silent walking

[Jordan]

How do you walk silently in the snow and dry leaves?

[LilBunnyRabbit]

With great difficulty and a lot of practice.

[Kagebushi]

for the snow it helps lots to use the stabbing step. the goal is to get your foot under the snow silently, rather than crush it silently
leaves are a lot harder though i dont know the best walking method for them, but bunnys right practice is the main thing

[LowBlowJoe]

Well from what i have read when you are in that position and you need to stay "stelth"you can't and it is perfectly normal to make some nosie because the otther people are used to hearing those noises and wont pay great attention to them

[Brad Ellin]

When walking in leaves, key is balance. Keep center of gravity low, balance on one leg at a time until the moving foot is planted. Probe with your toes to move beneath or around leaves and twigs and such. If necessary, move the leaves with your toes, then slide foot down along the outside edge of foot "rolling" it from toe to heel. Doing this slowly helps to find any small twigs you may have missed and gives you the chance to stop the step if you feel anything. Take small steps, say half to 1/3 what you would normally take. Then practice. Overtime, you wil be able to move faster. Also, some noise is normal, but only when there is already alot of background noise (wind, rain etc)

[Zabuza]

another great way is on all fours, you can walk alot more steady, its slower but much quieter :)

[Rikimaru33]

Yeah they're right you should walk like that but you must pay close attention to the other noises around you. If there is alot going on around you and if your practicing then feel free to step a little more *usual* then you usually would when sneaking. If the noises are kinda loud then a little bit of moving and noise shouldn't make a difference compared to what your target usually hears. Remember if you can barely hear it chances are they prolly can't because your closer to the noise any way. Just watch the volume the closer you get.

[xplasma]

On leaves its very hard. What I have learned was to jabb your toes into the ground quietly then keeping you weight low and even roll your foot around the outer-knifeedge until the heel is on the ground. Remember to keep your breathing steady. Holding your breath can lead to a suddent intake of breath. Which is loud. On leaves some noise is expected, that just physics. But one way to hide this is your wait till some natural noise happens and move during that. I remember one time, not long ago when we doing stealth walking in the woods. It was late fall so all the leaves were on the ground. One student who did a great job ( didn't hear him at all) said that he waited till the duckw who were in the pond nearby quack and use that to conceal the noise he was making stepping on dry leaves.

[David]

Interesting stuff. If I ever see any snow I'll try the stabbing step. Not sure that I can get away with the leaves without being arrested; I'll have to bring some into the house...

Rgds,
David

[Sonshu]

and Kurohana, also with the ridge of the foot to slide the leaves away. This makes your movements very slow but very quiet and for mythical sake if you needed to make a quick retreat or exit an area you could move at a quicker pace as you cleared your path.

This is a slow but good method and takes practice.

The stabbing foot I used more for longer grassy type ground as it left less of a visable indent at eye level.

However my first method does leave a near clear path for the escape but its obvious what has been done if a guard were to wonder by.

Hence a trade off!

[DarkDragonFly]

Hello all, silence is a key ability to all ninja without it we are not the invisible warrior, the key to it is just what kurohana said, keep your balance low, and make sure you take one step at a time, breathe!!!! because if you are startled or loose your balance it could cause excess noise.

[Brad Ellin]

Greetings and welcome to MAP, DarkDragonFly (DDF).
A good exercise to help develope one's balance is this: Use a partner. One person does this exercise at a time. Walk around your room, starting in hira no kamae (legs spread, shoulder width apart) move into hicho no kamae, then into jumonji no kamae. Sort of like do yoko aruki (sideways walk) only, exagerate your steps and do them slowly. Have your partner tell you to freeze at random intervals. When they say freeze, you freeze. Stop right where you are. Do not put you foot down. Do not move your arms. If you are in balance, you will be fine. If not, fall down go boom. Hold this for 5 seconds, increasing the time as you become more adept at it.

[khafra]

Any chance an arhythmic step would help? I'm thinking a regular, cadenced leaf-crushing sound would be more noticeable as human-generated than something more random.

[Brad Ellin]

Definitely. The more random, that is as random as a human can be, would be of great help/ Also, waiting and using the sound of wind, rain, animals etc, to mask your own sound.

[ns_oni]

you could also try that excersize where you lay down the wet newspaper and try not to rip it :p

[Brad Ellin]

wet newsprint is easy.. try wet rice paper or wrapping tissue

[Taiso]

what form of silent walking is best for gravel which is quite deep if you get my meaning

[Brad Ellin]

Same as for leaves and dirt and branches. It's all really the same if you think about it. Slowly, carefully, roll the foot, use the toes to probe ahead. And footwear is very important. Hard sole work boots will be harder to walk in than soft sole loafers or moccasins. But, with practice, it can be done. Ask the guys I work with.

[Yama Tombo]

What about sneakers?

[Brad Ellin]

Soft sole sneakers better than hard sole. Again, it's not so much the shoe as it is how you place your foot and maintain balance. Practice practice practice.