Gait analysis seminar in Tokyo

In order to turn an event into a tradition, many high-quality repetitions and successful visitor acceptances are needed. That is exactly what we wanted to do with the summer seminar in Hachioji, Tokyo. This year we drew closer towards tradition.

Also during this summer seminar with a German speaker, the skills of the interpreter were needed in order to communicate the facts about gait analyses.

Our aim is to offer the opportunity to interested people in Japan to broaden their knowledge of human locomotion. The offers of further education in the area of locomotion analyses are usually gladly accepted and many people are ready to travel quite far to gain new knowledge. This year, Dr. Oliver Ludwig joined us. The topic was "gait analysis for practice". After Dr. Wolfgang Laube had introduced in such an impressive way the fascinating world of human sensorimotor function last year, we felt that the human gait was a consequential continuation of this series.

Dr. Ludwig has a really exciting and concentrated and yet diversified career: First human biology with its biomechanics was the core area of his studies. Orthopedics and sports medicine followed. Further studies of technical biology and bionics led to a temporary cooperation on a project of the German Research Foundation where he also could finish his doctorate: "Autonomous walking - the development of walking robots". Additionally, he worked on posture and locomotion analyses in orthopedic technology and medial gait diagnostics within his studies.

Dr. Oliver Ludwig teaches at the University of Saarland in the specialized field of sports science for posture and locomotion dysfunctions. He is a chief scientist of the permanent study on the research of postural defects in children and adolescents (www.kid-check.de). A major area of focus for him is working with sensorimotor insoles. His study on this topic may well be considered ground-breaking.