an outsider looking in

[TigerCrane]

What I was trying to say is that I've been taught to look towards the direction where my palm/hand/punch is executed. If you do that, then you'll naturally be looking in the direction of your target.

[WudangDragon]

What I've been taught doesn't impact upon this topic, seeing as we were left to decide upon our own prefered method of keeping an eye on the opponent.

Some types of Kung Fu utilise a lot of technical footwork, which could explain this. It is also always intelligent to be mindful of one's footing and the surrounding environment.

There are many reasons one might look at the ground, but I don't think it is by any means a predominant feature of Kung Fu.

[a_ninja]

Ive never heard of people doing that but i dont know the facts so i cant tell you for shure

[Kajukenbopr]

if it was really wing chun- they tend not to look an opponent in the face but to their chest, waist or another parts without really concentrating on what they see, to expand reaction time.

if another style, they might just be making sure the footwork is working.

it depends on what style and the level of training they have.

[lordtariel]

I've always been taught that my eyes should follow my hands.

This is how I was taught when I was learning Tai Chi

[ps1]

What I was trying to say is that I've been taught to look towards the direction where my palm/hand/punch is executed. If you do that, then you'll naturally be looking in the direction of your target.

Oh ok. I see what you mean.

[Plastic_Anarchy]

Definately look at the chest area, it even goes for physical sports like hockey and football, it's so that you see every movement. You use periferal vision to see kicks.

[ARADOX]

Miyamoto Musashi says that you should look not at one part of the opponant but all of them at once, perhaps that's what he said because he was a practitioner of the longsword and the distance was much larger but... perhaps it bears thinking about.

Still I've always been taught to look into the eyes, but recently one instructor has said to look past the opponant, as it gives faster reaction time, (this guy has studied in Wing Chun too