Michael Jackson is a music legend, the first artist to win 8 Grammy Awards in 1 night and also the first artist to sell more than 1 million digital music tracks in 1 week.

His influence on dance is also very strong. Fans all over the world have tried to imitate his dance moves, his crotch and rib cage and of course, the “moonwalk” – trademark of Michael Jackson.

In 1988, Michael Jackson surprised the world with his gravity-defying dance in the MV “Smooth Criminal”. In one scene, Jackson and several of his dancers lean forward 45 degrees, backs straight, feet flat on the floor, holding the position until they return to upright in a seemingly effortless manner.

Michael Jackson in MV “smooth criminal” with legendary dance. Source: CNN

Neurosurgeon Dr. Nishant Yagnick, a longtime neuroscientist at the Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India, says it’s actually impossible to do that. “He cheated gravity.” “You can bend a maximum of 25 or 30 degrees forward before you fall,”. His colleague Dr. Manjul Tripathi, another fan of Jackson also said “I tried to do it and I fell down.”

Fascinated by Jackson and curious about this gravity-defying dance, Yagnick and Tripathi began investigating how the pop legend was able to pull off the dance. Along with another colleague, Dr. Sandeep Mohindra, they published their observations from a neurosurgeon’s perspective May 22 in the journal Neurosurgery: “Michael Jackson defied our understanding.” How about the biomechanics of the spine?”

On the left, how the body should bend and on the right, how Michael Jackson did it. Photo: CNN

Doctors have explained, when the human body bends forward with a straight back, the pectoral muscles that run parallel to our vertebrae “act like cables” and supports the body as the center of gravity change. But the center of gravity when bending is transferred to the ankles, those erector muscles are not the main support. Instead, stress is placed on the calf and Achilles tendon, which are not really built for that role.

“This allows a very limited degree of forward bending from the ankle joints, while maintaining an upright posture – unless you are Michael Jackson,” they explain in the study.

“Most trained dancers with strong core strength will achieve a maximum of 25 or 30 degrees of forward flexion while performing this action”. Even though Jackson has a magical shape, even he can’t do it without help. So he and his team invented a special shoe that could keep him from falling to the floor while tilting.

Patented on October 26, 1993, the shoe “has a specially designed heel slot that can be removed” with a “hook” (like nails) projected across the stage surface “by simply sliding the shoe wearer’s feet forward with the members” as described by the United States Patent Office.

Michael Jackson’s patented shoes. Photo: CNN

‘His idea was very creative,’ Tripathi said with a laugh, ‘because even with that shoe, I couldn’t do 45 degrees. You need a very good strength and that strength is in Michael Jackson and his Achilles tendon”. Yagnick agreed: “Normal people, even with the shoe, probably couldn’t do it. It takes a lot of time to practice to develop muscles, abdominal muscles… to gain strength to be able to do that”.

Many viewers have watched Jackson and his dancers perform beautiful choreography on videos and in concerts. To them, the dances look like “magic”. “When Michael Jackson released the video and then made waves on stages around the world, people didn’t know he had “magic” hey,” Mr. Yagnick said.

In fact, they discovered MJ kept her balance mostly on her heels. Scientists have shown that the success of the sideways dance in “Smooth Criminal” Most of it comes from MJ’s ability to control his muscles and spine. The sole of the shoe is also important but is mainly a fulcrum.