While building balance, and perhaps catching a really dumb blind opponent by surprise, the crane stance strikes me as a really effective way to get one's butt kicked. The open crotch, lack of guarding, single foot stand -- all invites a butt whoopin' -- with the 'crane' being the one who gets his or her butt whooped. Personally, I consider the standard fighting stance to be putting your best foot forward (except that it's to the rear so you can kick the c**p out of someone). Horse stance is okay, but the open crotch issue always left me feeling vulnerable. Too many goodies swaying in the wind, if you know what I mean.

... all stances offer a different set of strengths & weaknesses ... ... within Shaolin Chuan is the circle of animals, with each animal having its own style of Kung Fu ... all of the styles are to be learned, as well as which one beats which other one at which given moment ... then they are put together like a giant game of "rock paper scissors" ... so learning how & when to switch from any stance to any other stance is what is KEY ... ... there are several wide "northern crane" stances, and several shorter and even one foot "southern crane" stances ... ... the low & wide stances facilitate "wing-roll" style blocking that quickly turns into a "python" constrictor snake style wrap & trap (not the cobra set of snake style) ... bird becomes snake ... rock breaks scissors ... ... the short stances facilitate the "wing-buffet" style of blocking that turns to Mantis grabs or tiger claws ... and the one foot stances facilitate evasive hops while kicking and easily become flying dragon ... ... of course while all stances have some sort of advantage, they also have their weak and vulnerable points & disadvantages, which is why we learn to move THROUGH any stance, rather than to just stay in one ...