* walk
So right, this is no problem. You don't need me to tell you how to walk, you've been walking since you were two years old. Maybe sooner than that, I have no idea when babies learn things. We all know how to walk and if you can walk, you can skate.
* power walk
So what did everybody do when I said power walk? We all started swinging our arms. You may notice that your arms and legs swing opposite to each other, your right arm swings forward when your left leg steps forward and vice versa. We do this naturally. Now that I've pointed it out to you, I might have accidentally melted your brain and you won't be able to walk naturally for the next minute. Probably doesn't bear too much thinking about. That little arm swing, though, adds a little bit of purpose and a little bit of speed to your stride.
* power walk with a spring in your step
We're just exaggerating what goes on when we walk, which is that we're always transferring our weight from one foot to the other. We set down one foot and lift the other foot, then set down the other foot and so on. As we lift the foot going forward, we slightly spring off the back foot and right now we're exaggerating that slight spring. But we're still just walking, we always have one foot on the ground.
* run
Walking turns to running when you spring off that back foot and for a moment you're in the air. Neither foot is on the ground. You strike and spring off the ground strongly enough to get yourself airborne. Whee, run.
* run and leap forward
So you can see, running is already jumping in a sense. Add a little more force to your spring and turn your running step into a leaping step. Run three steps and leap forward, run three steps and leap forward...
* run and leap sideways
Just for fun, run three steps and leap sideways! You're still transferring your weight from one foot to the other, just in a different direction.
And now we're going to work our way down:
* run and leap forward
What's the difference between leaping sideways and leaping forward? Just how you reach with your fly leg and how you push with your spring leg, right?
* run
Now lessen your spring, you're not leaping forward anymore. Just that little moment in the air.
* power walk with a spring in your step
Now lessen your spring more, you're still moving strongly forward with one foot touching down as the other foot lifts off. So you're back to always having a foot on the ground.
* power walk
Now let that go, you're just walking and swinging your arms.
* walk
And let your arms go, just walking like you've walked all your life.
And now, tuck—navel in, tailbone down, knees and ankles folded as low as you can—and do it all over again. Apart from getting low, most of us don't walk with our navel in and tailbone down. Most of us walk with our butts sticking out, which has to do with us sitting in chairs so much. In your normal life, it probably gives you a little bit of lower back pain now and then. It's going to be a big pain in your skating life, though. And the best way to get it right for skating is to do it all the time, and your back will feel better. So, win win.
