A pivotal question
When I first started the martial arts, I recall being chastised for pivoting on my heel occasionally, especially when turning in kata. Sempai Leon (my supervising senior during the first 2 months of my training) would say: "Don't do that. Mobility requires you to pivot on the ball of the foot ." I recall Sempai Leon teaching us to stand with the weight slightly biased to the ball of the foot when we were in ready stance. This would, he explained, facilitate quick movement in response to an attack. "If you have your weight on your heels, you'll first have to rock forwards onto the balls of your feet before you can even start to move. Under the pressure of combat, this is time you won't have." All this made perfect sense then and still does now. [It's strange how, long after Sempai Leon has disappeared into the dim recesses of my history (and long after he has almost certainly forgotten that I even exist), I still remember his lessons well ...