Complementary bases in symplectic matrices and a proof that their determinant is one

New results on the patterns of linearly independent rows and columns among the blocks of a symplectic matrix are presented. These results are combined with the block structure of the inverse of a symplectic matrix, together with some properties of Schur complements, to give a new and elementary proof that the determinant of any symplectic matrix is +1. The new proof is valid for any field. Information on the zero patterns compatible with the symplectic structure is also presented.