When we walk, we always unconciouslyly swing our alternate limbs forward, i.e. right hand and left leg. Is there a physics reason for this?
Bizarre thing I've seen several times. I used to be in my countries reserve forces so have spent a fair time on parade grounds. Just occasionally one soldier will march swinging left arm and leg. Once you start this it is very hard to stop. The only sure way is to stpo swinging your arms altogether and force yourself to march properly.
They called it "square-gating" here, in basic. Looks very odd. Right arm and right leg together, then left arm and left leg...
Some years ago I was doing research on perception-action coupling at the Faculty of Human Movemnent Sciences of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam (NL). There a rather large group of researchers are developing models of movement from the viewpoint of coupled oscillators. Probably the most obvious exaple of a system of coupled oscillators is our walking. There are several phases in each step as we walk. One of the phases is the "swing phase". During this phase, the leg behaves as a composed pendulum. The vibrations of the swingphase (and that of bouncing on the ground etc) force our arms to swing as well. Of course there is more to the story: e.g. our trunks also move to and fro as we walk due to the movement in the hip. It just shows our 'aparatus' is extremely complex. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
(aerosmith plays in the back ground) Backstroke lover always hidin' 'neath the covers Till I talked to your daddy he say He said you ain't seen nothin' till you're down on a muffin Then you're sure to be a changin' your ways I met a cheerleader was a real young bleeder Oh the times I could reminisce 'Cause the best things of lovin' with her sister and her cousin Only started with a little kiss Like this Seesaw swingin' with the boys in the school And your feet flyin' up in the air Singin' hey diddle diddle With your kitty in the middle of the swing like you didn't care So I took a big chance at the high school dance With a missy who was ready to play Wasn't me she was foolin' 'cause she knew what she was doin' And I knowed love was here to stay When she told me to Walk this way Walk this way Walk this way Walk this way Walk this way Walk this way Walk this way Walk this way Just gimme a kiss Like this Schoolgirl sweetie with a classy kinda sassy Little skirt's climbin' way up the knee There was three young ladies in the school gym locker When I noticed they was lookin' at me I was a high school loser never made it with a lady Till the boys told me somethin' I missed Then my next door neighbor with a daughter had a favor So I gave her just a little kiss Like this Seesaw swingin' with the boys in the school And your feet flyin' up in the air Singin' hey diddle diddle With your kitty in the middle of the swing like you didn't care So I took a big chance at the high school dance With a missy who was ready to play Wasn't me she was foolin' 'cause she knew what she was doin' When she told me how to walk this way She told me to Walk this way Walk this way Walk this way Walk this way Walk this way Walk this way Walk this way Walk this way
From what I know, we are a system of pendulems when we walk. I've never seen someone walk left and left before, but my TI's say they have. I tried it once, very hard to move that way, adn it screws up your sense of balance.
