The third foot

Can anyone explain the philosophy of the third foot. I understand his "next step", although I was wondering about other uses or strategys' for it.

-Chad

We talk about the "third leg" a lot.

If you view the human body as a three-legged stool with one leg missing, the body is then inherently unstable in the direction of the missing leg.

Best Regards,

I've always found this wording sort of funny. I mean, I don't deny that it's effective as a teaching tool, but why would you think of the human body as a three-legged stool? There's a saying in Hebrew, "if Grandma had wheels, then we could drive her to the store." My point (sorry) is that you could come up with all sorts of metaphors like this. What makes this one particularly apt, except that it's useful?

IMHO, its a balance point to aim for. Its like asking the body to be supported by the one leg (or foot) of a tripod that isn't there.

Opher Donchin (opherdonchin) wrote: What makes this one particularly apt, except that it's useful?

Nothing. It's just a particularly good visualization for beginners.

I have a MSEE specializing in controls. Bipedal robotics were a project of mine.

I draw my personal insights from there, but they are not useful for 99.99% of people out there.

Regards,

I like to say "If we were descended from dinosaurs, and had a tail".

Paul

But I see Opher's point. I hear tables used a lot in analogies too, and even pallbearers in a funeral. I suppose it just serves to illustrate a point, as Lynn suggests.

*Phil

Do you find that the third leg dictates the direction of your movement for most techneques?

Chad Emerson (C. Emerson) wrote: Do you find that the third leg dictates the direction of your movement...?

Does that sound dirty to anyone else?

Bronson