The Unaspired Head Turn!

[mongo]

It is expected that you will look before you turn in kata in my school.

[KumitePanda]

Every kata/form has them: turns! Whether it's a 45 degree turn, or a 90 degree turn, or a 180 degree turn, or a 270 degree turn; kata/forms have them abundantly.

It would be very difficult to get from one point in the kata/form to another without any turns. What seems to be missing is one crucial and vital element of any turn in any kata/form is...the head turning PRIOR to the actual turn.

Having said that. I do admit, that the head turning before any turn is a methodology of Shindokan. Therefore, turning the head prior to any turn may not be a methodology of the style that you're teaching/learning. That's fine and I surrender to that!

Nonetheless, is the head turn prior to any turn taught in your style? Here's why I ask. I suspect that the head turn prior to any turn is taught, but the practitioner CHOOSES to NOT turn. If this is true, then this practitoner is leaping before looking.

Yes, our peripheral vision allows us the ability to see the direction in which one is planning to go without actually looking head directly that way. I seriously doubt that the kata/forms are teaching us to do exactly that: turn peripherally.

Teaching students to fully turn their head prior to any turn is a good idea, especially if their beginners. Even then, I'd want my students, no matter the level of their experience, to look danger head-on directly.

To not fully turn our heads prior to any turn is akin to not fully turning our head prior to a lane change when your driving. One has to be aware of the blindspots, and in that, turning our head fully before we do a lane change is not only smart; it's safe.

Well, same thing when we are performing kata/forms. As great as our peripheral vision is, it's greater to stare directly in the direction that our opponent is attacking from. Peripherally blocking can change so quickly, and in that, what appears to be, actually turns out to not be after all.

Point of the topic is this. Nobody turns their head prior to any turn in their kata/form, and this, imho, leads to one creating bad habits, and once bad habits become ingrained in ones muscle memory; habits can be hard to break.

Go to You Tube or any other video source, and you'll see for yourself just how many practitioners independantly and/or collectively DON'T turn their head prior to any turn.

If that is ones methodology to not turn their head prior to any turn, I may not agree with it, but it's their way, just as it is Shindokan's way to fully turn our head before any turn. I'd perfer to take my chances with turning my head completely prior to any turn, than to the alternative; imho, my odds might seem to favor turning my head completely prior to any and all turns.

Your thoughts?

yes at my dojo it is crucial that the head is turned before any movement is made. for example Heian Shodan: turn head left THEN gidan bari.

from the start we are taught this and are told to imagine a person might be attacking us, we wont know if we don't turn our heads as to which block we'll need to use. hence the turning of the heads.

i myself have admittly been lazy at times and not done it but mainly because i was having a REALLY BAD session and it was at the end of the night and we were doing katas like tekki shodan so i just couldnt be bothered as i dont need it anyway...not yet.