Gait analysis seminar in Tokyo - Communication of basics for a heterogeneous audience

Communication of basics for a heterogeneous audience

The Hachioji Seminar House which already last year proved to be the perfect location for our event is located in the heart of nature, in the hills above the big city, a convenient place to be reached. The seminar buildings are dispersed in the "woods," and overnight stays are also possible which proved to be important for networking.

On Saturday morning we started the gait analysis seminar refreshed, on time, in front of a capacity audience. Shoe dealers, orthopedic surgeons, orthopedic technicians and physical therapists, but also lifestyle consultants, university lectors and staff of a big producer of sanitary products came together. A diverse audience, 31 people from greater Japan participated. Dr. Ludwig and Tsukishiro-San (P&O) immediately proved to be an excellent team. Together they introduced us to the vocabulary of human gait's concepts, showed us different observation and registration techniques and explained the principles of mechanics and control of the body. These three important rules belong to the basis of gait analyses and subsequent therapy:
1. Not every deviation from the norm is a pathology.
2. Not all symptoms show a deviation from the norm.
3. Never influence a gait pattern without necessity.

Dr. Ludwig provided us with a simplified, user-friendly four-phases-model as a variety of the usual eight phases. Oliver Ludwig then went into detail of the individual phases, the function of the individual bones and muscles, biomechanics, norm values, deviations and simple measuring techniques. He did this in a very descriptive way utilizing pictures or videos for each of these items.