Ball walker or heel walker? Fun, fiction and facts

[Purky]

I've been having fantastically funny visions of medieval pilgrims lately, and it's because of this video:

In this clip the claim is made that we humans became heel-to-toe walkers relatively late, the turning point being the Late Middle Ages. The reason for that dramatic change in gait is supposedly our footwear, more specifically the increasing use of hard soles. Because of hard soled footwear, and because humans are inherently lazy (isn't efficient a better word, when speaking of conserving energy?), all of Western Europe changed the way they walked. En masse. The rest of the world apparently followed suit.

I had a hard time believing this, but at the same time I found this video strangely entertaining. It is sort of campy, it's very relaxing to look at this dressed up dude (note the bollocks dagger!) strutting his stuff, and as I said, it got my imagination going. Just picture it, hordes of pilgrims walking toe-first to Santiago, with perfect posture. Canterbury Tales meets the Ministry of Silly Walks.

It didn't take me long to find out that this theory is mostly balderdash. I'll link two of what I think are to the point and interesting articles that refute the claim of humans originally and generally being ball walkers. One is by Sarah Woodbury and the other is by Alexis Blue. On an individual scale this is another matter of course. I know at least two people who always walk on the balls of their feet, and indoors I tend to do the same (wooden floor and downstairs neighbour). But for walking long distances, heel-to-toe is the way I go.

 

[Robo]

It didn't take me long to find out that this theory is mostly balderdash.

Maybe not. Read 'born to run'.........

 

[Purky]

Maybe not. Read 'born to run'.........

There is a difference between running and walking. Fighting (like fencing and most martial arts) and stalking prey (hunters gait) are also mostly toe-first.

 

[Robo]

There is a difference between running and walking. Fighting (like fencing and most martial arts) and stalking prey (hunters gait) are also mostly toe-first.

Agreed, but have you read 'born to run'? Not just about running........

 

[Purky]

Agreed, but have you read 'born to run'? Not just about running........

I haven't read it. The info I just googled reminds me a bit of Carlos Castaneda and his tales of power walking and also of the Tibetan lung-gom-pa runners. I'll put it on my list, thanks for the tip!

 

[Robo]

I haven't read it. The info I just googled reminds me a bit of Carlos Castaneda and his tales of power walking and also of the Tibetan lung-gom-pa runners. I'll put it on my list, thanks for the tip!

It's a really interesting read, and seems to support the video..........

 

[Purky]

seems to support the video

As for running, I agree, and so do the articles I linked. For walking, I will still stick to the heel-to-toe gait...

 

[RJM]

Yes, it appears as though that guy's theory is just the product of a vivid imagination.
I don't believe I have ever seen an indigenous primitive person from anywhere in the world walking on the balls of their feet like that guy in a documentary film. They are barefoot and walk heel to toe.

 

[camino07]

I'm a ball walker and didn't think anything of it until,on the Primitivo last year a ,friendly Italian pilgrim told me I was walking wrongly and should walk on my heels first,well I did try when I remembered. Not natural for me..
Anyway he ended up walking in agony with shinsplints and had to take a bus to Lugo I walked the 30.5 . I do often put Compeed on the balls of my feet for protection though. Just saying ....

 

[Kanga]

I've recently finished Running with the Kenyans: Discovering the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth. Fascinating. Running it is certainly ball first.

 

[t2andreo]

We each walk the way we first learned to walk. This paradigm is affected primarily by two things:

(1) congenital abnormalities that affect our foot or leg bones and compel us to walk differently. Not all of these are "bad," some are within the normal range of human skeletal geometry, and

(2) intense physical training, like being in the military, or a professional athlete, that trains us to walk or run differently, and which is reinforced over time, producing a new pattern or habit.

Absent these two influences, in my experience, people tend to walk the way they learned to walk as a toddler...

I hope this helps.

 

[Paladina]

But note that the woman in the video appears to be walking, in postmedieval style, flat-footedly.

 

[G_the_D]

A strange sidebar to this. Ball walking in toddlers can be an indicator of autism spectrum disorder. This is according to my son's pediatrician.
The theory behind this is that it helps reduce the amount of sensory input the child receives.

 

[onwayhome]

Fabulous video thanks for posting- this could revolutionise the whole Camino experience.

Most developmental descriptions I've seen start with tip toes, then heel down then heel-toe walking on into later childhood.

In practice everyone comes up with their own version of how to use their bodies. Camino's are a great way of finding out how well this works out over time and distance!

 

[Bornean]

I don't know. I'm very aware of walking on the balls of my feet when I'm jungle trekking. Even more so when I do this barefooted, and not just when I'm trying to keep noise and vibration levels low for photography or tracking wildlife. If I'm descending from high altitude alpine rainforest, my heels rarely touch the ground, and the balls of my feet spring -it's just the way we do it here, it helps avoid the "jelly leg" phenomenon, as well as stiff muscles that have you hobbling the next day.

In other parts of the world, or just walking through cities and other urban landscapes, I'm a heel walker.

The difference in the way I walk has been obvious to me for years. I'm much more comfortable in jungle than anywhere else.

 

[Stewart K.]

if people want to pursue this topic, I recommend reading Danny Dreyer's Chi Running. He uses principles of t'ai chi and running gait to promote his idea of running on the midfoot with a leaning-forward posture (much like in the video). He also wrote a book on walking (which I have not read). Changing one's posture or gait takes time and effort, but it can reduce injury/wear&tear.

 

[Stivandrer]

I had a strange experience my first time around in Spain, at a point when I was flat out out with exertion and had reached Astorga. So short to the target, but had blisters between my toes, of all places.
I decided to buy flip/ flips ( or thongs ) and then in the shop with the large rucksack at the square, , toe socks fron Injinji..
- Now, I have hated flip flops my entire life, but here the toe socks pressed slightly on my blisters, gave me comfort, and dried out my soft feet...
And then as the video explained, I had to land on my balls on the front of my feet, to get a proper foothold and pure bliss ensued.
Since `14 I am now wearing thongs indoor and out and enjoying the stretch feeling of the frontal muscles of the legs. There is no "theory " to follow only testing the feeling of instant relief.
This year I was walking downhill on the dreaded stretch around Zubiri and started to land on my front foot, trying to alleviate the pain from the repeating impact that wasn´t doing my knees any good..
Passing me was this French woman that had an amazing speed going down while staying totally upright, in a bobbing motion and had to inquire how the Dickens she did that, and it basically sounded what has above been mentioned as the Chi Gait or an adaption thereof. Stretching out the knee forward from the body, and bouncing your bottom towards the ground..!
She had received a ruined back from an accident and had learned this gait from her Chinese doctor !??
This saved my legs from breakdown, I am sure.
There is no use use discussing the truth to this, except biting the bullit and try it out.
So, in spite of it looking silly and sounding even more silly, it strikes a chord of observed truth in me ...