TY - JOUR JO - Human Movement SN - 1899-1955 VL - 17 IS - 1 PY - 2016 ID - Wilson2016 TI - The multi-functional foot in athletic movement: extraordinary feats by our extraordinary feet AB - The unique architecture of the foot system provides a sensitive, multi-tensional method of communicating with the surrounding environment. Within the premise of the paper, we discuss three themes: complexity, degeneracy and bio-tensegrity. Complex structures within the foot allow the human movement system to negotiate strategies for dynamic movement during athletic endeavours. We discuss such complex structures with particular attention to properties of a bio-tensegrity system. Degeneracy within the foot structure offers a distinctive solution to the problems posed by differing terrains and uneven surfaces allowing lower extremity structures to overcome perturbation as and when it occurs. This extraordinary structure offers a significant contribution to bipedalism through presenting a robust base of support and as such, should be given more consideration when designing athletic development programmes. AU - Wilson, Jennifer AU - Kiely, John SP - 15 EP - 20 DA - 2016 DO - 10.1515/humo-2016-0001 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/humo-2016-0001 ER -