Whilst we were walking on Wednesday there was some singing going on – not instigated by me, obviously, as I cannot sing for toffee, but it reminded me of the very first Nordic Walking Lake District trip that we did 3 years ago. After a pub lunch stop which, yes, included beer, we had to do a ‘slight ascent’ (interpret that however you like) and the walkers started to sing the military marching song with some made up on the spot lyrics. Interestingly if you look up this type of marching song the principle of it is very appropriate for Nordic Walking.
‘In the armed services, a military cadence or cadence call is a traditional call-and-response work song sung by military personnel while running or marching. Requiring no instruments to play, they are counterparts in oral military folklore of the military march. As a sort of work song, military cadences take their rhythms from the work being done. Many cadences have a call and response structure of which one soldier initiates a line, and the remaining soldiers complete it, thus instilling teamwork and camaraderie for completion. The cadence calls move to the beat and rhythm of the normal speed (quick time) march or running-in-formation (double time) march. This serves the purpose of keeping soldiers “dressed”, moving in step as a unit and in formation, while maintaining the correct beat or cadence.
The word “cadence” was applied to these work songs because of an earlier meaning, in which it meant the number of steps a marcher or runner took per minute. The cadence was set by a drummer or sergeant and discipline was extremely important, as keeping the cadence directly affected the travel speed of infantry.’
This could bring a whole new format to our fitness walks, especially considering that we have quite a few choir members!
North Cheshire Nordic Walking 