Mowhawks

[dooobedooo]

I was just thinking about mowhawks and it occured to me that I only know the mohawks I have encountered in ice dance.

That is (1) a forward inside open mowhawk (inside edge, free foot strikes in front of skating foot);
and (2) a forward outside closed mohawk (outside edge, free foot strikes behind skating foot;
and (3) a spreadeagle change of feet (either edge, free foot placed down on same tracing, heels pointing towards each other).

So I couldn't picture in my head, say, whether anybody would want to use a forward outside open mohawk (outside edge, free foot comes in front of skating foot).

Does anybody use any other types of mohawk regularly?

[Lutzgirl]

i use my right forward outside often i love those ! I LOVE MOHAWKS!:D:D:D:D:D

[Elsy2]

My free foot never strikes in front of my skating foot, unless I'm hopping the mohawk, which I really don't want to do. On an open mohawk the freefoot is at a right angle to my instep.

Anyway, there is open outside mohawks too, found in the 8 step mohawk sequence. Outside edge, freefoot placed to the instep, then a whole lot of checking going on to maintain an outside edge out of it.....freeleg is behind.

I really do like mohawks, they seem much more natural to me than 3-turns.

[luna_skater]

Here is some information from ice-dance.com:

"12. Mohawk - A turn from one foot to the other in which the entry and exit curves are continuous and of equal depth. The change of foot is from an outside edge to an outside edge or from an inside edge to an inside edge.

Open Mohawk - A mohawk in which the heel of the free foot is placed on the ice at the inner side of the skating foot, the angle between the two feet behind optional. Following the weight transfer, the immediate position of the new free foot is behind the heel of the new skating foot.
Closed Mohawk - A mohawk in which the instep of the free foot is held at the heel of the skating foot until the free foot is placed on the ice behind the heel of the skating foot. Following the weight transfer, the immediate position of the new free foot is in front of the new skating foot.
Swing Mohawk - An open or closed mohawk in which the free leg swings forward closely past the skating leg and then back to the skating foot to execute the turn."

Like Elsy said, I never do a mohawk with my free foot in front. It is either at my instep or heel, usually my instep.

[Lutzgirl]

You guys must be really good at mohawks because that sounds really confusing!:?? :??

[dbny]

There is also a LFO open Mohawk in the Fourteen Step. Senior moves has a BI closed Mohawk that is totally weird. It is done toe to instep with a little hop. I wouldn't have recognized it as a Mohawk if the MIF tape narrator hadn't said "teach the Mohawk at the boards".

[luna_skater]

Originally posted by dbny
There is also a LFO open Mohawk in the Fourteen Step.

The Rocker and Keats have them too (and I'm sure other dances as well, but I haven't gotten that far yet!). I find the one in the Fourteenstep easy enough, since the RBO part of the mohawk is really quite flat. In the Rocker, and especially in the Keats, you need to hold the RBO edge longer and it needs to be on a visible lobe. The one in the Keats is the bane of my existence right now!

[Mrs Redboots]

I think you'll find that the one in the Keats Foxtrot, or Bronze Foxtrot as we call it in this country (it used to be part of our old Bronze test), is a closed Mohawk, i.e. the free foot is placed with the instep at the heel of the skating foot before the change of feet. Whereas the 14-step one (also in the 10-step, 22-step and 10-Fox), is an Open mohawk, where the heel of the free foot is placed to the instep of the skating foot (or thereabouts!) before the change of feet.

The Rocker Foxtrot one is, as you say, the same as the one in the Bronze Foxtrot, but some folk say it is easier because you don't have to check so hard. I'm not quite ready to do the Rocker Foxtrot yet (I usually do the Swing Dance when it is being played) but I don't fancy that Mohawk because you have the man whirling round you, instead of holding you up! Incidentally the same Mohawk is also done in the Starlight Waltz, and it's nearly impossible there (I think), as you do it after two LFO3/RBO steps, and have to change your weight in a serious hurry.

The MOhawk I find really all but impossible is the Tango Mohawk, which is a RFO closed Swing Mohawk.

And if anybody can teach me how to HOLD THE ENTRANCE EDGE of the Swing Dance and Willow Waltz Mohawks, I will be forever grateful! I simply can't control them, and of course get marked way down whenever I do a Swing Dance in competition (haven't yet competed the Willow, it hasn't got to that stage).