Crane stance
Tsuru dachi, the crane stance, has three variations -- walking, fighting, and sleeping -- which will be discussed in the subsections below. Regardless of which one you perform, never step forward directly from crane stance into some other stance. Using crane stance as a giant step transfers your weight to a leg that isn’t touching the ground, setting up a clever or skilled opponent to topple you with a well-timed leg sweep.
Don't raise your center when transitioning to crane stance. Practice in front of a mirror, with a piece of tape at head-level to check if you are bobbing or lifting as you transition.
Walking crane stance
Walking crane stance is the setup position for kicks. Stand on one foot with your toes pointed forward to maintain your balance. Your bodyweight is spread over your heel, ball, and the blade of your supporting foot. Avoid bearing down on the arch of your foot -- this causes the arch to cave in over time, robbing your foot of its natural shock absorption.
Keep your back straight. Shift your hips slightly to the side, so that your spine is in-line with the supporting hip, knee, and ankle. Bend the knee of your supporting leg; the lower you are, the more stable you'll be. Pretend that your spine, hip, knee, and ankle are all part of a telephone pole anchored deep within the earth.
Raise the other knee as high as possible; ideally, kneeing yourself in chest. Bending your supporting leg lowers your chest, making this easier. (While this seems like cheating, we assure you, it isn’t.)
At minimum, your knee must raise higher than your hips. The line formed by your knee and hip must be at a positive angle with respect to the floor -- it must not point at the floor, nor be parallel to it -- it must be “past parallel.” Higher knees create more powerful kicks, because the legs work just like compressed springs or scissor jacks.
Recall that in Goshin-Jutsu, stance direction is determined by weight distribution, not foot geometry. You raise your left leg to enter a right crane stance, so that 100% of your bodyweight bears down on your right leg, and vice-versa. This is critical to understanding the directions for our kata and waza.
[photos of walking crane from the front, and side]
Fighting crane stance
Fighting crane stance is much like walking crane stance, except you tilt your raised shin 45° with respect to the floor, so the raised foot covers the knee of the supporting leg.
[photos of fighting crane from the front, and side]
Fighting crane can be a passive defense, shielding your groin with your thigh. Transitioning into a fighting crane stance is the ultimate defense against foot sweeps, foot stomps, and attacks to the side of the knee -- moving the leg moves the target, leaving nothing to hit.
Sleeping crane stance
Sleeping crane stance is a sneaky position which is typically used as a transitional movement to another stance in another direction.
Sleeping crane is like the other crane stances, but the knee only raises to hip-level, with the raised instep neatly tucked inside of the hollow of the supporting knee.
[photos of sleeping crane from the front, and side]
Sleeping crane stances are also sneaky because they keep your center low, and are thus incredibly stable. Standing on one foot does not have to be precarious. Though kicks can only be thrown from walking or fighting crane stances, transitioning into either of these from a sleeping crane is simplicity itself, as you are almost there.
