{"id":3367,"date":"2013-12-09T02:00:51","date_gmt":"2013-12-09T06:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dontow.com\/?p=3367"},"modified":"2013-12-12T10:12:28","modified_gmt":"2013-12-12T14:12:28","slug":"walking-tips-and-taiji","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dontow.com\/2013\/12\/walking-tips-and-taiji\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking Tips and Taiji"},"content":{"rendered":"
A friend of mine recently forwarded an article describing a couple of tips on how to reduce the risks of falling.\u00a0 This triggered me to provide some walking tips from Taiji that can reduce our risk of falling and increase our balance.\u00a0 Taiji is a good health exercise, and it is also a good martial art.\u00a0 For most Taiji moves, one can explain that move from the health perspective or from the martial arts perspective.\u00a0 This article will explain three walking tips from both the health perspective and the martial arts perspective.
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How to step with your foot when walking?<\/strong>\u00a0 When taking a step, step down on the heel first, instead of stepping down simultaneously with the toes and heel, and definitely not with the toes first.<\/p>\n From the health perspective, as you are walking forward with your feet, suppose the left foot is the forward foot, if you step down simultaneously with your left toes and left heel (i.e., stepping down with the left foot flat on the ground), then your body sort of stops and you don’t have a continuous forward movement of your feet and body.\u00a0 This means that you are walking less efficiently because you sort of stop and then walk again, and stop and walk again.\u00a0 On the other hand, if you walk by stepping down on your heel first, and then stepping down on the toes, you are continuously walking forward.\u00a0 And if you step down first with your toes, then the toes are not strong enough to support you and will most likely hurt too (unless you are a ballet dancer).\u00a0 Thus it makes sense that one should step down on the heel first, and then follow by stepping down on the toes.\u00a0 Furthermore, the heel is closer to the rest of your body than your toes, so it can provide a steadier platform of support when the front part of your support (front foot) is not too far from the back part of your support (back foot), as the toes of your front foot are\u00a0 farther away than the heel of your front foot.<\/p>\n From a martial arts perspective, we call this kind of stepping (first step down on the heel, then step down on the toes) “cat step.”\u00a0 To be specific, let’s assume that you are stepping forward with your left foot.\u00a0 Now, notice what happens when you step down on the left toes after you have already stepped down on your left heel, your left leg goes forward and your whole body also goes forward.\u00a0 If you are trying to punch your opponent (who is standing in front of you) with your hand (to be specific, say right hand), you want not only your right hand moving toward your opponent, you want your leg and the rest of your body also moving toward your opponent.\u00a0 This means that all parts of your body are moving simultaneously toward your opponent, thus maximizing the force of your hand strike.<\/p>\n On the other hand, if you step down simultaneously with your toes and heel (i.e., stepping down flat foot) or on your toes first and then step down on your heel, your leg and body don’t go forward toward your opponent as your hand strikes the opponent.<\/p>\n Raising your foot when taking a step:<\/strong>\u00a0 When you walk by taking a step forward, lift your front foot about 2-3 inches (or 5-8 centimeters) off the ground, instead of having the front foot shuffling forward with that foot almost touching the ground.<\/p>\n