[JonD]

All this talk of walking on the Jango thread has prompted me to offer another little exercise. For this one you need a really steep hill and, if at all possible, a partner.

The first part is simple: walk up the hill. Get used to the sensation of pushing off your standing leg and letting your working (moving leg) arrive under your body just in time to stop you falling. Keep in balance, look up at a spot at the top of the hill and maintain good body posture.

Now comes the tricky bit: walk backwards down the hill. Get your partner to walk to your side with the palm of their hand on your upper chest. You have to maintain a connection with that hand despite the fact that you are walking backwards away from it - so keep your "presence" forward. Reach back with your leg and feel for the ground and then transfer your weight onto it as your body moves back over the leg. Look up - pick a spot and keep looking at it - and remember your posture. Feel for the ground but don't be tentative - your partner will, hopefully, stop you before you walk into a pothole or ditch or the middle of a motorway.

It's really fun and nowhere near as easy as it sounds. Komala and Stefan used this technique when we were at Tango Valley the year before last - and they have steep, steep hills at Frayssinette! Once you are used to the way it feels you can do the walking forward bit every time you go to the shops - assuming you aren't in East Anglia or Lincolnshire. OK, so people will look at you as if you're a bit strange but what the hell - they don't dance AT.