 |
The glide step or roll step is a form of movement used by marching bands to minimize upper body movement, enabling musicians to play their instruments and march without air-stream interruptions. Standardizing the style of marching also serves to add to the visual effect of a marching band. Sometimes special shoes are worn with a curved heel that facilitates rolling the foot. Glide stepping is used by many high school and college marching bands, and by many drum corps.
Glide step seeks to restrict all motion above the upper-body to a smooth, unchanging motion in the direction of travel, and to restrict all motion below the waist to that which is completely necessary.
Before the glide step can be learned, the general posture of the body must be normalized. This is called "attention". The important aspects of attention for marching are having a tall, straight posture with hips shifted slightly back, keeping weight distributed slightly forward and off the heels, and general relaxation of all major muscles. A general guideline for the body's position relative to the rest of the body is the ears should be over the shoulders, the shoulders over the hips, and the hips over the ankles. In the "attention" position, the feet are either together and parallel to each other, or each foot is approximately 30 degrees off of parallel to each other. A call and response is commonly used by bands that follow George N. Parks' training examples to standardize posture: "Feet! (Together!) Stomach! (In!) Chest! (Out!) Shoulders! (Back!) Elbows! (Frozen!) Chin! (Up!) Eyes! (With pride!) Eyes! (With pride!)"
From attention, the next step is to learn mark time. This involves alternately picking up the left and right legs from their position at attention to the "check" position. At "check", the leg is bent slightly, the heel is approximately 1-2 inches off the ground, and the toes are in line with each other. Important aspects of marking time are that the hips should not shift as the legs are lifted and that the weight is kept forward on the balls of the feet. A common command, often called out by a drum major, usually consists of, "Mark time, mark!", followed by four beats of marking time (left, right, left, right) and then the first step with the left foot.
The first step to moving forward is to move the leg from a "check" position to an "extended" position. The heel of the extended foot should be placed slightly inside of "straight ahead" so that about 1/3 of the foot is in front of the stationary foot. In the "extended" position, the weight has not yet shifted forward, but the leg-in-motion has been straightened forward so that the heel is on the ground and the toes are pointed in the air as high as possible. While the body itself should be moving smoothly along, this motion should be very snappy, emphasizing that the toes are stuck in the air so that the bottom of the extended foot is exposed. A common instruction is to "dig in with the heel", which emphasizes starting the step as far back on the heel as possible. This, in turn, should lead to higher toe lift.
Next, the weight is shifted forward from the ball of the stationary foot to the ball of extended foot. This motion is called "rolling through". Because this is the primary "stepping" motion, it is important that it be as fluid as possible. Even after "rolling through", the stationary leg should still be as straight as possible. Only after the weight has been shifted from one foot to the next should the back leg be bent slightly to allow it to glide forward (while the foot remains as close to the ground as possible) into the next "check" position. From this check position, the leg smoothly transitions into the next "extend" position, and so on. At the halfway point of the motion, the moving foot should be passing the ankle of the stationary foot.
Generally there are two standard sizes for a roll step. The most common is 22.5 inches (570 mm) from heel to heel, in the extended position. When executed at this size a marcher that started with the balls of his feet on a yard line will end up with the balls of his feet on the next yard line, five yards away, after taking eight steps; thus, this step is known as the "8 to 5 step". The second increment is slightly larger at 30 inches, and will move five yards in six steps. In order to correctly march these sizes, a performer generally uses muscle memory to execute these steps. The step sizes called for can sometimes be larger than a 6 to 5 step, but generally a marcher will switch to jazz running if the step needs to be larger than a 5 to 5 step.
Other skills utilized in glide-step marching are facings, sliding (keeping the upper body facing a different direction than the lower body), adjusting stride length, back-marching, and matching all of these motions to a specific tempo.
The foot is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws and/or nails.
Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move rapidly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground. This is in contrast to walking, where one foot is always in contact with the ground, the legs are kept mostly straight, and the center of gravity vaults over the stance leg or legs in an inverted pendulum fashion. A feature of a running body from the viewpoint of spring-mass mechanics is that changes in kinetic and potential energy within a stride co-occur, with energy storage accomplished by springy tendons and passive muscle elasticity. The term "running" can refer to a variety of speeds ranging from jogging to sprinting.
The leg is the entire lower limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh or sometimes even the hip or buttock region. The major bones of the leg are the femur, tibia, and adjacent fibula.
This is a list of dance terms that are not names of dances or types of dances. See List of dances and List of dance style categories for those.
Because ballet became formalized in France, a significant part of ballet terminology is in the French language.
A gait is a manner of limb movements made during locomotion. Human gaits are the various ways in which humans can move, either naturally or as a result of specialized training. Human gait is defined as bipedal forward propulsion of the center of gravity of the human body, in which there are sinuous movements of different segments of the body with little energy spent. Various gaits are characterized by differences in limb movement patterns, overall velocity, forces, kinetic and potential energy cycles, and changes in contact with the ground.
The snatch is the first of two lifts contested in the sport of weightlifting followed by the clean and jerk. The objective of the snatch is to lift the barbell from the ground to overhead in one continuous motion. There are four main styles of snatch used: snatch, split snatch, power snatch, and muscle snatch. The full lift is the most common style used in competition, while power snatches and muscle snatches are mostly used for training purposes, and split snatches are rarely used. Any of these lifts can be performed from the floor, from the hang position, or from blocks. In competition, only lifts from the floor are allowed.
Dance position is the position of a dancer or the mutual position of a dance couple assumed during a dance. Describing and mastering proper dance positions is an important part of dance technique.
The front kick in martial arts is a kick executed by lifting the knee straight forward, while keeping the foot and shin either hanging freely or pulled to the hip, and then straightening the leg in front of the practitioner and striking the target area. It is desirable to retract the leg immediately after delivering the kick, to avoid the opponent trying to grapple the leg and to return to stable fighting stance.
Taoist tai chi is a form of tai chi which is taught in more than 25 countries by the non-profit International Taoist Tai Chi Society and associated national Taoist Tai Chi societies. It is a modified form of Yang-style tai chi developed by Taoist monk Moy Lin-shin in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Moy incorporated principles of Liuhebafa and other internal arts to increase the health benefits of practising the form.
Finning techniques are the skills and methods used by swimmers and underwater divers to propel themselves through the water and to maneuver when wearing swimfins. There are several styles used for propulsion, some of which are more suited to particular swimfin configurations. There are also techniques for positional maneuvering, such as rotation on the spot, which may not involve significant locational change. Use of the most appropriate finning style for the circumstances can increase propulsive efficiency, reduce fatigue, improve precision of maneuvering and control of the diver's position in the water, and thereby increase the task effectiveness of the diver and reduce the impact on the environment. Propulsion through water requires much more work than through air due to higher density and viscosity. Diving equipment which is bulky usually increases drag, and reduction of drag can significantly reduce the effort of finning. This can be done to some extent by streamlining diving equipment, and by swimming along the axis of least drag, which requires correct diver trim. Efficient production of thrust also reduces the effort required, but there are also situations where efficiency must be traded off against practical necessity related to the environment or task in hand, such as the ability to maneuver effectively and resistance to damage of the equipment.
A leglock is a joint lock that is directed at joints of the leg such as the ankle, knee or hip joint. A leglock which is directed at joints in the foot is sometimes referred to as a foot lock and a lock at the hip as a hip lock. Leglocks are featured, with various levels of restrictions, in combat sports and martial arts such as Sambo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, catch wrestling, mixed martial arts, Shootwrestling and submission wrestling, but are banned in some sports featuring joint locks such as judo. The technique has been seen across a wide range of different combat sports and is reportedly over 2,500 years old, having been seen in the lost art of Pankration in the original Olympic Games.
Motion, the process of movement, is described using specific anatomical terms. Motion includes movement of organs, joints, limbs, and specific sections of the body. The terminology used describes this motion according to its direction relative to the anatomical position of the body parts involved. Anatomists and others use a unified set of terms to describe most of the movements, although other, more specialized terms are necessary for describing unique movements such as those of the hands, feet, and eyes.
Tap dance makes frequent use of syncopation. Tap dance choreographies typically start on the eighth beat, or between the eighth and the first count.
Karate has many different stances, each used for different types of power and movement. In Japanese the general term is tachi (立ち) changed to dachi when used as a suffix. Some stances focus more on mobility than stability, and vice verse.
The jumping position is a position used by equestrians when jumping over an obstacle, involving a combination of both a "forward seat" and "2 point" position. A rider in jumping position has their body centered over the horse's center of gravity and the saddle. Continuing a line upwards from the stirrup leathers, the head and shoulders fall in front of the line, as do the knees and the hips fall behind it.
The ankle knee step is a type of high step used by marching bands. It is named such because when executed properly, the ankle of one leg should be at the height of the knee of the other leg. This step is chiefly used by marching bands which consider themselves traditional or show style bands, although drum corps and corps-style marching bands may use this step sparingly for effect.
Stances are a highly fundamental part of all Chinese martial arts. Wushu is characterized by low, wide stances designed for mobility and protection. Stability is another key concern of Chinese martial arts, and the wushu stances reflect this sensibility. There are five key stances utilized in both contemporary wushu and traditional wushu. Many others exist, and different styles of wushu prescribe a particular protocol for "correct" stance.
A (bipedal) gait cycle is the time period or sequence of events or movements during locomotion in which one foot contacts the ground to when that same foot again contacts the ground, and involves propulsion of the centre of gravity in the direction of motion. A gait cycle usually involves co-operative movements of both the left and right legs and feet. A single gait cycle is also known as a stride.
The function of the lower limbs during walking is to support the whole-body against gravitational forces while generating movement patterns which progress the body forward. Walking is an activity that is primarily confined to the sagittal plane, which is also described as the plane of progression. During one gait cycle, there are two major phases: stance and swing. In a healthy individual walking at a normal walking speed, stance phase makes up approximately 60% of one gait cycle and swing makes up the remaining 40%. The lower limbs are only in contact with the ground during the stance phase, which is typically subdivided into 5 events: heel contact, foot flat, mid-stance, heel off, and toe off. The majority of stance phase (~40%) takes place in single-limb support where one limb is in contact with the ground and the contralateral limb is in swing phase. During this time interval, the lower limb must support constant changes in alignment of body weight while propelling forward. The hip, knee, and ankle joints move through cyclical kinematic patterns that are controlled by muscles which cross these joints. As postural changes occur, the body adapts by motor tuning an efficient muscular pattern that will accomplish the necessary kinematics required to walk.