Purky
Intermittent Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Reality is frequently inaccurate
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.
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.