2023-11-20

Teaching my regular classes at the Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA.

In tonight’s adult class we spent a bit of time talking about how to turn in kata, emphasizing the difference between “turn and step forward” and “turn and THEN step forward.” Call it semantics, call it a change in mindset, or call it whatever you want, but it works. I find that, more often than not, beginners tend to step forward in a straight-line stance after a turn of more than 90°. So how do we fix that? Like most problems, we start by identifying the source. In this case, it’s almost always what I call “deploying the leg too early.” In other words, students start the “step forward” part of the move before they’ve fully completed the “turn” part of the move. The trick is to put a tiny pause in between them.

Let’s take the 270° turn after the kiais in Heian Shodan as an example. We start in right-foot-forward zenkutsu-dachi, having just finished the oi-zuki and kiai. Most people describe the 270° turn by saying something like, “Now turn and step forward.” Instead, I often say, “Now turn … and THEN step forward.” (The elipsis represents a noticable pause.) That seems to work, but if it doesn’t, I then say, “Now turn … full stop … and THEN step forward. (Yes, I actually say the words “full stop.”) I’ve found that if I can get them to complete the turn in a “get to halfway, then continue” fashion, they tend to step forward with proper width.