Yayınlar >> Yazılar >> The osculating foot – stability and mobility in complicity
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Barış Mıhçı, Mart 2025
Hello dear readers,
There is a vast amount of information in articles and studies that observe the feet and explain how to use this part of our body. In this article, I will summarise what I have studied so far from the vast archive that humanity has built concerning the structure and function of the feet and the principle activities we do with them throughout our lifetimes: standing, walking, turning, and climbing.
Please refer to established anatomical literature as a support.
Introduction
Although we of this era are blessed or cursed with easy access to an online, multidisciplinary archive full of useful and also useless information, the state of many people’s feet is dissatisfying. Many of my students are in acute or chronic pain, from ankle joint misalignment and halux valgus. Apart from congenital problems, chronic misuse is a more common source of injury. Misuse can cause regress or atrophy which then can lead to cysts, spurs, arthritis, sprains and other problems. A very common problem I have observed among my students are collapsing arches, which are associated with misaligned joints and overstretched ligaments.
The struggle to find an equation between stability and mobility seems to be the most common problem I have observed. Obviously, the foot is a non-linear, asymmetrical, organic construction, as is that case with the entire body and most living things. Unfortunately, in physical education, athletic training and the performing arts, the foot is often perceived as a “straight” structure from heel to toe. Looking at the sole, however, we can clearly see two curves that follow the medial and distal edge of the foot.
So our feet are actually curving; a little bit like a crescent of the moon. This structural detail is very important when walking and running.
The map of foot reflexology shows us the placements of all organs in our feet. This suggests that a knowledgeable and wise use of our feet might probably also support the health and function of our organs.
The question?
What could be causes for this epidemic of chronic pain and disease in humanity’s feet? Why is information availability not enough to change social precept and behaviour?
Reality in a shoe
One of the answers is possibly, that we take footwear use and design as a reality for the foot structure.
• Many shoes are either too stiff or too soft. For shoes that are too stiff, parts of the foot are held still that should be able to move, and for shoes that are too soft, parts of the foot that need support are not stabilised.
• Many shoes are too narrow. Narrow shoes do not allow the toes, especially the big and small toe to move and articulate. (halluks valgus)
– The heels are often overly padded making it hard to feel the impact of the heel strike.
– the soles often fill the arch, which weakens the plantar muscles that are supposed to do the job of lifting the bones.
– additionally the heel is often built up on the outside, forcing the foot to fall into the long arch.
In the 90s, some companies started to respect more the shape of the foot rather than sticking to the habitual shape of the design of a shoe, for example, the “barefoot” shoe design initiatives. In my opinion these efforts are good first steps towards respecting and reclaiming the anatomy of our feet. Of course, there will always be more to notice and discover.
Reality in a foot
Taking a moment now to observe and describe structural reality in a foot, we can observe that there are three main types of bones in the foot.
1. The heel is build through two main bones. The calcaneus that is in touch with the ground and the talus that sits on the medial part of the calcaneus. These are the biggest bones of the foot offering the first touch with the ground when walking. At this point force needs to be converted in a 90 degree angle from the lower leg to the foot or vice versa. The two heel bones that are set up on a lateral to medial diagonal propose to roll over the heel in a lateral curve in order to find support between the heel bones.
2. The next part is represented by the cuboid, navicular and three cuneiform bones. These are more or less smaller bones a bit like pebbles. They make a transition towards the mid foot and add stability towards to the heel. The forces passing from the vertical axis of the leg towards the sagittal axis of the foot is managed in these regions.
3. As the last part the metatarsals and phalanges bones confirm finally the lengthwise structure of the foot along the transverse plane. They offer a high degree of mobility in the foot and we can even use them without the support of the heel. So the front of the foot is inside certain degrees of rotations stable and mobile at the same time. Also movements along the frontal plane become optional choices to adapt to uneven grounds when we lift the heel. So the front foot seems to support and mobilize most part of the foot in walking and especially running, climbing, walking uphill…
All these three sections are set up in slight curves towards the right and the left. The joining structures between those bones are all small curves and so the transitions from one to another.
Drawing the feet reveals a clear picture
When you let the pen follow the external parts of your feet from the toes to the heel you can clearly see an osculation which bows to the left on the left foot and to the right on the right foot. What we can see is that the foot is more c- shaped and undulates between the internal and external part. These curved trajectories offer a larger surface of the foot to roll on the ground without collapsing into the arches.
Osculation is a mathematical curve that bows to a side. The spine has a similar character like the foot when bending to a side. The spine rotates along the internal vertical axis between the thoracolumbar area when bending to a side. This ensures stability inside a mobility moment of the spine. This little twist supports the integrity of disc pressure and articulate surfaces while the body weight is shifting towards a side. (See The Axis Syllabus ©️ )
This same phenomenon is present inside the osculation of the foot. While the ankle complex with the cuneiform and navicular build an arch towards the lateral side, the metatarsals and toes though start to transit towards a twist towards the medial side. That also brings the big toe down to the ground as support and lifts the long arch. So the first part from the ankle behaves like the torso while the front foot behaves like the lumbar and pelvis. The transition of the twist is located at the meta-center of the foot (See The Axis Syllabus ©️)
The meta-center is the meeting point of all the arches in the foot and represents the center of weight loading. So similar to the anatomical center in the spine (See The Axis Syllabus ©️) we can locate a center in the foot too. This all manifests during the weight loading inside a step. The logic of this structure is to mobilize while adapting to uneven surfaces and stabilize the foot to carry all our bodyweight. And this all at the same time!
Movement in a foot
While the interpretation for movement of the foot still shows large differences, I think the right answer for how to use the foot is to be regarded inside a context. The more frontal parts seem to allow small but several directions as the amount of joints is larger but smaller. The ankle is limited mainly to movement on the sagittal plane with small participation around the frontal plane. Regarding stability function of the ankle movements, adduction and abduction seem to destabilise the ankle complex and is in my opinion not functional or supportive. Looking at the strapping of the ligaments and experience with ankle injuries, it seems that the heel complex is most stable if we avoid pure movements along the frontal plane even when training.
Instead the proposition would be to respect the osculation of the foot while walking, running, jumping so that we can enjoy these activities while collaborating and continuing to observe physical and emotional reactions and responses.
I hope that I could provide some helpful insights and inspiration for your practical use of a body part that in the northern hemisphere because of climate is mostly covered inside a shoe “box”. And making your own shoes is also another possibility to enter and study more closely how these two little surfaces at the bottom of our body manages to carry us around the world.
** Editorial assistance by Frey Faust