[Ansteorra] re: walking authentically

[Marc Carlson]

Personally, I find that walking 'authentically' means adjusting myself to
the footwear.  The complaints I've heard about "period shoes" tend to be
based on the fact that the wearer won't or can't adjust to the demands of
the footwear, and so they wind up fighting their shoes and their feet hurt.

Plain medieval shoes are much like walking barefoot.  Most modern people are
used to not only having a slightly raised heel (which messes with the
internal muscles of the shoe, causing some to develop that wouldn't, and
others to atrophy), but also having padding and protection.  If you will
watch people walking, A lot of them tend to slam their heels into the
ground.  They also don't watch where they are walking.  Someone walking
barefoot is more likely to -place- their heel on the ground, and step around
things like sharp glass and rocks.

Walking in long toed shoes adds a certain twist to it since you have to step
up high enough to clear the toe.  Or else you waddle like a penguin.

Using pattens and additional outer soles help emulate the more modern
thoughlessness about how we walk, but are not always the perfect answer
either (actually a lot of people shuffle in pattens, rather than -walking-
-- personally I don't wear them, they drive me nuts).

Marc/Diarmaid

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