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Introduction
Turning is an essential part of marching. One of the sizing drills (which is far too long so I won’t cover it here (until I cover that topic in a later post)), uses it. Dismissal and falling out rely on it. Some aspects of marching use it. So, I’m sure you get the hint: turning is vital to learn. Luckily for you, I’m going to cover that in this post.
Types of turning
There are really 2 types of turning. Let me list them down.
- Static turning (turning from a stationary position)
- Turning on a march (see the Conclusion of this post for more information)
How to turn
All turning drills have 1 thing in common (besides turning): you’ll need to pivot your feet to turn.
Basically, when turning left, your left toes touches the floor, while your right heel touch the floor. The left heel and right toes are lifted very slightly off the floor so that there is less resistance while turning.
When turning right, it’s the opposite. Your right heel touches the floor, while your left toes touch the floor. Your other heel and toes only hover slightly above the ground.
Then, you turn (see the next few sections).
Static turning
There are 3 types of static turning. KE KIRI PUSING, KE KANAN PUSING, KE BELAKANG PUSING. They mean to turn left, turn right, and turn around respectively.
In NCDCC, the timing for static turning is turn-check-one.
KE KIRI PUSING
‘Kiri’ means ‘left’ in Malay. ‘Pusing’ means ‘turn’. This drill means you turn left. Following the feet pivot I mention in the How to turn section above, you’ll use the right turning pivot:
Basically, when turning left, your left heel touches the floor, while your right toes touch the floor. The left toes and right ankle are lifted very slightly off the floor so that there is less resistance while turning.
Following that, turn left by 90°, and continue to pivot on those specific parts. After turning by 90° to the left, rest your left toes on the floor (your whole left foot should now be on the floor), and stomp your right foot. Remember to lift your right foot to 90° to stomp.
⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTE: When turning left, stomp your right leg. It’s the other way round for turning to the right.
Now, following the timing, you pivot and turn on turn, raise your right foot on check, and stomp your right foot on one. Got that? Also, make sure your arms remain locked at the elbow when turning; don’t flail them around.
KE KANAN PUSING
‘KANAN’ means ‘right’ in Malay. This drill means you turn right. Following the feet pivot I mention in the How to turn section above, you’ll use the right turning pivot:
When turning right, it’s the opposite. Your right heel touches the floor, while your left toes touch the floor. Your other heel and toes only hover slightly above the ground.
Similarly like turning left, turn right by 90°, and, exactly the same, continue to pivot your feet. After turning by 90° to the right, rest your right toes on the floor (your whole right foot should now be on the floor), and stomp your left foot. Remember to lift your left foot to 90° to stomp.
⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTE: Remember that you are turning right, so you’ll stomp your left foot.
Now, following the timing, like turning left but the opposite, you pivot and turn on turn, raise your left foot on check, and stomp your left foot on one. Your arms should remain locked during the turning and stomping.
KE BELAKANG PUSING
‘Belakang’ means ‘behind’ in Malay. This drill means you turn around, 180° to the right. Following the feet pivot I mention in the How to turn section above, you’ll use the right turning pivot:
When turning right, it’s the opposite. Your right heel touches the floor, while your left toes touch the floor. Your other heel and toes only hover slightly above the ground.
Following that, turn right by 180°, and continue to pivot your feet.
See the notes on turning right. It’s exactly the same as turning right, just that your turn 180° instead of 90°.
What about BEGERAK (…), (…)/MENGHADAP (…), (…) PUSING?
This is a longer form of the turning drills. You may hear this in NCDCC HQ when being asked to turn.
💡 TIP: Don’t get confused, the trick here is to listen to the last part of the command, which could be KE KIRI/KANAN/BELAKANG PUSING, and follow that.
The full command for turning to the right (given when your commander is facing you) is BEGERAK KE KANAN, (BERTIGA-TIGA), KE KANAN PUSING. For turning left, it is BEGERAK KE KIRI, (BERTIGA-TIGA), KE KIRI PUSING. This means: “in your ranks of 3, turn left/right”.
The full command for turning around is AKAN MENGHADAP KE BELAKANG, KE BELAKANG PUSING (given when the commander is facing you). When the commander is facing your back after you turned around, if he/she wants you to turn back to face them, they would say AKAN MENGHADAP KE HADAPAN, KE BELAKANG PUSING. Note that this is only given if the commander has not moved to face you, but is facing the back of you. This command means: “look behind/in front, and turn around”.
From turning to the left or right from the back, the command is AKAN BEGERAK KE KANAN/KIRI, KE KANAN/KIRI PUSING. Note the presence of the word ‘AKAN’ in front of ‘BEGERAK’.
From turning to the front or back from the left or right, the command is AKAN MENGHADAP KE BELAKANG/HADAPAN, KE KANAN/KIRI PUSING.
If you are facing to the left and you want to turn to face the true back, it will be AKAN MENGHADAP KE BELAKANG, KE KIRI PUSING. Turning to the front from the left would be KE HADAPAN in place of KE BELAKANG.
If you are facing to the right and you want to turn to face the true back, it will be AKAN MENGHADAP KE BELAKANG, KE KANAN PUSING. Turning to the front from the right would be KE HADAPAN in place of KE BELAKANG.
Turning from the left/right to face to right/left is BEGERAK KE KIRI/KANAN, (BERTIGA-TIGA), KE BELAKANG PUSING. Note that it is KE BELAKANG PUSING here.
Quick reference:
Turning to back and front:
- From front to back: AKAN MENGHADAP KE BELAKANG, KE BELAKANG PUSING.
- From back to front: AKAN MENGHADAP KE HADAPAN, KE BELAKANG PUSING.
Turning to left and right from front:
- From front to right: BEGERAK KE KANAN, (BERTIGA-TIGA), KE KANAN PUSING.
- From front to left: BEGERAK KE KIRI, (BERTIGA-TIGA), KE KIRI PUSING.
Turning to left and right from back:
- From back to right: AKAN BEGERAK KE KANAN, KE KANAN PUSING.
- From back to left: AKAN BEGERAK KE KIRI, KE KIRI PUSING.
Turning from right to left and left to right:
- From right to left: BEGERAK KE KIRI, (BERTIGA-TIGA), KE BELAKANG PUSING.
- From left to right: BEGERAK KE KANAN, (BERTIGA-TIGA), KE BELAKANG PUSING.
⚠️ IMPORTANT: Only use BERTIGA-TIGA when there are ranks of 3. If there aren’t, skip that phrase.
Turning 45° (half turn)
There is a drill to turn only 45° instead of 90°. That drill is SEPARUH KE KANAN/KIRI, KE KANAN/KIRI PUSING. You can read more about it in this post.
Conclusion
That’s essentially it! There are just these 3 drills you’ll need to know for now. Of course, there is turning on a march, like BELOK or KE BELAKANG PUSING (but a different version), but I’ll talk more about that when I reach the topic on marching. For now, you’ll just need to master these drills, since many other drills rely on turning. Good luck!