There are many different stances and postures in karate. Often in old karate, some version of T-stance (chōji-dachi) was used. Obviously that means it has genuine benefits for actual fighting, as opposed to always standing in some form of front stance when fighting, ready to move forwards or back, left or right, up or down. You can shift between zenkutsu-dachi, kokutsu-dachi, and naihanchi-dachi seemlessly with minimal movement, simply turning on the heels, in the old way that Gichin Funakoshi practised. Particularly from an open chōji-dachi, you can easily defend in multiple directions. However, you can use your hips better in a regular front stance, when attacking with the rear fist aiming forwards. But what about to the open side, for instance? Therefore, an angled naihanchi-dachi is better for mutiple directions with minimal movement. This is like fudō-dachi, but high, so, because a low stance is useful at times, shifting between naihanchi-dachi and fudō-dachi is certainly advantageous, although always only in accordance. In actual fighting, it’s ideal to use minimal movement to change direction, apply maximum power using the body’s mechanics, shift your weight as necessary between yin and yang, be heavy, light, or strategically one then the other, depending, and move dynamically very actively when necessary, suddenly shifting the entire body swiftly, and always not allowing your opponent/s to so much as touch you with their attacks. All of the classical stances are useful, including the version of chōji-dachi in which the heels are in line. However, as with Gichin Funakoshi, you shouldn’t stick to one stance or kind of stance. Moving in accordance, every posture is valuable. But I feel that the different types of chōji-dachi, fudō-dachi, and naihanchi-dachi (the “horse” stance) are particularly applicable.
