Eighty Eight Ways of Walking

By
Michael P. Garofalo

August 10, 2009

All photographs are of Michael P. Garofalo

Eighty Eight Ways of Walking
By Michael P. Garofalo

Index

3. Muscle Tendon Transformation Qigong Exercises

1. Walk with a Cane

Consider carrying a cane or walking stick when you take your walk. A simple wooden crook neck cane, sized correctly for walking, is easy to purchase. Carrying and using a cane properly while walking is legal in most areas and locations in the world.

The purpose of carrying a cane or walking stick while walking is threefold. First, you can do various exercises with the cane while walking to improve your strength and flexibility in your shoulders and arms. Second, if the terrain is rough or slippery, you can improve your footing by using a cane or walking stick; and, this is useful when hiking in the mountains, along riverbeds, or in rocky areas. Third, you can use your cane to brandish against or defend yourself against animals or evil doers.

A cane used for walking is usually a few inches longer that one used to support your bodyweight when you are recovering from injury, coping with infirmities, or when a person is weak from chronic illness or old age. Experiment a bit to find the right size for a cane to use to match your stride while you are walking briskly.

There are many exercises, drills, practice sets, and martial arts forms that make use of a cane, walking stick, or short staff. I have provided a complete guide to this subject on my comprehensive webpage titled The Way of the Short Staff.

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2. Read About Walking

Ideas, images, and stories can fill the mind with the passion to walk. Information about the health benefits of walking can help to get you out and walking. Tales of interesting walking adventures can motivate you to plan for some long walks. Trail guides can excite you about taking a challenging hike. Descriptions and historical facts about city walks can draw you out on the sidewalks. The mind is a very powerful force in making you want to walk more.

Take a look at some of the many quotations I have collected about walking, and read a few of the many valuable books on the subject.

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3. Muscle Tendon Transformation Qigong Exercises

I practice and teach Chinese health exercises (Qigong, Chi Kung, Daoyin). One particular set, the Muscle-Tendon Transformation Classic (Yi Jin Jing Qigong), is well over a thousand years old, and is popular with Shaolin Temple monks. I have prepared a webpage on the subject of the Yi Jin Jing, and have described a set of exercises that can be done while walking and using a cane. You might enjoy doing these Muscle-Tendon Changing Exercises while walking.

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