I'd much rather fist stances be changed like so:

Fists of Wind becomes a trait that increases movement speed
Fists of Fire and Fists of Earth consolidated into one skill and made into a Single Target and AOE stance
Fists of Earth Changes bootshine, twinsnakes, and snap punch into Arm of the Destroyer, Four-point Fury (which now grants the twinsnakes buff instead of refreshing it), and rockbreaker respectively.

That would justify fist stances existing, while also having the benefit of reducing hotbar clutter.
Heck, with a single target and AOE stance monk could get many of it's lost skills back with things like Steel peak and howling fist interchanging depending on the stance.