Pivot

[n2shotokai]

The other night we were working through Gankaku and you might be surprised that a discussion came up regarding pivots. I am interested in others input / experience. When the subject came up I realized this is something I have always done without even thinking about it.

When you pivot, do you pivot on your heel or ball of foot and why?

[Gene Williams]

Pivot on the ball and keep your knees bent. You should not bob up and down when you pivot, and sit a little into your stance when you stop. In that particular kata, on the big spin, I used to pretend my hands were the brakes on a bike and everything stopped with my hands. When you are in those crane stances, you should be solid...it should look and feel like you could stand there all day. I sweep my students while they are in crane stance, and they had better not fall!

[will szlemko]

Hi,

Generally in karate the pivot is taught on the ball of the foot. Depending on style there can be exceptions to this general rule. To some extent which part of the foot you pivot on changes the application of the technique. Power and distance are among the many variables that change depending on ball or heel pivot. Personally I would recommend ball pivot until at least ni-dan then begin experimenting, try to find the differences and the different applications they enable.

will

[Chrono]

I, personally, always pivot on the balls of my feet. Mostly, this came from my days in the marching band where, when we turned, we had to do it on the balls of our feet so we could turn fast enough to keep up with the tempo.

[Joseph Svinth]

In some Goju kata, you pivot on the heel. The foot position is like a Don Martin "MAD" character's stepping, or the R. Crumb "Keep On Truckin'" man. That is, the ball of the foot is raised completely off the floor.

In this case, the pivot is powered by the hip and waist rather than the foot and knee, and the foot essentially goes along for the ride.

The appearance of the kata changes, depending on which way you decide to do this, so I'd recommend asking your teacher (or your teacher's teacher) which way s/he prefers.

[n2shotokai]

Originally posted by Joseph Svinth
In some Goju kata, you pivot on the heel. The foot position is like a Don Martin "MAD" character's stepping, or the R. Crumb "Keep On Truckin'" man. That is, the ball of the foot is raised completely off the floor.

So then am I to take it this is an exception and not a rule for Goju?

[gmanry]

I was pretty much taught to stay on the ball of the foot, and did so for many years, until I was introduced to tai chi footwork amond other things.

Lately I have been experimenting with heel TO ball of foot. It is very interesting to play with the changes in weight shift.

This has also lead me to greatly question the typically advised pressing of the heel back into the floor, particularly with the kime at the end of a technique. I have completely abandoned that in my techniques, and it is related to the heel to to pivot I am working with lately.

This would be in the case of a 180 turn or a 270, for 360 the ball of the foot is pretty much needed for a clean turn.

In the long run I have to agree with some of the posts here that say it greatly depends. I don't think I would be comfortable teaching people that "this" is the way you turn. It over simplifies things and puts things in a box that could be a trap.

[CEB]

Originally posted by n2shotokai
So then am I to take it this is an exception and not a rule for Goju?

Depends. In general Goju steps on the heels a lot more than any other karate method I know of. ( Not that I know anything, I'm sure most the masters here on e-budo have been around longer than me.) Movement on the heels is not just in the Saifa pivot that is done by some kans but in forward stepping also like in the three double spear hands in Seisan. 3 reasons for this. One reason is because sensei says so. If you want to learn the other 2 you need to come to class and I'll show you. Not being an *** on this one. It is just that I can show it pretty easily. But unless you can see it and feel it it is moot. Writing about it is just too much trouble. Just got back from a 40 mile bike ride (38.7 actually). The headwinds coming back sucked and I'm tired. Besides without seeing me there should be no believing me. Be careful way too many kuchi bushi on the internet.

We step and pivot on the balls of the feet also. We step on the balls of the feet and root on our heels. We also root on the balls of the feet. It depends.

IMO you can consider it an exception for the first few years or so. After 2 or three years you start learning more advanced kata (kaishu kata) along with it comes different methods of movement. I've seen some people who call what they do Goju and they stay on the balls oftheir feet all the time. When in Rome ....

Chinto/Gankaku - Always pivots ball of foot where I have been. The last pivot before the Oi Tszuki to the rear was the hardest one for me, but I'm just an old Judo player. Nice kata if you are in to that sort of thing.

Have a good week.

[Joseph Svinth]

What Ed said.

[Markaso]

All of the Go Jyu Ryu Kata that I know and have been taught have a heel to toe stepping motion and for the turns we have turned on the ball. At least up to Suupurinpei. Don't know that one yet. Trying to save that one till after the next test.