Many are not sure where to start when beginning a marching technique program. Some may start with forward marching, some with commands and some with mark time. I recommend starting with Posture. Before a marching ensemble can look uniformed moving together they have to look uniformed standing still. Here is a break down of a posture exercise. The goal of this exercise is to give every member the same idea of what posture is.                                     Posture Exercise This exercise creates uniformed posture throughout all body types. This exercise breaks down your posture and re-creates it. We have 6 points of reference within this exercise. These references points are 1.Ear 2.Shoulders 3.Ribs 4.Hips 5.Knees 6.Ankle. Your ankle is the base point which all other points are built up. When these 6 points are aligned a uniformed posture is created. When we start the exercise we start from what we will call the "set position". At the "set position" your feet will be slightly outside shoulder width, your middle finger will be on the seam of your pants and you need to find a focal point with your eyes. Your focal point should be in front of your face or a little above. Do not look at the ground or up towards the sky/ceiling. Your eyes are also a very important part of body language. You need to focus solely on your focal point and do not look around. This will communicate focus and determination. We break this exercise down into 2 parts The Breakdown of Part 1 We break down part 1 into 4 count phrases Counts 1-4&  Head to Chest - At the end of these four counts your chin should touch your chest and you should feel a stretch in the back of your neck. Counts 5-8& Shoulders back, back and up, forward and up, forward and down. At the end of these four counts you should feel a stretch between your shoulder blades. Your wrists should be crossed onto each other. Your chin should still be to your chest. Counts 9-12& Upper back/rib cage - In these four counts you roll your rib cage forward down to your breastbone. At this point you should feel a "good hurt" just below your shoulder blades. Wrists are crossed; chin is to your chest. You are not looking around. Counts 13-16& Lower back - In these 4 counts you relax your lower back. You should be hanging over your waist. Your chin will lose contact with your chest and your wrists should become uncrossed. Be Relaxed. Counts 17-20& Release the hips - At this point you be relaxed hanging. Knees should be slightly bent. Head should be hanging. Arms are hanging. Relax your tongue within your mouth. Breathe deeply. With each breathe feel your lower back expand. With each exhalation fall towards the ground and relax more. Now we will reverse the breakdown and align body parts on top of each other. We have broken down your natural posture. Now we will rebuild your posture to a uniformed standard Counts 1-4& Straighten legs. Your knee point should straighten onto your base point and your hips will align onto your knee point. Counts 5-8&  Lower back onto hips on knees on ankle point Counts 9-12& Rip cage onto lower back on hips on knees on ankle point Counts 13-16& Roll your shoulders forward and up, back and up, back and down middle finger aligning to the steam of your pants. Your shoulders will become aligned onto your rib cage Counts 17-20& Bring your head back up. This will align your ear point onto your shoulders. Find you focal point. Stare at it. It is important Counts 21-24& On your own bring your feet together, heels and toes touching. DO NOT FIDGET!!! We are creating muscle memory. You must learn the physical feeling of this posture. If you fidget at any point of the exercise you lose muscle memory thus taking away from everything we have done so far. The Breakdown of Part 2 Counts 1 - 4& Rise up onto your platforms and gain maximum height. Do not lose balance. Counts 5-8& Reach towards the sky in 8 counts. This will lift your rib cage off your lower back/ trunk area. Strech those arms all the way up. Counts 9-12& Bring your arms down for 8 counts leaving rib cage raised and relaxed. Don't allow tension to sit in the shoulders. Allow them to relax. Counts 13-16& Lower yourself down onto heels. Try to maintain the same height you had when you where on your platforms. Try to stretch your spine towards the ceiling/sky. Counts 17-20& Raise instrument to playing position. When your instrument is up to playing position your palms should not touch your horn. Hold the instrument with your finger tips. This will create more space in your triangle. Your triangle is the shape your arms take when your instrument is up at the playing position.  Bell front instruments should be up at a 10-15 degree angle. We play to people sitting in football stadiums. We want them to hear you playing. Common tenancies and things to look for: -Lack of definitive starts and stops. Use all counts when breaking down/ aligning points. Be smooth in your movements and use all the space and time you are given. - Make sure you understand where each point starts and stops. - Poor positioning of hands on equipment at end of exercise - Improper embouchure set ups -Chins facing the ground -tight and raised shoulders -tension Fun Facts 80% of language is body language. An audience will see your group and base an opinion on them from the way they look coming onto the field. This, of course is done before they ever hear you play. Therefore, we want to take up space in our posture. Taking up space communicates confidence. The marcher should make an effort to look great at all times. At the end of the posture exercise; one shouldn’t just stand there. Make a relaxed, conscious effort to take up more space. Try to create space between your vertebrate.  Lift you posture towards the sky. Have your arms off your body. Communicate focus, determination, confidence and strength with your posture. Be proud of your group and let others know this with your body language. Copyright 2005 Mike Fanning is a Drill Writer and marching instructor. Currently Mike is the Visual Caption Supervisor at the Cadets. Mike has written and taught groups from the United States, Canada, Japan and Sweden. Mike is available to for Drill writing service. Please visit his website http://www.ProgressiveVisual.com