There are a lot of non-obvious, but interesting phenomena that show up in aikido and judo. One such is this idea that you should not take a step while lifting or raising your arms. When you raise your arms, you are actually pressing your body downward into the ground, making your feet slightly stickier and potentially making your footwork clumsier.
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The solution, which we drill over and over in the walking exercises - you have to either pick your arms up then drop-step, or else step then pick your arms up.
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Try it and see what sort of mileage you get out of it.
[photo courtesy of Wilhelmja]
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Patrick Parker
