Signs of K-selection – Gunslinger’s Gait

New differential diagnosis mainly applies to K-selected areas:

Objective To postulate a new possible cause of a unilaterally reduced arm swing in addition to the known medical conditions such as shoulder pathology, Erb’s palsy, stroke, and Parkinson’s disease.

Methods Analysis of YouTube videos depicting the gait of highly ranked Russian officials… Searching for possible explanations, we encountered a training manual of the former Russian KGB. According to this manual, KGB operatives were instructed to keep their weapon in their right hand close to their chest and to move forward with one side, usually the left, presumably allowing subjects to draw the gun as quickly as possible when confronted with a foe. Indeed, under “Chapter 2–Movement,” the manual gives the following instruction: “When moving, it is absolutely necessary to keep your weapon against the chest or in the right hand. Moving forward should be done with one side, usually the left, turned somewhat in the direction of movement.” We wondered whether this could explain President Putin’s gait, since he had received KGB training earlier in life

Results We found a similar walking pattern in President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and three other highly ranked Russian officials, all presenting with a consistently reduced right arm swing in the absence of other overt neurological abnormalities…

Conclusions We propose that this new gait pattern, which we term “gunslinger’s gait,”may result from a behavioural adaptation, possibly triggered by KGB or other forms of weapons training where trainees are taught to keep their right hand close to the chest while walking, allowing them to quickly draw a gun when faced with a foe. This should be included in the differential diagnosis of a unilaterally reduced arm swing.

Interestingly, if you spend a half hour a day in front of a mirror practicing your draw, and build up to speed training, I could see you increasing muscle tone, neurological and motor control, and that increasing arm control and altering passive arm movements in the trained arm.

From throwing a punch to drawing, there is a big difference between knowing how to do something, and mentally melding all the necessary movements and muscle contractions into one smooth muscle memory which you can trigger all at once with one small mental trigger when necessary. Still, if you develop the skill, you must also learn to either camouflage it, or develop it ambidextrously – unless you are Hitman Number 47, in which the asymmetrical arm movement is part of your schtick.