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Ok folks… Anyone have thoughts on how to manage the incredible amount of traction you get when you wear rubber soled shoes on the rubber/vinyl pads at the Krav studio?
You might as well have suction cups on your feet by wearing gym, soccer or wrestling shoes on those padded vinyl/rubber floors. One wrong torque through the leg (admit it, it happens) and there goes your knee.
I’ve tried going barefoot a few times and managed to stub a toe or, get a toe cranked back when it got hooked in someone’s clothing or, get them stepped on by someone wearing shoes. I need another injury like I need a hole in my head.
I’m thinking a gym shoe that has a leather sole (like a moccassin) would be helpful. Is there such a thing? Any thoughts on this?
Thanks
Ray(Oh, training on a hardwood floor is not an option).
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
Yeah I know what you mean. I’ve had trouble getting the pivot for round house kicks or spinning kicks at times cause my dang foot didn’t turn enough. Using cross-trainers has been fine except for those.
I did end up getting new Skechers that were flatter than what I usually wear to get through my Level 3 test. Dunno what the magic bullet is:dunno:
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
I like the Nike Air Edge cross trainers, they have a relatively flat sole and a pivot point that helps with round kicks.
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
You could try ninja slippers….I am being serious… but it may be better to struggle with xtrainers as if the SHTF who knows what you’ll be wearing and the adversity the flooring or your shoes may cause. Thats one of the reasons I always liked krav it trained w/ shoes which I pretty much wear in public
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
Most martial arts sell “martial arts” or “budo” shoes, which have very little to no traction on the sole. I find them to be very good for Krav Maga.
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
I wear my boots (Danner Striker II’s) for training, and they seem to work well. I have worn my Merrell’s before too though, and I know what you mean about those stubborn sticky soles. I would love to train barefoot, but there are of course risks. You could always try Feiyue shoes, but I think they are only available in European sizing. These would be light, not too sticky, and cheap. Just remember that you’ll be beating the tar out of whatever gear you have when training, so buying expensive Nike shoes or some gimmicky exorbitant cross trainer might make you mad when they fall apart at the seams within weeks.
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
the only shoes i’ve had success with are the under armor running shoes (when they first came out, havn’t tried the new ones) and the adidas samba soccer shoes. everything else i’ve kicked a hole in. all in all, i prefer bare foot
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
I’ve always thought training in shoes to be more realistic, but you may be forced to lift you foot slightly and turn it out then plant it.
It is a bit different than pivoting your foot because you lift weight off of it.
What are some thoughts from the instructors?
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
You could be a dork and do some round kicks in the shoe store and see how they pivot on the carpet (let’s pretend that I didn’t do that). Or, you could go for some indoor soccer shoes – traction where you need it but they pivot easy enough.
As far as the training realistically goes, I agree up to a point, but I also think safety in training. If you’re going to throw a hundred kicks in a night, you don’t want to be fighting it the whole time. I’ve worn my chucks to the gym and sparred with ’em and I don’t like it. Fine when I’m in a forced altercation, but not so much for training.
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
quote KMCat:I’ve always thought training in shoes to be more realistic, but you may be forced to lift you foot slightly and turn it out then plant it.It is a bit different than pivoting your foot because you lift weight off of it.
What are some thoughts from the instructors?
I haven’t been shown the round kick in class yet…rook that I am….but training in other arts showed a pivot, which is easy barefoot and more difficult in shoes. Learned that the hard way one night. I looked in the complete krav book and it said pivot, but in a vid with Kevin Kewis , a promo, I got the impression it was more of a step to turn the lead foot out. I figured this made a lot of sense because bwe normally wear shoes and cannot be sure of the terrain we’re going to be on. I like the idea of the step because bit turns the hips right away…it actually feels better to me, but I don’t have the expertise or the ego to judge…as much as I may post I usually stay out of technical threads except to ask a question.hopefully instructors will follow you advice and offer their perspective. Good post kmcat, adding rep points
mike
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
Because many of the students that take up Krav are a little older and maybe not super athletes, we will often teach the round kick with a “cheat step” as an option rather that a pivot. Generally this is a teaching tool until the requiste skill level is there for the pivot. Remember, we want people to be able to use these basic combatives almost immediately after learning them.
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
quote Jeremy Stafford:Because many of the students that take up Krav are a little older and maybe not super athletes, we will often teach the round kick with a “cheat step” as an option rather that a pivot. Generally this is a teaching tool until the requiste skill level is there for the pivot. Remember, we want people to be able to use these basic combatives almost immediately after learning them.Described me to a tee and Playing around with it in the living room I’m liking the cheat. My core is a tad screwed up at the momentrofl2anyway
I apologize fo the typos in last post. I was in a hurry.
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
I use older pairs of sneakers that are more “worn out” and have “less” traction. I currently have an old pair of Nike crosstraining sneakers that are worn out enough on the ball of the foot to give me a little less traction.
I think soccer sneakers and wrestling shoes have that circular pattern on the ball area to allow pivot but I’m not sure.
Getting back to sneakers, I will not train with new sneakers if I can avoid it. I still with older pairs.
PS: I cheat too!
Re: Shoes, No Shoes… Too Much Traction
You’re quite right to worry about your shoes sticking to the mat. My Adidas Sambas welded themselves to the mat when I tried to rush a front-leg round-house and I snapped my ACL. Of course, my form was also off and I didn’t get enough of my weight onto the ball of my foot so that was the main cause of the injury.
I’ve been back in action for the past 3-some months and I’ve been flipping back and forth between shoe and bare feet. I’m going bare foot more often than not. I have a set of the
Nike Air Edges mentioned in an earlier post. The pivot point works very well and the rest of the sole is not a sticky as the Samba’s.I’ve also been training myself to do the little half pivot step. I never had to this before my injury, but I figure that if I ever do have my foot stick again, I’ll at least put quite a bit less torque on the ole knee.
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