Corps-Style Marching/Technique/Principles

Corps-style marching technique aims to serve four basic purposes:
 * 1) Eliminate the disruptions to airflow and embouchre (for wind players) or rhythmic and dynamic accuracy (for percussionists) that can be caused by a non-fluid motion along the ground
 * 2) Ensure that the sound of all players is focused in generally the same direction, towards the audience on one side of the field
 * 3) Make all movements crisp, precise, and defined so as to make marching formations easier to read and more pleasant to watch
 * 4) Give the performer an air of assured confidence

A normal walking gait, as well as so-called "Big Ten"-style marching, involves the foot impacting the ground rather forcefully. For wind players especially, this can cause problems with maintaining a steady sound akin to the problems one experiences when talking while driving in a car down a rough gravel road. Corps-style marching aims to eliminate this by minimizing the force with which the foot impacts the ground. It does this in two ways: Specifically, the goal is to achieve a gliding or rolling motion in the foot that smooths out the natural jolts and bumps experienced, especially when performing on rough ground.
 * Minimizing the total amount of force the ground is impacted with
 * Minimizing the component of that force that is normal to the ground