Walking Like An Indian

[Guest Joanna Phipps]

my feet don't have...

oh, wait, is that a effect of the word filter? Otherwise, that sounds very uncomfortable.

--Treasa

hmmm try b alls of yur feets

word filters are annoying when the filter perfectly good words used appropriately

as in a f aggot (sweetheart) is a bundle of firewood and a f ag (Sweetie) is a cigarette (well in older usage any way)

[Guest nova]

That's really interesting. I used to get picked on a lot as a child for walking like a girl, but i had no idea what it was that I was 'doing". But I became totally self-conscious because i was afraid of what my father would do to me so I started walking around like a droid. And I had to unlearn that self-conscious walk later. I have a tiny little bit of native American in me from my mother's side (to explain the walk)? Nah. but I took the middle name Nova which means "chases butterflys" in Cherokee.

[Guest nova]

I'll try this again, my last one must have got lost in space.

Indian heredity. I have a very tiny bit of native American Indian from my mother's side. My middle name--Nova--is Cherokee for "chases butterflies". When I was a child, I used to get taunted a lot for "walking like a girl". I had no idea what it was that I was doing. But it made me very self-conscious because I was living in fear of my father's wrath, so I started to very self-consciously walk around like a 'Droid'. I had to unlearn this and now people say I have a "nice" walk. But the walking like an Indian thing is got me intrigued. We used to wear our moccasins and try and sneak up on each other!

[Guest Ryles_D]

I walk ont he b alls of my feet a lot naturally- I wonder if htat's why I never had a problem with heels. I still don't understand toe-heel, though, it seems like a waste of time to put the heels down afterwards. I walk either heel-toe or stepping solely on the ball of my feet.

[Guest angie]

All you really have to remember is to place one foot directly in front of the other.

Like walking a tight rope.The hips and bottom will sway naturally if you do.

Angie

[Guest shyheather]

So should I get a person of Indian persuasion to teach me how to walk? Just kidding.

try getting a native american dance video and learn it the steps a toe heels softly touching the ground i dance a pow wow every time i cant and look in to 2 sprit explains lot about trans

[Guest Jeannine Bean]

While studying Wujifa style Qi Kung, we spend large amounts of time sinking our weight efficiently through our body structures, then we gradually add movement and walking.

Everyone ends up with a bit of the stereotypical side to side swish that our society considers feminine... It's actually a very natural way for humans to walk, since weight must be shifted from foot to foot in order to move the other foot in front to step on it next... in order to balance the weight over one foot, then another, the body must slight, the hips must adjust so the centering of weight is over the leg currently being balanced on..

We do our standing practice, after one has gotten pretty good at it, on bricks, then bricks that are turned lengthwise. Sometimes we do it on wobble boards, or even bricks centered on wobble boards. High heels are pretty child's play at that point, I think.

I'll bet the Native Americans were just walking with a natural, grounded stride.

To walk with feet spread out, and not sway the butt with each step, one has to almost lose balance in each direction as steps are taken. Add high heels to the mix and people are going to fall.

Heels require a fundamentally more balanced stride, but the interesting part is that fundamentally more balanced stride is... well, fundamentally more balanced. And it's easier on the body's structure to walk that way all the time.

I'm obsessed with balance as a skill and just today was walking up slippery moss covered inclines while wondering with some friends down a trail in the woods, choosing the narrow stone strip to walk on... light feet, well balanced, weight sinking straight through each step..

And sometimes Kung Fu masters like to use those wooden shoes with the two high slats underneath, like platforms... That will sure improve the balance.

--Jeannine