I had arch supports as a kid, i still remember the leather smell of the place where they’d do the molds and feeling of my young feet in clay. The supports hurt a bit so I’d walk on my toes. That did not go over well in elementary school.
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I think I walk kinda like that at home. The house is pier-and-beam and I’m a fat guy. If I go around heel-walking, barefoot or shod, it’s like someone pounding on the house with a mallet.
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Outside of India, I’m not aware of a nation that refers to the Medieval period as anywhere but Europe…
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I don’t remember people walking differently in Medieval Times, but most of the time they were on horseback.
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People often use middle-age/medieval to refer to a civilization before it reaches its full greatness. I have heard it used to refer to European, Indian, Chinese, and Japanese cultures. Another ethnocentric dig is that it is not applied to cultures that one feels never attained greatness. So being in the US, suggesting (as many do) that medieval culture defaults to Europe could be construed as rather self-deprecating, as regards the greatness of American cultures.
Anyway, Eurocentrism is a problem.
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Yeah, I came of age in the 70s and don’t want to talk about anything I wore then, starting with the feet.
Nowadays I’m mainly barefoot or in sandals, but for some tasks I like the SoftStar shoes, which are minimal (2mm soles) but are available in non-dorky styles (as well as some very dorky styles that would have been right at home in the 70s).
What the video doesn’t address is that shoe chirality is fairly recent. If your left and right shoes are identical, it is harder to keep track of which foot is which, so too easy to accidentally cross your feet while walking and accidentally trip yourself.
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Googling it I see you are right, and I’m not historian so I don’t know very much that is said about the medieval period in other countries outside of those countries. I tend to just have been to history museums in those countries and never saw the term refer to anything but Europe.
Then again, the broad application is also probably due to eurocentrism.
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When I clicked the link I thought the same thing as Popo, that my ancestors, during medieval times, were largely wearing wooden geta (of various types) that definitely did not cause this type of gait. Tabi with woven straw soles probably did do this to some degree.
Anyway, the generalization that “people” = “european people” (with no mention of anyone else) bothered me a bit. That being said, I’m sure this applies to other soft sole shoed cultures as well (how about the Dine [literally, the people], who would have been wearing yucca sandals or similar…)
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I recall the specific things that me and my siblings did to get my mother to crack.
The funny things is sometimes, we were trying to bother each other, but she was stuck in a car with us for 6 hours so… yeah.
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That’s how I’ve always walked. Maybe that’s why people call me stealthy and say I sneak up on them. I thought the heel-stompers were the odd ones.
Also don’t know why people would need special minimalist shoes for this. I walk/run like this in work boots.
You don’t need fancy shoes for this, BTW. Dunlop Volleys will do just fine:
They’ve got virtually no padding and a super flexible sole. You can feel every pebble on the track, but they’re fantastically grippy on wet rock, light and cheap.
They’re standard wear for roofers and canyoning guides around here.
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When I was a boy, I required the services of a physical therapist. I still remember being taught to walk “heel-toe” instead of whatever odd gait I was using at the time. Probably not especially stealthy.
Beat me to it, by the thickness of a Volley sole.
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Lucky you. I had problems in my right knee. After changing my gait, I got rid of them - but I ruined my left one in turn. My tendons there were probably not up to the task. =(
And in regard to vibram the shoes:
This.
I put them in the washing machine every now and then. Especially if I want to store them indoors.
I challenge you to try barefoot shoes, especially for shoes. If you maintain that it’s not different than your Dunlop’s (or my old Camper’s, come to think), you’ll at least have looked ridiculous for some time. 
Never said that they’re the same, just that they work for walking on the balls of your feet.
I wear Volleys and toe-walk when I’m bushwalking lightweight; you need to place your feet carefully, but you’re so agile in 'em that this is easy to do.
The only time I walked [1] heel-first was when I was wearing boots or running shoes.
[1] Thanks to my neuro weirdnesses, these days I tend to heel-walk with my left foot and toe-walk with the right, regardless of shoes. My right ankle doesn’t work properly.
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Very interesting but is it true? Who is this guy and how does he know this?
In my experience, I walk heel first even in the shoes under some circumstances. But after doing that for a while, I consciously choose not to, because it would start hurting.
Not so in any other type of shoe I tried: the heel feels different, the shock is maybe differently absorbed.
I tried to look at this in a gait analysis in a running stuff shop in Frankfurt, but the staff weren’t that interested. Can’t see why, I bought a pair of New Balance from them years ago. I am a good costumer! I came back! Even if I didn’t want to buy anything! 
My personal opinion is that even a few millimetres material at my heel change everything. I own a pair of “outdoor” toe shoes, and they got this extra mm as well. I can walk both ways in them.
Isn’t Australia the continent with all those nasty critters you’re supposed to wear proper boots to walk amongst? Gotta interview Rincewind about his experience on Xxxx.
Boots won’t do shit if a pissed-off redbelly blacksnake wants to give you a nip. They aim high. 
The trick is to avoid pissing them off in the first place.
The Oz bushwalking community is split into two camps: heavy and light.
Heavy boots protect your feet and ankles, but tire you out and make you more likely to do the sorts of dumb things that require ankle protection. Ultralight shoes offer no protection, but keep you fresh and agile enough to avoid the need.
