you feet and body 180° clock wise.
Either way, the front of your left knee will be fitted into the back of your right knee. In the case of version A,the blade or outside edge of your right foot should first
touch the ground before completing the turn. In the
case of version B, The right foot should be left on the floor with the heel having been turned in 135° (90° + 45°) and the heel of the left foot raised before completing
the turn.
Shiko Dachi - Sumo Stance To reach Shiko Dachi, position your feet side-by-side two shoulder-widths apart, and turn your toes outwards so that the OUTSIDE of each foot is at 45 degrees. Your weight should be evenly distributed between your legs. Now lower your weight so that your knees are bent almost to a right-angle. It's important not to go so low that you are forced to compromise your position by leaning forwards. However, over time your spinal suppleness will improve and your muscles will adapt so that you can get lower without bending or hurting as much.

Don't stick your butt out
Don't lean forwards
Don't allow either of your knees to collapse in
Don't turn your toes out too far
Don't stand too wide or narrow
Kokutsu Dachi - This is a mirror image of zenkutsu-dachi, where the rear leg is bent strongly at the knee and the front leg is either straight or slightly bent, depending on the style. The rear foot is turned 90 degrees to the side. The body is turned 90 degrees or more away, except for the head which looks to the front. Kokutsu-dachi is a great defensive stance because of the amount of energy stored in the rear leg, ready for a counter-attack.
Tsura Ashi Dachi is also part of one of the classic postures found in the system of Goju ryu. It is also known as Heron leg stance, as in the bird. By starting once more from Heiko Dachi keep either foot on the ground bending the leg slightly for balance and raise the opposite foot. (cocked or ready to attack, position of the leg) The toes of the raised foot should be pulled back for kicking. This stance is classic to Kata Saifa
Renoji Dachi - Feet are at the shoulder width. The foot
in the front is fully frontal (toes facing forward), the rear foot is turned 45 degrees out, and is positioned in such a way that if the front foot is brought back, its heel will touch the heel of the rear foot. Thus the foot print is shaped like the character (or letter L). The weight is kept 70% on the rear foot.