I wouldn't mind either way.
I think what Wolfire was trying to do here was make the number of necessary buttons as little as possible, and found that crouching and reversals needed to be pressed on a split second decision. I like the controls in Lugaru, but I wouldn't mind a few minor changes.
This reminds me, in Iron Man for the Wii you moved the camera by pointing the Wiimote. You also melee attack by swinging the Wiimote. You can tell how that works out.