foots

So recently (ok, the past couple years) I've been overly concerned about how I walk. And my feet. Or more specifically, my shoes.
Lemme 'splain: I spend most of my day sitting in a (deceptively comfortable Aeron) chair. I do not go to the dojo nearly as much as I and my 74 kilo gut feel necessary for total mental and physical health.
So I try to walk as much as possible. Stairs vs. Elevator ("Up one, down two"), walk home whenever possible (i.e. not in the middle of thundering monsoon season), spend the weekend walking and pushing Tonchan, etc.
Much of my study about how walk centers around the various "old-school" Japanese budo walking styles: namba, nami-ashi, whatever you call it. There are many variations, but the basic concept is thus:
Instead of using the small muscles (calf, ankle, etc.) to push yourself forward with every step, let gravity pull you along. Concentrate more on stepping down with the front foot, not pushing off with the back foot. Also, don't walk balancing on a single line, twisting the upper and lower body in different directions, but walk on the two lines below the left and right hips. To propel one side of the body forward, relax the knee, let the body fall, and use the hips, back, and shoulder blades to move the hip/shoulder forward and in-line.
It is not nearly as neanderthal left-foot-left-hand, right-foot-right-hand as it sounds, and it certainly works when using a sword.
Over the past couple of years I think I have seriously changed the way I walk and my posture in general, and I certainly have no problem walking home for 40 minutes after working all day. So it must be working.
Related to walking is the choice of footwear. Barefoot is best, like in the dojo, but as I don't have soles made of hardened chitin, I wear shoes. Been preferring lightweight Ecco brand for a while. But then I discovered Terra Plana.
Founded by the son of the Clarks shoe empire, these really are the barefoot of shoes. Minimal sole, zero arch support, no heel, and a wide toe box.
To, from, and at work I sport the marginally acceptable Claudius, and on the weekends I am oh-so-fly with my lighting blue Aqua kicks.