Zhan Zhuang, or Standing Like a Tree, static postures are found in almost every qigong style and martial art in China. An advanced student will stand in one static posture for several hours. There are many postures, some of which will put more weight on one foot than the other and use asymmetric arm placements. It has some very good benefits but most westerners would not have the time or inclination to do it every day.
Besides building stamina and endurance it develops qi flow along the body's energy channels. It is the essence of "standing like a mountain yet moving like a river." All the activity happens internally. They are basically standing meditations, and many of them could also be done sitting or lying down.
An advanced exercise in taiji quan, for example, would be to do the form slower and slower until the movement is imperceptible. As excruciating as it sounds, it could be seen as a collection of static standing postures that flow from one to another - but that could take all day to do. 
[This message has been edited by shr33m (edited December 30, 2003).]
