About Walking - 4 - Sink, Turn and Lift
Wonder Woman statuette - Diana, DC Comics Princess of the Amazons, demonstrates sink, turn and lift - good for walking, skiing and performing Amazon horse tricks.
About Walking - 4 - Sink, Turn and Lift
More on the Mechanics of Freely Swinging Pelvis and Torso
Based on “Evening Class Notes 1977-1978: The Coachman” by Mia Segal and Gaby Yaron
There’s a whole lot of moving going on as one leg becomes the pivot around which the pelvis swings the stepping leg forward. The diagonal connections between the pivot leg (and relaxed low back) and the opposite side obliques and glutei help swing the back leg forward. The movement is most free when the entire ‘swing leg’ side is engaged in rotating to the center line.
In this ongoing exploration of walking, more on the mechanics of pivoting over the standing leg and making space for the back leg to swing through.
I’m constantly testing this work out - in yoga, swimming, on skis, and … walking! I’m struck by how getting the weight up off the knee and pelvis frees the swinging leg When I’m slumped down over the pelvis, I grind my knee. When I’m jammed up in the ribs, I grind my knee. When I slumped over in “text neck” position, I grind my knee. NOOOOOOO!
Better: lift the upper body and get the ribs to flow with the rotating pelvis. This is a call for the “Coachman” lesson.
“Coachman” is one of my go-to lessons for side-bending. We last looked at it in the “Back on Our Feet” series.
This is a sitting lesson, better for sensing the foot-to-femur-head line of force as the pelvis circles the leg.
We lean into, come forward onto, and balance over, one sit bone. The pelvis-torso swings the other way: way, way back, like Diana galloping into battle, stable on her steed, with her sword arm up, back and ready to swing. Or think of Michaela Schiffrin pivoting around the gate, her inside leg holding gravity while her unweighted, outside ski swings around. Or Tina Turner strutting her stuff in high heels - a compact Amazon of music belting it in grounded stability.
Set Up for Sitting:
Stable, flat-bottom, armless chair where knees and hips are level.
Michaela Shiffrin demonstrates sinking into the ‘standing’ leg, rotating the body, and getting up off the pelvis to turn. And look at those diagonals!
Science Nerd Candy Bowl for Walkers:
Rotate the Pelvis When Walking (2:09) Good explanation of pelvic movements from a body work guy
The six types of motion on Ships (0:20). A primer on the different ways the pelvis moves. Thanks to Maggie Burrowes, GCFP, for the reference
What is the Gait Cycle? How do we link it from the foot to the shoulder? John Gibbons (13:52) High level anatomy lesson on the skeletal and muscular movements of walking
How You Might Feel After This Lesson: Lifted off the pelvis and knee in the “passing and up” phases of the walk cycle; Able to engage the pelvic floor action in walking; Clearer on the weight shift into the standing leg; Balanced on the standing leg to ‘pivot’ the pelvis around the femur head, Tuned into how the ribs and torso conduct the force of walking up from the pelvis and around to swing the back leg forward; Ready to apply this on the ski slope (I’ve been and it can be transformational), the green, tap dancing and the fine art of walking.
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The backup singers might be throwing their hips around but not TIna! She’s all one from foot to hip to torso. And that’s how you keep it going and going and going.