Learning to Walk
by Jason Godesky“No shirt, no shoes, no service.” It’s a common enough sign in store windows and other establishments, though, who would ever be seen without shoes? Shoes are essential to civilized life, and they bring with them a distinctly civilized manner of walking: lock the knee, and brace a controlled fall on the heel; roll the foot forward, rocking into another locked-knee heel-fall. It’s difficult to walk any other way while wearing shoes, and you’ll often find this described as the way humans walk. But of course, humans are not born with shoes on, nor did we evolve in shoes. Every human begins walking a different way, and needs to be meticulously trained to walk like this.
Cover of The Tracker magazine, vol. 4, no. 1, published in 1985, illustrates fox walking.
Tom Brown, Jr. put it quite starkly: “Our walk is devastating, not natural. Little babies have shoes like cement boots. Our feet are ruined from the first step we take in shoes.” Walking barefoot, most of us naturally adopt a very different step: the knees are bent, rather than locked; the outside ball of the foot touches the ground to test it first, before applying any weight; then, if it’s safe, we roll the rest of the ball in and flatten the heel; only then does the weight come down. This is what Tom Brown and his students called “fox walking.”
This kind of walking can be difficult for people who’ve spent much of their lives in shoes. It uses muscles that “cow walking” has allowed to atrophy, perhaps most notably the gluteus maximus.1 The largest muscle in the human body is barely involved in civilized walking, but exercised with each step in a “fox walk.” It is similar to the “empty stepping” of t’ai chi.2 You might also notice similarities to models on the catwalk; we still have an innate response to this kind of walking as “sexy.” This kind of walking will reduce the strain on your body and the damage to the countryside you walk over; beyond ecological footprint, it will lighten your own body’s footprint. Children who learn to walk like this can walk much farther.
Corns, bunyans, and in-grown toenails can only grow inside the dark dampness of shoes. We have to watch where we step, and even so frequently step on people or hazards like nails, thumbtacks or just sharp, pointy rocks. We trip, fall and have accidents because the very first movement in the “cow walk” commits our total weight to the step. Fox walking commits weight only at the end, after the foot has touched the ground and knows what’s there. For that reason alone, fox walking practically eliminates the accidents, trips, falls and other problems we so often encounter in our “cow walk.” Moreover, fox walking develops a keen sense of balance that cow walking neglects.3 There are more systemic health problems associated with it beyond accidents, though. With each step in our normal “cow walk” we pound our legs into the earth, sending shocks up the leg and into the lower back. Back pain and foot pain follow from that kind of constant pressure; fox walking helps alleviate both.
Fox Walking has affected me in several simple but profound ways. When fox walking my lower back, which was injured, seems to relax and in turn relieves the pain. Even more profound is the feeling of soft energy currents that seem to flow down my legs. I feel my feet make contact with the ground in a new and pleasurable way. The energy literally flows from my feet into the ground. With this new grounding of the energy to the earth it brings with it a new awareness or “contact” both with my own body sensations and my surroundings. In this relaxed and energetically flowing state I simply function in the moment, in the pulsation as it were. Not thinking in the future or in the past and not thinking at all as we normally think of thinking. The fox walk is like what church people call walking in grace, a feeling of gratitude in each step, an intense alive feeling, a deep understanding that comes from your entire organism.
The subjective difference between fox walking and regular walking is analogous to two men at work. One man hates his work from 8 to 5 and dreads the thought of ever coming back. He leaves work at five exhausted and without experiencing any pleasure in his day. The second man loves his work, does not want to leave after 8 hours, is in the groove, and has more energy after work than he did when he started. Being “in the groove”, so to speak, with fox walking might shed some light as to why the Indian scouts could fox walk or fox run such long distances, and not only not be tired, but be exhilarated at the end. It was not simply that they were in good shape but that they were energetically “in the groove” or “pulsation”. (Akido is another clear example of this.)4
There is certainly plenty of accounts of native populations that could perform feats that seem almost superhuman to us with our modern “cow walk.” In his 1936 Gospel of the Redman, Ernest Thompson Seton, who largely started the “Scouting” movement (Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts), wrote:
The most famous runner of ancient Greece was Pheidippides, whose record run from Athens to Sparta was 140 miles in 36 hours. Among our Indians, such a feat would have been considered very second-rate. In 1882, at Fort Ellice, I saw a young Cree who, on foot, had just brought in despatches from Fort Qu’Appelle (125 miles away) in 25 hours. It created almost no comment. I heard little from the traders but cool remarks like, “a good boy”, “pretty good run”. It was obviously a very usual exploit, among Indians. The two Indian runners, Thomas Zafiro and Leonicio San Miguel, ran 62 1/2 miles, i.e. from Pachuca to Mexico City, in 9 hours, 37 minutes, November 8, 1926, according to the El Paso Times, February 14, 1932. This was 9 1/4 minutes to the mile. The Zunis have a race called, “Kicked Stick.” In this, the contestants each kick a stick before them as they run. Dr. F. W. Hodge tells me that there is a record of 20 miles covered in 2 hours by one of the kickers. The Tarahumare mail carrier runs 70 miles a day, every day in the week, carrying a heavy mailbag, and he doesn’t know that he is doing an exploit. In addition, we are told: “The Tarahumare mail carrier from Chihuahua to Batopiles, Mexico, runs regularly more than 500 miles a week; a Hopi messenger has been known to run 120 miles in 15 hours.”
If our modern walk is maladaptive, then this begins to make sense; rather than such feats being superhuman, we can see that they are perfectly human, and it is we, domesticated humans, who have been diminished. And why not? Homo sapiens has been as finely tuned to bipedalism as a shark to hunting underwater.
The noted anthropologist Frederick Wood-Jones states, “Man’s foot is all his own and unlike any other foot. It is the most distinctive part of his whole anatomical makeup. It is a human specialization; it is his hallmark, and so long as man has been man, it is by his feet that he will be known from all other creatures of the animal kingdom. It is his feet that will confer upon him his only real distinction and provide his only valid claim to human status.” To that, Donald C. Johanson, paleoanthropologist and chief of the Institute of Human Origins, Berkeley, California, adds, “Bipedalism is what made us human,” Thus, man stands alone because only man stands.5
Horses and dogs can easily beat humans in an initial sprint, but over long distances, humans prevail as endurance runners by keeping up our pace long after faster animals have stopped.5 Many hunter-gatherers, particularly before atlatl, bows or slings, ran their prey to death. The key to such feats is walking properly, the way we evolved to walk. That largely means walking barefoot; it is almost impossible to fox walk in shoes, and when barefoot, most of us naturally begin to slide into fox walking. It is certainly possible to fox walk in shoes, although some have compared that feat to teaching the deaf to speak, since you lack the tactile feedback of the nerve endings in your feet. The physiological effect of shoes is similar to that of a cast.
Shoes act like casts, holding the bones of the foot so rigid that they can’t move fluidly, Steven Robbins [MD and adjunct associate professor of mechanical engineering at Concordia University, Montreal] explains. “The foot becomes passive from wearing shoes and loses the ability to support itself.”6
A comparison of wild and domesticated human feet. Notice any familiar differences? Source
Another doctor describes his own revelation about the effect shoes have on the human foot:
At last I began to understand the cause of fallen arches and the origin of foot trouble. With his toes continually pressed together in his shoes, his body had to improvise a brace—instead of leaning on his weakened, squeezed-together toes, the inner sides of his feet were turned outward for balance. I realized then why people persist in leaning on their strained inner arches, which were never meant to support continuous leaning, and why they have to push off painfully from their arches instead of their toes, at the end of each step.
Going barefoot had made this boy’s toe area broader and stronger. When he stood, his stronger toes were now able to spread out, giving him a broad forward area on which to support his weight. Now he used his toes in standing and walking-he would even stand on his toes frequently while playing. His fallen arches were cured. With better foot balance, he rarely fell. He no longer begged to be carried, and he seemed tireless in his activities.7
Walking, the most fundamental human activity, can become an isolating experience bound in such a cast, and painful, as well. Each step pounds a knee-locked leg into the ground and into the lower back. The mythical dualism of “mind” and “body” deadens us to the effect such ubiquitous, constant pain can have. We feel and even think with our whole bodies, and the constant pressure, shearing and pain that the “cow walk” puts us through with every step eventually seeps into our attitudes, beliefs and outlooks. The “Barefoot Bard” recounts how this happened to him:
My feet hurt, and this chronic pain was growing in intensity, making even simple walking painful. The pain soon spread from my feet to my knees, into my low back, and eventually my neck. I was walking in the forest less and less, missing my stress relief workouts. And yet, I persevered into more shoe remedies, podiatrist consultations, inserts, homeopathic, chiropractic and hands on healing … still no relief.
At the same time another pain that was growing in me. I was uncomfortable, not with just the pain in my feet, but in my life, in the life I was living. I was feeling disconnected, lost, confused, bored and frustrated. It felt like no one was listening. Maybe it was me?
Something was wrong with life, the way I was living, and it had to do with the pain in my feet. This pain was trying to tell me something. Some how this pain in my soles wanted me to look at my whole life. I knew that I had to follow this pain.8
He goes on to notice even more strongly the similarities between shoes and casts, and the Chinese practice of foot-binding, so often decried in the West as barbaric—and yet, so similar to the high heels and various shoe-based torture implements into which we wedge the female foot.
So I was sitting in my cabin, with a fire, my feet casted . There was a stack of National Geographic Magazines left there by my grandfather. I picked one up and opened it to page on Chinese women who had their feet wrapped because of a cultural story. I just stared at the pictures stared at my feet. Until the realization came to me and the words popped out of my mouth. “What have I done?” A question that came deep from in my core. I looked at all the shoes in a neat line, under the cabin window, and the most obvious shoe on the end of my feet, casting!
By morning I had taken my hunting knife and cut off those casts and was out walking around in the old growth forest with a couple of deformed white puffy feet. Feet that had been distorted and crippled from wearing shoes and walking on flat square surfaces. I walked around for several days, confused, horrified as to what I had done to my feet.
I finally came to a clear pool of water, looked down at the reflection of my body, strong muscles and feet that did not fit it. I vowed to make things right. I would walk, barefoot in the old growth forest and grow my feet back on to my body, and I was in the best place in the world to do it. The old growth forest know how to grow things. I took my first steps.9
There is nothing mystical at work here; any creature in constant pain will begin to develop a sour disposition. We are put out of touch with the very ground we walk on, cut off from our own senses and the synaesthetic experience of a simple walk.
Being barefoot makes you more aware of your environment. Having your feet unprotected means you are aware of their vulnerability and pay more attention to where you are going. Not only this but you have a whole extra sense engaged. Normally we see, hear and ocassionally smell things on our travels—we don’t feel them.
When recalling yesterday’s walk to my friends house I remember not just how the journey looked, and sounded but how it felt too. The roughness of the gravel near the mosque; the pressure of the knobbly non-slip paving near the traffic lights; the coolness of the iron manhole cover.10
The “Barefoot Bard” puts a similar experience in other terms, contrasting the effects of clod cow walking, and unclod fox walking:
Try a small experiment. Take off your shoes, plug your ears, and walk across the space you now occupy. Then listen for the thud in your body. If you are a heel walker you will here the impact of your step. You are walking “ON” your bones. You are walking “ON” the earth.
Now, stand with your feet together, fall forward and land on the largest part of you foot, the front pad, get a feel for this. Then once again with no shoes and ears plugged walk across the floor in this forefoot manner, Then listen to see if you hear the thud. You are stepping “IN” your joints. You are stepping “IN” the earth.
There is stepping in and stepping on. Focus on it, work on it, connect with these two varieties of walking and then read on, and take this practice out into the natural surface areas.
When you walk heel first, you pound your bones. When you step more into the forefoot, you step into your joints. I call this Integrative walking and it is a posture that you will grow and feel your way into. Changing your body posture.11
Shoe-wearing civilized people have remarked on the “fear of man” exhibited by other animals. Even experienced hikers walking through wilderness areas will often complain that they never saw a wild animal. Of course, other animals have senses as finely tuned as our own, and still use them. They experience the world synaesthetically, and communicate frequently with one another; other animals will react to the alarms raised by bird calls, and even plants will eavesdrop on one another.12 The shoe-clod, cow-walking, domesticated human sticks out like a sore thumb; the unnatural gait and jerking, half-falling movements are alien, terrifying, and produce signs from quite a while off. Animals run and hide from such an unnatural aberration long before the hiker has a chance to see them. But the very same people, fox walking, report a very different experience.
Also when fox walking, wild animals are not as afraid of me and at times it feels as though I am almost invisible. In fact, the animals “appear” all around me rather than me looking for them. Domestic animals, such as dogs or cows, on the other hand, are alarmed and seem to feel danger when you fox walk and are relaxed when you cow walk. Its almost like they sense the wild animal in you.13
When humans fox walk, we’re identifiable as animals, because we’re walking like animals. Other animals recognize this. This is the value of fox-walking to trackers and hunters: it is the first element of successful stalking. By using the nerve endings in your feet, fox walking allows a hunter to keep his eyes up, using wide-angle vision to catch any sign of movement, instead of watching the ground in front of him to make sure he doesn’t step on a dried twig or some hazard. But even if you’re not hunting or stalking, fox walking remains the normal human mode of walking, with extensive benefits for health and general well-being.
But as George Orwell said, “During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.” We might say with regards to fox walking that in times of universal pathology, walking like a healthy human being will draw a lot of attention. We already mentioned “No shirt, no shoes, no service,” and the cultural commitment to overcoming our humanity implied in that standard.
Did you know that fox walking in the city is a suspicious activity? There I was on the Monday after class quietly, and slowly walking through a small neighborhood park in suburban D.C. From a fox walk I went into a stalk towards an all-too-suspecting robin which immediately flew away. I resumed my fox walk and, using my splatter vision as I neared the road, I noticed that I was being followed by a car. It pulled up beside me and the man inside flashed a badge and said, “Chevy Chase Police Department!”
“What’re you doing?” he asked.
“Just walking,” I said.
“I can see that,” he snapped. “What’re you, into trees or forestry or something?”
“Yes,” I replied.
“OK,” he said. “Just checking.”
And we said goodbye and off drove, and off I (fox) walked. So watch out fellow trackers, your activities will seem a bit strange to others!14
The “Barefoot Bard” brings this basic hostility to a healthy human gait into clearer focus, as he describes the concern his walking left among friends and family, and one friend in particular who put that concern in very blunt and honest terms.
One of these concerned friends, a religious man, joined me in [the] forest for a walk. On the trail, he was in his boots, I was on my soles. He began to share his concerns about me. He remarked that I was “walking like an animal.” Yes, he said, “You walk like a animal!” I stopped in my tracks.
He went on about how, “walking on your paws, is the way an animal walks, savages walk, primitives walk and we are no longer animals. We are highly evolved beings. We are civilized beings!” He walked along side me, landing on his heels, pounding on the path, stepping on a banana slugs, stomping on plants. The more he preached his concerns and marched on the path, the more I could see the difference in our walk. The less I trusted the talk, not him, but his talk. …
Could it all be so simple? Opening my soles to the earth, walking in this way, I would step into and uncover my original talk. A talk that I began as a child when I took my first steps.
My religious friend, scholars and historians agree Buddha and Jesus walked barefoot. Primitive man walked barefoot. Most children take their first step barefoot. Using the dynamic touch and agility of the naked foot to stabilize their balance and move forward, forefoot first. Have you ever seen a child walk heel first?15
When Moses approached the burning bush, he had to take off his sandals, because it was holy ground. Hindu temples and Muslim mosques alike require the faithful to remove their shoes. We have a basic understanding that we must meet holy ground only with our soles. To an animist, the entire landscape is alive, and the earth is holy ground. The shoe isolates us from the living landscape that sustains us, it cuts us off from the soil we’re rooted in, and inflates our ego to make us think that we are “free,” by which we mean isolated and disconnected. We’re not; we’re just crippled inside our casts.
At the same time it is exhilirating to be reminded that our humanity was never so far away at all. We think and feel and live with our whole bodies, not just as disconnected brains; to step in the living soil, to walk with our soles on holy ground, to walk as humans evolved to walk. We’re two-legged creatures built by evolution for walking, and we’ve lost even that. It can be depressing to realize that we don’t even know something that basic; yet, a moment’s reflection should serve to buoy your spirits as you remember how much of your humanity you can reclaim just by learning to walk.
This is awesome, Jason, and well worth the wait.
The link to citation for plants eavesdropping (#12) appears to require a paid subscription in order to access the article. Quite disappointing as the prospect of understanding the sensuous experience of plants really got me interested.
Again, you’ve written something that I think would benefit the REWILD.info wiki, and I would love to copy it over. Are the images from public domain sources or are you using them via “fair use”?
Comment by Rix — 28 June 2007 @ 4:30 PM
For eavesdropping plants, try this:
http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/060306_plant_defense.html
Most of the images I use are spotty, copyright-wise. I’m mostly banking on fair use, and that basic policy that it’s always easier to say “sorry” than “please.” But the content, by all means, swipe away. Everything here is Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 (click the little Creative Commons logo at the bottom of the page), and frankly, I’d drop the attribution requirement if I could (though if you want to attribute it, that will give me warm fuzzies).
Pictures, use at the same risk I take.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 28 June 2007 @ 4:44 PM
Thanks for the new eavesdropping link. I’ll reference both the old and the new in the REWILD. info wiki article.
Ha! That reminds me how a friend of mine at college always used to say (to the evangelical establishment at my Baptist college) “It’s easier to seek forgiveness than permission.” They didn’t like that attitude. He would often have to follow it up with, “Well, I think Jesus would forgive me in this situation.” They liked that even less.
I think I’ll just link to the pictures and video instead of risking the fair use. The tracker community has come across as strangely proprietary at times when Scout and I have sought permission to use material for the wiki–which I find strange. It seems like sharing primitive knowledge via primitive concepts of ownership (i.e., not forcing ownership issues) makes the most sense–especially on sites where they’re not trying to make money off the information.
Ah, well, we all have civilized quagmires we have trouble seeing our way out of in the process of rewilding, and I guess copyright concepts can be as ingrained as the idea of buying food.
I loved how you expressed the concept of ownership in the 5th World core-rulebook. “Hey, I have a relationship going on with spirit right now. Do you mind waiting until we’re done?” Beautiful.
Comment by Rix — 28 June 2007 @ 5:14 PM
People like the Native Americans did have footwear though. The moccasin is synonymous with the American Indian. Of course the moccasin is definately not a “shoe” in our sense of the word, but is light, flexible, protective footwear that is practically molded on one’s foot perfectly. Even the thicker mukluk is still very light and yielding.
Comment by Andy — 28 June 2007 @ 5:55 PM
Not all of them, and not all the time. Moccasins were primarily for protection from cold, not from sharp pointy things, so even the cultures that did use moccasins didn’t use them all the time, the way we use shoes. As you pointed out, these “shoes” emphasize maintaining the foot’s senses and flexibility, and very importantly, they don’t have soles. A moccasin with soles isn’t really a moccasin.
As I said, you can fox walk even with regular shoes on, it’s just much, much harder. Fox walking in moccasins is actually fairly easy, because it changes very little compared to walking barefoot. It may not be ideal, but if you live in a place with cold winters, it’s probably your optimal compromise.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 28 June 2007 @ 6:02 PM
I noticed this when I recently went walking barefoot. (I should do it again - my partner mother-henned behind me the whole way, invoking spirits of glass shards, stubbed toes and I don’t know what else)
I was fine all the time I was out, but noticed when I’d got back in that my feet suddenly hurt more. Like, a *lot* more.
And I figured out what it was - outside, where I needed to pay attention to where I stood, I’d been foxwalking. Inside, with no broken glass, smooth floors and carpet, I’d reverted back to stomping around like an elephant, putting more pressure on the soles of my feet which were scuffed and slightly cut (spots of blood here and there; I didn’t even notice them) from walking on concrete.
Once I started treading lightly on the balls of my feet again, the pain pretty much went away.
And I loved it! Nobody stared or said anything, it didn’t take too much longer than usual, the pavements between here and where I went are, shall we say, “differently maintained”, and it’s a city area with a lot of hazards for unwary feet.
The best part, though, was coming home across cool, damp grass after beating up my bare feet on pavement. Luxury.
(Oh, and I noticed straight away that the roads, for cars, are way smoother and flatter than the pavements, for feet. Priorities!)
Comment by Vashti — 28 June 2007 @ 6:31 PM
that was an enjoyable read - thanks.
I remember hearing my friend’s stories about Papua New Guinea when he was overseas. The Maori people use their feet like hands often - and he told me how they make great roofers because they use their feet to pick up and hold nails in place when hammering with their hands!
Julianne Butterfly also reported gaining “prehensile” abilities with her feet after a year without shoes, back when she was sitting around in that redwood tree. So it doesn’t take too long to regain the usefulness of feet!
Comment by Dungan — 28 June 2007 @ 7:56 PM
Yesterday, Jason and I went to the mall (I know… ugh) to pick up fishing licenses at Gander Mountain. Jason went to the bathroom in the rest area near the food court, and while I waited for him, I practiced fox walking in the little alcove just outside. After he left the bathroom, Jason told me that two men had walked in talking with admiration about “that bitch in the ‘Why Farm?’ t-shirt” and expressing interest in “fuck[ing]” me. (The word “bitch” is obviously used here in the sexually appreciative/exploitative manner of gansta rappers, as opposed to them being pissed off at me for no apparent reason.)
This has made me a little self-conscious about fox walking in public, for fear that I look like a hooker. It is a sexy walk, which is at first good for self-esteem, but later becomes bad for self-esteem once you realize that you are not the only person who has noticed your sexiness.
Of course, it might not have been the fox walk that made those guys attracted to me. It could just be that they’re pigs and I have boobies. Or it could be that Anthropik t-shirts make the wearer utterly irresistible to the opposite sex. Hint, hint. Wink, wink.
Comment by Giulianna Lamanna — 28 June 2007 @ 8:35 PM
Interesting… However… What reason do we have to think that shoes were invented by the civilized? Because my guess would be that shoes are simply an adaptation to cold weather. Any clue about what the footwear of the indigenous peoples of e.g. Scandinavia looked like?
Comment by Hasha — 28 June 2007 @ 9:26 PM
The shoe, as we know it (as distinguished from, say, the moccasin; see above) really only goes back to the Middle Ages. Even the sandals used in the Classical world left a lot of room for the foot to move, feel and flex.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 28 June 2007 @ 9:31 PM
Jason,
I’ve been browsing through your site for a few days, this was another excellent article. You’re a very clear thinker, and an excellent writer.
Comment by Erik Schimek — 28 June 2007 @ 9:41 PM
Great article!
I have recently started jogging in an effort to shake off some blubber - walking just ain’t doin it, unfortunately. Anyway, I’ve taken to jogging barefoot around a local football oval in the evenings. As you can imagine, I get some s t r a n g e looks by the heroic footballers while they train in their nice, expensive Made In Sweatshop boots, especially seeing as the temperature has been around 5-10 degrees celcius (41-50 F) for the last week at that time of the evening!
One thing that long ago put me off jogging or running as exercise was the insane jarring and pain that I would get throughout my whole body. That, and the fact that I just felt very, very uncoordinated. A while ago I realized that it wasn’t me - it was the fact that I was wearing shoes! Running barefoot on grass gives me none of that, even thought I’m about 20-25kg (50lb) overweight. However, I can’t help but imagine that the crap leaching out of the damp garish green fertilizer pellets that are scattered everywhere is being absorbed into my bloodstream…
Same thing with walking, although unfortunately, I do wear shoes most of the time because of my job.
When I do have shoes on, I take a hybrid approach - I come down heel first, but more on the outer edge of my foot, then roll it inwards while lowering the ball. Probably not ideal, especially for my ankles, but I get less of the cow-feeling and jarring happening. Due to this, my shoes tend to wear faster on the outer edges of the soles.
Actually, the other week I went to a local shoe factory to see about buying some shoes . I showed the salesperson/fitter my old ones, and upon noticing how they were worn, she gently told me off for walking incorrectly. She also told me how soooo many people don’t walk in the proper manner. According to her, the way that I should be walking is - yep - like a cow. She suggested going to a specialist, or at the very least getting some orthotic insoles. Needless to say, I didn’t take her advice (I also didn’t buy any shoes.) That experience makes me wonder how many people are taught to walk properly like a cow by the specialists they are referred to…
Comment by qd — 28 June 2007 @ 10:09 PM
Excellent post. I have been a serious fan of barefoot walking for most of my life. Unfortunately I currently live in a city, surrounded by concrete, where it is not really possible to go barefoot at all.
For more info on the topic, I recommend: http://barefooters.org/
Comment by dagnabit — 28 June 2007 @ 10:13 PM
Walking barefoot can lead to infestation by parasites, such as hook worm. In most cases hook worms cause no systoms in their host. They can also solve the problems of allergies. Take a look at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2006/4/30/91945/8971
Athlete’s foot and plantar’s warts are other nasty things that can assault bare feet.
I would like to create a training regimen for walking barefoot. If any one has one that work for themselves, then please share the details of it.
Comment by K — 28 June 2007 @ 11:40 PM
I was under the impression that those were primarily problems of people who wore heavily insulated shoes and socks…
Comment by Giulianna Lamanna — 28 June 2007 @ 11:44 PM
Athlete’s foot is a fungal infection, and can only grow in dark, damp environments, like in a shoe. Walking barefoot will actually clear up athlete’s foot very quickly.
Plantar warts are caused by HPV; walking barefoot will risk plantar warts primarily in public bathrooms and such.
The incidence of hookworm for people going barefoot is grossly exaggerated; yes, it can happen, but not nearly as commonly as we generally suppose. Of course, various parasites—worms, ticks, etc.—are part of living in the world, and as you pointed out, need not necessarily be entirely negative. There are also plenty of ways to take care of such problems; know how to treat ticks and other parasites before you head out.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 28 June 2007 @ 11:58 PM
what fun!
i just checked all of my shoes to see what the pattern of wearing on the soles might tell me–the outside edge toward the front, at the ball of the foot, is much more worn than the inside or the heel.
then i pranced around the room for a bit (i’m always barefoot indoors, even at work) and i really can’t tell if what i naturally do is similar to the fox walk or not…
when i pass through wooded areas on my way home from work (barefoot when and where appropriate) i often try to walk as quietly as possible to see if i can sneak up on the other little critters, and simulating that now in the house, it seems like it may be close to the fox walker thing…also, i’ve always had my feet pointing directly forward, and the steps fall close together but not quite like walking on a narrow beam or wall.
i think i’ve noticed that people who practice a lot of yoga or dance forms walk with a bounce, maybe like this style of walking?
(oh…and i’ve always been able to hold a fat pen with my toes and write letters on paper! monkey toes!)
Comment by patricia — 29 June 2007 @ 12:02 AM
My first post was too simplistic. Sorry about that.
Heavily insulated shoes and socks tend to trap moisture right against the feet, which in turn makes athlete’s foot worse for the sufferer. I don’t know about their effect on plantar’s warts.
A modern urban lifestyle in a moist or humid climate can easily beat the feet. People go to work or school and then don’t take their shoes off for hours; then they go to a gym to exercise where they have to change shoes in the locker room and have to take them off to shower (hopefully they have their own flip-flops to wear there). The locker room and shower tend to be warm, moist, and have many humans passing through who can transmit their germs to other humans who come by later.
Going barefoot constantly, day-in, day out, is one of the ways to treat athlete’s foot. I doubt most bosses would let their employees who have athlete’s foot, do so.
Comment by K — 29 June 2007 @ 12:25 AM
I found this an interesting related topic, not that it needed to be verified scientifically:
“The important finding of this study is that the human body when grounded is naturally protected from static electricity and the weak electric currents created in the body by radiated electric fields. The benefits of grounding the body are; sleep significantly improves, muscles relax, chronic back and joint pain subsides and general health improves.”
http://www.esdjournal.com/articles/cober/ground.htm
I’m going to go sleep outside, goodnight.
Comment by Jason G — 29 June 2007 @ 1:22 AM
Forgot to mention the free online book, “The Barefoot Hiker” by Richard Keith Frazine:
http://members.aol.com/bhthom/hikertxt.htm
I originally saw it mentioned on Ran’s site!
Comment by qd — 29 June 2007 @ 2:04 AM
Awesome post, Jason. What kind of culture has to teach people to do everything differently (and less efficiently!) to how they would naturally.
“Or it could be that Anthropik t-shirts make the wearer utterly irresistible to the opposite sex.”
LOL
I’m off to fox around the office some more.
Comment by Dan Bartlett — 29 June 2007 @ 5:23 AM
I’ll answer my own question: civilisation relies on the total cultural and behavioural legitimisation of disconnection, across all levels. If there is any relent, we are dangerously close to finding ourselves.
In my book I’ve been using that as an underlying theme. In truth, our bodies give us all the feedback we ever need, even philosophical. I like to call it philo-physical feedback. Ill world makes ill humans.
I love how just learning to walk again can help this. This has really helped me out and given me a new avenue to work on. I’m in good shape, but my feet have always been my weak spots. Now I can finally bring them back to life.
Comment by Dan Bartlett — 29 June 2007 @ 5:29 AM
Everyone should also check out question #17 of the Barefoot FAQ: What can I say to passers-by if they make a comment? Hahaha.
Where are your shoes?
- At home [where they belong].
- I don’t know. [Have you seen them?]
- Somewhere else.
- What do you mean? These are God’s Reeboks.
- On vacation.
- Don’t have any.
- My what?
- What are shoes?
- Up there. [Said while pointing up.]
- Aliens took them.
Comment by Dan Bartlett — 29 June 2007 @ 5:39 AM
lol! ha! I love that story! Beautiful!
Huh. I always just chalked up my ability to do that to my “monkey feet”.
I have a tendency to use a hybrid approach as well, but not consistently (probably cause I don’t do it consciously). Instead of rolling around the outside of my foot though, I substitute the ‘arch-side’ of the ball of my foot for the ‘toe-side’. This also leads to an irregular wear pattern. Which I, too, have had commented on by “experts”. But because my toes are a bit different from the norm, I always just blew it off as not appropriate for my body.
I think you might be surprised. When I was a kid in San Diego, I ran around barefoot all the time, regardless of whether it was concrete, asphalt (well, that tended to be avoided in the summer; I swear that shit gets hotter than the sun in So Cal summers….) or whatever. Sure there was broken glass and gods-know-what lying around, but it was pretty easily stepped around, and I don’t ever recall having a issue with it. I have noticed that since I don’t do that as often as I used to, my feet are a little more sensitive to the roughness of concrete now, but that should go away just by doing it more.
Comment by jhereg — 29 June 2007 @ 8:07 AM
Really, there’s only a few things basically wrong with civilization. They’re fundamental things that define civilization, but they’re startlingly few in number. Everything else are simply the consequences of those points, and those can be charted out forever. And yet, underlying each of them is the theme of almost every Greek tragedy: hubris. The basic conviction that we can improve upon what the gods (or evolution) have created. We chuck what worked and substitute our own. We chuck the hunter-gatherer mode we evolved with in favor of catastrophic agriculture. We chuck normal walking for “cow walking.” There’s not a lot of fundamental problems, just a few, with many, many consequences—and all of them spring from our conviction that we know better.
Of course, we don’t, and we tend to learn that the hard way.
That’s one of the advantages of fox-walking; because you use your feet’s tactile senses to test the ground before you apply your weight, you don’t step on things like broken glass, the way you do when you’re clomping about in your shoes with no feedback, throwing your weight before you even know where you’re throwing it.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 29 June 2007 @ 9:23 AM
Jason, this is beautiful, and indicates your own personal strength of not just intelligence per se, but emotional intelligence. In our own times, who would even realize the importance of the feet? Welcome to Anthropik.
I want to draw an analogy with the paleo diet. The paleo diet makes me well instead of sick. I should understand these things. But it has never occurred to me that my feet might be the result of civilization rather than my genes. Yeah, I am a flat-footed loser … It’s the genes, right? Actually, it can’t be the damn genes. The feet are fundamental for human beings, as you have just pointed out. What is a human being that can’t walk properly? Wouldn’t evolution punish such a thing with unimaginable severity? A person that can’t walk is a chimera, a purely fictional impossibility.
An example. I recall trying to ford a stream in Indonesia. My companion was just some ordinary Indonesian town dweller - not villager, town dweller. He crossed this two-foot deep fifty-foot broad waterway without even a thought. I almost collapsed in pain on my first step. I needed to use my hands to make sure I could get across. Even to this day, I can’t walk on smooth rocks. Yes, smooth rocks, not sharp ones.
The thing is, it can’t be true. It’s impossible. Something like me would be dead in five minutes in an original human environment. In the same way that something like me would never know love on a Neo diet, through the sheer ugliness it results in.
This avenue of exploration is first rate. Might I some day pass my feet across rocks without feeling like Torquemada is just getting warmed up? It must be so. It can’t be otherwise.
Many thanks.
Comment by Eric — 29 June 2007 @ 9:41 AM
Thanks, Eric, and everyone else who’s had such nice things to say about this article.
I think you’re absolutely right. It can be easy to get discouraged when we think of how much we’ve lost, but discouragement doesn’t help anyone. It should be just as encouraging to know how much we’ve always had inside of us, and that there’s absolutely no doubt that we can unlock that with a few simple changes. We’re human—how could it possibly be otherwise?
Comment by Jason Godesky — 29 June 2007 @ 9:48 AM
In the spirit of Pete Townshend after a particularly rousing version of ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ live at the Royal Albert Hall on November 27, 2000:
YES!
I remember a family walk on a scorching hot day out in the North-West Czech countryside. The tarmac on the roads is properly smooth over there, not granule-y like it mostly is here. This particular day the mid-afternoon sun was beating down so fiercely that the stuff was actually melting under our feet.
I took my shoes off and was instantly connected to this immense radiant heat, as though I were being lightly roasted from the feet all the way up. At every step there was a slight sinking sensation, and when I looked back I could see a nice trail of heel-, sole- and toe-marks meandering through the heavier boot and trainer tracks along the side of the road. Feet and shoes were both black on the undersides at the end of the day.
Perhaps some archaeologist will discover the trail in years to come, excited at last to have found proof of a sometime peaceful co-existence between Cow and Fox peoples…
Comment by Ian M — 29 June 2007 @ 9:52 AM
Really, there’s only a few things basically wrong with civilization. They’re fundamental things that define civilization, but they’re startlingly few in number. Everything else are simply the consequences of those points, and those can be charted out forever.
*nods* These recent “environmental” and “social” problems are processes of inevitability under the narrow framework of civilisation. Bad judgement doesn’t really come into it, unless your judging the very feasibility of civilisation itself, a road of inquest that is obviously shunned from within civilisation.
The more I write and explore, the more I’ve come to agree with what you said: [the] fundamental things that define civilization [are] startlingly few in number. The difficulty in confronting those things is in understanding how they hide behind the true elements of humanity, creating false emotional relationships to concepts and ideas that in reality mean nothing, or are totally insane without all the goodness of humanity to prop them up.
Only the absolute minimum of humanity is left free to keep us alive enough to work; tribe like friend groups, music, community, dance etc. Even these things though are gradually being crushed under the weight of progress. Now we’re at breaking point.
Comment by Dan Bartlett — 29 June 2007 @ 11:23 AM
Absolutely. People often point to the “good things” in life to illustrate that civilization isn’t so bad. But they invariably point to things that not only aren’t civilized, but outright defy civilization. But it’s like the steam pressure in a train. If you didn’t pull the whistle from time to time, the engine would explode. Civilization, in its purest sense, is impossible. It requires some degree of uncivilized, humanizing behavior, or else we’d all snap and the whole thing would come tumbling down. So civilization walks a razor’s edge, trying to maximize civilization, but also knowing that becoming too civilized would result in total breakdown. It’s a matter of how much you can strangle your humanity before you simply kill it entirely.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 29 June 2007 @ 11:39 AM
the Q&A list is cute!
but i’ve actually only ever gotten positive reactions from people i pass in the park on my barefoot walks home from work, shoes in hand. in fact, people, on average, seem to be *more* friendly or likely to say “hi” when i am carrying my shoes rather than wearing them (now…being in the park may have some effect, though, of course, but i’m usually otherwise pretty clearly in “office wear” except for my feet.)
one early evening i was walking through just after a good rain, and some exercising types came up from behind me along the path (i was in the grass) and made a comment about being in the movie “Barefoot in the Park” or something, and i just smiled at them and said: Be honest, don’t you sometimes want to take your shoes off? (and they had to admit that they did–but of course they only continued with their torture/running routine instead.)
i’m barefoot at work, right now as i type this.
Comment by patricia — 29 June 2007 @ 12:35 PM
We’re in da ‘Burgh. Awfully close to West Virginia. That may have an impact.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 29 June 2007 @ 12:39 PM
Thank you so much for writing this. I’m troubled every day by the fact that I have to wear crippling shoes just to appear somewhat acceptable. I’ve been running barefoot for 3 years now, ever since I found out just how shitty shoes are, and other than that I try to get by in thongs whenever ’shoes’ are expected. I dread every hour I have to wear the actual things, and I’m disgusted by others’ attitudes about them now.
I can only hope that, as some ‘barefooters’ claim, your feet revert back to normal somewhat after a while. I don’t know though. I’d guess that in reality most of us will have crippled, difficult to use, and painful feet for life.
Comment by slur — 29 June 2007 @ 12:43 PM
Thanks for this article. This is one of those things that I’ve never thought about but seems so obvious after reading your article and some of the links.
Given the “no shirt, no shoes” attitude of many establishments, it seems like it would be very difficult to live in civilization while walking barefoot all the time; but I don’t think it should be too hard to improve upon the “cow walking” I do now.
Comment by Jacob Haqq-Misra — 29 June 2007 @ 1:09 PM
(Found it! Watch from around 6:30 if you’re put off by 3-note Noel Gallagher solos. I guess this is a bit of a tangent… Sorry!)
Comment by Ian M — 29 June 2007 @ 4:45 PM
In my experience, being barefoot is highly contagious too. In most social scenarios, when one person goes barefoot, it tends to lead other people to throw off the “casts”. It never seems to work in the opposite direction.
Comment by Dan — 29 June 2007 @ 6:35 PM
A wonderful post on
walking. Astute in fact.
But as with the sociology
of knowledge there is also
an anthropology of knowledge perhaps. The enslavement of our bodies goes rather deep. It is not just our feet but our hands too (for example writing). Sex
too is a means of enslavement. What is
our natural pleasure and
what is that which we are
convinced to believe is desirable?
mandalayguy@
excite.co.jp
Comment by Anonymous — 29 June 2007 @ 11:07 PM
See, on the one hand, everything in this article makes pretty good sense. On the other hand, I can’t help scratching my head. I mean, what kind of footwear would you wear in Scandinavia or Alaska in January…?
Comment by Hasha — 29 June 2007 @ 11:13 PM
How can on step on a heel while wearing high heels? If one wears high heels, one is forced to step on the ball of the foot.
Isn’y this right?
Comment by _Gi — 30 June 2007 @ 2:08 AM
I’ve been walking barefoot only since March or April, but walking on glass isn’t a problem once one’s soles toughen up. Mind you, I’m not talking about giant glass shards, but broken beer bottles and the sort.
Barefoot has been such a huge thing for me that not even two hours ago I got a tattoo of a foot on me.
Comment by chiggles — 30 June 2007 @ 3:22 AM
I’ve heard in cold climates primitive people would walk barefoot quite often, somehow the body pumps lots of warmth to their feet making it possible.. Ofcourse they use boots with soft soles as well. They had to repair them a lot because they were so soft.
Making sandals of tires is cool, as it’s cheap and it has a thin sole making you feel the ground when you don’t want to walk barefoot for a moment, and the sandals are very strong: http://www.hollowtop.com/sandals.htm
Comment by gunnix — 30 June 2007 @ 6:33 AM
i’m told that the thing with broken glass is, that once it has *been* there for a while, the sharp edges get worn off rather quickly, and so it is not much different from walking on little rocks or pebbles.
but i have no personal experience here, and i’d rather be TOO careful, than not careful enough!
Comment by patricia — 30 June 2007 @ 7:10 AM
Jarl Flensmark, a Swedish researcher, wrote a paper in 2004 called Is there an association between the use of heeled footwear and schizophrenia? arguing that incidence of schizophrenia increases when- and wherever in the world people start to wear heeled shoes (as opposed to moccassin-like footwear). I have the pdf, if anyone is interested.
Comment by thistle — 30 June 2007 @ 1:16 PM
_Gi,
This link explains why high heels are really sucky.
http://www.unshod.org/pfbc/pfrossi2.htm
Comment by William Carrington — 30 June 2007 @ 1:57 PM
This reminds me of a song I heard at Roxy’s, BVI
Hey man, why you always carry your shoes in your hand?, I have a feeling the next time we meet, you’ll be wearing gloves on your feet!
Comment by jason G — 30 June 2007 @ 11:36 PM
Giuli & I got to go visit the Tuppeek-hanne this weekend. We got ourselves some soft-soled moccasins, and got to spend yesterday fox-walking through an old growth forest; then we slept on a bed of moss. Got to practice my bow-drill, and I even got my mom interested in it.
It’s been a good weekend.
Gi, you’re right, in high heels you have to step on the ball of your foot, rather than the heel. It forces the foot to take the same general shape as a deer’s. So you could call that “deer walking,” rather than “cow walking,” if you like, but it’s still not very human-adapted, is it?
Thistle, that’s amazing! I wish I’d known about that when I was writing the article, or I’d have made much of it.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 1 July 2007 @ 1:34 PM
Here are instructions for making your own moccasins according to the Lenape/Delaware tradition.
That page also links to a really cool map showing moccasin styles of indigenous tribes all over N America.
Hasha — in the arctic, you would wear mukluks made of waterproof seal skin.
Comment by Paula — 1 July 2007 @ 3:30 PM
hey,
i’m wary of the way that i tend to treat radical insights as opportunities to purchase cool new stuff.
but i feel this could be a helpful tool for some of us to practice the walking while our calluses are still growing, and on pavement, etc.
http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/
they’re cheaper than vivo barefoot (but still $80) and seem more aligned with our goals too.
another “step” further towards barefoot could be the following - there are lots of variations (can be seen at bottom of page): http://www.amazon.com/Dance-Paws-reg-DP1/dp/B0007LCG9A
i’ve been engaged by the barefoot ideal for a few years now but the idea of just going hiking without shoes seemed too much. with one of these “transition tools” i feel that i could hike for a while barefoot, put on the extra skin and walk a while further, without resolidifying the habits of hoof-walking.
incidentally for joggers out there this focus on barefoot movement is the heart of some reformist jogging trends such as “pose running” and even nike has a shoe (nike free) to attempt to sell us a barefoot experience.
so, sorry to be the one the situationists have warned you about (commodifying your dissent) but hopefully it is justified by utility.
Comment by juggleandhope — 1 July 2007 @ 3:53 PM
Thanks, Paula. We’ll be taking a braintanning class at Raccoon Creek in the fall, and after that, I do hope to make my own moccasins (Seneca style).
Ran linked here, with the comment, “Anthropik covers barefoot walking, to which I would add that even ancient civilized people went barefoot—shoes didn’t become common until the Roman Empire.” He’s right. Fox-walking is necessary to rewilding, but it is not sufficient. It won’t fix everything in your life. You can fox walk to your corn fields and through your cities. You can fox-walk and still be domesticated. But you cannot go feral without fox-walking.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 2 July 2007 @ 10:15 AM
Thanks for a great article. I was flatfooted once after years of shoe wearing. Good thing I went Navy instead of Marines, I would never have passed the physical. In the years since I have changed my walking habits. I go bare foot as often as I can and when I have to wear heavy work boots, I get them in wide. I never knew the proper term for this kind of walking until now. I tend to wear the soles of my boots out before the heels.
My feet feel better, my arches are high and I walk toe forward instead of out. There are a few tricks to quickly toughen your soles. One is to urinate on your feet, the uric acid act to toughen the skin. Another is a commerical agent used to toughen the paws of dogs. I’m told this is a trick used by professional endurance and adventure racers in events like Eco-Challenge.
Comment by Art — 2 July 2007 @ 3:53 PM
Interesting bit about the urine there. And since urine is sterile, it’s not even the health concern most people would assume.
I have noticed just from the few days that I’ve been walking about either barefoot or in my soft-soled moccasins, that the constant hum of pain in my heel is gone. My feet haven’t felt this good in years, and this isn’t even a full week yet.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 2 July 2007 @ 4:18 PM
ummm… ringworm?
Comment by Anonymous — 2 July 2007 @ 4:51 PM
Yes, ringworm doesn’t happen nearly as often as “Duct Tape Man” suggests. What of it?
Comment by Jason Godesky — 2 July 2007 @ 5:05 PM
Jason,
Wonderful article and very well written. I’m an orthopedic surgeon and I wrote an article on the ill-effects of the modern running shoe some years ago. You can read the article at: http://www.quickswood.com/my_weblog/2006/08/athletic_footwe.html#more .
The article has received over 30,000 hits since I posted it and I have a feeling that the message about the benefits of barefoot walking/running are finally getting through to people. I have noticed that most of the running shoe companies are coming out with “minimalist” shoes. One of the champions of the “less is better” concept has been Dr. Steven Robbins and I hope he picks up your post and submits a comment.
Cheers
Comment by Joseph Froncioni — 2 July 2007 @ 7:38 PM
People step ‘out’ and not ‘forwards’? Is that what Cow-Walking is? I’ve never done that. I step forwards, and my heel connects with the ground first. I tend to wear out the heel and sole of my shoes equally. An 8km walk doesnt lead to sore feet either, nor does it lead to sore knees or back or anything. I’m sure it’s lovely to walk around in your bare feet, but I don’t have the time to take slow, cautious, feely steps everywhere I go, and to be honest I kinda like my feet callous free
Comment by Gramage — 2 July 2007 @ 7:51 PM
i think one way to ease into this, is to (barefoot of course) pretend that you are walking on the top of a wall or a narrow beam…
by placing each foot closer to being in a direct line in front of the other one, you very naturally will step down with the outside ball of the foot, roll in, and then come down with the heel…the body, when trying to balance, wants to point at the ground with the baby toe as it steps forward.
just something i noticed yesterday while playing around in the grass of the tiny postage stamp yard in the alley behind my building.
Comment by patricia — 2 July 2007 @ 8:18 PM
I’m betting if I followed your footprints, they’d stay about a shoulder-width apart. That’s what we mean by “out.” Every walk moves you forward. Does your right foot register with your left (you place your right foot where your left foot used to be, so your tracks would all by in a single line, rather than two lines)? Then you’re not stepping “out.”
But what I’m calling “cow walking” is landing with your heel first, with all of your weight in the first motion. That’s what Tom Brown was talking about when he said, “Our walk is devastating, not natural.”
Then you’re young, and the pain is still dull enough to not notice. The body’s an amazingly adaptive thing, and can take enormous amounts of punishment. Keep grinding your leg into your lower back with every step for the next 50 years, though, and see if that’s still true.
That’s certainly a choice many people make, but understand what you’re sacrificing to be in such a hurry: this is why we think of old age as being associated with back pain and being unable to walk. To say nothing of the stress in that “go-go-go” attitude. It’s your choice to make, just understand that you are choosing to remain a domesticated cow with crippled, puffy feet in order to keep them callous-free. Real humans have calloused feet; domesticated humans might not.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 2 July 2007 @ 8:19 PM
Doesn’t anyone just take their shoes off when they get home from work? Many of the people commenting make it seem like they wear shoes 24 hours a day - of course you are going to have problems!
as a reply to one comment above, yes athelete’s foot requires a dark damp place to grow (like the inside of a shoe), but it’s walking barefoot that allows you to contract it in the first place. You will contract it far more often barefoot but it will not last as long at least (unless you have a compromised immune system).
Just don’t anyone walk barefoot in an urban setting though - or if you do, make sure to keep an eye out for used syringes, etc.. Going barefoot isn’t worth contracting a potentially fatal illness…
Comment by Anonymous — 2 July 2007 @ 10:40 PM
While cow-walking, you can’t feel where you’re going. While fox-walking, you feel where you’re stepping before your weight comes down. Your odds of stepping on a needle, for instance, go down. A needle can go through your sole, but if you never step on it in the first place, then you’re sure not to have a problem.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 2 July 2007 @ 10:51 PM
I find that when I walk sole first, I move slower. Anyone else experience this? Is that just due to inexperience, or is it just a less speedy means of locomotion?
Comment by Archangel — 2 July 2007 @ 10:55 PM
I bounce while walking. Many people have told me that I do that. Is there any reason why I bounce?
Comment by Anonymous — 2 July 2007 @ 11:14 PM
I don’t know, but I do the same thing.
Comment by Giulianna Lamanna — 2 July 2007 @ 11:42 PM
Nope, it’s definitely slower, Archangel.
— Tom Brown
Comment by Jason Godesky — 2 July 2007 @ 11:48 PM
Try Earth Shoes…they have a negative heel (the heel is lower than the ball). Since I’ve started wearing these my lower back problems have dissapeared!
Comment by John — 3 July 2007 @ 12:18 AM
Interesting article. I have flat feet, and for as long as I can remember, I have used shoes that are wide at the middle. However, since it has been more or less the norm to use shoes at uni, and later at work, I have used them.But I stay in good shoes about 12 hrs a day. The rest of the time, I do take care of my feet. I go home, give them a warm soaking, and massage them. Stretch and yoga also help. And I agree about the walking style. It seems obvious that it doesnt make sense to thump down on your heel. That’s bad. Just as bad as it is to run on concrete. The shock absorption, even with very good shoes, wears the knee, and back. Over time. What is worse is that we see lots of overweight people, put on shoes/sneakers, and go out trying to “exercise”, walking badly. Worse, they run on the pavement. Not only are you pounding your full weight back to your joints, the excess weight is degrading the joints further. For the heavy people out there, initially, do a lot of stretching. That’ll make your body supple, and when you have a sense of well being, go out, start walking and running. Step on your toes and front balls, instead of the heels. Touch with the front, and roll your feet. Front to back. And treat yourself to a good reflexologist massage from time to time
Walking barefoot out on the streets is not a city option. And even fairly dangerous in the grass. Working out a compromise is difficult. Get thin leather mocassins.
Comment by zip — 3 July 2007 @ 12:42 AM
After observing the sole of my shoe, the front portion is much more worn out than the heel. Perhaps it’s because the type of shoe. The New Balance (M574KGM) front is very flexible to the point where I can practically bend it all the way back. Maybe it’s due to my running. I run one to three times per week, and I’ve had these shoes for about a year. Yes, I know I need a new pair.
I also noticed people who bounce tend to walk relatively fast. There’s this one skinny tall guy on campus who has the most obtrusive bounce and he probably walks faster than some people run. His head literally bounces about 12 inches up and down as he walks, and his hair shakes up and down in the process. I’m not exaggerating!
By the way, Giulianna, are you talking about your body or something else?
Comment by Bouncer — 3 July 2007 @ 12:55 AM
I grew up in Africa, and I’ve seen what happens to your feet if you walk barefoot for all your life. It’s not nice.
Yeah sure, go foxwalk in the beach, that’s easy. But try walking around barefoot in real _nature_. Your foot will tear, and when it heals it will be thick and ugly and flat.
Comment by Mark — 3 July 2007 @ 7:17 AM
What a great post and good comments. The link to the Who doing “Won’t Get Fooled Again” made my day.
I’m down in the southern Caribbean, Margarita Island off the Venezuelan Coast right now and barefoot on the tile floors of the house. One would not go barefoot in public in Venezuela, except on the beach. It’s a cultural thing, like not wearing a shirt, or wearing shorts after dark, just not done. On the beach, and only on the beach.
Some years back my children were telling me about learning fox walking from some students of Tom Brown’s who had moved to the Pacific NW. I actually learned it from two sources: in one of Carlos Castaneda’s books, Don Juan has Carlos run through the desert at night in this manner. Carlos found that if he lifted his knees high and came down with the ball of his foot first, he could run over very rough and unknown terrain even in the dark with no problem. It works, and is also how the deer move through the woods, if you look. They always lift those legs high, bending at the knee.
I think that more than anything we learn our way of walking by only walking on smooth, flat surfaces, more even than the shoe thing. We have no reason to learn to pick up our feet.
About the locked knee thing, it can have advantages. A friend taught me years ago that while backpacking on steep terrain to deliberately bring the knee to a full lock just before you step out with the other foot, actually snap the knee gently into lock. This stretches the hamstring tendons and for some reason gives your legs a tiny bit of rest between steps. She said that this is the way the elk walk, and that their knees make a little popping noise as they are moving around grazing; this is how they know where the rest of their group is in thick brush, and know it is an elk. It really makes a huge difference in how tired your legs get while hiking, and is simply the best trick that I know for hard and heavy backpacking in the mountains.
The one time that I tried long-distance backpacking with moccasins I ended up, a week later (a week after the hike) with incredible pain in my arches, so bad that I couldn’t walk at all for several days. A friend who had spent a lot of time in Central America told me that he could always tell the race of who was walking on the beach by their footprints; he said the Indian people had flat feet, short and wide and flat with almost no sign of an arch.
Really cool link to the tire sandals also, thanks for that. At the end of it there’s a post from a German who tells how they made bicycle tires from discs cut from old car tires after WWII. I had a pair of those East Indian water buffalo sandals once that I nailed tire soles to; there was no way the tire soles would ever wear out.
Comment by m.astera — 3 July 2007 @ 7:27 AM
Jason: You say it is definately slower, however, how do these scouts run so fast? What is the technique for fox running?
Comment by haywire — 3 July 2007 @ 9:23 AM
wow, this is a very interesting approach that i havent tried before. now, let me get back to stalking.
Comment by hmm.. — 3 July 2007 @ 9:43 AM
That’s a simple matter of our perverse aesthetics that sees a puffy, crippled foot as “beautiful.” A healthy foot has callouses and tears. I was out walking barefoot in an old growth forest last weekend; it’s not Africa, but if that doesn’t count as “real _nature_,” then I don’t know what does.
That absolutely plays a part.
I don’t know as much about fox running, but my guess is that they didn’t actually run fast, but they ran steady. Since each step didn’t hurt, they could keep it up for longer periods of time, emphasizing humanity’s strengths: not speed, but endurance. Or, “slow and steady wins the race”?
Comment by Jason Godesky — 3 July 2007 @ 9:46 AM
Mark and Jason,
The question is not so much what the foot looks like after years of walking barefoot vs. in shoes, but rather what it feels like (along with the rest of your body, of course). I don’t actually know, I mean, I’d never thought about this question until Jason wrote this article. But yeah, if you want to convince me one way or another, that’s what I’d want to know: what you end up feeling like.
Comment by Hasha — 3 July 2007 @ 10:04 AM
“Then you’re young, and the pain is still dull enough to not notice. The body’s an amazingly adaptive thing, and can take enormous amounts of punishment. Keep grinding your leg into your lower back with every step for the next 50 years, though, and see if that’s still true.”
In 50 years I’ll be 80, about my grandfather’s age. He doesn’t have a bad back or legs either. In fact he still does small rennovations, plumbing etc, even though he’s retired.
Maybe a lot of people just wear bad shoes? Too narrow or too short, or just too tight in general. I like shoes that give my feet plenty of room to move around. Women’s shoes are the worst. I was out walking with a friend of mine the other day, we had to stop and take a break every 15 minutes because her (admittedly good looking) shoes were giving her blisters. And she owns 3 pair like that!
Comment by Gramage — 3 July 2007 @ 10:30 AM
The description of fox walking sounds exactly like the way you are taught to walk in tai chi
Comment by Douglas Brebner — 3 July 2007 @ 10:30 AM
So you’re about 30, Gramage? As I said, young. Your grandfather is exceptional, I’m sure you recognize that. At 80, few people in our society are able to do such things. I’m glad your grandfather can, but it hardly proves anything, any more than the random fellow who smokes his whole life and never gets sick disproves the connection to lung cancer. The human body’s an amazing thing, and it can take a lot of punishment. Apparently, your grandfather is fairly exceptional; after 80 years of pounding his leg into his lower back, he can still walk. Most people his age can’t, or can only barely.
That suggests something a lot more fundamental and systemic than just bad shoes. Wide shoes that give you some room are better than not, but you’re still coming down heel first, and you’re still eliminating your sense of touch. Some shoes are definitely worse than others, but the fundamental problem lies with how we walk when we’re wearing shoes. It’s maladaptive and over time wears us down.
Douglas, that’s right. I even stated in the article, “It is similar to the ‘empty stepping’ of t’ai chi,” pointing to this article, which goes into it more.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 3 July 2007 @ 10:38 AM
Oops, I thought I’d seen it but searched for tai rather than t’ai and thought I must have imagined it.
Very nice article anyway
Comment by Douglas Brebner — 3 July 2007 @ 10:45 AM
I still remember the bloodstained pumice stone my older sister kept in the shower. Women wear painful, uncomfortable shoes that give them huge callouses, then they scrape the callouses off again. Frankly, I wish I had callouses like that on my feet so I could comfortably walk barefoot!
Oddly enough, I have a few pairs of nice high-heeled shoes that I wear to weddings and things. They’re not particularly uncomfortable (probably because they’re strappy, like sandals with heels) and I’m always getting compliments on them. The insane discomfort isn’t even necessary for fashion’s sake. So why do women do that to their feet?
Comment by Giulianna Lamanna — 3 July 2007 @ 10:46 AM
I’ve been wondering that for a long time. Highheels don’t even seem particularly attractive to me, so I’ve always been especially confused. At the same time, I’ve never really gotten an answer from any of the women I’ve asked….
Comment by jhereg — 3 July 2007 @ 10:50 AM
1966 ‘Gospel of the Redman’ should be 1936. Ernest Thompson Seton died in ‘46.
Comment by Anonymous — 3 July 2007 @ 11:41 AM
Absolutely right; thanks for catching that typo. It’s fixed now.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 3 July 2007 @ 11:47 AM
My mom says that, when I was a baby, I went straight from walking to running, and I started very early.
I played soccer at a high level from age 6 to 15–this is when I was in the best shape of my life. I was far and away the fastest sprinter on my team, and I was very good at long distance running (although hampered by moderate asthma).
I remember another player’s mother telling my dad that I “run like an antelope,” referring to how smooth my movements were. I never really thought anything of it.
When I played soccer, I wore cleats–they were uncomfortable, but encouraged me to land on the balls of my feet. I guess that’s why I didn’t originally develop a cow walk.
At some point, a friend asked me, “why do you walk that way?” I didn’t really know what they meant, so they explained to me that I looked like I was ready to pounce. I was walking on the balls of my feet, fox-walking, apparently. I never knew there was a different way.
Ever since then, I was self-conscious about the way I walked, and I made a conscious effort to switch to heel->toe. Since I stopped playing soccer, I’ve tried to stay in shape by running, but I find it too painful to do often. My lower back and the sides of my feet get jarring pain.
I still fox-walk from time to time because I like how it feels. I never thought about why running, which was so natural to me for so long, could be so painful to me now. It looks like I’ll go back to fox-walking. Maybe I’ll be able to get back in shape.
Comment by Max — 3 July 2007 @ 12:09 PM
As far as the fashion appeal of high heels - they make your legs look longer. Some women also like the additional height.
I went barefoot through most of my time at college. I had a pair of lycra slippers (with a thin leather sole) in my bag, and I’d just slip them on when I had to go places that required shoes. It worked out fine.
Comment by karmakaze — 3 July 2007 @ 12:14 PM
Hey –
The bad news is I am way behind on your articles, J — but I’ll catch up eventually
The good news… this one got me really excited, because I am discovering that this IS how I walk. Explains why I have always walked barefoot in places most people wouldn’t dare, why I LOVE moccassins and where them any time I can get my hands on em (Minnatonka makes soleless ones, but now they put in a padded liner. jerks!) and why I wear out regular shoes so quickly and oddly.
I find that sooo cool
J
Comment by janene — 3 July 2007 @ 12:32 PM
So why do women do that to their feet?
I’ve been wondering that for a long time. Highheels don’t even seem particularly attractive to me, so I’ve always been especially confused. At the same time, I’ve never really gotten an answer from any of the women I’ve asked….
Well, I’ve had employers threaten to fire me because my shoes (plain black lace-up leather) don’t meet their “dress code” or aren’t considered “professional.”
Unthinking people expect women to wear a certain type of shoe, and there are enough of those people in power so that a woman who chooses to wear healthy shoes is taking a significant social and economic risk.
I have foot-shaped feet, not shoe-shaped feet, probably because my family always went barefoot indoors, wore sandals outdoors all summer, and my folks went out of the way to buy quality shoes by fit, rather than making feet fit into shoes.
At this point, at least 95% of women’s shoes won’t fit me. It is extremely time consuming for me to find shoes that work with my feet, rather than against it, and those shoes are expensive. I may go several years without buying a single pair of shoes, because I can’t find ones that fit.
Someone less stubborn than me winds up following the shoe fashion, simply because they can’t easily find an alternative.
It’s a catch-22. You need to achieve a certain amount of power to change the expectations, but unless you meet the expectations to look and dress the a certain way, you’ll have a hard time getting power.
It’s the same problem with makeup. Women are expected to spend money on an entire class of products that men don’t even have to consider, just to meet the basic expectations of “professional” appearance. Or clothing - a man’s business suit is a rather practical outfit, comfortable, you can move fairly easily, and with lots of pockets. A woman’s suit is far more restrictive, and tends to be cut without pockets or other practical considerations.
Comment by Ursula L — 3 July 2007 @ 12:38 PM
-1 Please don’t resize my window. I like it just the way it is. Thank you.
Comment by Anonymous — 3 July 2007 @ 1:41 PM
There’s nothing on the page itself resizng your window.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 3 July 2007 @ 1:55 PM
i was hiking recently and my sandals broke. i found it difficult to walk barefoot on sharp rocks. i could not keep up
Comment by kris — 3 July 2007 @ 2:44 PM
It’s definitely something that takes some getting used to. Healthy human feet have developed callouses, you need to learn to feel where you’re stepping before you put your weight down, and it uses a whole different set of muscles—muscles most of us have allowed to atrophy. So if you’re hiking and your sandals break, I have no doubt you had a rough time.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 3 July 2007 @ 2:47 PM
I started walking on the balls of my feet ( not exactly fox walking ) about a year to correct my posture. It relieved a huge amount of compression and pain in my lower back. When you work sitting down like I do there is a tendency for the hip flexors to weaken, causing the hip to roll backward ( pulls the top of the hip toward the thigh ). In turn this curves the spine to compensate.
When you walk on the ball of your foot the knee bends and the thigh comes up. This reduces the pull on the hip flexor and straightens the spine. Ahhh, it feels so good.
Anyone interested in this topic should read Gordon Pirie’s book on running. It basically says the same thing. http://www.geocities.com/jsgilbody/Gordon_book_040104.pdf
Finally, I highly recommed converse all stars as a simple shoe with a minimal sole. It is thin and flat, provide a nice trade off between lots of shoe, and none at all.
Comment by Jon Hart — 3 July 2007 @ 3:15 PM
Overall, I find this interesting. I’ve studied t’ai chi a bit, and the gait described does make physiological sense. I have a problem with the minimal shoe concept that hasn’t been addressed in this article or comments that I have managed to spot, though. I over-pronate drastically and always have. My ankles are weak from multiple (think dozens) of small to large twists and sprains over the decades (I’m 39). If I walk in minimal shoes, my ankles flip-flop like a cheesy politician. Would you say that fox-walking would ease this problem, or am I in the sad minority who has to settle for a modified form of that approach in my sturdy shoes?
Comment by Brenda — 3 July 2007 @ 4:05 PM
It sounds like you need to build up your ankles. Perhaps try fox-walking genuinely barefoot, and see how that goes? There may be damage, but damage heals. Your ankle will eventually get stronger, and you’ll be able to do this more often. When I started fox-walking, I discovered quickly how many necessary muscles I’d let atrophy. It’s going to be some time before I can really do it easily and confidently.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 3 July 2007 @ 4:27 PM
It’s certainly an interesting article - but I do have one problem with it:
In all of the films I’ve seen of non-Westernised peoples (South-American tribes who have managed to avoid contact with modern civilisation, Central Africans, the poor of China and India, etc.) I’ve never noticed anyone, even those who have remained barefoot their entire lives, walking differently from the average man in the street.
Indeed, if you carefully watch this trailer:
http://www.tencanoes.com.au/tencanoes/trailer.htm
… then if you step through the scene where the young man takes up a spear and walks out of his village, he clearly places his heel on the ground first.
The true reason that walking “normally” can be uncomfortable, bereft of footwear or no, is that our bipedal stature is a relatively recent evolutionary development, and we’re still adapting to make best use of it.
To quote the late, great Douglas Adams: “Many were increasingly of the opinion that they’d all made a big mistake in coming down from the trees in the first place. And some said that even the trees had been a bad move and that no one should ever have left the oceans.”
Comment by Stuart Shelton — 3 July 2007 @ 5:34 PM
“Fox walking” is also practiced in may chinese martial arts, like taiji quan. The little current described above is there known as “qi”.
Comment by B. Oggle — 3 July 2007 @ 5:55 PM
I just read a book called POSE METHOD OF RUNNING which incorporates the same ideas but with regard to running
Comment by Anonymous — 3 July 2007 @ 6:44 PM
[quote]The true reason that walking “normally” can be uncomfortable, bereft of footwear or no, is that our bipedal stature is a relatively recent evolutionary development, and we’re still adapting to make best use of it.[/quote]
Yeah, that’s what I always thought.
As for the trailer… I couldn’t quite make it out whether they were fox walking or cow walking… I do, however, in principle agree that the way to settle the matter is to look at how the remaining indigenous shoe-free peoples walk.
Comment by Hasha — 3 July 2007 @ 6:55 PM
Aha! This explains alot! I was amazed at how easily my two year was able to walk on his tip toes. As he was walking over cold floor tiles, up he went on his toes as soon as he touched the tile. Now I understand — he was actually walking on the balls of his feet, smoothly, naturally, effortlessly.
Comment by Anonymous — 3 July 2007 @ 7:31 PM
Such a intresting article, and clears some things on my mind.
I have recently started barefoot walking as part of my Parkour Training and i really feel the difference.
You should look up methode naturelle a training method of using your own body and surroundings to train the human body.
Comment by Anthony — 3 July 2007 @ 9:07 PM
Oddly enough, the shoe feet in the picture have angry faces on them while the other feet are just relaxing feet without a care in the world.
Comment by Anonymous — 3 July 2007 @ 9:53 PM
I so agree with this. It reminds of breathing and how we change our breathing as a baby (through the belly) - we now breath through our chest. http://www.templatestaff.com
Comment by rahoorkhuit — 3 July 2007 @ 9:57 PM
Great article Jason! I actually tried it out this afternoon, I went on a big loop walk on the roads behind my house. I started fox walking, and then running on the balls of my feet. I’ve never run that way before and it was so exhilarating just how effortless it was to move that way. I passed three ladies ‘power-walking’ and I got a lot of perplexed stares.
Incredible experience.
Comment by Luke — 3 July 2007 @ 10:21 PM
@ Stuart Shelton:
“Indeed, if you carefully watch this trailer:
http://www.tencanoes.com.au/tencanoes/trailer.htm
… then if you step through the scene where the young man takes up a spear and walks out of his village, he clearly places his heel on the ground first.”
Keep in mind that 10 Canoes is a movie, with modern humans acting in it… even if the young guy is cow-walking, was he raised primitively? Probably not, given that that lifestyle was outlawed long ago in this great, great country…
Comment by qd — 4 July 2007 @ 2:42 AM
Actually, regarding the movie “Ten Canoes,” it’s really worth a look if you can get hold of it outside of Australia - great movie. The bonus disc also has a couple of documentaries showing how to make bark canoes and some other stuff in the traditional way (that’s if you don’t take into account the modern axes, sunglasses or Toyota Landcruisers!)
Comment by qd — 4 July 2007 @ 2:48 AM
Stuart:
“The true reason that walking “normally” can be uncomfortable, bereft of footwear or no, is that our bipedal stature is a relatively recent evolutionary development, and we’re still adapting to make best use of it.”
I just wanted to point out that current scientific evidence has us bipedal for 6 million years. That’s plenty of time, even in evolutionary time, to get it right.
Best
Bill Maxwell
Comment by Bill Maxwell — 4 July 2007 @ 3:04 AM
The company Masai Barefoot technology makes shoes that help walk more naturally. The soles are curved after the Masai’ shoes which are made out of tires.
Comment by Three Rs — 4 July 2007 @ 11:08 AM
Good article. Reminds me that some of the best marathoners started out running barefoot, although their probably not running barefoot anymore.
Posture is also very important.
Good article on Posture
Comment by Vascabruta — 4 July 2007 @ 11:43 AM
zip wrote: “Walking barefoot out on the streets is not a city option. And even fairly dangerous in the grass. Working out a compromise is difficult. Get thin leather mocassins.”
It’s an option, albeit perhaps not the smartest of ones. I started off (cow) walking (knew nothing of fox walking then) on the sidewalk, always observant of what was around (yes, sometimes I’d get small bits of glass and the sort stuck in my feet, even tiny metallic shavings at times [no tetnis yet]). This built my soles up pretty decently, but my front pads remained softer. I’m not promoting barefoot walking in the streets (though I do enjoy it), and don’t listen to me if you don’t want glass in your feet; I care not about getting cut by glass (I rarely ever get cut, even on freshly busted bottles).
Mark wrote: “Yeah sure, go foxwalk in the beach, that’s easy. But try walking around barefoot in real _nature_. Your foot will tear, and when it heals it will be thick and ugly and flat.”
Oh. Appearances…
Jason Godesky wrote: “It’s definitely something that takes some getting used to.”
Indubitably! That’s why almost always when I head out I depart barefoot and carry sandals in hand (possibly to go into a store for coffee or some such).
Comment by chiggles — 4 July 2007 @ 3:42 PM
While a good article, it doesn’t make biomechanical sense. First, what is the purpose of the heel in our anatomy if, as you propose, you are supposed to alight with each step on the ball of your foot? Doing so makes the heel superfluous. But there is little about our body design that is superfluous. No, the heel is meant to hit the ground first and absorb the shock of the impact. The heel has the most padding and the strongest bone structure for doing so.
I have studied tai chi, kung fu and other martial arts. While there is a place for “fox” walking as you call it, I do not believe that this is the normal way to walk.
Just because you come down on your heel first doesn’t mean that you can’t bend your knees, which I do regularly when walking, hiking or running. To do so means that you have to lift your leg as opposed to just shuffling forward. I watch people walking/running on the treadmill and without fail, nearly 100% of them move with locked knees in a shuffle forward movement. I believe this is the root of many hip, leg and foot problems.
I do agree that barefoot walking/running can be helpful and even comfortable. I have a long standing problem with my right foot that causes pain in any shoe after walking/running. But when I walk barefoot or run on a treadmill barefoot, I don’t have the problem. I have been to a number of podiatrists over the years for this problem and none has solved the problem. One charlatan even killed a nerve in between my 3rd and 4th metatarsal in an attempt to fix the problem. This did not help. I have also had numerous sets of orthotics, none of which has helped the problem. And I have had treatment from physical therapists for this problem. Since it is not really practical to hike barefoot, I wish I could find someone who knew what they are doing and could fix this problem. I’m tired of paying for non-performance.
I’ve also found that it is very helpful to perform self massage on my whole body. I try to do this twice a week and give my legs and feet probably 30-40 minutes of attention. I stretch and massage all parts, getting under the bones, into the ligaments and muscles. This has helped a lot! I had a right knee problem that has gone away since I took this up about 6 months ago. I no longer take glucosmine/chrondroitan supplements. Speaking of stretching, I’d recommend that everyone buy a book on stretching. There are movements that don’t come naturally that are incredibly helpful and you probably wouldn’t discover them on your own. You can search Amazon or whatever for a selection of books.
I’ll tell you of one stretching movement for your forearms and wrist that I go out of one of these stretching books. Stand or sit at a table and with your palms down, bend your wrists down as far as the can go (I can go 90 to 100 degrees). Now with you palms up, place your hands on a table and hold the stretch for 30 seconds. Do 3 sets. You can also do one hand at a time by using your opposing hand to press against the other hand. This stretch often helps people with carpale tunnel syndrome.
Comment by Jojo — 5 July 2007 @ 3:01 AM
Jojo,
You seem to be ignoring the martial uses of the heel, which I find interesting since you claim to have studied martial arts. It seems, to me, to be ideally situated for a weapon.
Comment by William Carrington — 5 July 2007 @ 10:21 AM
Very interesting article!
Unfortunately we all need to wear shoes.
Comment by Lucy — 5 July 2007 @ 12:57 PM
wow! this thread has exploded crazily! awesome.
i was thinking about Giuli’s comment here or earlier regarding practicing the “walk” in a public place, and its similarity to the high fashio/ cat-walk model’s walk and getting comments…
well, over the holiday i was out at my parents’ place roaming about barefoot outside a great deal, experimenting with different gaits, and it does seem that the easiest way for us *females* to get into the “walk” involved letting the hips sway and swing more than they might otherwise…
ha! nice! much sexier than the usual stilleto heels stereotype!
Comment by patricia — 5 July 2007 @ 10:30 PM
William Carrington wrote: You seem to be ignoring the martial uses of the heel, which I find interesting since you claim to have studied martial arts. It seems, to me, to be ideally situated for a weapon.
======================
I am not ignoring the use of the heel for fighting.
What I am contending against is the recommendation in the original article that we alight on the ball of our feet and that this is somehow “more natural”. Yes, when you are running or perhaps stalking something, you will tend to come down on the balls of your feet (although I have seen some writing that says you SHOULD come down on the heel for the reasons I originally specified), but for natural walking, I think this would be ummm, unnatural at best. I’ve been trying to walk like the recommendation around my house for the last 2 days and it just doesn’t click for me. It’s uncomfortable, unnatural and you would look pretty strange out in public also.
The problem with the internet is that anyone can write anything. As long as it sounds plausible, there will always be some people who will believe. Sort of like people who join cults. There is a real lack of ability to critically and intellectually analyze what they read among many people in today’s world.
Comment by Jojo — 6 July 2007 @ 4:20 AM
Jojo wrote: you would look pretty strange out in public also.
======================
What matters looks?
Comment by chiggles — 6 July 2007 @ 5:14 AM
[QUOTE]although I have seen some writing that says you SHOULD come down on the heel for the reasons I originally specified[/QUOTE]
I’d like to see where. “Impact forces in running are characterized by a peak in the vertical ground reaction force, which is small for toe landing, and 1 to 3 times body weight for heel landing. Impact forces during heel-toe running, the type of running that is most common, have been associated with the development of injuries” [Clinical Biomechanics 13(1998):521-531].
Comment by Luke — 6 July 2007 @ 8:09 AM
Having your heel touch the ground first doesn’t necessarily mean putting all your weight on it immediately.
You can place the heel then ease the weight forward onto the front foot, as described in the linked page comparing fox walking and tai chi.
Admittedly, this would be harder to do while running, where landing on the ball of the foot is better.
Comment by Douglas Brebner — 6 July 2007 @ 9:00 AM
Jojo:
I just wanted to point out that the heel does have a purpose aside from (possibly) walking on it, so you can’t really say that not walking on it would make it superfluous as you originally did.
I find your last paragraph offensive. You have offered no evidence other than your own thoughts and experience. Do you have any other evidence that support your point?
Comment by William Carrington — 6 July 2007 @ 6:06 PM
This idea of “walking right” — quietly, smoothly — reminds me of this passage from Colin Turnbull’s description of walking with the Pymies in the jungles of Uganda:
“I was the only one whose feet made any noise; the others ran so lightly that they barely touched the ground but rather seemed to skim along just above it, like sylvan sprites”
And later, after arriving back at camp:
“Njobo was there to greet us, and the first thing he asked was whether I had been able to keep up with the others, or if I had ‘walked like the BaNgwana.’ He then turned to the others with an obvious ‘I told you so.’ air and said, ‘You see, it is all right; he knows how to walk.’ This apparently slight compliment was in fact a very real one, because to thePygmy it is one of the most important differences between the people of the forest and the people of the village that the lattter do NOT know ‘how to walk.’ Walking, to the Pygmy, means being able to run swiftly and silently, withouth slipping, tripping or falling. Every day he depends for his food on his ability to ‘walk,’ and more than once his life will be saved by the same ability, when he has to run from a charging buffalo or creep away unnoticed from a sleeping leopard.”
Comment by Rob Bracken — 6 July 2007 @ 6:43 PM
I second the Gordon Pirie book recommendation. I was just about to post the link myself.
As far as speed, at least with ‘fox running’, I’ve found that it actually becomes smoother and less damaging at a fairly high pace. In very rough areas I slow down to a jogging pace and put my feet out forward more to better feel ahead of time what I’m stepping on, and to slow the weight transfer.
Walking slowly on your heels might be okay sometimes. If you’re on a forgiving surface then it might save you energy actually for a long walk. Still I’d recommend putting some good earplugs in and trying it on a hard surface. It’ll probably freak you out a bit. You usually don’t notice how big the impact is but you will after that.
The heel uselessness opposing argument is a bit silly. Of course you use your heel. Unless you’re sprinting maybe, the idea is to transfer the weight from the ball along to the heel and off again.
Comment by slur — 6 July 2007 @ 7:52 PM
Hi All, very interesting thread. I’ve been a “barefoot hiker” since 1976, and have always walked “ball-heel-ball”, as it hurts to walk any other way! I didn’t know it was called fox walking. I prefer walking in the country, but often walk several miles on pavements (most recently in London with a barefoot friend who also “fox walks”) and it’s no problem. Check out http://www.barefooters.org for further information. Free your feet and your mind will follow!
Comment by John Greaves — 6 July 2007 @ 8:12 PM
115. William Carrington: Please go away. It is clear that you like to raise obscure and meaningless points, perhaps just to hear yourself talk. I won’t be replying to anything you post.
114. Douglas Brebner: Exactly what I was trying to convey.
117. slur - Give some more thought to your last paragraph. In fact, why don’t you try it at home first? In walking or running, you are moving forward. There is no way that you can contact with the ball of your foot and then fall back onto your heel!
Now for some references I pulled up through the magic Google. Hey, you could do it also if you took the time instead of accepting anything you read on the net at face value because it sounds plausible or logical!
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Here’s some nice graphics on normal gait including some easy to watch stick figure quick time movies. You will see that the for normal gait, the heel comes down first. Then you roll on the outside of your foot to the ball area, where you then push off for the next step.
http://www.gla.ac.uk/ibls/fab/tutorial/biomech/gait2.html
Another reference from the same website that discusses forces in walking. Also a pretty clear picture under the section titled “Ground Reaction Forces”.
http://www.pt.ntu.edu.tw/hmchai/BM03/BMClinic/Walk.htm
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Then there is:
Compensatory advantages of toe walking.
Kerrigan DC, Riley PO, Rogan S, Burke DT.
Harvard Medical School Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
OBJECTIVES: The study’s hypothesis is that toe walking requires less peak muscle strength distally about the ankle and knee compared with normal heel-toe walking and thus may have compensatory advantages for patients with upper motor neuron injury and distal muscle weakness. DESIGN: Motion analysis and force platform data were collected in able-bodied subjects during toe walking and normal walking. Sagittal plane joint torques reflecting muscle force requirements and joint powers reflecting nonisometric muscle contraction were compared between the two conditions using paired t tests, applying a Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. SETTING: A gait laboratory. SUBJECTS: Seventeen able-bodied adults, 9 of whom were ballet dancers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Peak hip, knee, and ankle joint torque and power variables during walking. RESULTS: Peak ankle plantarflexor torque and ankle power generation during terminal stance and preswing were reduced (p
Comment by Jojo — 7 July 2007 @ 3:48 AM
Looks like your only allowed a very limited number of characters in a post, so this is a continuation of #119.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10638874&dopt=Abstract
In other words, if you feel more comfortable walking on your toes, then you probably have weak muscles. Work on strengthening them so you can walk normally.
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Toe Walking
Toe walking is quite common between the ages of 10 to 18 months when the child is learning to take his first steps. However, if toe walking persists beyond 18 months, it should be checked by a physician to see if there is any problem. There are many causes of toe walking, but the three major causes are as follows.
1. Muscle spasticity in the Calf muscles, especially the Gastrocnemius and Soleus muscles. This is often a manifestation of Cerebral Palsy, due to anoxia (lack of oxygen) to the brain around the time of birth. Other muscles in the body may also be affected, but the calf muscles become tight over time, causing the ankle to be fixed in Equinus (the foot points downwards). In the early stages, a thermoplastic brace (AFO) may control the equinus, but over time, surgery to lengthen the heel cord (Achilles tendon) is necessary.
2. Congenital tight heel cords occur in some children. There is no problem with any other muscles in the body. Only the heel cords are tight. Could this be an isolated form of cerebral palsy, or could the child be born with just tight heel cords? No one knows. But the treatment is the same - use of a thermoplastic brace (AFO) or surgery in the more severe cases.
3. Habitual toe walking. Some children persist in toe walking, even though examination reveals their heel cords are not tight. When asked to walk normally with a heel-toe gait, they can. But when not concentrating, they naturally get up on their toes. Nagging does not help. Very often, the problem resolves by itself. In the more persistent cases, using a thermoplastic brace (AFO) to enforce plantigrade walking for 3 to 6 months may help.
http://www.orthoseek.com/articles/toewalk.html
So if you are older than 18 months and find yourself walking on your toes, then you should see a doctor.
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Hi crimsondynamics,
Poorly fitting shoes cause blisters, bunions, among other foot problems. Normal walking is heel to toe gait. In children toe walking is typically only for a short period of time, approximately two-three months. Persistence after this time frame should be evaluated by a physician to assure that no anomalies are present.
http://www.doctorslounge.com/orthopedics/forums/backup/topic-8308.html
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I have been experimenting with this “fox”/toe walking and normal walking around the house for the last couple of days. I find walking on the balls of my feet unnatural and uncomfortable. I think people who have problems walking heel to toe do so because they don’t bend their knees. They tend to walk with a locked knee. Try keeping your knees slightly bent and LIFTING you legs when you walk, instead of gliding forward with a locked leg, I think you’ll find that this quite natural and comfortable. It has worked for me across many miles of hiking.
Comment by Jojo — 7 July 2007 @ 3:51 AM
The first two links you gave do give nice overviews of normal, though not natural gait (see link in comment 44). In seeking statistical data on what constitutes normal gait it is important that it is taken from a population that is primarily unshod, for example Thompson and Zipfel’s article in The Foot 15(2005):22-28. Their examination was on whether there was forefoot widening in those who primarily walked barefoot.
The article you cited on the Compensatory Advantages of Toe Walking were referring to using the dynamics of a particular type of walk and applying it to patients upper motor neuron problems. In other words: its about physical therapy taking advantage of the kinematics of toe walking, and also irrelevant to this discussion. If your argument is that the authors refer to heel-toe walking as normal gait, I must disagree – reference to both forefoot and rearfoot gaits as normal, particularly in running (see C.L. Stackhouse, et al. Clinical Biomechanics 19(2004) 64-70, who discusses differences in forefoot and rearfoot strike running) defining neither as a pathology. In all the literature I’ve seen, landing on the ball of the foot is referred to as “forefoot walking?, none of these articles mentions toe-walking.
The extreme difficulty of fox walking in shoes is prominent in this article. As you will have noticed from searching the literature: there is very little interest in determining what is a normal gait or a natural gait. The interest is primarily in improving footwear and orthotics. The attitude is expressed neatly in Kadambande, S, et al. The Foot 16 (2006): 188-191: “Despite considerable economic improvements in certain parts of the world, there remains segments of society in the developing world that do not wear shoes.?
And I’d like to reiterate my disagreement: I do not not think that there is anything wrong with people who are uncomfortable walking heel-toe, please read the literature more thoroughly, forefoot walking isn’t pathological.
Slur, you are quite correct, you impact the ground with less force on the bones of the leg because your heel hits the ground after the ball of the foot. Jojo, I think that you are confusing toe-walking with forefoot running in this instance, too, the heel does in fact touch the ground (see the article I cited in comment 113).
Comment by Luke — 7 July 2007 @ 1:20 PM
Here in the Central Valley CA, summer temps are frequently well in the triple digits, and walking barefoot on asphalt, let alone concrete, is quite the challenge. I can do it some with practice, but on those hot days if I want to do barefoot I keep my sandals along.
(And here’s a plug for Kiwi sandals, every bit that touches your skin is leather, they’re foot-shaped, I am in love with ‘em and would wear them to work except I’m a meatcutter and there are these pesky rules about footgear and working around food with sharp pointy knives… http://www.kiwisandals.com/)
One side-effect of being barefoot a lot shows in my martial arts training - we are barefoot on a hardwood floor, and when spending most of my day without shoes I notice I have to powder my feet more to keep from sticking to the floor during sliding and turning motions.
I thought my soles would get drier, tougher, and better able to slide or turn more easily. Wrong, in my case at least.
I came to the conclusion that when you are barefoot more, your soles sweat more - keeping the callouses flexible, less prone to cracking, less likely to get punctured when hitting pointy rocks.
And in closing, I’d like to add that our Hapkido instructor tells us to train while standing on the balls of our feet, heels and toes a “rice-paper thickness above the ground.” I forwarded the link for this article to our class email list, as much of what’s stated here is compatible with our training.
Comment by Blanche — 8 July 2007 @ 12:22 AM
Thanks for this; this article brought back a childhood memory that I’d long forgotten. When I was 3 or 4 had to ‘re-learn’ how to walk because on a doctor’s recommendation because I was walking in a strange manner, placing the ball of my foot on the ground first.
With this new knowledge, it would appear that as a child I was fox-walking. With the best of intentions, my parents guided me to learn to cow walk.
Thanks again.
Comment by Jon — 8 July 2007 @ 11:33 AM
Jojo said:
I’m 32 years old. I’ve been “toe-walking” while barefoot for longer than I can remember. I don’t lock my knees (regardless of gait). I don’t have any form of Cerebral Palsy, and I’m pretty sure my heel tendons aren’t excessively tight (I’m not as physically flexible as I was 10 years ago, but I still rank far above the American average). If I spend the day cow-walking in shoes, my feet, ankles, calves and knees are all sore and tired. On the other hand, if I spend the day toe/fox walking barefoot, my feet, ankles, calves and knees [b]may[/b] be tired, but never sore.
As in most things, I will trust to my own experiences on this before I trust any study.
I have no intention of visiting a doctor for my “problem”.
I would appreciate it if you’d stop being snotty about this. I’m sure if you tried you could find a way to disagree without taking cheap shots.
Comment by jhereg — 9 July 2007 @ 8:33 AM
I hear Ten Canoes is a great movie, but I haven’t seen it yet. But it was filmed in 2006. This is the kind of detail that modern actors easily overlook; it’s something you lose without even realizing you’ve lost it.
We developed bipedalism before we developed our big brains, handedness or tool use. We’ve had plenty of time to adapt to it, it’s really our hallmark adaptation. It’s what we do best.
I like the way you think! Unfortunately, you haven’t followed it through. Thinking biomechanically, what would you do if you were going to build something to hit the ground first? You’d want something to absorb the shock, right? Your car has something called a “shock absorber,” and what is it? It’s a spring. Take a look at an animal that absolutely does land on its heels: the kangaroo. Look at a kangaroo’s heels: it has tendons that act like springs.
So, biomechanically, we can see that the human heel is definitely not designed to be the first part of the foot to land on the ground; otherwise, we’d have evolved tendons that could absorb the shock and carry the energy. We would have evolved such that our locked leg wouldn’t pound into our lower back.
The “L” shaped configuration of the human foot to the leg is somewhat unique. The fox walk allows you to use your sense of touch to avoid stepping on things, rather than simply using your sense of sight. It bends the knees, and adds the foot itself into the leverage to handle the impact of each step, distributing it up and down the leg. The heel doesn’t become superfluous simply because it doesn’t touch the ground first; nor does it relegate it to merely martial applications. The heel is still involved in the fox walk, it’s just not used as a piston. Moreover, the heel is crucial when standing. The ball of the foot may land first, but standing relies heavily on the heel.
How does one land on the heel first, with bent knees? I can’t see it. I tried it, and I kept landing on my heels first–that or I bent my foot so high to avoid having the ball touch first that it hurt. Why would our “natural” walk involve so much effort to avoid the ball?
No?
Why’s that?
In some parts of Africa, not having schistosomiasis marks you as pretty strange. A normalized pathology is no less pathological, which is the epidemicist’s way of saying, “If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you jump off of it, too?”
As I mentioned in the article, it can be difficult to get into. It uses muscles you’ve probably let atrophy for, well, most of your life. My own experience has been pretty amazing. I used to have a constant pain in my heels. I was only periodically reminded of how excruciating it was, because it was so constant. It’s gone now. Completely gone, for the first time in years. Now, my right calf is still hurting–it’s not used to so much exercise–but it’s starting to get stronger. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it hurt. Opening your eyes for the first time has got to be a pretty painful experience, too. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.
That is true, isn’t it?
Wow, thanks for this! This was the kind of stuff I was looking for when I started writing this article!
No, not necessarily. But what our culture considers the “normal walk” is a controlled fall. The knee locks, to turn the leg into a piston to catch you, and you fall forward onto your heel. That’s the so-called “normal walk.” Any deviation from that (such as placing your foot out before placing weight on it) is no longer normal. But, if you’re trying to feel where you’re stepping before you step there, the ball is the largest and most sensitive part of the foot. You won’t feel much with your heel.
Thanks, Rob–illustrates my point beautifully.
William’s a regular here, and he hasn’t said anything out of line. You’ve been pushing that line. And you’re also not any kind of moderator here. And that was way out of line.
Combining a lack of critical thinking skills with a general disdain for those who disagree with you is such a charming duo. All your evidence amounts to is people of a particular culture saying that their culture’s way is normal. Congratulations, you’ve discovered ethnocentrism! That says nothing about the evolutionary mechanics of the human step, or how adaptive the motion is. It just says that the people who consider this gait normal, consider it normal.
By the same token, as alluded to previously, there are parts of Africa where schistosomiasis is considered normal. Pathological behavior sometimes becomes so prevalent that it becomes culturally normalized. That’s the claim this article makes. All your evidence shows is that it has, indeed, been normalized.
“Compensatory advantages of toe walking” illustrates that fox walking takes less energy, and thus is necessary for those who cannot walk “normally.” But that simply suggests that fox walking is our normal gait (and hence, easier, requiring less energy). That doesn’t prove that fox walking is a symptom of weak muscles; on the contrary, it proves that “cow walking” is so pathological that it becomes impossible without very strong muscles. That suggests that it is quite maladaptive, if it requires that much effort and strain.
That’s not at all what the study supports. What it supports is that everyone is more comfortably walking ball-first, and if you have problems with your muscles, it may be the only way you can walk.
The very fact that it is “quite common between the ages of 10 to 18 months” suggests that this is the natural human gait. We need to be specifically trained to walk otherwise. The rest simply goes back to your previous points: people who consider this gait normal, consider this gait normal.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 10 July 2007 @ 3:32 PM
Cooool…
Can’t even read through all the comments, i have so many things to remember I want to say.
OK:
- What’s true for walking is true for rock-climbing! i just got back from the mountains, and prehensile toes make for a lot more grip scrambling up rocks.
- Is there a difference between natural walking and stealth-designed fox-walking proper? In my experience (sic!), proper stalking requires a ghost-walk, fully starting with the toes and working backwards, whereas natural walking one merely bounces along on the front two-thirds of the foot.
- Interestingly, most good martial arts require you to re-learn how to walk. In Ba Gua, you practice mud-stepping (for years in some circles, arf, I mean styles) precisely to develop the sensitivity and ’spring-loaded’ spinal/pelvic positioning characteristic of fox-walking. The late Glenn Morris (in “path Notes of an American ninja master”, I think) describes the ninja walk as slightly bow-legged, like a baby, making contact with the outside edge of the foot, rolling the rest of the foot down and and pushing through off the ball and toes. Look at Hatsumi footage on YouTube and you’ll see why he calls them ’scufflers’. He also approvingly cites Musashi as saying “Make your warrior’s walk your everyday walk”.
- I have a problem with all that, though. Isn’t the whole point of the human style of bipedalism that we CAN lock our knees and pivot forwards on our legs through momentum, massively reducing the energy required and allowing, say, a Kudu hunter to run an antelope to ground over several days?
This is why it seems to me that there is a difference between ’savannah-walking’, natural-style, to be sure, and actual stalking-style, which would be unsustainable over any long distance.
The esoteric martial arts seem to be attempting to go back even beyond ‘natural’ (pre-civ) human walking to re-create the advantages of animals with permanently-sprung legs, like cats - agility, speed, strength, bounce - whilst sacrificing the more modern advantages of endurance and range.
- In this regard, your line “Homo sapiens has been as finely tuned to bipedalism as a shark to hunting underwater” reminded me of this quote, suggesting quite the opposite; that our bipedal evolution is a recent, (ongoing?) and partially successful adaptation:
“The first bipedalists were not semihuman creatures. they were animals opting to walk on their hind legs. It was a costly option for them to take up and we are still paying the instalments. The mammalian spine evolved over a hundred million years and reached a high degree of efficiency, on the assumption that mammals are creatures with one leg at each corner and that they walk with their spine in a horizontal plane. Under those conditions the blueprint is one that would command the admiration of any professional engineer..” Elaine Morgan, The Scars of Evolution, p.25, but quoted in a book on Yoga, suggesting (to me, at least) that many of the ancient (sic) techniques of Yoga, CMA etc have some element of attempting to ‘perfect’ (rather than ‘correct’) nature, eg headstands in Yoga to counteract the effects on the lymphatic system of standing uprght all day.
—
- Of course, i also had boots in the mountains, but like many modern shoes (and the new ‘Masai’ branded innovations), they attempt to replicate the advantages of barefoot walking by being tilted slightly forwards. Another one for the ‘Civilisation attempting to undo its damage with even more complicated solutions’ file.
- Moccassinnss: Apparently the Maya used to paint their feet with rubber when they were going off into the jungle for a long walk. It would wear off after a few days, having given some protection from thorns, foot rot etc. Sorry, no cit. I saw it on the magic picture box in the corner.
- Electro-energy: This is my one last-ditch cure for insomnia. When all else fails, I go outside at 2am and stand barefoot on the wet grass. Bare earth even better. Never fails to suck out that undischarged energy keeping me awake.
That is all!
Comment by cheeba — 11 July 2007 @ 12:40 PM
Certainly anthropologists in shoes have made the case that the locked knee is part of what makes bipedalism work so well, but the aforementioned feats of Indian runners in the article was the result of fox-running, not the locked-knee approach. I’m not good enough at it to say from personal experience, but it sounds like fox-walking is precisely what allowed us to be such great endurance runners. Do you ever hear about modern runners in shoes running for days at a time as a regular thing?
Comment by Jason Godesky — 11 July 2007 @ 1:32 PM
Well, this article was really fascinating and I’ll have to look into this barefoot walking thing more. I’ve always had problems finding shoes that fit me properly, and I always HATE buying shoes because of the infamous connection to sweatshops along with ridiculously high price. I’ve also always loved barefoot walking and have noticed on my own that it is possible to hike through forests without harming your feet — even the clear-cut deforested hillside behind the house I grew up in. Just this weekend I walked a short distance shoeless from my parent’s cabin in the country to the river, and my mother was taken aback that I would do so. Perhaps I will have to stop making fun of one of my roommates that has taken to wearing those silly looking vibram “feet gloves” in public.
I’ve stayed up till 1:30 in the morning reading this article and all the comments. Perhaps the next article you write could be about sleep. I’ve had a hunch for many years now that my terrible sleeping habits have been holding me back from being a truly healthy person, but I have little idea where to start examining the subject.
Comment by datoo — 16 July 2007 @ 4:36 AM
i have started wearing the lightest and thinest soles i could find, namely driving shoes of doubled soles deerskin of moosehide, after reading this article i think it might be easie to fox walk, ran many marathons up till my 60s now mainly bike, any comments
Comment by usmc2444@aol.com — 19 July 2007 @ 2:16 PM
The interesting thing about the fox walk is I noticed I did it instinctivley whenever I walked in my son’s room at night to check on him. The floor is often covered in small lego pieces and it never hurt if I accidently stepped on one if I walked in a way different then how I would during the day.
Comment by Anonymous — 19 July 2007 @ 5:57 PM
This article was fascinating and educational. Thank you! A confirmation for me, for sure.
I’ve been a barefoot girl since earliest memories. Mom would never let us take off our shoe before June 1st though. Old wive’s tale I guess about the ground not being warmed up up enough.
I keep a pair of thong sandals in my car because I forget shoes when going grocery shopping, etc.
Without realizing or having a name for it I believe I’ve developed the fox walk. I seldom step on a pricker plant in the yard or a sharp stone because my foot feels it before the full weight is born on it.
I can walk on gravel, stones, etc. and notice, as you said, the foot step is somehow lighter. Also, I have a very hgh arch and instep; when I leave a bare footprint only the ball, the heel and sometimes a small line down the outside shows.
I’ve lived in cities for half of my life and it didn’t change a thing. I was shoeless unless forced. Now in the country. A neighbor teased me one day in winter when I came to the door barefoot. He called me “Daisy Mae” and it stuck.
I’m 66 today, still fit and quite trim. Maybe part of it is thanks to the no-shoes policy.
Thanks again for the article. - Jackie
Comment by jackiepa@npacc.net — 19 July 2007 @ 6:32 PM
Jason
Thank you for the article. Intelligently and logically argued, and with humility wonderfully startling to see today!
I am a bodyworker, and would like to suggest that those of you still suffering with aches and pains find a competent manual therapist. John Barnes’ Myofascial Release is a wonderful thing. The Anatomy Trains work of Thomas Myers (http://www.anatomytrains.net/flash/index.html) changes the way one looks at the body as well (instead of the single muscle, reductionist view of classic anatomy, he looks at the connections from head to feet and back again in continuous fascial bands, bringing the structural design work of Bucky Fuller to the human structure).
I’ve done this kind of walking for a very long time, and frequently frighten my wife who doesn’t hear me walking into the room. People used to tell me I ran quietly on the treadmill, they’d be banging away, and I’d be gliding along. Laces are too hard to get off, I wear a lot of Merrill jungle mocs, and will be looking into even more simple styles following this article.
Thanks again!!
Comment by ronningen@excite.com — 22 July 2007 @ 9:57 AM
I love having my civilized way of life challenged. i find it sad the way society try to snuff away so many good instincts but it’s always nice to rediscover them.
i’ve always preffered being barefeet, especialy in the house although the heel banging, bone on bone, has probably done a lot of physical dammage for me over 30 some years. it’s only been 4 days since i read this article and i’ve been aplying myself to the the fox walk ever since. my ankles might be sore but my back feel better and i’m looking forward to see the long term effect. i suffer from cronic fatigue and fibromialgia… some pain relief is greatly apreciated. thank you very , very much for this article!!!
Comment by Anygma — 26 July 2007 @ 11:04 PM
Zola Budd, a former Olympic long distance athlete from South Africa showed the world that people can run without shoes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zola_Budd
I’m trying to get my kids to go barefoot as well but somehow the Canadian culture of not barer than socks seem to be stuck in their heads.
Comment by Dave — 31 July 2007 @ 12:23 PM
Someone asked about early Scandinavian shoes.
They were leather, with thicker leather soles. The Saami (Lapps) used reindeer hide with the hair still on. I actually have a handmade pair of the former for historical re-enactments, with a thin modern sole for traction. They’re the most comfortable pair of shoes I own. Otherwise, I stick to sandals with lots of room for toes.
Doctors recommend walking barefoot to help straighten out knock knees in children.
I’m guessing that shoes got stiffer for “protection” before technology caught up to make them more flexible again, and now we’re stuck with the idea of a thick sole and lots of support.
Interestingly, military boots are getting softer, more flexible and “Grippier” with thinner, more flexible uppers to allow maneuvering instead of boxing the feet in. (The pair I got issued in the 80s felt like wooden clogs. The new ones are almost like athletic shoes.)
Interesting read. I’m going to give it some thought and a try.
Comment by Michael Z. Williamson — 11 September 2007 @ 1:45 AM
Here are a few links some of you may be interested in checking out.
Barefoot running forum
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/RunningBarefoot/messages
Barefoot running machines
http://www.runningbarefoot.org/
http://www.barefootted.com/
Comment by Jamie — 14 October 2007 @ 4:34 PM
I’ve been a “barefoot hiker” as it hurts to walk any other way called as fox walking. I love to walk several miles on pavements and it’s no problem. I love to do Bare foot walk as it helps in reducing the various stomach problems and keep fit and obesity.
Comment by Anonymous — 17 December 2007 @ 10:44 AM
Very interesting. I’ve always felt better after a summer of going mostly barefoot. I think I’ll take off my shoes.
Oh just bought a pair Of Vibram Five fingers from the kayakshed of all places
Comment by Paul — 16 January 2008 @ 2:08 AM
I think you’re absolutely right. It can be easy to get discouraged when we think of how much we’ve lost, but discouragement doesn’t help anyone. It should be just as encouraging to know how much we’ve always had inside of us, and that there’s absolutely no doubt that we can unlock that with a few simple changes. We’re human—how could it possibly be otherwise?
Comment by Smith — 18 January 2008 @ 10:56 AM
I just wanted to point out that the heel does have a purpose aside from (possibly) walking on it, so you can’t really say that not walking on it would make it superfluous as you originally did.
I find your last paragraph offensive. You have offered no evidence other than your own thoughts and experience. Do you have any other evidence that support your point?
[Editor’s note: This comment anonymized due to suspicion name and URL. The content has not been changed, but we’ve eliminated possible spamming in the name and URL.]
Comment by Anonymous — 18 January 2008 @ 11:02 AM
Actually it seems that walking in high heels in some cases can be beneficial for womens pelvic muscles (and sex drive:-))
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/fashion/article3295325.ece
Comment by Aaron Tostenaes — 13 February 2008 @ 11:05 AM
Fascinating and empowering information. Certain intuitions about shoes - like, why do shoes seem to hurt no matter what after a month or two - come together in this unique article. Thankyou Jason Godesky.
Elk walking, deer walking, cow walking - just applying this information is a tactile feast.
And thank you commenters for the link potlatch.
pb
Comment by pawbard — 20 September 2008 @ 10:48 AM
I’m amazed at how dead on you are about everything! An amazing read, I’m VERY inspired! Well done sir. I am giving this link to all my friends and family, every human being should read this.
I have 1 question: I am 20 years old, I run and do parkour a lot, my pinky toe is slightly curved due to wearing shoes. If I keep running and doing parkour and everything else barefoot, will my pinky toe straighten? Will my toes separate and get spaced out better? I want to fix my feet. I know the human body adapts, so I assume they will go back to REAL “normal”.
Thanks a ton.
Spread the word.
-Victor
Comment by Victor — 3 November 2008 @ 10:43 PM
I don’t call myself a doctor, and some damage stays with you the rest of your life, but I think you’ll get 90% of your normal functionality back pretty quickly. That last 10% may take the rest of your life, or may never come at all. I’ve noticed this pattern with a lot of domestication’s impacts; hence why “feral” doesn’t mean quite the same thing as “wild.” It includes that tacit recognition that some things never quite return to normal, but you can still heal most of the damage, generally.
Comment by Jason Godesky — 5 November 2008 @ 6:41 PM
Right on. I’ll keep going and see what happens. Thanks for the response!
Comment by Victor — 6 November 2008 @ 1:25 AM
Recently I was watching a tracking video with some family members. The host was emphasizing how a track is deeper at the heel because that is where a foot strikes the ground first.
Just to check I stood up and walked normally across the floor… I concluded that he was wrong. Some disagreements ensued from my company. I was told I walked strange, wasn’t natural, I would have foot problems, and so on.
So I did some googling for step patters and came upon “foxwalking”. I used the articles to back up my own walking pattern with no success. I’m still the strange one.
Shoes have always been very uncomfortable for me. Shoe manufacturers do not properly construct wide sizes and my EEE with high instep feet are impossible to find a proper fit for.
This has resulted in my going barefoot for my whole life except when foot protection is absolutely necessary.
My feet look precisely like the “natural feet” featured in the article - wide spread, straight toes. I’ve been told various things from, “Good Lord, man, you could pick up watermelons with those things!”, to, “You look like a duck.”
I’m happy to have found out about the natural human step pattern. So I’m not the weird one now… everyone else is. LOL
Comment by Natural Foxwalker — 11 November 2008 @ 7:37 PM
Man, consider yourself really flippin lucky!
I’m glad you found this article! I’m trying to “fix” my feet from being “normal” all my life. WAY too many idiots these days, I’m sure you could agree.
Comment by Victor — 11 November 2008 @ 10:23 PM
I hope you can fix your feet. Look on the bright side, they could probably be worse.
My grandmother had terrible feet. Growing up, her family couldn’t afford new shoes. So she and her siblings were stuck wearing shoes that were too small. I can still remember her feet. Her toes actually crossed over each other.
I’m active too and have often thought that parkour looked like fun, but this rural area lacks the architectural necessities for it. It’s all flat land here and the trees are all pretty much high branched.
I can understand the need for the use of your toes in that sport. I however do not understand how anyone can balance on their heels.
Question of curiosity to anyone who may know, would shoes made in the style of the tabi like practitioners of ninjutsu wear be any better for the human foot than traditional western shoes?
Comment by Natural Foxwalker — 12 November 2008 @ 8:04 AM
Well, I’m sold. (Easiest date ever, aren’t I?) I’m glad the last pair of shoes I bought have closed toes and cost me -$20, because I’m only going to be wearing them in winter and to amusement parks. And maybe not even it winter.
Comment by Bill — 19 December 2008 @ 2:53 AM
Right on.
I’m not sure about tabi boots, I’ve always wanted to try some myself, but they all look cheaply built and are made of cotton
I’d like some well made moccasins like from the movie “The Hunted”, but they’re pretty dang expensive.
Comment by Victor — 19 December 2008 @ 2:04 PM
Reading this makes me very happy that I spend as much time as humanly possible without any shoes on. Truly a fascinating read.
Comment by MBT — 14 January 2009 @ 5:11 PM
I love barefoot walking. Sadly I can never do it. When I lived in the city, in the summers the black pavement was so hot that the heat blistered the soles of my feet, and in the winter they’d probably get frostbitten if I went without shoes. I only had small windows of opportunity in the spring in fall, and they felt great. The sense of connection and heighten awareness of my environment is very rewarding. My personal favourite places to walk barefoot are shallow creeks and moist grass of the early morning.
Unfortunately my father got a much higher paying job 2 years ago and now I live in suburb, and I can’t even walk at all now! Because no sane consumerwhore would dare think of walking any farther than from their front door to their car, the place is designed to make it impossible to walk and force people to be as reliant on SUVs as possible. There are no sidewalks and I have to walk inside a ditch on the side of a country road or along a highway, and the nearest thing that isn’t a massive house is a gas station about 1 hour away. Just the sight of the never ending prosesion of SUVs down the road makes it difficult to look out the window.
I do find foxwalking is very comfortable, not in shoes though, they’re to bulking and numb your sense of touch, and therefore don’t facilitate a fox walk. Foxwalking comes natural when I walk barefooted, I’ve only today even heard of it. I can fox-run for much longer than I can run heal->toe without running out of breath, or hurting my knees. It’s amazing how humans have become so atrophied from living in civilization that we can’t even walk properly anymore.
Comment by Jonathan — 9 March 2009 @ 11:48 PM
It just takes time to roughen your soles up and get your feet strong to be able to move around on hot gravely ground barefoot. But you could always buy moccasins, fivefingers, or feelmax footwear. Don’t let obstacles stand in your way, work up your body and mind to being able to overcome them. I run on gravel roads barefoot because I have built up to it ( to a degree), and my soles are getting tougher everyday, calluses getting more thick so that when summers here, I can beat the heat. As far as obstacles go, there’s running for the distance obstacle, and for walls, fences, drops, etc, look up Parkour and MovNat. I’ve been doing running and parkour barefoot for a few months now, and it changes everything. I will NOT let society suppress my inner animal. Our feet are dying to be strong and happy.
Comment by Victor — 12 March 2009 @ 1:51 AM
http://www.AmericanParkour.com for overcoming obstacles in your environment, you can find parkour practitioners near you and train with them and learn from them for free, make some new friends and get some old instincts and strengths back.
Check out MovNat too, lots of good philosophy and training stuff there, in my opinion, the right way to live/train. Check it out.
Comment by Victor — 12 March 2009 @ 1:54 AM
I’ve “fox walk”ed all my life and am happy to have read this article as it approved my way of walking. Though, now that I’ve been more cautious about what’s on the ground, I’m a bit scared of walking barefoot in the city. There’s a lot of sharp rocks, glass, metal bits, etc. I’m thinking long-term here. If I get cut, I’ll have to wait 1-2 weeks for it to heal and walk properly again; and if it gets infected, it’ll take more time obviously.
So, how do you guys manage to walk around in the city? The bottom of my feet are all soft- I’ve never had any damage done to them so anything can pierce through pretty easy. Now I’m wearing these home-made sandals made out of thin rope and Feiyues (martial art shoes).
Comment by ieabu — 3 July 2009 @ 9:50 AM
I avoid the city at all costs. The air gives me a throbbing headache that lasts for days. However, if I do have to go, I do wear shoes or at the very least flip flops.
The thing you have to consider is not just short term injury, but the possibility of discarded drug needles, etc. that could harbor life threatening diseases. As terrible as it sounds, such things have been found before in parks in the larger towns not far from here.
I went hiking just today at a state park. I wore flip flops. Good thing I did. Another person in my group saw a 3-hooked fishing lure in the grass along the path. They made sure to not leave it there too. That was out through the woods not even by the river or on a path to it.
Anytime you’re in public, I think you’re better off to wear something on your feet. I mean, who would think of a fishing lure being in the middle of a woods? I go barefoot here at home and at friends’ and family members’ homes, but if I’m on public property I don’t feel safe enough. You are the only one who will look out for you.
Comment by Natural Foxwalker — 3 July 2009 @ 8:31 PM
I walked barefoot in the city, many times, and have not been cut, but my soles are tough. I also wear Feiyues, they let you fox walk pretty easily. The only thing you can do is toughen up your soles, be really aware, and relax relax relax so your foot molds to whatever it touches, or just wear something. I’d like to make a good pair of huaraches, very thin soled. Fun stuff though. Could you post a link or something to a pic of your home made sandals? I’m interested to see what you have
Comment by Victor/Bagheera — 3 July 2009 @ 10:24 PM