Guidelines for
stealth walking
1. Maintain balance control by allowing your body
weight to sink and be carried by deeply flexed
knees.
2. Remember to breathe along with your movement.
Unconsciously holding your breath can unknowingly
produce unneeded muscle tension, and could result
in gasping release of breathe if you are startled
or accidentally unbalanced.
3. Stay alert to the entire scene. Do not become
so engrossed in watching your feet that you do
not notice other people an elements entering the
surroundings.
4. Use all joints for movement, emphasizing
fluidity through the engagement of the ankles,
knees, and hips for stepping. Avoid the lazy and
dangerous habit of stiffening knees and swinging
the entire leg from the hip.
5. Maintain your weight and balance on your
grounded leg while you move the other leg into
position to bear the weight. When absolute
silence is a must, avoid distributing your weight
over both legs at the same time.
6. If practical, allow your hands to float
lightly in front of and beside your torso, one
arm higher and one arm lower, to detect possible
obstructions before your committed body weight
encounters them.
7. Pause and hold your position if you feel that
you have accidentally caused too much noise.
Listen for signs that you were heard, such as the
movement of others or the immediate silencing of
background noise following your slip. Sink a
little lower on your knees to physically relax
that could normally jump into your body with
alarm. Take a deep breathe and release it slowly
to further relax. Continue your pause for as long
as you feel is necessary to regain composure and
allow possible listeners to decide they did not
hear anything after all.
8. Be as patient as possible. If speed of travel
is not important, take as much time as you can.
Impatience and the resultant hasty movement that
it encourages are the greatest dangers to the
person who must move silently without detection.
9. Keep your movement appropriate to your
surroundings. Do not go to greater lengths than
necessary to conceal your movement, while at the
same being aware of what others entering the area
may see if they cannot hear. Total silence may
not be needed when moving through wooded or
densely populated areas where scattered noise is
a natural part of the environment. Also be aware
that low profile crawling or sliding ma be the
only way to move silently without being seen in
some locations.
Excerpt from "The Mystic Arts of the
Ninja" by Stephen K. Hayes
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