Heisoku Dachi is formed by placing feet together parallel with no distance between them (heels and toes and knees close together)
Musubi Dachi can be formed from leaving Heisoku 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. This parallel stance is made from the point of Musubi Dachi by lifting up on the balls of you feet and bringing you heels in line with the front of the foot, you should now be standing in a parallel stance with your feet one foot length apart or even better, feet should be at about shoulder distance. Your knees are straight and instead of being locked are in a naturally relaxed position
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
Hankutsu Dachi begins from Heiko Dachi. Step out with the right side, Te Obi between one half the distance and one footstep less than Zenkutsu Dachi. This position is close to the same posture of Zenkutsu Dachi and more than often-called Hankutsu Dachi. Leg tension shall remain the same as shall back and hip position
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
Kokutsu Dachi begins directly from Zenkutsu Dachi. From this position, turn to the right 90° (as in Sanseiru) on the balls of both feet. Both feet should now be facing to the right of the original direction however the head stays turned in the direction it was originally
Shiko Dachi Heikaku starts from Heiko Dachi. Move your right foot directly out to the right into Shiko Dachi
Shiko Dachi Shakaku starts again from Heiko Dachi. Move your right foot directly forward and out 45°
Shiko Dachi Chokkaku also starts from Heiko Dachi Te Obi. Slightly more difficult it steps from Heiko Dachi forward 90° with the right foot, your body now facing right angle however you head turned 90° into the direction your head started
Neko Ashi Dachi 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
Sagi 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
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
