ADDRESS:

The Functional Marching Revolution: Case Studies in the Advancement of Technique

Stuart E. Rice, B.M.


Contents:

I.   Introduction to Modern Drum Corps
II.  The Origin of Functional Marching
III. Four Case Studies
                A.  Concord, California
                B.  Garfield, New Jersey
                C.  Thornton, Colorado
                D.  Duchesne, Utah
IV.  Education in Drum Corps and RAMD
V.   Why Johnny Can't March
VI.  21 Fallacies of Marching
Appendix 1:  The Upright Method of Functional Marching
Appendix 2:  Sources


        Dr. Bales and the Drum Corps Medical Project Committee:

        This is a paper on marching technique.  In my years of study I could count on one hand the
people I have met who understood what technique is.  Most think it has something to do with an
ensemble.  Others think it is synonymous with uniformity.  I hope this contribution helps clear
up at least this.  This is a paper that I have not been looking forward to writing, however,
because I realize it could well be my last for drum corps.  Drum corps holds few opportunities to
develop the mind, and I fear recent efforts to promote drum corps research have not been
successful enough to insure my participation.  I have also concluded my eight-year career as a
librarian, and my new career as a music educator allows me little time to make contributions. 
However, I owe the DCMP Committee a report, regardless of my fears.  I take comfort in the
fact that I have been in this situation twice before, and each time I had assumed I would never
again have an opportunity to contribute to drum corps in this way.  With this report, I submit to
you the results of my twelve-years of research in marching technique (an art and aesthetic
experience as fine as I have ever enjoyed), and earnestly hope the Committee will find this
report of use in the cause of preventative medicine.


I.  Introduction to Modern Drum Corps.

        "Drum corps has its roots in marching band," says a 1990 Wall Street Journal report on the
activity (Sept. 18).  It should have read "modern" drum corps - bugles were never successfully
integrated into bands, and as a result, the separate identity of the drum and bugle corps remains
intact (for now).  The modern drum and bugle corps is, however, very much a product of
mid-twentieth century high school and college marching bands.  If this is a slap in the face for
some, it is needed to waken them - drum corps has been slow to respond to the administration of
education in its own ranks.  As a result, it has yet to successfully disseminate its art, culture and
identity in mainstream America.  The fact that its recent glory was ignited by the popularity of
pre- and post-WWII marching band half-time shows only demonstrates further how its success is
dependent on education.  Even its present economic crisis demonstrates the need of education.

        Regardless of similarities and differences in their administration, bands and corps are
parents of the art, co-creators of choreographed marching, and both play unique (and essential)
roles in promoting the art in different settings.  It matters little which came first - the chicken
(territorality, which brought the functional dialogue of military marching) or the egg
(self-expression, which brought the symbolic forms of band marching).  We know both are
necessary, and we know that fife/drum/bugle corps were functional, commissioned military,
while bands passed the hat among officers in order to entertain.  The former was functional.  The
latter, cultural.  A cultural endeavor (such as marching band) is not inherently more beautiful
than a functional endeavor (such as drum corps).  They can be as equal in beauty as they are in
importance. However, we must recognize these separate identities to do justice to the
administration of each.


II.  The Origin of Functional Marching.

        Choreographed marching, along with the marching band and drum corps which were
created from it, is a product of functional marching. Functional marching made possible each of
the nine movement types which comprise our drill today.  The purpose, time period, and context
may have changed, but the principle of the tool has not.  Whether it be the circumambulatory
processioning of boundaries, recreational/ceremonial patterning of Nazca geoglyphs, rites of
accession, training of the military mind and body or the geometric dialogue of battle formation,
marching has always been a functional matter.  Even the vaunted goose-step, with its limited
practicality, was developed with an aesthetic function in mind (though such frills tend to contain
the seeds of their own demise).  It is the growing recognition of its aesthetic beauty which
brought marching from the combative to the creative function.  With such a universal and
devoted following, it is not surprising that performance marching styles have taken on cultural
and ideological characteristics. What is surprising to some is that these "aesthetic" contributions
(frills) did not bring us to a recognition of the art.  In fact, it was the more functional approach
that unveiled choreographed marching as an art, as it continues to this day.

        Despite its eighty-years residency in pre-WWII American schools, functional marching
didn't always have an easy time of it.  The beauty and joy of marching have long been enlisted by
(and confused with) destruction itself.  In spite of the popularization it brings marching, war has
taken a terrible toll on marching technique (to say nothing of its more immediate hazards).
World War II was no exception, and its unprecedented demands for fitness (i.e., sports)
eliminated marching in physical education.  Immediately after, marching bands experienced a
lethal mix of resurgent popularity and divergent ideologies toward marching technique. With
military style marching no longer conducted in schools, the teaching of marching technique was
left to music educators, who themselves were no longer being trained by military officers.  Not
until the development and popularization of Precision Style marching in the 1950's would
marching/musical organizations find reason to address function.

        Drum and bugle corps (along with a few marching bands with a line on the quickly
evaporating military training) were the only organizations to wholly escape this unfortunate
development.  After decades of watching from the sidelines, it seemed corps were suddenly of a
mind to seize the opportunity and reform the art which had degenerated to strutting and high
stepping.  This functional restoration would by the 1970's set the record straight on the origins
and guardians of the art (or so it seemed). Nevertheless, it did not spell the end of functional
reform, as would be demonstrated by the Blue Devils and Garfield Cadets (Cadets of Bergen
County) drum and bugle corps.

        The drill of the modern drum and bugle corps is a product of functional, rather than
expressive, forces.  Corps style marching has gained in popularity over the last several decades
because its functional reformations gave the art greater clarity and power, while its
less-functional counterpart, precision style band marching, was more showy and elaborate -
frilly.  Corps style "design," or choreographed marching was intended to effectively illustrate
(and thus transcend) music performed on the field, while traditional college style drill was
calculated to respond to and incite noise off the field.  Our greatest artists in drum corps
choreographed marching took great pains to create an expression accompanied by music, rather
than a thrill in concert with hysteria.  Brubaker understood the job, and took a slide rule to it. 
Even Zingali's free-form approach was not ostentatious - he had something very specific to say
about the inflexibility of drum corps drill, and he took responsibility for demonstrating a more
aesthetic alternative.  Modern drum corps is not pageant - it is science, continually discovering
new formulas for beauty.  When this discovery digresses into experimentalism, or regresses into
the reguritation of past contributions, it ceases to be beautiful.  In truth, it ceases to be drum
corps, though it is often mistaken for it.

        True to its military heritage, drum corps marching was functional from the start, in both
technique and choreography.  For bands and corps, the functional revolution began with
Precision Style drill in the 1960's, wherein the pursuit of pure forms and movement was
paramount (via Bainum and Casavant's 22.5 inch stride, the last contribution of music education
to marching technique, and a debatable one at that, with the military training of Casavant).  We
saw the same functional revolution continue for many bands who left the more showy "Precision
Style" or "Big 10" style for the more functional "Corps Style" in the 1970's.  We see a second
functional revolution in the 1980's with the popularization of free-form
drill.  However, these functional revolutions were incomplete, and as a result, they are still
frequently described as particular "styles," rather than methods, of marching.  In fact, the more
functional the drill became, the less pedagogy was involved in technique.  By the time DCI had
finished reforming marching technique in the 1980's, there was little method left to the madness. 
The only thing left for a performer to do was to hang on to the formation for dear life and hope
there would be no banana peel in the way.  By the 1990's, the administration of marching
technique amounted to little more than the speculations of the unstudied and incumbent.

        All four stages of the functional revolution were necessary for marching technique.  As
each stage of new drill, functionality clarified the purpose of marching, and the more simplified
technique clarified the drill in return.  However, marching technique in drum corps would
become so simplified that drum corps would be brought precariously close to the point of
lacking control over the body, shockingly demonstrated by the DCI 1995 World Champion
runner-ups, where two individuals who failed to demonstrate improvisatory skills of other
members, and had their technical skills exposed on an unprecedented scale at that level of
competition. Gross over-simplification of technique has brought with it speculation about the
approach and purpose of marching technique - speculations which range from the glorification
of speed or complexity, to methodologies based on non-human objects such as bicycles, to a
rigid adherence to principles of movement removed from both context and research.  

        All three approaches to transform our "designs" into living, moving choreography - via
change of location (Blue Devils), shape (Cadets) and orientation (Cavaliers) - have yet to
complete the functional revolution which would place our art on secure footing.  Our efforts to
revolutionize drill since the 1960's require a complimentary revolution in technique - not a
development of style or a consensus of tradition, but a reformation toward integrated, correct
marching in the service of its choreography, the change of location, shape and orientation.  I
believe the functional marching revolution championed in recent decades by drum corps has yet
to begin because for want of a codified functional marching technique, which was established
briefly in 1989 and will be mentioned later.  To understand the importance and implications of
marching technique in the functional revolution, we must look at organizations which have
experience with functional marching, codified or otherwise. Four such organizations are studied
in this paper, including:  the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps; the Cadets of Bergen Country
Drum and Bugle Corps; the Rocky Mountain Magic Drum and Bugle Corps; the Duchesne High
School Marching Band.  These organizations provide complete (and incomplete) case studies in
the functional marching revolution.


III.  Four Case Studies.

A.  Concord, California.

        My memories of Concord, California 1983 was that of a much drier area than Bakersfield,
where I was born and raised.  In fact, it seemed something of an apocalyptic version of the state,
if only because of the time I spent at MARS (Marching and Rehearsal Site).  I feel sorry for any
corps that lacks such miserable conditions of field and facility.  It makes one much more
appreciative of the opportunity to perform on smooth fields for large appreciative audiences, and
it helps separate those who do so for the activity and art from those who do so for the prestige of
affiliation with it.

        I was instructed in marching by John Opedisano, who taught me three essential things about
the Blue Devils technique.  The first was that of the importance of using the hips to change
direction, and I was fortunate to have veterans marching near me who modeled this element
well.  As a result, I enjoyed some success with this aspect of marching, according to Steve
Sanger who assisted with instruction that year.  Mr. Opedisano and those I marched with showed
me that directional movement was both driven and controlled by the hips through the ability to
discriminate angles of direction change.  I was disappointed to hear from a friend who marched
with the Devils years later that this element was compromised by a doctrine which advocated the
legs (rather than hips) as the sole determinant of direction.  This was adopted with the idea that
slides could then require less torso twist, and thus allow for greater lung capacity.  I am always
very sorry to find marching technique compromised for the sake of the music which
accompanies it.

        The second thing Mr. Opedisano taught me was that the "look" of the Blue Devils technique
placed emphasis on subtlety.  One element of this subtlety was the elimination of toe lift for the
sake of a smoother look.  I can't recall any talk about the advantage of ease with this
innovation, nor about it being more natural than the frilly alternative. This is odd, because
economy of effort was a maxim I was taught that year, and which I grew to appreciate.  It would
have been well justified. Nevertheless, Mr. Opedisano explained to me once that this effect was
valued as being akin to ballet, which points the foot more in line with the leg in order to extend
the visual impression of the body's length.  A functional rose by any other name.

        The third essential thing I learned about marching technique from the Blue Devils was that
the straightness of the line of the body was important.  For some reason, the Blue Devils valued
height, and went to lengths (as they do today) to see that their uniform design did not seriously
interfere with that impression.  Looking back, I find it odd that so many took from their
contributions to marching a characteristic enthusiasm for spreading the legs, bending the knees,
and leaning back and wailing.  Whatever the case, the Devils went to great lengths with me to
see that I was standing as straight as possible.  The drum major would frequently walk up to me
while playing to pull my hips back under me and push my upper body forward, which took me
most of the season to learn to do on my own.  To this day, I am still not certain if we thought
there was a better, more functional reason for that uncomfortable responsibility for the muscles,
other than appearance, although I suspect in the back of our minds we believed there must be.


B.  Garfield, New Jersey.

        I'm not certain I've ever been to New Jersey.  I've lived in New York where I've attended
school, been to Pennsylvania and Washington D.C., but for some reason, I've never had a good
enough reason to see anything from New Jersey that I couldn't also see on PBS.  I often worry
that drum corps may find itself in similar circumstances, where audiences would rather wait for
the movie than buy the book.  I also worry about drum corps' support of the material which
makes for good books, and how effective we are in promoting knowledge in drum corps, to say
nothing of literacy.

        In one of my visits to New York last year, I presented a paper on choreographed marching
to a Visual and Cultural Studies Conference at the University of Rochester.  At that Conference I
devoted half of my address to viewing the high camera tape of the 1987 Cadets as a
demonstration of the artistic merit of choreographed marching.  This doesn't make me an
expert or even experienced in free-form drill.  Just an advocate.  In fact, were it not for the
opportunity the Devils had of watching their show from the press box while on a non-scheduled
stop during our 1983 tour in the South, I would never had seen the Cadets perform live (this is
not because I don't see drum corps shows - I've attended a show every Summer since 1979 with
the exception of one or two years.  I haven't seen the Cadets because they just don't make it out
this way).  I remember while watching them at this performance and being subconsciously
mystified as to why (and how) a corps would use so much of "that one type of movement,"
which I later found to be "Structural" movement, the most difficult of the nine types.

        I found out the "how" by studying the PBS low-camera angles of 1983 Finals, as well as
successive years.  The Cadets ability to maintain a formation with clarity through a difficult
move could be called superhuman, were it not for the "simplified" marching technique which
made this possible.  By concentrating on ensemble marching (which most of them to this day
take for technique, I have found), the Cadets circumvented the usual procedure of correct
execution via correct and uniform technique and established something of an improvisational
approach to marching.  And why shouldn't they have?  The demands of modern drum corps drill
were outstripping at a phenomenal rate the value of four directional variables used in basics.

        The abandonment of technique was largely necessary for the Cadets functional revolution,
inasmuch as marching a great deal of structural movement makes it necessary to accommodate a
larger margin of error in directional discrimination.  Because a formal, methodical approach to
marching technique (particularly one with four variables) makes individuals less flexible to
changes in drill, it was necessary that the Cadets leave this element to the discretion of the
individual marcher, in large measure.  The Cadets marching execution is more a product of
ensemble technique than marching technique.  I don't pretend to know exactly what makes this
ensemble technique so effective in maintaining formations, though I could venture some
guesses.  It would be interesting to hear about were it published.  In the meantime, my interests
lie more with quality of execution than quantity.

        Regardless of its effectiveness, ensemble technique as a substitute for marching technique
is not without its cost.  Those "whiplash" moves cost individuals posture, balance and even the
upright position.  On June 19 of this year, I had a conversation with a Cadet (who I'll call Mr.
Smith) via E-mail wherein I found my first (and, to date, my only) explanation of Cadet
marching technique.  In response to my concerns about the influence of Cadet technique on
drum corps, he responds:


Smith:  "If it's screwing up drum corps to use prep steps to avoid jerking your body around so
that you can play better [again, this is a technical sacrifice in the name of musical artistry], then
"screwing it up" is a good thing."

Rice:  "Oh, I agree, they ought to use running blocks and cleats while they're at it...get down on
all fours.  A prep step doesn't mean they can maintain an upright position while marching [one of
the distinctive features of the Upright Method is a prep step that maintains uprightness]."

Smith:  "If it's a mistake to use the stop and go so that forward and backward direction changes
stay centered over the body..."

Rice:  "I know of two Cadets who failed to keep their direction change within the base of their
support.  And I know of many more who get away with it because they feel leaning into and out
of direction changes is acceptable - perhaps even exciting.  You can call it "technique" if you
want, but you can't call it balance."

Smith:  "...with better control over the center of gravity and momentum, then so be it."

Rice:  "Only a corps without control would find it necessary to stop movement to change
direction."

Smith:  "If it's screwing up marching to use a forward and backward step style that is more
similar to a natural step [I've always wondered what natural backwards movement looked like]
excepting that the toe is exagerated [sp] to make playing more comfortable, then that's fine by
me [why sacrifice natural movement for the exaggerated toe?]."

Rice:  "How...is your toe supposed to help you play better?  Particularly when you're about to fall
on your ass? [hindsight, it appears that his statement needed a coma before "excepting that the
toe is exagerated [sp]]."

Smith:  "It seems to me that the Cadet's style is screwing up drum corps in the same way that
adding valves and grounding the pit screwed up drum corps....that is, it's screwing it up by
making it better."

Rice:  "I couldn't agree more.  Its making it "better" in ways that detract from the art these things
accompany."

Smith:  [In response to my comment that "technique promotes dignity, not to mention upright
movement"] "One incident does not define a technique program."

Rice:  "Not for those who don't see it coming."

Smith:  If you would actually study the Cadets technique and then actually watch them, then
maybe you would have a clue."

Rice:  "...You bring up some important principles, but if after learning them you can't keep your
body perpendicular its all for naught.  Nothing in the management of your center of gravity will
assure your structure of the upright position.  Balance and align your posture and then you can
talk about controlling the center of gravity.  A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."

        
        Its disappointing to me when I find people critical of research. I often wish individuals
would spend more time looking at videotape and less time relying on the perspectives of their
instructors.  What this and other drum corps veterans don't understand is that uprightness is the
key to standing and moving with good balance and posture.  They will not consider the idea that
speed and responsiveness to Structural and any other type of movement can be enhanced by
marching technique (rather than mere psychology and visually directed effort), if that method is
responsibly administered and based on understanding and enhancing natural ability, as is the
case with the Upright Method: "We simply need to refine the natural abilities and instincts that
we have via balance, alignment, and uprightness" (Appendix 1).  Instead, the Cadets continue to
administer what appears to be an executional solution to a technical problem.


C.  Thornton, Colorado.

        I grew restless with music after marching with the Blue Devils in 1983, and I tend to think
it was because I had an aesthetic experience there which, for me, surpassed any other.  After
growing dissatisfied with attending and performing at Juilliard that year, and the University of
Utah for some years afterward, I received what I thought was my calling. I was working in the
sheet music department of Daynes Music in Salt Lake City.  The phone call had come while I
had been manning the entire department on my own after my first two months of employment,
and was asked (amidst several other calls) by Mrs. Daynes to produce Mr. Daynes, who was not
in the store.  My unsuccessful service of Mrs. Daynes was reportedly taken for poor manners. 
Though I had taken sick for a few weeks, I felt good about the work I had done for the company,
and was surprised at the suggestion that I did not enjoy working there (besides, I then believed
that work was not to be enjoyed).  However, before handing me my severance pay, my
supervisor offered one suggestion which I took to heart: "make sure your next job is one you
enjoy."

        I sold the instruments which I had performed with since Juilliard (my first euphonium and
trombone were stolen when I first arrived in New York to audition) and applied to a dozen drum
corps to assist with marching, one of which responded - the Rocky Mountain Magic Drum and
Bugle Corps of Thornton, Colorado.  This Division III corps was, like many corps, a family
enterprise based in Director James Farrell's family's house in the suburbs of Denver.  I was hired
to assist Jim, who was not only to manage and direct the corps, but also was teaching choral
music at a high school in Greeley (1 hour North), where I moved to join most of the staff who
attended the University of Northern Colorado.  I supported myself by working for the physically
and developmentally disabled.  A most exciting thing happened there - Functional Marching.

        Functional marching was defined by the author in the publication "Functional Marching:
The Upright Method" (copyright 1989) as "a comprehensive functional format of marching style,
technique and ensemble...[a] non-traditional approach...formulated with the intent of
establishing a more pure form of marching," and a more "natural and...effective means for the
body to express the art of human planar movement with uniformity and elegance" (Appendix 1). 
The term "Functional Marching" was inspired by physicist Moshe Feldenkrais' "Functional
Integration," a body therapy aimed at re-educating the mis-trained body to move with ease and
efficiency according to its natural and inherently correct structure.  Though the "function" of
marching may be defined by some as anything from "entertainment" to "precision," truly
functional marching was defined by the author as consisting of four fundamental elements:
"standing," "moving" (planar locomotion), "changing momentum" (direction and velocity),
"maneuvering an instrument" (Appendix 1).

        To refine these skills (which are today rarely accomplished with ease and clarity), the
Upright Method was implemented.  The term "Upright Method" was inspired by scriptural
reference, and by the work of F.M. Alexander, whose "Alexander Technique" remains a popular
method of postural improvement among musicians today.  The Alexander Technique impressed
the author with its emphasis on "correct" movement, and by its ability to create, among other
things, a more vertical product. However, the author saw the product of verticality as a more
worthy pursuit than asserted "correctness" of movement, and development of the Upright
Method marks the point at which the author began to look to the transcendence of gravity as a
higher object than that of our defiance of it.  The object of correct marching was then to be the
pursuit of the quality of "Uprightness" (balance and alignment) throughout the tasks of standing,
lifting, moving, and changing momentum.  Exercises were implemented which reinforced
uprightness through these tasks, and a methodology and executional criteria were developed
which made uprightness possible.  This object of "Uprightness," with its moral dimension,
dissolves the mind/body schism which infects so many other methods, and fosters the condition
of bodily integration required for correct learning and moving.  

        These ideas were experimented with in the author's instruction of the University of Utah
"Ute" Marching Band from 1984 to 1987, but it was not until after the approval of "A Proposal
of Executional Style and Technique," by RMM Director James Farrell that they were given
concrete application toward the improvement of marching.  Among other benefits, the result of
the Upright Method was improved "definition of starting, stopping, and altering of the direction
of movement" (Appendix 1) - simply, body control and visual clarity of progress and changes in
movement.  Results which were rewarded by unprecedented scores for RMM. Aspects and
details of this method, with supporting research, will be examined in Appendixes 1 and 2.

        In the Winter of 1988-1989, Director Jim Farrell's father was hospitalized for a heart attack,
which left the author primarily responsible for developing and administering the marching
program for the season.  "On January 13, 1989, 'A Proposal of Executional Style and Technique'
was submitted to Jim Farrell...by Stuart Rice...the product of five years formal and informal
study" of ballet, modern dance, Tai-Chi Chuan (under the tutorship of Jack Livingston, student
of a student of the great Cheng Man Shing), The Alexander Technique, and Feldenkrais
"Awareness Through Movement" (under the instruction of Carol Lessinger, certified practitioner
and former pupil of the late Moshe Feldenkrais) (Appendix 1).  Marching was dismantled by the
author and reformed in the functional interest of the planar language of drill itself.

        To accompany these technical reforms, a program was developed for the choreography of
marching itself which encompassed both restrictive and improvisational methods, the latter of
which was administered by the author and, at times, the students themselves.  The
improvisational exercise consists of a series of movement restrictions which are progressively
placed on a moving formation in order to develop responsiveness and discernment during
movement (Appendix 1).  It was first introduced by the author for RMM Marching Instructor
auditions in October of 1988.  The second, more restrictive facet was introduced the following
Winter by the author, and consisted of exercises based on an enlargement of the traditional four
or eight directional variables of basics to twelve.  These exercises were designed to enhance an
individuals' ability to discriminate between smaller directional variables, as well as a greater
variety of angles.

        Central to the Upright Method was a controversial element designed to assist individuals in
moving uprightly.  It consisted of the redefinition of a "step" as moving from one stable support
to another (as opposed to the traditional definition of a step as 'the space and time between
heel-strikes').  In this manner, a step begins when the center of weight is located in the center of
the supporting foot.  Though it sounds innocent enough, what this implies for marching is
something radical which changes even the most basic and assumed guidelines imposed on
marching throughout this century.  It suggests that there is something about giving emphasis to
heel strike with pulse that inhibits uprightness.  I will save the research for this until later (6, 24,
25, 35, 36, 39).  Though it was the upright release of movement which attracted the most
attention, in the end it was the natural cultivation of pulse in the center of the foot in support
phase which brought the Upright Method under fire by a junior high school band teacher serving
as horn instructor.

        This individual decided in May that it was time to investigate the possibility of students
being able to march and play simultaneously (I later learned that the only person administering
movement and music simultaneously was myself).  Both he and the students encountered
frustration while trying to administer this rehearsal/investigation according to his knowledge of
marching.  His conclusion was that the staff ought to look into whether this method had been
effective in preparing the students for the season, and he succeeded in persuading the staff to set
aside the next morning as the time to determine this.

        Had I known this would be the most important day in my drum corps career, I would have
dressed better.  Even for a corps of 30, a rookie instructor receiving the attention I had been was
an object of suspicion. The director, who supported the program, and had a periodically dropped
in to review our progress, stood by and watched with the rest of the staff. The corps was lined up
in block formation and instructed to march forward with horns in playing position to determine
their ability to march in tempo.  The first time they were to not play, and the second time they
were to play a scale.  The first demonstration was as fine an example of technique as I have ever
seen, as I had become accustomed to with this method.  The ensemble was rhythmically
immaculate as well, and the staff agreed this was acceptable for this point of the season. 
However, the second demonstration, which included playing, suffered for rhythm slightly,
whereupon the horn instructor seized the initiative to propose the elimination of the method,
which was tacitly accepted by the staff.

        Looking back, I believe they were expecting something a little more spectacular.  They had
heard about the reforms going on, and I think they were looking for something snappy or flashy. 
Instead, what they got was a level of poise, control, fluency, uniformity, ease and sincerity of
marching technique which had never before been demonstrated by a musical organization.  It
looked too easy.  When it looks easier than walking down the street, it tends to promote the idea
that it is easy, and for those accustomed to something exciting, it is easily written off as neither
worthy of effort nor attention-getting.

        A week later, Jim stopped by my apartment to speak with me and to see how the new drill
was progressing.  Though the author's first drill was well received by the staff, the work had to
be re-written due to an inflated estimate of membership which had been causing headaches to
the staff.  While sitting at my kitchen table, the director suggested that we merely eliminate the
centered pulse element of marching which was more natural than the imposed heel-strike pulse,
and leave the more "novel" elements such as the new attention position and upright release of
movement and direction changes.  I explained to him that these other elements would be less
effective in creating upright posture if the individual couldn't be assured of upright movement
itself.  Rather than dissemble this integrated method, I proposed that it be set aside altogether,
and that the director administer the former method used in the corps, and that I would complete
the drill in the meantime.  The suggestion was not well received.  I was fired.

        After the conclusion of the Season, I was told by the director (A SCV veteran who had
instructed marching for the corps in the years before my hiring) that the corps had scored
unusually well in marching that Summer.


D.  Duchesne, Utah.

        When I asked the interviewing principal for the address to the high school, he laughed and
said "country."  His response was not just a reflection of the fact that it takes 30 seconds to drive
from one end of town to the other, with the high school on the freeway itself.  Folks just don't
use addresses in Duchesne.  One of my more bright high school students, whom I recently
visited, could not give me his address.  I now assume it is a product of learning addresses by
experience rather than visualization.

        The population of the town is 1,600.  I still don't know the size if the school, but last year it
graduated fifty students.  It's size makes it what they call a 1-A school.  There's nothing smaller. 
In spite of this, the school manages to provide most activities offered by large schools, including
drill team, a school musical, and most sports, all of which they pride themselves in being
competitive.

        My family and I decided we wanted to live in a small town, and I decided I wanted to work
with a small school to develop as many of my abilities as possible, and to have full control over
the program.  I teach all grades, K-12.  I teach K-3 General Music, 4-6 grade Elementary Band,
Junior High Band, High School Choir, High School Band, and Learning Guitar Through
Songwriting.

        I was determined to march this high school, having turned down one job offer because I
wasn't sure they would appreciate a marching band. Marching bands put music education on its
feet in America, and to remove them is to pull the rug out.  I expected to start slow and build but
I couldn't resist the temptation to commemorate Utah's statehood centennial. I set my sights on
the selections "By the Waters of Babylon" (a choral work by Philip James which I arranged) and
"God of Our Fathers" (our National Hymn, I later learned).  Our budget consisted of $300.00. 
Our uniforms consist of blue jeans and a white t-shirt (our school colors, conveniently), black
shoes and a blue bandana for the band, long blue skirts with lace trim, white blouses and white
bonnets for the color guard.  In dressing so modestly, we are not only getting by quite cheaply,
but we are also maintaining some identity with the theme of our show, part of which will depict
the exodus of the pioneers.

        Our marching band consists of 19 members.  Six of those are color guard, three are
percussion, and we have one or two of everything else. The town has not seen or had a marching
band in 15 years (some say more). When we marched for the first time last Summer at the
Duchesne County Days Parade, we were the only band there.  Our three member percussion
section included two individuals with ten days experience, and most of the band has difficulty
counting rhythms and reading music.  Nevertheless, I taught them the Upright Method, we
learned "God of Our Fathers," and the principal later described our first performance as a
"miracle."  Had I not administered the Upright Method, which enhances rhythm and control, I
would have agreed.

        We have difficulty with the idea of after-school rehearsals, inasmuch as the band only
started playing at games for the first time last year.  Many band students are involved in 2-4
organizations at DHS, some of which meet during after school rehearsals.  In order to retain an
adequate membership for the band, I have been obliged to make after school rehearsals worth
extra credit, and to require all students registered for band to be in marching band, with
mandatory performances.  In accommodating the frequent absences of involved students, we
have been obliged to adapt our approach to learning drill for the halftime show.  We do not use
drill charts.  This would mean a very simple show were it not for the fact that the DHS Marching
Band has been trained to march any of the 9 movement types in any formation with only a
descriptive command.  This is a continuation of the improvisational program developed at
RMM.

        For our halftime show, I have at times created drill in the same moment I taught it.  Our
approach allowed the band to be able to learn and perform (with music) the first number
marched at the school in many years (consisting of 16 moves, which move the band during every
count in the music but the last five) in under five hours of teaching, all of which was
administered by myself alone.  I am able adapt to problems I see with formations and moves by
"rewriting" drill on the spot.  At times, the students work out the problems before I see them by
"rewriting" the drill as they perform it, and usually their responses are better than the ideas I
originally envisioned.  We are also able to adapt the size of our formations to fluctuations in
attendance by adjusting our step size.  As a result, we are capable of adding or losing any
member from the show without creating holes.  Because Upright technique enhances natural
ability, students are responsive to such changes while maintaining the established standards of
technique.


IV.  Education in Drum Corps and RAMD.

        These are dark times for the minds of drum corps youth, and I worry about what kinds of
youth we are creating through the circumstances we are placing them in.  What kind of
tomorrow are we creating for the activity?  The bodies of our youth are being trained without
being educated, and the training they receive is uncertified, unstudied regurgitation of the
adolescent perspective, filled with inconsistency and error.  There is no effort being made to
foster our own indigenous talent and genius, beyond that which we borrow from our universities
and educational institutions for I&E.  We take credit for a product we neither create nor
administer responsibly, all for the self-ambition of conquest and its imagined honor and value.

        There is no effort being made to identify and compare the methodologies we are using to
transmit the art to the next generation, nor is there any effort being made to prepare our youth to
guide this activity to a more intelligent, self-directed future.  We seem more content with using
our evaporating assets than improving them, and as a result we are already experiencing the
stagnation of our unfortunate choices.  We have become so selfish, so short-sighted in our
glorification of elitism that we are in danger of starving for accountability, for individuals who
will make drum corps accessible and rewarding to the individual in terms more significant than
a piece of jewelry.  In short, we have surrendered our creativity to the hysteria and poverty of the
zero-sum game, where fighting over a piece of pie for our hand-to-mouth existence of our vision
is producing a materialism which is quickly erasing our interest in the means of producing pie.

        If the state of drum corps education is poor, the hopes for its improvement are equally
bleak.  There is no truly enriching, educational material being disseminated to help us make
sense of our predicament - no publication involving serving this activity which offers some
lasting solution.  There are no books, no libraries, no opportunities for anyone to understand in
plain terms the value of drum corps, and how its works. My own proposal to organize the
archives of DCI was buried on the desk of Don Pesceone during his final year.  The opportunity
for that is past, now that my career is secure.  In the end, those who wish to understand drum
corps must sift through the endless inanities of its publications, where all interest in perspective
dies amidst the chatter of the trivial and superficial.  We stand on the brink of pigeon-holing
drum corps as a Summer camp for stupidity and games which can only be won by the rich and
elite.

        We are not the first youth institution to make ignorant choices, nor are we the first to be
criticized for doing so.  The most respected scholar and professor at one local university
delivered a stinging appraisal of his communities' mediocre intellectual interests on campus in
1976 (few institutions could afford such appraisals):

        "I was reminded of the announcers over [the campus radio station] speaking with
oh-so-cultured accents as they elaborately mispronounce all the proper names they are reading
off from the record covers.  As I left the place I picked up another brochure inviting the public to
enter into a great "Adventure into Learning" -- this surely is the real thing: I opened the brochure
and was challenged to extend my questioning mind through courses in Slimnastics, Cake
Decorating, Auto Maintenance, and A More Feminine You.  From there I passed to the
bookstore and was reminded both of what [one official] has recently said about it (a vulgar place
and a monopoly), and of the fact that for upwards of one hundred years [the town] has been a
university town without a single bookstore.  What on earth could the students have been doing
all the time?  To find out, listen to their conversation among themselves: one thing you would
never guess from such conversation is that you are at an institution of learning.  The subjects are
(1) jobs and money, (2) cars, and (3) social activity.  From the bookstore by a natural transition I
passed to the library, where without the new addition we already have shelf-space for over a
million volumes; but here any thought of serious research is out of the question, because the
officials, to save themselves time and trouble and make room for new acquisitions, simply took
all bound periodicals earlier than the year 1970 and locked them up in a warehouse.  Now the
heart of any program of serious study in almost any field is the periodical literature of the past
century -- but can you make a librarian see that?  Never mind -- the books will not be missed:
that became apparent to me as I left the library late at night and walked home through an empty
and deserted campus....
        I noticed as I always do the smoke pouring from the power plant and asked myself again:
What is it we produce that is worth the price of all that pollution?  Certainly not knowledge.  I
was reminded that most of our smartest students are now working with computers: they are not
discovering or absorbing knowledge, but simply processing it, neither producers or consumers of
the precious stuff, but middlemen, dutifully attendant on machines.  And if knowledge, then not
character." (Hugh Nibley, 1976).

        When I left RAMD, it was in the same condition.  Nothing but the processing of superficial
information and pollution.  I have more interesting and uplifting conversations with my
6-month-old.  I can only hope the Symposium survives this environment.  RAMD's religion of
"know-nothingism" has produced in many of its citizens a cynicism toward learning.  Those with
solutions are mocked for their alleged sophistry and "intolerance" of problems.  Left unchecked,
it has escalated to the degree that accountability is held in contempt.  Verbalized hatred is passed
off as freedom of expression, which commands our generally tacit acceptance of its
consequences.  It is not a material problem.  It is a moral problem. "A resistance to anything that
limits one's conduct has almost taken over society.  Our whole social order could self-destruct
over the obsession with freedom disconnected from responsibility, where choice is imagined to
be somehow independent of consequences," regardless of the situation those consequences have
placed us in (Boyd K. Packer, 1996).

        It is common practice to hold a person in contempt over any problem on RAMD, but to
explain how an ideology or a procedure is accountable, with or without holding up a solution for
the sedentary and ignorant to ridicule, is to be accused of negativity - the alleged "source" of the
problem!  Anyone with a solution is guilty of both naivete and laziness, regardless of their past
contributions, present involvement, and future hopes.  Talk has become so cheap, our interest in
its conspicuous consumption has plunged drum corps' into its own Great Depression. 
Regardless, talk is all that we have left, and those who promote drum corps are those with ideas,
facts, and manners.  We need not try to second guess which ideas are substantive and which are
not.  "When Nero fiddled as Rome burned, at least he made a little music!" (Neal A. Maxwell,
1996).  We need only create our own and find someone willing to listen.  If that cannot be done
on RAMD, heaven help us, because RAMD is all we have as an agent of learning in drum corps.


V.  Why Johnny Can't March.

        Marching in drum corps is still in trouble.  It is still a means to an end for the majority, who
don't recognize the importance and beauty of good technique.  We're caught up in the rat race of
the sensational, and tripping over each other to snatch the prize that used to symbolize a good
race.  Somehow, our concern for the body has slipped from our agenda - an agenda which has
steadily ascended to a press-box perspective too high to see its own needs.  Ironically, by the
time someone got the good sense to bring the art indoors (Brass Theater), there was nothing left
of drum corps marching technique to preserve.  What was our characteristic style is now a
standard nothing more than one would see from a local high school marching band.  Perhaps
when we decided to stop looking for the ticks produced by poor technique we started assuming
that good technique would always remain.  We were wrong.  Tragically wrong.  In a recent
interview with Gene Monterastelli, a DCI visual judge of 32 years experience, our fallen
standards in technique were evident:

        "The corps are continually telling us as judges how hard [the moves is] that they're doing. 
And, you're right, it becomes somewhat of a game, in that I think some of them feel that if they
can convince us how hard it is, then maybe we will allow more error.  So then it becomes a
judgement...to take into account at what point is the material such that they are achieving it at
the A-plus level.  Or is it a situation where, "yeah, its hard, but yeah, its still slop."

        Why are we comfortable with "slop"?  Because we don't recognize how our lack of
technique and interest in its quality has insulted the physical inheritance of our constituents. 
May I suggest just this: if drum corps doesn't teach a youth to stand a little taller, walk a little
surer, and move through life with a little more poise, it isn't worth it.

        A recent TV ad of the Greatest Show on Earth now features Arianna, the Human Arrow.  I
suppose if that is their greatest boast, they must consider it quite entertaining.  In fact, perhaps
they feel its even more impressive to have in the production the impressive leap of technology
for the human race which was the bow.  After all, technology is the universal stamp of approval
for progress (sarcasm).  It doesn't have to be understood or even effective.  Just demonstrated, so
that we may flaunt our sophistication, in case our results are in question.

        I've noticed something peculiar about our own voodoo-methodology in the circus that has
become drum corps, however, and I'm not sure if I should be encouraged or disturbed by it: it
experiments with principles. Principles are a good thing to experiment with when they are based
on something learned.  My own Upright Method (Appendix 1) was such an experiment.  After
publishing my first writing on the Method, I sent a copy to George Zingali, care of the Garfield
Cadets at they end of 1989. I never got a response, and was disheartened at the thought that those
who champion marching may not acknowledge the contributions of others. Imagine my surprise,
then, when this year a member would expound to me the brilliance behind Cadet technique
which, when I marched 1983 Devils, was what I considered little more than shuffling around the
field.  The similarities between the Upright Method and Cadet methods are striking:


Cadets:  "Use prep steps to avoid jerking your body around."

Upright:  "When the supporting foot is on the inside of a one step turn...the inside supporting
foot is prepared by turning the leg so that the foot points outward....  The lateral rotation of the
prepared foot never exceeds 60 degrees, and only when turns in excess of 90 degrees are
demanded is the remaining angle accomplished by pivoting" (Functional Marching: The Upright
Method, Flatland Press, 1989, p. 24).

Cadets:  "Use the stop and go so that forward and backward direction changes stay centered over
the body with better control over the center of gravity."

Upright:  "The key to balanced and controlled turns doesn't lie solely in providing sufficient
outer stability, however.  As is the case for balanced standing and moving, the body's weight
must be centered to be effective.  When weight is centered in the middle of one's base of
support, one is most stable and able to execute a task.  Therefore, one must place the center of
one's foot on the line of direction of movement and guide one's center of weight to this spot for
controlled turning.  ...A crucial element...is the establishment of good leg alignment...if the knee
is directly over the foot and pointing in the same direction, the alignment is correct" (p. 26-27).


Cadets:  "Use a forward and backward step style that is more similar to a natural step excepting
that the toe is exagerated [sp] to make playing more comfortable."

Upright:  "Although walking/marching with centered weight is a habit for good walkers and a
tendency for good marchers, one is hard pressed to find executional formats that effectively
cultivate such practice, particularly due to the influence of heel strike processes.  The present
popularity of advocating this detrimental method of establishing pulse and ensemble may
currently prevail due to a lack of awareness of its inadequacy to cultivate these abilities in a
marcher.  Marching organizations that have had success with this method have done so not
because it works, but because their instructors understand the method's inadequacy and allow
natural instincts to prevail in the end, allowing these instincts of natural balance and centered
pulse to accomplish uniformity in spite of any training to the contrary.  ...By fostering and
refining natural instincts, we can achieve consistent pulse and ensemble at least as easily and
more surely" (p. 18).


        It's anyone's guess as to where the Cadets' ideas came from. Nobody is saying.  As far as I'm
concerned, it doesn't matter, so long as they are understood by those administering them.  Given
the details of their method, this cannot be assumed.  Two of the three points have the objective
of playing an instrument in mind, whereas the most serious influence of an instrument on
marching is its weight.  None of these points mention verticality, alignment or posture, without
which there can be no "control over the center of gravity.  One point suggests that the advantage
of not "jerking your body around" is that you can "play better," never mind that eliminating
"jerking" might be a good idea for movement to begin with.  It all adds up to yet more evidence
that drum corps musicians are trying to administer something they don't understand, won't study,
and are afraid to talk about.

VI.  21 Fallacies of Marching.

Throughout my research, I continually uncover information which debunks previous conceptions
of myself and others on how the body works in relation to marching.  I would like to share a few
of them.

Fallacy #1:  High toe lift encourages proper foot mechanics.

        Running, which uses a higher toe lift than walking, commences the roll of the foot even
further outside the heel (1).  Our sense of progression, which cannot be relied on even to point
the foot in the forward direction (2), which must be re-educated.  The excess strain of toe-lift
may contribute to hip acetabular pressure (pre-loading prior to heel placement) (52).

Fallacy #2:  Shoes help absorb shock.

        Even shoes with cushion create excess hip load or shock (4), and interfere with correct
mechanics.

Fallacy #3:  Balance is unrelated to rhythm.

        The two are strongly and directly influenced by each other (6).

Fallacy #4:  The joint of the lower limbs work like hinges.

        Rotation occurs in different planes throughout the progression (8, 15), as does the head
(22).  Even the knee joint does not work like Barbie's (12).

Fallacy #5:  Heel strike is an effective and safe way of instilling rhythm and uniformity.

        Heel strike is neither safe (9) nor effective (Appendix 1), and if cultivated, can interfere
with posture and mechanics.  The heel must be placed at near zero velocity in order to limit
strain and instability (6).

Fallacy #6:  Lifting instruments is harmless to posture.

        Repetitive stress injuries, particularly when done quickly (53, 54), abound in moderate
labor, and even improper walking can injure (11). Thus, lifting is hazardous to the entire body,
including the knee (10), lower back (13).

Fallacy #7:  Fast marching is harmless.

        Fast marching inhibits blood flow (14), causes the heel to (improperly) roll from the outside
(1), decreases stance phase (8), raises peak forces acting on the hip joint (16), increases the
magnitude of forward/backward and up/down acceleration of the head (23), increases vertical
displacement of the head (23), decreases energy efficiency (26, 51), decreases stability (26). 
Fast marching is best developed progressively (54).

Fallacy #8:  Lung capacity is a matter of correct position, not correct movement.

        We've all fallen victim to this one, even though we know better. It is true that the position
of the body contributes to lung capacity, a more upright position being the greatest advantage
(18, 20).  However, movement has a tremendous impact on lung capacity.  90% rotation of the
trunk normally impedes rib-cage impedance over 100%, while passive rotation creates only 25%
impedance (17) - non-respiratory muscles must be coordinated with respiratory muscles to
approach this more reduced figure.

Fallacy #9:  We learn rhythm through our fingers.

        Our fingers can be trained to respond rhythmically, but they were never made for
experiencing rhythm (21).  Much longer appendages, with natural cause for maintaining
rhythmic movement, are called for.

Fallacy #10:  The pulse of rhythm occurs naturally on heel strike in locomotion.

        Perhaps the most dangerous of all assumptions.  The coupling of rhythm and stance phase
(which we take to mean other than its initiation at heel strike) is preferred rhythmically (39),
visually (24), functionally (25), definitionally (6, 48 - in consideration of the location of stance
foot during toe-off), psychologically (35), and skilled performance (36).  "The swing foot needs
to attain near zero velocity...before heel contact.  Swing phase control can be evaluated as an
ability to establish the base of support" (6).

Fallacy #11:  Visual assessment is the most effective means of developing postural response.

        Stabilization of the center of mass precedes an understanding of a visual interpretation of
posture (28).  Those who rely less on visual information perform better even in highly visual
activities (34). Postural control requires kinesthetic skill (37).

Fallacy #12:  Training with four or even eight directional variables in basics is as much as
anyone can handle.

        More can ne accommodated (Appendix 1, 29).

Fallacy #13:  The brain receives vision from both eyes equally.

        In fact, information to the brain emphasizes different functional properties of perception
from the left and right eyes, as well as central and peripheral vision (30).

Fallacy #14:  We are not influenced by postural characteristics we see in others.

        Nonsense (31).

Fallacy #15:  Exercise can only be good for posture.

        Poorly designed sports and training programs are ruinous to good posture (33).

Fallacy #16:  Foot position is not important for standing.

        Standing stability can be improved through foot position (40).

Fallacy #16:  Forward movement comes solely from falling forward.

        In fact, we prepare our posture for the effective commencement of forward movement (42). 
Forward movement can also utilize other non-muscular forces (44), and maintain itself with
minimal effort (45). The Upright Method suggests an upright means of the initiation of forward
movement (Appendix 1).

Fallacy #17:  Apart from changing direction, the hips determine very little of how we move.

        The pelvis is central to the problem of abnormalities of movement (47), and lays the
foundation for autonomous walking (49).

Fallacy #18:  The most important consideration in marching is the stabilization of the
instrument.

        WRONG.  The most important consideration in marching is the stabilization of the head,
which guides movement visually (50).  In good marching, the stabilization of the instrument is
automatic.  In playing, the execution of correct posture and movement is not.

Fallacy #19:  There is nothing special about marching.

        Our ability to stand and walk constitutes our "first great evolutionary transcendence" (56),
"recurring forms of social behavior throughout recorded history" (58).  "Mobility transforms and
ennobles peoples.  It has always been so" (60).

Fallacy #20:  There is nothing important about marching.

        "Jameson, faced with...the global confusion of postmodern times...calls for an exercise in
cognitive mapping" (59).  Humanist geographers aim to "elucidate the social meaning of space"
(61).  "Our future security may depend less upon priority in exploring space than upon our
wisdom in managing the space we live in" (62).

Fallacy #21:  We have nothing to learn from other forms of locomotory movement.

        In comparing the collective behavior of three locomotory groups (pedestrians, protest
marchers, and a marching band), Wohlstein and McPhail find protest marchers outperform a
marching band in the maintenance of direction, velocity and spacing (57).


Appendix 1.

The Upright Method of Functional Marching.

        The Upright Method of Functional Style Marching is devoted to the refinement of correct
standing, walking, lifting and instrument, and changing direction and momentum, as set forth in
the publication, "Functional Marching: The Upright Method (1989), published by Flatland Press. 
The Twelve Qualities of Style set forth to guide the method are: Dignity, Sincerity, Ease, Grace,
Fluidity, Elegance, Confidence, Strength, Power, Stability, Balance, and Attentiveness.  The
Technical Principles which were implemented to foster these Twelve Qualities of Style are first
and foremost Uprightness, a product of Stability and Ability, which themselves are products of
Base and Alignment, and Ease and Height, respectively.

        The principle feature of Uprightness in the determination of correct movement is defined as
the condition of being balanced, centered and vertically aligned.  The entire method is devoted
to maintaining this condition throughout the aforementioned tasks of standing, walking, lifting,
and changing direction/momentum.  The most prominent effect of this method is the redefinition
of a "step."  For many a step in walking or marching is the condition of forfeiting and recovering
balance, of falling forward onto the next supporting foot, where the energy of falling is
converted to the energy of pushing off for the next fall.  This compromises uprightness.  The
Upright Method defines a step as the distance from one stable position (where the upper body is
over the supporting foot) to the next.  In order to maintain this condition in marching, a
preparatory foot position was implemented which enabled an individual to go from the standing
position to walking without acceleration or leaning.  Foot positions allowing a non-pivoted left
and right direction change (up to 90 degrees) was developed.  The standing position was also
improved by the maintenance of vertical alignment while lifting an instrument, and exercises
which promoted this.  The entire vertical structure was leaned back slightly, while lifting the
instrument slowly, without compromising posture itself.  A foot position allowing a more stable
standing base was also implemented, with a transition to moving foot position upon the
command to initiate forward movement.

        Exercises were also implemented which integrated upright movement with the complex
demands of marching.  A training format of twelve directional variables was implemented, and
exercises relating thereto.  An improvisational exercise was also implemented which allowed
marchers the opportunity to develop a working awareness of form and responsive understanding
of movement.


Appendix 2.

Sources.

Key:

Ane - Anesthesiology
ASR - American Sociological Review
BJS - The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery
Che - Chest
EG  - Economic Geography
Erg - Ergonomics
HMS - Human Movement Science
JAP - Journal of Applied Physiology
JB  - Journal of Biomechanics
JMB - Journal of Motor Behavior
JOR - Journal of Orthopaedic Research
PG  - Professional Geographer
QES - Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport
Sci - Science
SPQ - Social Psychology Quarterly


Foot

1.  In normal walking, weight does not pass through foot straight forward, but from outside heel
(foot angled out for stability?) in (and to a degree back) to inside arch and then toward big toe -
not a straight path. Running much more straight, but starting even further outside heel. Outward
angle of foot = stability, but develops less controlled foot technique.  What skill compensates for
the stability lost by directing foot straight forward? (Cavanagh, A Technique for Averaging
Center of Pressure Paths From a Force Platform, JB 11(10-12).

2.  "...foot progression angle has a significant effect.  ...subjects were also successful in
achieving foot-progression angles of about 30 degrees for the foot in and foot out conditions,
while for the foot straight condition, they actually had their right foot slightly externally rotated
at an average angle of 5 (+/- 4) degrees (Table 1)." - 2,1,11,7,7,9,7,0,9,2,5,5,5,4 (degrees by
which people missed when asked to stand with feet pointed straight forward).  ..."the foot out
position has significantly reduced the external rotation moment at 40% of the gait cycle" (where
the leg is most rotated) - thus, "torsional load on the femur can be reduced by turning the foot
outward." (  Bowsher and Vaughan, Effect of Foot-Progression Angle on Hip Joint Moments
During Gait, JB 28(6).

3.  A transversal center of gravity shift of 5 mm = 18% weight distribution shift. (Arcan and
Brull, A Fundamental Characteristic of the Human Body and Foot, the Foot-Ground Pressure
Pattern, JB 9(7).

4.  Shoes increase hip load, with torsional moment up to 50%.  Only hard sole shoes especially
disadvantageous.  "Soft heels, soles or insoles did not offer advantages.  Gait Stability seems to
play the most important role in increasing the joint loading and should be the criterion for the
choice of footwear.  Smooth gait patterns with soft heel strikes are the only means to reduce
joint loading during slow jogging.  ...footwear or the walking behaviour may influence the forces
and moments acting at the hip joint." (Bergmann, et al., Influence of Shoes and Heel Strike on
the Loading of the Hip Joint, JB 28(7).

5.  "Gait initiation...involves at least two functions: the generation of propulsive forces...and the
transfer of body weight.  Results - Anticipatory movements shown by the center of gravity and
joint accelerations before heel-off." (Breniere and Dietrich, Heel-Off Perturbation During Gait
Initiation: Biomechanical Analysis Using Triaxial Accelerometry and a Force Plate, JB 25(2).

6.  "Balance has been defined as 'regulation of dynamic movement of body segments about a
supporting joint or base of support'.  ...Balance during gait, however, is more complex, because
the base of support is changed from step to step.  Thus, balance during gait includes controlling
movements of the whole body center of mass and placement of the base of support.  The
position of the center of mass is controlled within certain limits during stance phase to propel
the body and avoid falling.  Stance and swing control combine to maintain a stable relationship
between the center of mass and base of support.  Proper foot placement is necessary to establish
a stable base of support at each step.  ...Foot trajectory during swing is, therefore, the critical
determinant of foot placement. Foot trajectories have been investigated in relation to energy
expenditure.  In general, trajectories tend to be chosen to minimize energy, which explains
extremely small toe clearances (<5 mm) seen during mid-swing.  This model of energy
minimization does not, however, take into consideration the necessity of maintaining balance
during gait.  In this study we investigate foot placement as an important component of balance
during gait.  Some end-point control during swing phase is believed necessary for stable foot
placement even though central pattern generators determine basic leg and foot movements. 
...Further, this control involves multiple joints, probably including muscles in both swing and
stance legs. Thus, higher brain centers are probably involved in basic trajectory planning.... 
...Also, directional changes must be planned in the previous step.  ...The swing foot needs to
attain near zero velocity with respect to the ground before heel contact.  ...Small temporal shifts
can cause relatively large amplitude shifts at heel contact.  Thus, temporal control is as critical
as spatial control in placement of the foot to maintain balance during gait.  ...If this control were
compromised, large errors in foot placement could result leading to instability during gait. 
...stance phase control determines the desired direction of forward progression of the body and
joint moments required to maintain upright posture.  Swing phase control can be evaluated as an
ability to establish the base of support.  The interaction of these two systems must also be
investigated since foot placement can have a great effect on moments generated during stance. 
Thus, analyzing components of balance in swing and stance can result in a greater understanding
of how the postural control system functions during gait." (Redfern and Schumann, A Model of
Foot Placement During Gait, JB 27(11).

7.  "Perhaps the reason the term "BIG 10" style is still in existence is because in the late 40's, the
50's and 60's there was such a thing.  It began with Jack Lee at OSU with the chair step and the
concept of 8 steps to 5 yards.  Revelle [sp] quickly picked up on it and he bought [sp] the
Micchigan [sp] band to great prominence.  Freed Ebbs at Iowa, Al Wright at Purdue and John
Payntor at Northwestern also added a great deal of innovation to this trend.  Several common
characteristics developed among all the Big 10 bands such as...the right foot pivot system
(Northwestern)" (Gary W. Smith, University of Illinois, 23 December, 1994).

Knee

8.  "...helical motion variables reveal clearly that the knee is definitely neither a hinge nor a
planar joint and its dynamic behavior changes over stride."  Ruptured anterior cruciate ligaments
(knee) vs. uninjured subjects show coping strategies in walking for the injured: with virtually the
same stride time and speed, injured subjects spend slightly more time in stance phase and less
time in single leg support (yet more in fast walking).  Also, fast walking slightly and universally
decreases stance phase, increases speed more than stride time, and increases single leg support.
(Shiavi, et al., Helical Motion Analysis of the Knee-II.  Kinematics of Uninjured and Injured
Knees During Walking and Pivoting, JB 20(7).

9.  "In the knee pain group, the heel hit the floor with a stronger impact....  Just before heel
strike, there was a faster downward velocity of the ankle with a larger angular velocity of the
shank.  The follow-through of the leg immediately after heel strike was more violent with larger
peak axial and angular accelerations of the leg echoed by a more rapid rise of the ground
reaction force.  ...Several studies have established that, in human beings, there is often an
impulsive foot-ground reaction at the instant of heel strike.  It appears to exist in about one-third
of the normal population.  This finding suggests that some subset of the population is
impulsively loading its joints and may be provoking joint damage and, possibly, osteoarthritis. 
Our hypothesis is that appropriate and timely neuromuscular control of limb motions plays an
important role in the preservation of pain-free joints." (Radin, et al., Relationship Between
Lower Limb Dynamics and Knee Joint Pain, JOR 9(3).

10.  "Circumstantial evidence in the literature points toward a relationship between heavy labor
and arthrosis of the knee."  Flexed knee lifting  significantly reduces frontal and sagittal knee
moment.  Also, frontal moment is favored most by (in this order): flexed knee lifting with 10 kg
in both hands, carrying 10 kg in the left hand, flexed knee lifting, carrying 20 kg in both hands,
after which noticeably more moment is manifest by carrying 10 kg in the right hand, and
carrying 20 kg in both hands. (Sahlstrom, Lanshammar and Adalberth, Knee Joint Moments in
Work-Related Situations, Erg 38(7).

11.  16 patients with unilateral anterior cruciate deficiency were studied.  "Results demonstrate
that functional abnormalities occur during low stress activities such as level walking.  ...In the
anterior cruciate ligament deficient knees, the extension moments at heel strike were
substantially greater than comparable moments in normal controls. ...Interestingly, despite the
relatively low loads at the knee during level walking, the largest percentage of change from
normal function occurred during the level walking test.  As noted during level walking, the
patients tended to avoid quadriceps contraction when the knee was near full extension" which
otherwise "normally causes strain to an intact anterior cruciate ligament.  ...The symmetric and
rhythmic nature of the adaptation in patients with anterior cruciate deficient knees suggests that
there is potential reprogramming that takes place in the early period following the tear to the
anterior cruciate ligament.  The adaptation observed during locomotion is consistent with one in
which the patients have reprogrammed their mechanism for walking in such a manner that their
normal patterns of locomotion do not produce abnormal anterior displacement of the proximal
end of the tibia." (Andriacchi, Dynamics of Pathological Motion:  Applied to the Anterior
Cruciate Deficient Knee, JB 23(sup.1).

12.  "Three-dimensional kinematics of the tibiofemoral [knee] joint were studied during normal
walking.  ...The results do not, however, support the traditional view that the so-called 'crew
home' mechanism of the knee joint operates during gait." (LaFortune, et al., Three-Dimensional
Kinematics of the Human Knee During Walking, JB 25(4).

Leg

13.  "Manual materials handling and especially lifting can be hazardous and has often been
associated with the occurrence of low-back pain. ...Anderson...found the intradiscal pressure
more closely related to the distance between the load and the body than to the lifting technique
used. ...low values found for the net knee moment during the execution of leglift implies a
reduction in knee loading.  This may be a surprising result, since it has been advocated to use the
leglift to shift the stresses on the body from the back to the legs.  ...Apparently, a process of
coordination endorses a distribution of net joint moments across joints, such that the ground
reaction force points in a direction that provides balance during the movement." (Toussaint, et
al., Coordination of the Leg Muscles in Backlift and Leglift, JB 25(11).

14.  "As locomotion speed increases and the peak intramuscular pressure in each gait cycle rises
to levels which may temporarily inhibit muscle blood flow (although this may be partially or
completely compensated for by the rise in arterial blood pressure with exercise) one can
speculate that there may be an optimal relationship between the timing of the intramuscular
pressure peaks and peaks in the pulsatile intra-arterial pressure.  Although we have reported
coupling between heart rate and cadence at certain walking and running speeds (Kirby et al.,
1987), the potential relationship between the intra-arterial and intramuscular pressure
fluctuations requires further study."  The faster the speed of walking, the more important
coupling becomes to the circulation system. In what ways does speed inhibit coupling?  Rhythm? 
Balance? (Kirby, et al., The Effect of Locomotor Speed on the Anterior Tibial Intramuscular
Pressure of Normal Humans, JB 21 (5).

15.  "As expected, the major portion of work was performed in the plane of progression since the
goal of locomotion is to support the body against gravity while generating movements which
propel the body forward. However, the results also showed that substantial work was done in the
frontal plane by the hip during walking (23% of the total work at that joint)...to control the pelvis
and trunk against gravitational forces." (Eng and Winter, Kinetic Analysis of the Lower Limbs
During Walking: What Information Can Be Gained from a Three-Dimensional Model?, JB
28(6).

Hip

16.  Peak forces acting on the hip joint were measured in two hip implant patients during
walking and running.  "In the first patient the median peak forces increased with the walking
speed from about 280% of the patient's body weight (BW) at 1 km h to approximately 480% BW
at 5 km h. Jogging and very fast walking both raised the forces to about 550% BW; stumbling on
one occasion caused magnitudes of 720% BW.  In the second patient median forces at 3 km h
were about 410% BW and a force of 870% BW was observed during stumbling.  ...The present
results can...be generalized to normal individuals only with caution.  ...Walking with hard and
soft heel contact caused only small differences in the force maxima. This is consistent with the
observation that the stiffness of shoe materials hardly influences the loads." (Bergmann, et al.,
Hip Joint Loading During Walking and Running, Measured in Two Patients, JB 26(8).

Lungs

17.  "To assess changes in total and regional chest wall properties during nonrespiratory
maneuvers, we measured electromyographic activity of various chest wall muscles, esophageal
pressure, and rib cage and abdominal surface displacements in six subjects before and during
various static tasks.  Subjects were seated at functional residual capacity, and quasi-sinusoidal
forcing at the mouth was imposed during the maneuver in absence of active breathing. 
Magnitude of total chest wall impedance increased with effort during all maneuvers; changes in
phase were small. Maneuvers involving primarily muscles of the neck and rib cage - holding a
10-kg weight, 10 kg of isometric tension between the arms, and isometric neck flexion - roughly
doubled the magnitude of rib cage impedance and, to a lesser degree, increased magnitude of
diaphragm-abdomen impedance. Unilateral and bilateral leg lifts, in addition to increasing
diaphragm-abdomen impedance, increased rib cage impedance. Passive 90-degree rotation of the
torso caused aprx. 25% increases in rib cage impedance and diaphragm-abdomen impedance; if
the rotation was actively maintained by the trunk muscles, both regional impedances increased
over 100%.  Passive restriction of rib cage displacement by strapping increased rib cage
impedance and total chest wall impedance but not diaphragm-abdomen impedance, whereas
abdominal strapping increased diaphragm-abdomen impedance but did not affect rib cage
impedance or total chest wall impedance.  We speculate that, when respiratory muscles contract
during a nonrespiratory maneuver, breathing will be more difficult unless contraction of various
muscles is coordinated in some complex way to minimize total chest wall impedance."  In other
words, we don't know how to breathe. (Barnas, et al., Regional Chest Wall Impedance During
Nonrespiratory Maneuvers, JAP 70(1).

18.  "A slight but significant decrease (2.3%) in total lung capacity and vital capacity (2.7%) was
noted when subjects changed from sitting to supine (lying) positions."  Thus, uprightness
increases lung capacity (or at least the lack of uprightness inhibits lung capacity). (Navajas, et
al., Effect of body posture on respiratory impedance, JAP 64(1).

19.  "Measurements were made while the subjects were in nine different postures: in six of these,
the torso was straight; in three, the torso was bent or twisted."  Results: Breathing is heavily
influenced by posture. (Barnas, et al., Effect of Posture on Lung and Regional Chest Wall
Mechanics, Ane 78(2).

20.  "We measured lung compliance, pulmonary flow-resistance, and expiratory reserve volume
(ERV) in ten healthy young adults in sitting, supine [lying] and lateral positions.  Average lung
compliance was 0.21 in sitting...and 0.16 L-cm in supine positions.  The change was significant
between sitting and supine position.  Flow-resistance increased from 1.78 in sitting to 2.5 cm in
lateral positions, and did not increase further in the supine posture in spite of a 35 percent
decrease in expiratory reserve volume."  Sitting (rather than lying) increases lung compliance
and expiratory reserve volume, and decreases flow-resistance.  Why do we sacrifice air for
standing, if not for the art of marching? (Behrakis, et al., Lung Mechanics in Sitting and
Horizontal Body Positions, Che 83(4).

Finger

21.  "Exercise and teaching of musicians presupposes in the individual the constitutive ability to
freely execute the finger movements required in the playing of the instrument.  However, in the
hand anatomical restrictions may exist that limit the mobility of the fingers and, thereby, the
possibility to determine their movements voluntarily.  The tendons of the fingers are often
thought of as rope-like structures running independent from each other.  In reality, however,
anatomical interconnections between the finger tendons may exist that considerably limit the
displacements of the tendons relative to each other.  Such interconnections appear almost
systematically between the individual tendons of the respective finger motor groups.  ...The
interconnections are generally strong tendinous or fascia-like structures which are not likely to
be significantly stretched or lengthened by exercise." (Leijnse, et al., Biomechanics of the Finger
with Anatomical Restrictions - the Significance for the Exercising Hand of the Musician, JB
25(11).

Head

22.  "...the motion pattern of the upper part of the body is no less important to the motor strategy
of human locomotion than that of the lower limbs."  The head, shoulders and pelvis experience
movement on several different planes during locomotion.  The displacements, which occur in
smooth, consistent, circular linear patterns, changes with alterations in speed. (Cappozzo,
Analysis of the Linear Displacement of the Head and Trunk During Walking at Different Speeds,
JB 14(6).

23.  "Forward progression of the head and trunk is sinusoidal.  The head and trunk move ahead
faster than the average walking speed during the first 31 per cent of the step cycle....  The
average maximum increase in forward velocity was 23 cm/sec at S-2, 14 cm/sec at T-10, and 3
cm/sec at the head.  During the remainder of the step cycle, they move ahead slower than the
average walking speed.  The average maximum decrease in forward velocity was 15 cm/sec at
S-2, 8 cm/sec at T-10, and 2 cm/sec at the head. ...At faster walking speeds, the magnitude of
forward and backward acceleration increased at all levels.  ...At faster walking speeds, the
magnitude of up and down acceleration of the head and trunk increased. ...At increasing walking
speeds, greater vertical displacement occurs. This relates to increased step length, hip flexion,
ankle flexion, and other factors.  ...This study reaffirms the classic observation of Braune and
Fischer that the total mechanical energy of the head and trunk is conserved between successive
steps.  As the head and trunk rise over the stance leg along the vertical axis and their forward
velocity decreases, kinetic energy of forward motion is converted into potential energy of
elevation.  As they descend, the potential energy is converted back into kinetic energy as the
forward velocity increases.  The process has been compared to pole vaulting.  By this
mechanism a smooth transfer of energy occurs between successive steps.  As a result the net
mechanical cost of moving the head and trunk, which constitutes more than half of the total
body weight, is reduced approximately 50 percent." (Waters et al., Translational Motion of the
Head and Trunk During Normal Walking, JB 6(2).

Eyes

24.  [applied toward the diving board and long jumping] "The nature of visually guided
locomotion was examined in an experiment where subjects had to walk to targets...under four
visual conditions: (a) normal vision; (b) with vision restricted to a "snapshot" each time the foot
that was to be placed on the target was on the ground;   with a snapshot each time the foot to be
placed was in the swing phase; and (d) no vision after departure for the target.  The results show
that the subjects succeeded in reaching the target in most cases.  However, the smoothness and
fluidity of their movements vary significantly between conditions.  Under normal vision or
where visual snapshots are delivered when the pointing foot [foot to be placed on the target] is
on the ground, locomotion is smoothly regulated as the subjects approach the target.  Where
snapshots are delivered when the pointing foot is in the swing phase, regulation becomes clumsy
and ill coordinated.  ...In the two intermittent conditions, the mean step patterns were very
similar to those produced under normal vision.  They were characterized by a regulation phase
appearing in a stable fashion over the last three steps to the target.  However, in the out of phase
condition, they were much less regular, with a good deal more variation from trial to trial...."
(Laurent and Thompson, The Role of Visual Information in Control of a Constrained Locomotor
Task, JMB 20(1).

25.  "...it has been shown that any significant dysfunction of human locomotion is characterized
by a gross departure from the normal curve of the stance phase." (Schwartz and Heath, The
Definition of Human Locomotion on the Basis of Measurement, BJS 29(1).

26.  "Evidence of movement pattern selection in different locomotor tasks has been reported by
other investigators.  Grillner et al. discussed biomechanical advantages to human subjects of
switching from walking to running at approximately 2 to 2.5 m/s.  At low velocities, walking
rather than running is energetically more advantageous and stability is ensured by the longer
double support times.  When a person decreases walking speed to approximately 0.5 m/s or less,
there are increased postural demands required for stability to be ensured." (Freedman and Kent,
Selection of Movement Patterns During Functional Tasks in Humans, JMB 19(2).

27.  "In this study, the visual control of locomotion was evaluated in subjects who walked over
several supports, under various conditions of illumination and vision.  The performances were
evaluated by simply measuring the speed of locomotion.  Experiments of this kind have already
been shown to reflect task difficulty accurately....  Our assumption was that the speed of
locomotion on a narrow beam would mainly reflect the difficulty of maintaining balance,
whereas on a [irregular] horizontal ladder it would mainly reflect the difficulty of visual
guidance [which is why we use consistent step sizes in marching - they do not require vision to
regulate].  Walking over a narrow support has already been used as a test to detect vestibular
deficits, while running over irregular terrain has been used to test the visual control of step
length."  The visual guidance (ladder) test was less light dependant than the balance (beam) test. 
Also, ground level walking was the only condition which benefitted from stroboscopic
illumination over intermittent lighting. (Assaiante et al., Discrete Visual Samples May Control
Locomotor Equilibrium and Foot Positioning in Man, JMB 21(1).

28.  "Postural control showed a cephalo-caudal developmental gradient with postural responses
appearing first in the neck, then trunk, and finally, legs, as children developed from 3 to 14
months of age.  A wide variety of response patterns was seen in the 3- to 5-month-olds,
indicating that postural responses are not functional prior to experience with stabilizing the
center of mass [a developmental hint toward methodology?].  ...The results of our experiments
indicate that vision is not required for the activation of postural responses in young standing
children.  It is of interest to note that Brandt et al. found that optical influences on posture
increased as the child learned to stand, and peaked between the ages of 2 and 5 years, followed
by a decrease to adult levels in later years." (Woollacott et al., Neuromuscular Control of Posture
in the Infant and Child: is Vision Dominant?, JMB 19(2).

29.  "Increasing the complexity of a coincident timing task from one involving just simple
movements to unidirectional targets, to those involving sequences of movements and spatially
complex target patterns, did not produce decrements in performance [thus, investing in training
pays for itself]." (Ball and Glencross, The Relationship of Target and Response Complexity in
Coincident Timing Performance, JMB 20(4).

30.  "Anatomical and physiological evidence supports the view of different functional properties
of central and peripheral vision.  For example, central regions of the retina are characterized by
high visual acuity and are sensitive to positional information.  Peripheral regions of the retina are
characterized by poor visual acuity and are sensitive to changes in velocity.  ...In terms of
directional error, Figure 4 indicates that subjects were more accurate when moving to targets in
the left section, visible in the left visual field of the left eye (right hemisphere) than when
moving to targets in the right section, visible in the right visual field of the right eye (left
hemisphere).  This is consistent with the view of the right hemisphere being specialized for
spatial processing.  ...The increased accuracy when visual information was projected to the right
hemisphere held regardless of whether the right or left hand was used to localize the target [thus,
there are no marchers missing the left eye?  Perhaps none that we would trust with a set point]."
(MacKenzie et al., JMB 20(4).

Posture - influences

31.  "Results show that posture sharing and rapport are positively related and that this relation is
significant across time."  Postural habits maintain themselves well in groups. (LaFrance,
Nonverbal Synchrony and Rapport: Analysis by the Cross-Lag Panel Technique, Social
Psychology Quarterly 42(1).

32.  [The demands which trumpet playing alone make on posture create a greater angle of knee
bend.  However, we sacrifice this stability for good marching.  Why, if not for the art?]. (Bejjani
and Halpern, Postural Kinematics of Trumpet Playing, JB 22(5).

33.  "...good posture has often been defined in physiological and biomechanical terms rather than
as a specific position that can be readily assumed.  A general definition of good posture must
therefore encompass both physiological and biomechanical efficiency.  ...Studies that have
investigated the effects of posture training on postural misalignment have usually assessed the
fundamental standing position.  During assessment of standing posture, two angles of the spinal
column are normally measured. These are the angles of kyphosis and lordosis, representing the
anterio-posterior curves of the thoracic and lumbar/sacral regions, respectively.  In both regions,
more obtuse angles are preferred, as they reflect a straighter spinal column and reduced pelvic
tilt.  Postural problems may occur as these angles become more acute.  In fact, low back pain
and groin strains are common among individuals with more acute lordosis angles.  ...research
has found that poorly designed sports programs and training routines can exaggerate antagonistic
muscular imbalance, worsening lordosis angles, and thereby increasing pelvic tilt and
misalignment of the spinal column." (Fairweather and Sidaway, Ideokinetic Imagery as a
Postural Development Technique, QES 64(4).

34.  "The male top-level shooters could stabilize their posture significantly better than...male
national level shooters, who were, in turn, much more stable than naive shooters.  ...During
bipedal standing more than 700 muscles must be controlled in a purposeful way in a multi-link
system including about 200 degrees of freedom.  ...In many sports events the role of balance is
obvious.  In shooting even small changes in posture may lead to significant changes in
performance. ...Experienced shooters relied less on visual information in stabilizing their posture
than the controls." (Era, et al., Postural Stability and Skilled Performance-A Study on Top-Level
and Naive Shooters, JB 29(3).

35.  "...subjects are more stable in the response time conditions than in the no-response time
conditions." (LaRue, Posture Control and Cognition in Young Adults, Laurentian University,
Sudbury, ON).

36.  "Total body balance is achieved by the regulation of the angular motion of the total body
centre of mass about the supporting foot.  ...The peak lateral excursion of the centre of mass
occurred during mid-single support.  ...The human body can, therefore, be modeled as an
inverted pendulum rotating about the supporting foot and hip during the single support phase of
gait.  ...Modeling errors were lowest during single support.  ...Modeling errors were highest
during the double support phase...." (MacKinnon and Winter, Control of Whole Body Balance in
the Frontal Plane During Human Walking, JB 26(6).

37.  "Postural sway during quiet stance has been used to characterize the postural control system. 
Most studies have used center of pressure measurements and have assumed stationarity,
however, recent research has indicated that COP is not stationary.  ...Postural control during
upright stance is dependent upon integration of proprioceptive [kinesthetic], vestibular
[equilibrium] and visual information." (Schummann, et al., Time-Frequency Analysis of Postural
Sway, JB 28(5).

Foot and force

38.  "The complexity of the foot and its contribution to locomotion is vastly underrated." (Scott
and Winter, Biomechanical Model of the Human Foot: Kinematics and Kinetics During the
Stance Phase of Walking, JB 26(9).

39.  "Subjects naturally coupled the beat of the metronome at the support phase.  ...subjects
coupled the external information under condition C (walking at a cadence of 92 steps per
minute, with instructions to couple the beat with toe-lift of each leg)." (Mauerberg, Temporal
Coupling Between External Auditory Information and the Phases of Walking, University of the
State of Sao Paulo, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil).

40.  [For the center of pressure, toes out 45 degrees (max) is the best standing position, 25
degrees (or less) is the best walking position. Right foot back 30 cm (max) is the best standing
position for side to side stability, with right foot forward best for front to back stability]. (Kirby,
et al., The Influence of Foot Position on Standing Balance, JB 20(4).

41.  "The peak magnitude and the net angular impulse of free moment ground reaction were both
increased significantly with increases in pronation." [pronation increases jarring, and thus,
chance of osteoarthritis. Preventative and corrective measures should be taken, but not as a
matter of course (SCV)]. (Holden and Cavanaugh, The Free Moment of Ground Reaction in
Distance Running and its Changes with Pronation, JB 24(10).

Foot and gait initiation

42.  [lateral shift of foot pressure prior to gait indicates a likely release of the ball of the foot
brought into swing phase first.  The faster the speed desired, the further back the migration of
the center of pressure for gait initiation, until it skirts the edge of the heel.  This is not leaning,
this is force].  "In conclusion, dynamic phenomena prior to stepping are essential to walking in
as much as they contribute to creating the convenient conditions, postural and dynamic, for
progression [the two methods of gait initiation: postural and dynamic].  In this respect, the
anticipation phase of stepping can be considered as a part of the locomotor program." (Breniere,
et al., Are Dynamic Phenomena Prior to Stepping Essential to Walking?, JMB 19(1).

43.  [prior to gait initiation, foot pressure moves backward as well as sideways through
anticipatory postural adjustments which can wreak havoc on uprightness]. (Dietrich, et al.,
Organization of Local Anticipatory Movements in Single Step Initiation, HMS 13).

44.  "The study analyzes the incidence of ...(gravity) parameters on the duration of gait initiation,
from a standing posture, in children.  ...The results show that duration of gait initiation is
independent of gait velocity, as it is in adults.  ...These findings suggest that children's
biomechanical constants are determining factors for initiating movement. It is hypothesized that
the capacity to combine and adapt properties of the body with dynamics of the context is
acquired through practice of independent walking [unfortunately].  ...It is as though, with age,
the child progressively takes account of his or her biomechanical characteristics and their
modifications.  They must be able to take advantage of the intrinsic properties of the body to
optimize forces and movements [rather that control these movements, sadly].  For Ulrich and
colleagues, the capacity to combine and adapt properties of the body with the dynamics of the
context and the task is acquired through both practice and change in component systems.  The
normal adult could then be a highly skilled performer who is in fact utilizing non-muscular
forces [upright marching is the ultimate in utilizing non-muscular forces].  The movement is
then not only a direct product of the muscle forces, as prescribed by the central nervous system,
but rather a combination of all the forces acting on the body.  In the case of gait initiation, the
duration of this phase could represent a solution, the results of the combination, rather than a
prescription.  ...the integration of the biomechanical characteristics into gait initiation control
and the more central planning of movement require several years of experience of independent
walking before they become present mature features.  Even if neural maturation is an obviously
important part of early motor development, the integration of biomechanical characteristics and
anticipatory behavior into gait initiation control, and probably in other motor skills, may depend
more on the experience one has of that skill than on neural maturation per se." (Ledebt and
Breniere, Dynamical Implication of Anatomical and Mechanical Parameters in Gait Initiation
Process in Children, HMS 13).

Walking and force

45.  "...we need only small inputs of propulsive force and balancing mechanisms to maintain
forward progress.  Alexander (1977) discusses how, in walking at normal speeds, the potential
energy of the body is lowest and the kinetic energy is highest during the double support phase
[upright marching is intended to maintain kinetic energy].  ...In summary, it is reasonable to
claim that many aspects of walking at normal speed, from a prediction of the foot forces to an
understanding of the relationship between walking cadence and body stature, are well
represented by a model which completely disregards the action of muscles, except for setting the
initial positions and velocities of the limbs at the beginning of the swing phase [can foot energy
be conserved via the pendulum?]." (Mochon and McMahon, Ballistic Walking, JB 13).

46.  "Numerous models have been developed to simulate human walking based on segment
models in varying complexity from three up to 17 segments." (Koopman, et al., An Inverse
Dynamics Model for the Analysis, Reconstruction and Prediction of Bipedal Walking, JB
28(11).

47.  "In the pioneering work of the San Francisco group, six major determinants of normal gait
were described, which increased the efficiency of the bipedal gait.  Three of these were related
to pelvic movement." (Stokes, et al., Rotational and Translational Movement Features of the
Pelvis and Thorax During Adult Human Locomotion, JB 22(1).

48.  "Indeed, the Standardization and Terminology Committee of the International Society of
Biomechanics is presently determining a set of standard conventions for the presentation of
biomechanical parameters describing gait and other movements so that between-study
comparisons can be easily made without having to consider any transformation functions.
...Overall, based on a consideration of relevant biomechanical measures, a convention
identifying toe-off as the beginning of the gait cycle and presenting swing followed by stance
phases is superior to the opposite convention when presenting variables describing the gait
cycle." (DeVita, The Selection of a Standard Convention for Analyzing Gait Data Based on the
Analysis of Relevant Biomechanical Factors, JB 27(4).

49.  "The main result to emerge from this study is that the hip stabilization in space appeared as
soon as the first week of autonomous walking.  Shoulder stabilization in space appeared to be
effective only at the second month.  Finally, no preferred head stabilization, neither in space nor
on shoulders, has yet appeared at the fourth month [let's take our time putting horns in rookies
hands].  These results suggest an ascending progression with age of the ability to control lateral
balance during locomotion, from an early hip stabilization.  This hip stabilization in space is
probably aimed at controlling the lateral movements of the center of gravity and seems to be a
prerequisite to the autonomous walking in toddlers." (Assaiante, et al., Hip Stabilization and
Lateral Balance Control in Toddlers, UPR Neurobiologie et Mouvements, France).

Rate of speed

50.  "Eight subjects walked on a treadmill at a preferred rate, and at a rate predicted by the limbs
modeled as a force-driven harmonic oscillator. Linear regression analysis revealed a significant
linear increase in spectral power (stability) ...for both the preferred and the predicted
frequencies.  From the results...it appears that any inconsistencies in the power-generating
muscles (ankle plantar flexors) may be dampened out in the kinematics in a hierarchical fashion. 
Joints closer to the head show greater stability than those closer to the interface with the ground.
Thus, we may conceptualize the joint kinematics as being in the service of the head [not the
horn] in maintaining its stable trajectory.  The need for both stability of certain systems and
flexibility of others in a dynamical activity may be crucial for skilled performance." (Holt, et al.,
Stability as a Constraint on Preferred Frequency of Human Walking: Implications for Motor
Control and Coordination, Department of Physical Therapy, Boston University, USA, and
Department of Exercise Science, University of Massachusetts, USA).

51.  "The energy consumed is obtained by evaluating the work done in traveling a given
distance.  This showed a sharp decrease as the cadence was reduced from about 120 steps per
min., reaching a minimum around 80 steps per min., and then increased as the cadence was
decreased.  This would seem to indicate that for a given individual there is a natural gait at
which he can travel a given distance with minimum effort.  Given the parameters of the body
one can determine this gait by analysis." (Beckett and Chang, An Evaluation of the Kinematics
of Gait by Minimum Energy, JB 1(2).

Loads and movement

52.  "Hip acetabular contact pressure increases always preceding ground contact....  During gait,
this hip preloading always occurred at least 100 msec prior to ground contact.  ...These data
suggest that muscle contraction prior to weight bearing is a consistent preloading acetabular
stress.  ...Although it is possible that the phenomenon is vestibular-mediated, a more
parsimonious explanation is that of habit, formed during life-long experience." (Krebs, et al.,
Direct Evidence of Acetabular Joint Preloading During Locomotion, Massachusetts General
Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA, USA).

53.  "There was tendency that the more the work duration increase, the more L5/S1 [vertebra]
compression force reduces.  There was statistically significant difference between fast (1.0
seconds) and slow (2.0 seconds) motion.  Therefore, if lifting is executed during extreme short
duration, there is possibility that compression force at L5/S1 disc rapidly increases." (Ogo and
Ishii, The Prediction of L5/S1 Compression Force During Lifting, Nippon College of Physical
Education, Tokyo, JAPAN).

54.  "Epidemiological data from the United States show that 23% of all the compensated injuries
to the back are related to manual materials handling. ...The tasks involving asymmetrical body
motions are predominant in the workplace.  ...More compression is observed for symmetrical
lifting while more shearing is present for asymmetrical lifting.  ...Theoretical considerations also
suggest that the rate of loading of the spine may lead to an accelerated onset of degenerative
changes of the lumbar structures." (Gagnon and Gagnon, The Influence of Dynamic Factors on
Triaxial Net Muscular Moments at the L5/S1 Joint During Asymmetrical Lifting and Lowering,
JB 25(8).

General uprightness

55.  "Independent walking is the major motor development task during the first 2 years of life. 
The developmental changes leading to walking behavior are essentially a series of postural
changes through which the child gains the motor control necessary first to assume upright
posture, then to maintain upright posture, and finally to walk independently. ...The infant
gradually attains control of the head, upper trunk, and upper extremities.  Control of the entire
trunk follows, ...followed by active efforts at locomotion.  ...Once walking is initiated,
proficiency in this basic motor skill develops at an exponential rate.  Stride length, walking
speed, and cadence increase; and the movement shows greater reproducibility....  Balance is very
important in the refinement of walking and the development of other motor skills.  ...Walking
requires the ability to support and balance the upright body and to execute stepping movements."
(Malina and Bouchard, Growth, Maturation and Physical Activity, Human Kinetics Books).

56.  "Human Uprightness and its anatomic basis are among the most striking characteristics that
distinguish living man....  Articulated speech and language seem to have come to man at least 2
million years after he had become upright.  ...His first great evolutionary transcendence had been
his erect bipedalism; the second came with spoken language.  Armed with these two distinctive
attributes, humankind has attained humanity.  Man has reached thereby a new level of
organization in the universe."  Tobias, The Head-Neck Sensory Motor System: Upright Head in
Hominid Evolution, Berthoz, et al., Oxford University Press).

Collective behavior

57.  "To direct our efforts we have defined elementary collective behavior as two or more
persons, engaged in one or more of the behaviors of locomotion, head/body position,
gesticulation, tactile manipulation, and/or vocalization, which are judged sequentially or
simultaneously uniform in direction, velocity, tempo, spacing and/or substantive content.
Whether storming the Bastille or the Chicago Loop, marching to Selma or to Washington, the
central activities are those of collective locomotion. Collective locomotion designates the
concerted movements of two or more persons.  Although the literature contains discussions of
"pedestrian clusters," "crowd motion," and repeated references to "collective action" consisting
of locomotion, there have previously been no clear theoretical criteria or methodological
procedures for judging when the locomotive behaviors of two or more persons are coordinated. 
Consistent with the aforementioned definition of collective behavior, elementary collective
locomotion will be said to occur when the locomotive behaviors of two or more contiguous
[within seven feet] persons are judged uniform in direction and velocity.  Judgements of
common direction, contiguity, and velocity allow us to establish the presence of units of
collective locomotion withing a milling gathering, a pedestrian stream, or a street action.  ...A
modification of Kandsky's formula for connectivity provided a composite measure of the
direction, contiguity (spacing), and velocity of all persons within the sampling frame.  ...The
connectivity scores were .46 for pedestrian movement, .65 for marching demonstrators, and .58
for the marching band.  The scores for the latter two are the reverse of what was expected.  Our
only explanation is that we had a good film record of a very mediocre high-school summer
marching band." (Wohlstein and McPhail, Judging the Presence and Extent of Collective
Behavior from Film Records, SPQ 42(1).

58.  "Processions and marches are recurring forms of social behavior throughout recorded
history.  People have moved together from one point in space to another in search of food and
water, to escape persecution, to go into battle, to worship, and to celebrate the status transitions
of marriage and death.  Processions have also figured prominently in state coronations,
inaugurations, weddings, funerals, and in homage to visiting dignitaries.  Like other forms of
social behavior, processions and marches eventually were taken over as means of political
protest." (McPhail and Wohlstein, Collective Locomotion as Collective Behavior, ASR 51).

Space and mobility

59.  "Jameson, faced with what he sees as the global confusion of postmodern times, 'the
disorientation of saturated space', calls for an exercise in 'cognitive mapping'." (Doreen Massey,
Space, Place, and Gender, University of Minnesota Press).

60.  "Mobility transforms and ennobles peoples.  It has always been so." (Jefferson, The
Civilizing Rails, EG 4).

61.  "In studying people's relationship with place, humanist geographers wish not to confine
themselves to quantifiable and observable phenomena. Rather, they try to interpret people's
values and purposes, clarify the embodiment in space of such values and purposes, and elucidate
the social meaning of space." (Hasson, Humanistic Geography from the Perspective of Martin
Buber's Philosophy, PG 36).

62.  "Our future security may depend less upon priority in exploring space than upon our wisdom
in managing the space we live in." Sears, The Inexorable Problem of Space, Sci 127).


"The Functional Marching Revolution: Case Studies in The Advancement of Technique"
Copyright   1996 by Stuart Rice.  All rights reserved.

    Source: geocities.com/marchingresearch