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What’s the consensus on shoes for traning.
I’ve seen some people on the list talk about wrestling shoes. I think I’ve seen some other people in my classes wearing them. They look a little thin and not very supportive for some of the warm up activities and some of the kicking drills. (I’ve also see other people just going bare foot, I’m not sure I would like that.)
I mostly like the \”vanilla\” running shoes I use, but they have a tendency to stick to the mat and don’t let my foot pivot for most kicking moves. I’ve compensated by doing a \”lift, turn the ankle, step\” technique.
Any thoughts?
I’ve advocated SF boots on other posts, and still love mine … http://oakley.com/o/o1691d
However – I saw an ad in Black Belt mag for addidas shoes made specifically for martial arts – I may check into those as well.
Here’s a link for one specific type – There are others.
The Oakley boots are good, I’ve used mine off and on for a couple of years. I hardley ever see people walking around in wrestling shoes, don’t really advocate them for people who are training for self defense. We have had some majoe injuries from people wearing the \”Shox\” type running shoe.
For me I generally wear \”Chucks\”.I bought a pair of Adidas Mat Hog wrestling shoes and it’s night and day from my regular sneakers. While they look thin and unsupportive, they’re anything but. And they only costed about $50 or so. I great choice in my opinion.
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quote \”MaskedKat\:THose SF boots look heavy…. were they hard to get used to?They are not too heavy, and most of the weight is in the sole… Tops are leather (Suede) and a woven nylon type material.
They were not difficult for me to get used to – Very comfy, great support, and toe protection – FWIW I decided to get them after having a leg kick blocked with a knee and breaking a toe during sparring. Very protective and don’t do unnecessary damage to partners. They are expensive tho (I got a pretty good deal ordering from Oakley directly). In one of the other threads, someone suggested Converse Special Forces (SF) boots – I haven’t worn them but he/she said they were very similar and much less expensive.
I wear the Oakley SF Assualt Boots. They are light and stable. One thing I want to add is what type of shoe resembles the ones as closely as possible to the shoe you wear in the street? If you don’t go around barefoot in the street, don’t go around barefoot in the center. Find something that fits you, and what feels most comfortable to you individually. Each persons comfort while training will vary. Just an opinion.
Another option is look at indoor soccer shoes. Adidas make a couple of pairs – Samba and Samba IIs – I think. I use the the Samba IIs and they’re great. Runners are not a great choice as their geometry is not so suited for lateral movement, i.e they tend to have a bias towards supporting you in moving forward, heel-to-toe movement pattern. I haven’t tried the martial arts specific shoes – but for me I wanted something I could train in and just as likely wear around casually.
To be more practical, you should probably wear regular tennis shoues when you train. How many of you walk down the street wearing your \”special\” martial arts shoes? We have a saying in the Air Force, \”fight like you train, train like you fight.\” Training should be as realistic as possible to a situation you may encounter on the street. So, I would suggest wearing a style of shoe that you would typically wear anywhere else. But, I could be way wrong on this one.
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