Where do you look when sparring?

[sawyer280769]

Was training tonight and we finished doing some sparring. I realised that I was not really focusing on any particular area/part of my opponent initially and then tried focusing on his eyes, then his hands and feet and so on to see what was more effective.

I quickly realsied what worked for me but I would be interested to hear others thoughts on the subject.

 

[granfire]

I generally keep my eyes on the eye/shoulder area. it seems that almost everything is telegraphed from there.

 

[Andrew Green]

Don't focus on anything, it slows your reflexes.

 

[Joab]

A good question. I have been told "the eyes" by one teacher, "The chest" by another. Generally not a good idea to look where you are going to strike, "your foot will find the target" I was told, and it did.

 

[mango.man]

I like the "center mass" theory as it allows you to see the most with your peripheral vision.

If I am looking at your eyes, it is unlikely I will see your feet. If I am looking at your feet, it is unlikely I will see your shoulders. If I am looking dead center, I can see your entire body.

 

[garrisons2]

I started by focusing on the face, migrated to that and the upper body and am now concentrating on focusing on the entire body in total

 

[jeorf]

Eyes. (or nose if I'm sparring with someone who's likely to set me off laughing!)

It allows my peripheral vision to work (peripheral vision sees movement better than focused vision) and it's unnerving and emits power and confidence. (At least I think it does )

 

[granfire]

well, it's not a focus, it's somewhat of a 'soft eye': you look but don't focus, but take in the surrounding.

But I like to have the face in view because it tells you a lot about your opponent. When I started my friend was really tense and you could see it on her face, so I had to remind her many times to calm down.

the shoulder/body is going to tell you even if the feet move, so you can keep track of almost everything.

of course, if you spar your sensei/sabum for the first time, all bets are off, you will likley be the mouse toyed with by the cat

 

[girlbug2]

the chest/collarbone area is a good area to rest your eyes because the arm movements are telegraphed from there first. Keep your peripheral vision on the rest of the body movements at all times.

 

[zDom]

If you catch someone staring at your eyes for clues on your attacks, you can also do "eye feints"

Look them back in the eye, then drop your eyes toward their belt a split second before you go for a high-section attack

 

[chrispillertkd]

I look at my opponent's eyes, but "keep the gaze large and broad." This allows me to see where the opponent is looking in case it reveals where they are planning on attacking, as well as their body with my peripheral vision while preventing me form concentrating solely on the eyes. You can also see a rather large amount of the surrounding area without having to specifically loook around.

Pax,

Chris

 

[bluekey88]

I look at everything and nothing. I train my eye on the torso area....but I don't focus on any particular thing. Just take in the information and let my brain do it's thing and just try to move naturally.

Peace,
Erik

 

[midnight star]

i always focus about the chest area myself. tried keeping eye contact like i was told by my instructors but then i often missed kicks that were coming!
focusing on the chest area gives a good vision of the hands and feet and body movement.