How People Walked Differently In The Middle Ages

[fire cat pickles]

Something to consider when looking at the imagery in (the particularly early versions of) TdM, most definitely!

 

Video: Medieval Walking Gait and Embodied Historical Research

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 13, 2023 by fire cat pickles
Updated video link

[stephanelli]

Is it just me that thinks those leather shoe/sock things look really comfy!?
Interesting though!

[MoonScooter]

That's really cool! Not gonna lie, totally walked around the house leading with the balls of my feet after watching this. Also I remember my dad (who's really into barefoot running) telling me about running ball-heel a few years ago and how that's the "proper" way to run so you don't hurt yourself. Interesting stuff!

[stephanelli]

3 minutes ago, MoonScooter said:

That's really cool! Not gonna lie, totally walked around the house leading with the balls of my feet after watching this.

 

hahahahaha! me too!!!!! (but I then thought that was a strange thing to do so decided not to mention it... 😛 )

3 minutes ago, MoonScooter said:

Also I remember my dad (who's really into barefoot running) telling me about running ball-heel a few years ago and how that's the "proper" way to run so you don't hurt yourself. Interesting stuff!

Its interesting - I'm a dancer, in particular an English Cotswold Morris Dancer and English Clog Dancer and there are loads of discussion about the proper way to dance so that you protect your joints and muscles and just protect your body in general.  There's a tendency to become a little flatfooted - particularly when you're new to the dancing because the muscles in your feet get tired from having to work more than they are used to.  Its safest and best to dance on the balls of your feet, then you get convenient built-in suspension but it tires the arch of your foot so your heels get lower and if you're not careful you start landing with either the whole foot in one go or on your heels - which will eventually REALLY hurt.  I think its likely to be what started off my sciatica problems, although I do now try to dance as properly as possible.

 

I also loved the part where it discussed when you ball-walked because you didn't put the whole of your weight on your foot and could feel for things like wasps/bees, perhaps particularly sharp stones or whatever.  I certainly have some pairs of shoes where that would be useful!!!

[MoonScooter]

8 minutes ago, stephanelli said:

Its safest and best to dance on the balls of your feet, then you get convenient built-in suspension but it tires the arch of your foot so your heels get lower and if you're not careful you start landing with either the whole foot in one go or on your heels - which will eventually REALLY hurt.  I think its likely to be what started off my sciatica problems, although I do now try to dance as properly as possible.

I wonder if dancing tires out your foot because of how much you are on the balls of your feet? Because (please correct me if I'm wrong as I'm not a dancer) in dance you are constantly up on the balls of your feet (?) but if you just walked this way/ran this way it's much more of a fluid motion and you still go down on your heels. You also aren't standing on the balls of your feet, when he was still he was down on his whole foot (even if all of his weight was only on one foot it was still resting on the heel). Or maybe it's possible that I'm completely wrong and maybe people back then just had different walking related problems than we do now.

8 minutes ago, stephanelli said:

I also loved the part where it discussed when you ball-walked because you didn't put the whole of your weight on your foot and could feel for things like wasps/bees, perhaps particularly sharp stones or whatever.  I certainly have some pairs of shoes where that would be useful!!!

haha! yes definitely! And I'm gonna try to walk like this when I go barefoot this summer, see how many comments and weird looks I can get 😂 (joking joking, but I do wonder if anyone will notice)

[Saturn Celeste]

Fascinating!  I'd love an all leather pair of boots!!  Leather socks, that sounded so cool!

[stephanelli]

21 minutes ago, MoonScooter said:

I wonder if dancing tires out your foot because of how much you are on the balls of your feet? Because (please correct me if I'm wrong as I'm not a dancer) in dance you are constantly up on the balls of your feet (?) but if you just walked this way/ran this way it's much more of a fluid motion and you still go down on your heels. You also aren't standing on the balls of your feet, when he was still he was down on his whole foot (even if all of his weight was only on one foot it was still resting on the heel). Or maybe it's possible that I'm completely wrong and maybe people back then just had different walking related problems than we do now.

Yep, exactly this.  For my styles of dance, you aim to be on the balls of your feet when stepping or moving around.  Whole foot is generally down when still though.  But it still requires training to reach a level of stamina for the foot muscles which you just don't get when walking normally!  I mean, they possibly still had different walking problems, but its fascinating!

21 minutes ago, MoonScooter said:

haha! yes definitely! And I'm gonna try to walk like this when I go barefoot this summer, see how many comments and weird looks I can get 😂 (joking joking, but I do wonder if anyone will notice)

Ah, do it!  (I'm still walking round the house like it!)

16 minutes ago, Saturn Celeste said:

I'd love an all leather pair of boots!!  Leather socks, that sounded so cool!

Yeah, me too...wondering if I can make myself some...although I'll probably pass on the leather socks, I'll stick to my cotton or wool socks 😛

[Flaxen]

This is really interesting. I’m always barefoot at home and have recently transitioned to wearing ‘barefoot’ shoes outside whenever possible. My calf muscles are definitely a bit bigger and my big toe seems to regained some flexibility. 

 

I do think it’s our natural way of walking but it is much slower when walking on hard tarmac surfaces. I used to walk at quite a pace but in my barefoot shoes I have to go slower.

[Flaxen]

This is really interesting. I’m always barefoot at home and have recently transitioned to wearing ‘barefoot’ shoes outside whenever possible. My calf muscles are definitely a bit bigger and my big toe seems to regained some flexibility. 

 

I do think it’s our natural way of walking but it is much slower when walking on hard tarmac surfaces. I used to walk at quite a pace but in my barefoot shoes I have to go slower.

[Carla]

Interesting, I've just had a look through my oldest deck, Jean Noblet. There aren't many feet showing, but the ones that are show a slight bias to the ball of the feet. It makes sense. 

[Kneeling]

I walk ball first also - interestingly, one of the reasons is because it was how Tolkien described the Ents walking. Another reason was "the South American running tribe", the Tarahumara. And it's the way animals walk - just look at the kangaroo, haha! You do have to take shorter, thus faster, strides. In fact Tolkien described the Ents' strides as being quick.

[Kneeling]

Here's the quotes actually:

"The hobbits now noticed that as he walked his knees hardly bent, but his legs opened in a great stride. He planted his big toes (and they were indeed big, and very broad) on the ground first, before any other part of his feet." - The Two Towers - Treebeard

"They came swiftly from the North, walking like wading herons in their gait, but not in their speed; for their legs in their long paces beat quicker than the heron's wings." - The Two Towers - The Road to Isengard

[fire cat pickles]

I've updated the OP with a newer article and video. Thank you for bringing up this old post!

[Mister]

Modern Times struck again:

Some german dude holding a doctors title made it into a japenglese word - GoDo - and went cult with it.

"Walking with the heart by walking ball(s) first", now that's tacky.

 

Tarahumara, folk dance, Tolkiens Ents, those sources are much more to my taste.

Nice thread!

[BradGad]

On 10/25/2022 at 12:17 PM, Kneeling said:

Here's the quotes actually:

"The hobbits now noticed that as he walked his knees hardly bent, but his legs opened in a great stride. He planted his big toes (and they were indeed big, and very broad) on the ground first, before any other part of his feet." - The Two Towers - Treebeard

"They came swiftly from the North, walking like wading herons in their gait, but not in their speed; for their legs in their long paces beat quicker than the heron's wings." - The Two Towers - The Road to Isengard

 

Tolkien was first and foremost a medievalist. Well, no, first and foremost a philologist... His job was to be a medievalist, but he loved language.

 

But yeah, you're right. He would have gotten the thing about walking.

 

[BradGad]

What if Steve Martin could be coaxed away from his banjo, and do a thing like King Tut and walk like a medieval yeoman?