Eye contact

[jkembry]

Last night during training and sparring we had a discussion on where one should look...primarily during sparring. The conclusion was that eye contact was the most important. Since I am beginning I am finding eye contact to be difficult...but when I make the connection, I do seem to be more aware of what is happening. So, I was curious as to the thoughts here on ey contact during sparring.

- Jeff -

 

[Cirdan]

The eyes will tell you everything. Make yourself unreadable.

 

[Sukerkin]

I would advise against being so single focussed on the eyes.

What is vital is the development of what is called zanshin (loosely translated as awareness). The ideal is that you are aware of where you are, what you are doing, where the opponent is, where everyone else etc.

You broaden or narrow the scope of zanshin depending on circumstances - when it comes to your direct opponent, your observation should take in the whole body, not one part of it.

It takes practise tho', as it's a bit like trying to see without looking .

 

[tshadowchaser]

remember the eyes can look one place and a kick or punch may go another so if you think their eyes will tell you where they are going to hit you may be incorrect.
Looking at the center of the chest and not staring you can see the whole body move

 

[Logan]

This is a much debated subject. I think it depends on what you hope to accomplish from the situation, as well as the distance you are from the opponent. If you are outside striking range, the eyes can indicate when an attack will come. If they are inside striking range, peripheral vision is needed. The closer an attacker is to you, the odds of you reading it drop dramatically.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

remember the eyes can look one place and a kick or punch may go another so if you think their eyes will tell you where they are going to hit you may be incorrect.
Looking at the center of the chest and not staring you can see the whole body move

Very wise advice. You know I love it when I catch someone monitoring my eyes because then I feint with them (the eyes) and go somewhere else and it works everytime.

(read my eyes at your peril)

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

This is a much debated subject. I think it depends on what you hope to accomplish from the situation, as well as the distance you are from the opponent. If you are outside striking range, the eyes can indicate when an attack will come. If they are inside striking range, peripheral vision is needed. The closer an attacker is to you, the odds of you reading it drop dramatically.

Also good advice!

 

[MBuzzy]

I'm a proponent of watching the hips. The eyes lie. Especially if you're fighting someone experienced like Brian....This is especially important in arts with kicking.

The hips can't lie, if you want to throw a kick, the hips have to lead it. simple body mechanics. Even if it is a shorter kick with little hip movement, it has to be chambered. The same with punches, most punches start from the hip as well (although it isn't difficult to throw a punch with just the shoulders). Either way, looking at the hips gives you a better sense of the whole body and you can keep an eye on the shoulders and center of mass.

Center of mass would work as well. I never look at the eyes though, too easy to fake.

 

[Tez3]

I don't know if anyone else has found this or whether it's my ineptitude that lead me to it! when I started doing kata it was always as a class, with us being beginners at the time we were all over the place bumping into each other even! Probably quite funny to watch. After a while I started to 'know' where people were without looking, I got an awareness of the others so I could avoid them if I or they made a mistake or just got to close, without breaking my concentration. Later I found it invaluable in team kata competitions. It does help with my sparring too as I get a sort of impression of when they are going to move and where.

 

[CoryKS]

In sparring I've noticed that I tend to hang back and wait for my opponent to make an attack and then respond to it. Sometimes I move forward a little bit to make him attack so that I can respond. So I keep my eyes about midchest so I can watch his hands and look down to stomach level from time to time (eyes only; like checking the rearview mirror) to watch his legs. This gives me an sense a of what he is about to do and, depending on our relative speed/skill levels, allows me to decide how I should respond.

 

[wolfeyes2323]

Greetings - Eye contact may change, Looking someone in the eye may
help you discern intent and spirit , Before the match it has a use,
Once you are about to begin the focus may change .
Remember that looking someone in the eye is a two way street,
and that you may be manipulated or fooled by the more experienced.
IMO the best place to look is the Sternal Notch at the base of throat ,
and top of the sternum , using peripheral vision you will be able to
see movement of both hands and feet. Try it, stand at a kumite
range, open the vision, and have your partner , move either
hands or feet, you should be able to detect this while
looking at the same spot, The difference between looking at
the eyes, and looking at the sternum ,is focus, you focus your
eyes intently when looking your opponent in the eyes,
you unfocus your eyes when looking at the sternum.
This unfocus makes you harder to read, and it should allow you
to see the tell tale signs and movements of your opponents technqiue .

Romney^..^

 

[morph4me]

remember the eyes can look one place and a kick or punch may go another so if you think their eyes will tell you where they are going to hit you may be incorrect.
Looking at the center of the chest and not staring you can see the whole body move

I agree, you can see the shoulders move, pick up subtle shifts of weight that preceed a kick, and generally better anticipate his next move. The only caveat I would add is to make sure it's a "soft" focus, dont look too intently or you'll miss the subtleties that give you openings

Very wise advice. You know I love it when I catch someone monitoring my eyes because then I feint with them (the eyes) and go somewhere else and it works everytime.

(read my eyes at your peril)

Very sneaky, and effective. I've done the same thing myself :highfive:

 

[tellner]

In addition to all the other Good Advice(tm) here's a bit of Maybe Useful Advice(tm).

Peripheral vision is much more sensitive to motion than foveal vision. If you want to be able to pick up movement, say on the part of someone who is trying to hit you, it's best to keep a soft focus and not stared directly. If you spread your vision out a bit you will be able to see the hips and shoulders, knees and elbows, maybe hands and feet that will provide the real tells.

The other reason to avoid staring at a particular body part is that that it leads to tunnel vision. Tunnel vision is the beginning of a lot of things that are not terribly helpful like auditory exclusion, hypervigilance, time distortion effects and so on.

 

[jkembry]

Thanks a bunch guys. I appreciate all the feedback. Now to put it into practice.

- Jeff -

 

[INDYFIGHTER]

I watch the torso but I don't FOCUS on it. I don't focus on any one thing rather rest my eyes on their center and let my periferal (spelling?) vision do it's job.

 

[PEP-REP]

center of the body.. the eyes aren't what is gonna hit ya LOL

but seriously.. likemost have said never focus on the eyes they will never tell you anything.. you know the song those lying eyes LOL

the body has to move if every so slighlty then you can react to it..

now from a tae kwon do point of view.. get with a partner.. in a normal distance for sparring.. look in their eyes and see if you can see their feet without looking down the answer is NO.. now look at the center of their chest you can see their whole body without moving your eyes..

Glenn

 

[ShuriLeopard]

I agree with all who said to look at center of mass without focusing on anything in particular. This is especially important in self-defense when you don't know from which direction danger exists. However, this is for when the fray begins. The eyes can be a real good clue as to whether a fight is about to happen or not. They can also be used to diffuse a confrontation.

 

[Jdokan]

My opinion.....watch the hollow spot of the throat...the body can't move with moving that point....but as others stated don't focus on any one thing......

 

[Brandon Fisher]

MOst schools of karate teach to watch the eyes while sparring at the beginner to advanced levels however the mastery of the art or any martial art for that matter is "zanshin" as already mentioned above. This depth of awareness is almost scary when someone has a achieved it.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Last night during training and sparring we had a discussion on where one should look...primarily during sparring. The conclusion was that eye contact was the most important. Since I am beginning I am finding eye contact to be difficult...but when I make the connection, I do seem to be more aware of what is happening. So, I was curious as to the thoughts here on ey contact during sparring.

- Jeff -

I don't know what karate wants you to do but I have always gone with what I learned form my Jujitsu sensei many years ago. We looked at the mid chest and that way we could see the arms and legs, we also did a lot of peripheral vision training as well. Looking at the eyes could be distracting, IMO, and not looking at the eyes has worked for e pretty well so far