Recognition of Turns - 2 Foot
Some turns involve both feet, and are called two-foot turns. The best known 2-foot turns are Mohawks and Choctaws.
A "Mohawk" changes feet, changes direction (i.e. front-to-back or back-to-front), and maintains the same edge (i.e. if you started on a Right Back Outside edge, you end up on a Left Forward Outside edge). The common "step-forward" is technically a mohawk.
For most skaters, the most common mohawks are the RFI-LBI (you sometimes see this before flip jumps, and you often see it when a skater just needs to change direction quickly), and the RBO-LFO (you often see this before waltz jumps, Axels, Salchows.
A Choctaw changes feet, changes direction, AND changes edge (i.e. if you started on a Right Forward Outside edge, you end up on a Left Backward Inside edge). In the Preliminary MIF test "Alternating 3-Turns" element the step from one lobe to the next is a Choctaw (for instance, one of the lobes ends with a RBO edge, from which you step onto an LFI edge for the start of the next lobe - this is called an RBO-LFI Choctaw)
The Choctaw is most frequently performed in footwork sequences. Its a good element to use because its pretty dramatic, and unusual enough that it'll usually get noticed and remembered -- especially if you show that you can do it both ways, and cleanly (quietly with good flow).
In the video clip shown here you can see both LBO-RFI Choctaws (near the beginning), and RBO-LFI Choctaws (about halfway through). (Click title to play) |
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