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Tiptoe

Tiptoe (tiptoes or tippy toes) describes the human body posture and locomotion of removing the heel(s) of one or both feet from the ground. The term is mostly used colloquially when the weight is placed on the balls of the feet rather than literally on the tips of the toes; literal tip-toeing is difficult but possible, as in the pointe technique of ballet. In running, landing on the ball of the foot is known as forefoot strike.

A ballet dancer standing en pointe

Kinesiology edit

To go into tiptoe, the ankle must be flexed to raise the heel off the ground. This requires the engagement of the calf muscle, along with various other muscles in the foot and shin to stabilize the joint. Even with this, the form is often less stable, requiring the engaging of muscles within the torso and a better sense of weight for the person to stay balanced. There is generally some movement, even subtle, in the ankle, as holding it statically would make balance difficult, so it is the first to give.

Uses edit

Height edit

 
A baby stands on tiptoes to reach a book

Raising up on the toes will increase someone's height and reach. It is used often to make someone appear taller, whether in an engagement, or when measuring one's height. It is also used to reach objects that are higher up than one can reach when on one's heels.[1]

Quietness edit

Walking only on the balls of the foot greatly reduces the surface area of the foot on the ground, allowing what does touch the ground to be more carefully placed, which is useful for avoiding twigs, and also for a more quiet walking. The disadvantage is that it will also focus the weight, which leaves greater indentations and exerts more pressure. This will commonly happen in walking, but can be slowly controlled, so it is more a factor for when wearing shoes in the dark (or when one has one's eyes or attention averted elsewhere), when obstructions cannot be felt with bare feet, or seen.

Prowling about on tiptoe is the stereotypical candor of a thief or spy, often accompanied by light tones sounding upon each of their steps.

Rotation edit

When rotating on either one leg or two, the body requires reducing friction. Raising to one leg is often one source of doing this, although since it doubles the weight on the other leg, it is not effective, so is mainly done when the other leg is used to torque to increase a spin, or very quickly so that the mass is more in the air, and has not settled on the other foot.

The main method of decreasing the friction is decreasing the surface area of the foot.[citation needed] This is done by either going on the heel of the foot, ball of the foot, or sometimes, the toe/toes of the feet (often only possible by very light people, such as Rose in Titanic, or those with ballet shoes for En pointe known as Pointe shoe).

The reduction of surface area is not actually what decreases the friction, however. Rather, the weight of the body is centred above the point of contact, so that the centre of gravity occurs on the axis of rotation. This allows a faster spin with far less force placed upon the stabilizers. Bringing in the limbs (much like on a spinning swing) also accelerates this.

With two legs, the centre of gravity would still occur on the axis of rotation, and be centred directly between the two points of contact.

This is utilized in dance (namely ballet, with Relevé, Elevé/rise, and ), martial arts, footbag, and anything else that requires dynamic twists, changes in direction, and spins.

The friction of rotation is still considerable, however, and tends to wear, toughen, and polish the area of the foot being rotated upon. As a comparison, in breakdancing, those who perform headspins often go bald. The foot is more tailored to absorbing and benefitting from such rotations, although perhaps not so much on hard level surfaces, as our natural environment usually is uneven and has some give. This is why it is easier and safer to do by implementing one of two factors:

  • Reducing friction by doing it on a polished slippery floor, or ice, or wearing footwear which has less friction or is more able to absorb it, such as a sock, ballet shoe, or skate.
  • Increasing give (and possibly friction) but spreading the force to a larger area of the foot by having give, mostly in the surface (such as gym or karate mats).

Rotating on the ball of the foot is normally preferred due to the normal advantage of tiptoe, and the springiness of the body, which is why many martial arts encourage sparring opponents to stay on tip toe the entire match, for better movement as well as rotation. As there are actually two surfaces to the ball of the foot, and toes to grip, it also allows better control.

In theory, however, rotation on the ball of the foot is much faster. The main problem is the danger of either falling backwards or of not keeping up the pose, falling back on the balls of the foot. Twists done on the heel of the foot are often quick twists, done leaning backwards while bringing the foot upwards in an arc, so that it is more of a controlled fall that the other foot can come out and stabilize.

Literal edit

While it is possible to literally tip-toe, it does not seem biomechanically viable. While strong enough to temporarily support bodyweight, toes would not likely be able to accommodate the rotational forces (especially while keeping rigid, and balanced) involved in spinning. As the big toe is prominent, literal tip toe would involve raising up on the big toe, otherwise the legs would require outward rotation to make other toes touch, rotating out mostly at the hips and risking injury in the knees if not done properly.

It is an impressive stunt, much akin to finger-tip push ups, although not as visually obvious, making it difficult to evaluate, as toes are shorter and wider, making the difference between the tips and pads of the toes (as in fingers) far more difficult to discern.

In popular culture edit

  • Tip-Toes, a 1925 musical by the Gershwins
  • Tip Toes, a 1927 British silent film
  • Tiptoes, a 2003 film
  • "Tippy Toe", a 2004 song from Exodus by Hikaru Utada
  • "Tiptoe", a 2004 song from Paradise by Joy and the Boy
  • "Tiptoe", a 2012 song by Imagine Dragons
  • “Tip Toe Wing in My Jawwdinz”, a 2014 song by RiFF RAFF
  • The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes, the title character and children's book by Beatrix Potter

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Is it normal for my toddler to walk on her tiptoes? | BabyCenter".

External links edit

tiptoe, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, july, 2019, learn, . This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Tiptoe news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2019 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article is about the posture For habitual or pathological tiptoeing by children see Toe walking For other uses of tiptoe or tip toe see Tiptoe disambiguation Tiptoe tiptoes or tippy toes describes the human body posture and locomotion of removing the heel s of one or both feet from the ground The term is mostly used colloquially when the weight is placed on the balls of the feet rather than literally on the tips of the toes literal tip toeing is difficult but possible as in the pointe technique of ballet In running landing on the ball of the foot is known as forefoot strike A ballet dancer standing en pointe Contents 1 Kinesiology 2 Uses 2 1 Height 2 2 Quietness 2 3 Rotation 3 Literal 4 In popular culture 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksKinesiology editTo go into tiptoe the ankle must be flexed to raise the heel off the ground This requires the engagement of the calf muscle along with various other muscles in the foot and shin to stabilize the joint Even with this the form is often less stable requiring the engaging of muscles within the torso and a better sense of weight for the person to stay balanced There is generally some movement even subtle in the ankle as holding it statically would make balance difficult so it is the first to give Uses editHeight edit nbsp A baby stands on tiptoes to reach a bookRaising up on the toes will increase someone s height and reach It is used often to make someone appear taller whether in an engagement or when measuring one s height It is also used to reach objects that are higher up than one can reach when on one s heels 1 Quietness edit Walking only on the balls of the foot greatly reduces the surface area of the foot on the ground allowing what does touch the ground to be more carefully placed which is useful for avoiding twigs and also for a more quiet walking The disadvantage is that it will also focus the weight which leaves greater indentations and exerts more pressure This will commonly happen in walking but can be slowly controlled so it is more a factor for when wearing shoes in the dark or when one has one s eyes or attention averted elsewhere when obstructions cannot be felt with bare feet or seen Prowling about on tiptoe is the stereotypical candor of a thief or spy often accompanied by light tones sounding upon each of their steps Rotation edit This section s factual accuracy is disputed Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help to ensure that disputed statements are reliably sourced April 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message When rotating on either one leg or two the body requires reducing friction Raising to one leg is often one source of doing this although since it doubles the weight on the other leg it is not effective so is mainly done when the other leg is used to torque to increase a spin or very quickly so that the mass is more in the air and has not settled on the other foot The main method of decreasing the friction is decreasing the surface area of the foot citation needed This is done by either going on the heel of the foot ball of the foot or sometimes the toe toes of the feet often only possible by very light people such as Rose in Titanic or those with ballet shoes for En pointe known as Pointe shoe The reduction of surface area is not actually what decreases the friction however Rather the weight of the body is centred above the point of contact so that the centre of gravity occurs on the axis of rotation This allows a faster spin with far less force placed upon the stabilizers Bringing in the limbs much like on a spinning swing also accelerates this With two legs the centre of gravity would still occur on the axis of rotation and be centred directly between the two points of contact This is utilized in dance namely ballet with Releve Eleve rise and martial arts footbag and anything else that requires dynamic twists changes in direction and spins The friction of rotation is still considerable however and tends to wear toughen and polish the area of the foot being rotated upon As a comparison in breakdancing those who perform headspins often go bald The foot is more tailored to absorbing and benefitting from such rotations although perhaps not so much on hard level surfaces as our natural environment usually is uneven and has some give This is why it is easier and safer to do by implementing one of two factors Reducing friction by doing it on a polished slippery floor or ice or wearing footwear which has less friction or is more able to absorb it such as a sock ballet shoe or skate Increasing give and possibly friction but spreading the force to a larger area of the foot by having give mostly in the surface such as gym or karate mats Rotating on the ball of the foot is normally preferred due to the normal advantage of tiptoe and the springiness of the body which is why many martial arts encourage sparring opponents to stay on tip toe the entire match for better movement as well as rotation As there are actually two surfaces to the ball of the foot and toes to grip it also allows better control In theory however rotation on the ball of the foot is much faster The main problem is the danger of either falling backwards or of not keeping up the pose falling back on the balls of the foot Twists done on the heel of the foot are often quick twists done leaning backwards while bringing the foot upwards in an arc so that it is more of a controlled fall that the other foot can come out and stabilize Literal editWhile it is possible to literally tip toe it does not seem biomechanically viable While strong enough to temporarily support bodyweight toes would not likely be able to accommodate the rotational forces especially while keeping rigid and balanced involved in spinning As the big toe is prominent literal tip toe would involve raising up on the big toe otherwise the legs would require outward rotation to make other toes touch rotating out mostly at the hips and risking injury in the knees if not done properly It is an impressive stunt much akin to finger tip push ups although not as visually obvious making it difficult to evaluate as toes are shorter and wider making the difference between the tips and pads of the toes as in fingers far more difficult to discern In popular culture editTip Toes a 1925 musical by the Gershwins Tip Toes a 1927 British silent film Tiptoes a 2003 film Tippy Toe a 2004 song from Exodus by Hikaru Utada Tiptoe a 2004 song from Paradise by Joy and the Boy Tiptoe a 2012 song by Imagine Dragons Tip Toe Wing in My Jawwdinz a 2014 song by RiFF RAFF The Tale of Timmy Tiptoes the title character and children s book by Beatrix PotterSee also editTiptoe Through the TulipsReferences edit Is it normal for my toddler to walk on her tiptoes BabyCenter External links edit nbsp Look up tiptoe in Wiktionary the free dictionary nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tiptoeing Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tiptoe amp oldid 1193821953, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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