Where to look when sparring or in Kumite?

[dreadful]

When i am sparring or during kumite i always wonder where to look ?

Is is better to keep you head straight and look directly to you oppents eyes when attacking or defending and feel the kicks and punches coming or is is it better to look where your kicks are going

Thanks fo your help

[Bloke]

Starting off most people will look where they or their opponent is attacking but over time you should be able to focus more centrally and use your peripheral vision more. I tend to look at the top of the chest and the face (to see if they are registering any of the shots)

[ksan]

i say look in the eyes, they can`t really lie... if the shot, like bloke says, hit home and it hurts, you will be able to see it in the eyes... also looking at you oponents eyes will show you what they are looking at on your body and the peripheral vision should be visible there aswell

[jcc]

Osu!

Try 'looking' at the chest, but without actually 'looking' anywhere! What I mean is do not concentrate on the chest as such - you need to open your vision on the whole body of your opponent. This is a bit difficult to describe in words and like everything takes a bit of practice...

Osu!

[dreadful]

Thanks a lot every one for your precious help OSU!

[Lucy]

I agree with looking at the chest region. It gives you a whole over view of the whole body really. Saying that i do look into peoples eyes when im feeling pretty confident and maybe have the edge, and if they are pretty ha ha. If they look scary then i never look in their eyes!

[EnterTheirMinds]

I'd say chest or head area. If you look at wherever the attack is coming from (i.e. legs or fists), you could miss either valuable opportunities to strike back, you could miss something like an ashi barai from your opponent and you may have delayed reaction time in blocking and hitting. If you look at one point, such as head or chest, your peripheal vision is more than capable of allowing you to see the other important parts.

Also, as said before, the eyes can reveal many things. They could reveal the opponent is getting tired, injured and possibly, where their next attack could be or what they're looking at. For example, if you always see them glance at your right thigh, it could be a suggestion that they want to give it a good kick.

In judo, you always want to know exactly where your opponent's arms, hands and legs are, as well as the rest of their body. If you look at 1 arm, you're ignoring the other arm and the 2 legs, which could put you on the ground. If you can see generally all of them, you at least have the chance to react to whatever they may do.

If you or your opponent see the other's eyes focus on 1 hand or leg whenever they do something, they could purposely do that move just to get you to focus there then throw you off balance, such as by ashi barai , gedan mawashi geri , etc... . In doing so, you have greatly reduced your ability and chance to react and counter in some way.

[ANTSAN]

We are also taught to look at the chest area.

[Dent]

Osu!

I like to form a rough triangle from the sides of the chest to the top of the head. Gives me most of the info I need.

Osu!

[Roadrunner]

We ere taught to look into the eyes. reason : It is the mirror of the soul and you can read your opponet better. Ecept for tonight sparring with a blind student his eyes wander in different direction so it was interesting.

[Dent]

Osu!

Originally Posted by Roadrunner

We ere taught to look into the eyes. reason : It is the mirror of the soul and you can read your opponet better. Ecept for tonight sparring with a blind student his eyes wander in different direction so it was interesting.

The eyes are also very good at misdirection though, and I've met the rare individual who uses them as effectively as punches.

Osu!

[tmd]

The aim for me is too create a field of peripheral vision - to achieve this I generally look just above the chest area not at it (especially if it's a girl you don't want to appear rude ) then relax your eyes and try to see their feet, it's a bit like those signs on trucks 'if you can't see my mirrors I can't see you' - well if you can't see their hands and feet guess what, you can't defend against them

You also want to spend some time in the bout looking where you are striking so that you can use misdirection to land an unguarded strike.

[Kurisu]

Nicholas Pettas actually covered this once at Honbu with us. He said to look at the shoulders as a starting point for a peripheral circle around your opponent.

I like fighting people that look at eyes because it's very easy to setup misdirection. Look down but kick up. Very effective

[Roadrunner]

When I look into their eyes I don't look to see what direction they are looking I look for movement or thought

[Nix]

I'm sorry Roadrunner, you lost me. You look into the eyes to read their thoughts and for clues deep in their souls?

[Chuck]

i look top of the chest bottom of the neck my sempai told me that you pereferral(?) vision is better for reacting to so i use it to my advantage im still learning though and have yet to be in a tournament but i trust im a whole lot seeing as how he has been there plenty of times

osu!!

[Roadrunner]

when I fight I see emotion in the eyes such as fear,aggression and feelings, That is what I was taught by my instructor the eyes are the mirror of the soul. When I was working as a bouncer in night cliubs we learned when to move in on a trouble maker and when not to, by watching the eyes and body language

[mcuz]

yep I look at the chest - peripheral vision will register other body movement. Occasionally checking on persons face for reactions every now and then. Much the same as most people on this forum do

[Dillon]

Enzan no metsuke, look at your opponent like you're looking at a far away mountain.