by Quentin Stevenson
During the first week of class, teacher Scott Arnett discussed the basis of human movement and how to calculate specific movements. He also introduced the focus of all movements, which is force; internal and external ground reactions; and the unit of measurement for force, the Newton.
The students were excited to go to the Museum of Science in Louisville where they learned about the biomechanics of using wheelchairs. Each student rode in a wheelchair to see how human movement differs when using one versus not using one. Also, the students learned about prosthetics, specifically above-knee and below-knee prosthetics.
In our second week, we took the students rock climbing. They enjoyed the difficulty of belaying and relying on their ability to scale a rock wall with minimal assistance. I can tell you personally that rock climbing is not easy! Afterwards, the students made presentations explaining specific body movements using pictures taken during their rock climbing.
In addition, students participated in a demonstration of a style of karate. They observed the ability to control human movement and some attacks and defense techniques.
The ability to be physical is the most important aspect for studying human movement quantitatively. Because of activities like the ones I have described, these weeks at VAMPY have been very informative and fun.