Outside Mohawks (Open and Closed)

Firstly we will deal with the Closed Mohawk. 

For this you should stand in your basic outside edge position. For instance if you are going to do a left forward outside closed Mohawk you should have your left hip and shoulder in the lead so that your right arm is across your body and your left arm would be held to the side. Your back would be facing to the centre of the circle that you intend to skate and as always you should bend both knees before you push and after your push your weight should be up and over your left hip. Again as always you skating knee should be active and your free leg straight and turned out. 

Initially your free foot should be held in the basic heel to heel extension with the toe pointed and turned slightly down, but as you rise on the skating knee and draw your free leg in your should flex your foot and it should cross the tracing so that your feet touch in a toe to heel position (right toe to left skating heel.) As you do this your weight should be taken further into the circle by the weight of your free leg crossing the tracing and thereby increasing the depth of your outside edge. In this position both legs should be straight but not stiff. You should then bent both knees and allow your weight to fall further to the back of your left hip and shoulder and onto the heel of your right foot onto a back outside edge so that your left leg will naturally extend in front of you in a closed position hence its name. At the same time as you bend your knees to cut the Mohawk; your arms should reverse across you body so that you check the turn. Throughout this action the top of your legs and thighs should be held together as in a ballet fifth position and your shoulders should be almost parallel to your tracing. 

It is common for people to feel that they need to change their weight to their right in order to stand on their right foot, but this is not correct because your feet and legs have crossed the tracing, your right foot is in fact under your left hip and therefore this is your point of axis and balance. It is perhaps simpler to say and for you to understand that as you are skating on the same circle both before and after the Mohawk that there is no need to change your weight but simply keep it over your leading side and in the circle. Thereby you achieve both weight progression and the correct body angle.

This movement can of course be repeated on the other foot and should be practiced just as much in order not to develop a preference for one side or the other. I would also recommend that the skater does not think of turning a Mohawk but of cutting a Mohawk. By this I mean that you should think of it as a 90 degree step or fall back into the circle, by doing this or thinking like this it tends to stop any tendency to over rotate which is one of the most common mistakes.

The Outside Open Mohawk is very much the same principle but this time the free foot does not cross the tracing. Once again you start the movement in your basic outside edge position, for instance on a left forward outside edge with your left hip and shoulder in the lead, your left arm across your body and the right arm held slightly to the side and on a bent skating knee. As you rise on your skating knee this time your free foot is drawn into the instep of your skating foot into a T position. You then simply change feet placing your weight onto the heel of your right foot but still with your weight over the back of your left hip and shoulder and once again you should check your arms across your body by reversing them as you cut the turn. If you wish to maintain the T position after this Mohawk it is not necessary to bend your knees before the turn but to simply step onto a relaxed knee. However if you have more than one count of music in this position it is normal to extend your free leg then you should bend your skating leg in order to achieve this and your free leg should move naturally behind you by the use of your skating knee. Again this movement should be practiced in both directions.

I would also recommend that in both the Open and Closed Mohawks that your head is carried looking in the direction that you are travelling, for instance if you are skating a left Mohawk you should look throughout the movement only over the left shoulder. This both helps the skater to stop the tendency to over rotate and also to maintain their weight over the same side of their body, most beginners tend to look forward on the entry and then back behind them where they have come from on the backward edge and this causes them to turn their body and hence over rotate.

Once again enjoy your skating and I hope that some of these tips help to enjoy your dancing even more. Remember good practice makes perfect. Bad practice simply reinforces bad mistakes.