Where do you look/focus when fighting?

[Hawkmoon]

When I spar or fight I tend to look squarely at the chest, below the neck line about mid point of the sternum.

I get moaned at by fighters who like to look at the eyes/face to look up, and so look into the eyes or face!

(I don't look up...it upsets them more!)

For me the view I get is one of the the body and limbs (all of them) in clear focus by looking at the chest. It is a new thing for me, one I have trained myself to do over the last few years!

Now, when I fight I still feel safe, confident in doing this but I do note a difference in my fighting style not such a fluid range of movements as I used to have!

I used to look at the face and react to what the eyes/face told me! sometimes even now I look at the face and react but its not so easy to react as I once did!

..and the training to not look at the face tends to drill me back to the chest.....

Back 'in the day' I was a much faster fighter and was on occasion still caught in the head when fighting when I looked at the face...like everyone else did.

I simply could not look at a person and not see them so I always looked at the face!

I could see other fights and spot that some fighters, ones I looked up to, were looking anywhere but the face!!

(Hence the idea was born but the adoption wasn't...until now)

Now I have trained myself to look at the chest, I see more of what is happening but...maybe being older and slower I'm not really that much 'better' for it.

What about you do you look at the face, the chest where?

Why?

Have you tried one over the other and was it a worth while thing to do?

[CredoTe]

I actually look at the notch between the clavicles. I can see my opponent's movements from top of head to toes without fear of being faked out by their eyes, hands, or feet. It's taken a lot of training and kumite matches (and getting my face smashed with fists, feet, etc... ) to adjust to this method, but now that I use it, it was worth it.

[wagnerk]

I had to pick "other", I kinda look all over and not just concentrate on one area

[Harkon72]

Chest, always look chest!

[Hawkmoon]

I'll put much of my reasoning for asking down to my slowness, be this age or...no age covers I think.

Interesting that its the 'chest area' (generally speaking) that many seem to choose.

That looking into the eyes and getting that almost clear second advanced warning well is more to do with my reaction time rather than being an actual 1sec notification!

[Wastelander]

I focus on the chest, but I'm sure to be visually aware of as much of my opponent's body as possible. Focusing on the eyes is fine if you are sparring/fighting someone who is relatively inexperienced, but an experienced fighter will notice eye contact and look at one target to get you to react so they can attack the resulting opening.

[Rez]

I watch the belt...

[SteyrAUG]

No place in particular...

[sensei8]

At the intended target without my intent being discovered.

[Hawkmoon]

I watch the belt...

Really?

Thats interesting, to me that seems very low to the point of missing risking missing the shoulder movement and so give away the intent to punch.

Daft question, but this works for you else you'd not do it, but I'll ask anyway.... if this a taught focal point or just the place you happened to start to look at from day one?