TRANSPORT

Types of crawls

Standard crawl

Crawling is a specific 4-beat gait involving the needs and knees. A typical crawl is left-hand, right-knee, right-hand, left-knee, or a hand, the diagonal knee, the other hand then its diagonal knee. This is the first gait most humans learn, and is mainly used during early childhood, or when looking for something on the floor or under low relief. It can be used to move with a lower silhouette, but there are better crawls for that purpose. This is the most natural of the crawls and is the one that requires the least effort.

Bear crawl

US Airman performs a bear crawl

The bear crawl is almost identical to the standard crawl, but the feet are used instead of the knees, which creates an arched or squatted body movement. This works as a faster crawl but requires more effort to maintain.

Bridge walk

This involves holding a gymnastic bridge and making small steps with the arms and legs. It is similar to a crab walk in that the body locomotes in a supine posture, but the arms are in shoulder flexion alongside the head.

Because of its unusual appearance, bridge walking has been used in several horror films to suggest the demonic possession of a character.

Crab crawl

The crab crawl is used in crab soccer. It starts by sitting down with the feet and hands flat on the ground, the hips are then raised off the ground and the chest faces the sky. It is similar to a bridge walk in that both have quadrupedal locomotion with a supine torso, but here the arms are held behind the torso, with the shoulder joint being in hyper extension. Due to its inefficiency, it is more commonly used as a form of exercise than actual transportation. Crab walking builds triceps endurance and arm and leg strength, and is a recommended exercise of various school athletic departments and soccer organizations, such as USA football.

The crab crawl is also useful for descending steep slopes with poor traction. Its feet-first orientation ensures a low center of mass to prevent tumbling, while the inverted posture allows one to see where they’re going.

Leopard crawl/High crawl

Soldier crawls through mud during training

The leopard crawl is a military-specific crawl. There are two versions, the leopard crawl proper and a modified version for when carrying weapons in the hands. This is a two-beat gait like a trot: an arm/elbow is advanced with the diagonal knee. This is designed for the smallest silhouette possible, and the body is often nearly or actually touching the ground, and although the elbow and knee are the main focus, most of the respective limbs touch the ground.

Tiger crawl

The tiger crawl is essentially a highly accelerated combination between crawl and leopard crawl. It uses the hands and the knees/feet depending upon the situation, while maintaining a silhouette almost as small as that of the leopard crawl. This is relatively fast gait but can take large amounts of energy.