What are your training shoes of choice? I have tried many shoes from the old school Feiyue shoes to Tae Kwon Do Shoes, to Ping Pong Shoes, but I have always gone back to my tried and true Adidas Samba indoor soccer shoes.
While these may not strike folks as being good shoes, let me key you in on some of the benefits. For one, they have a pretty flat bottom, which is ideal for trying to work on balance issues.
For me, the TKD shoes tended to have a very narrow sole while the Feiyue shoes had a decent flat bottom but not too much in terms of support. The major plus and value for the Adidas shoes are the high arch supports. For me, this is the key as I need a shoe with good arch supports. On top of that, the Sambas have that old school look, nothing like a simple black shoe with 3 white stripes to flex your taiji style. Of course, these are not competition shoes, but I don’t really compete in taiji, these are functional shoes.
Last night I decided to replace my older pair of Sambas as they were getting pretty worn out and I wanted to have a new and shiny pair for the upcoming Chen Zhonghua workshop in Milwaukee. I called like 2-3 local retailers and none of them carried the shoe in-store and kept referring me to their online counterpart. The last time I bought these shoes was probably like 5 years ago and they were pretty popular then, I guess times have changed.
Luckily for me, I called a small local retailer and they happened to have the shoes in stock and on sale! Online these shoes were going for between $55 – $60, but I got them for the awesome price of $39.99 and supported my local store at the same time! When I came home and showed my wife the shoes, she was a bit surprised at how “old school” they were, but I told her that’s the only way I roll, tried and true, baby! She commented on how I should have bought another pair “just in case”. I think I just may, these are awesome shoes and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a good pair of functional martial arts training shoes.
What say you? What are your training shoes of choice?
This is an ongoing battle for me. We don’t wear shoes; I study in a Shaolin Temple and it’s considered disrespectful to have sneakers on, though some people practice in moccasins or ballerina slippers or something of that nature. For me though, mocs fall off, and ballet slippers are too tight in the toes. I like socks, but they’re too slippery sometimes (especially for the more kungfu-type forms we do); and bare feet are too cold, at least in the winter. (The majority of the more senior students do practice barefoot, though.)
I’m now trying to find socks with treaded bottoms, but have yet to find any that are stupid-looking and/or fuzzy. Wish me luck!
(On the other hand, when I’m at home and it’s nice enough out, I practice outside, and then I prefer sneakers that are very much like the ones you recommend.)
Thanks!
PD
Hi Wujimon,
This post is particularly interesting and relevant to me at the moment: I strained a tendon in my foot last Friday and have since been wondering whether I need better footwear, amongst other things.
What do I wear at the moment? Er… nothing.
Admittedly, I practice indoors 95% of the time at the moment, and I do wear some old Converse when I’m outside… but I can’t help but wonder whether some decent ‘indoor’ shoes with a little support and cushioning would have prevented my injury.
I’ll be following replies to this post with great interest! Enjoy the Sambas
I like to wear white socks. I mostly practice on wooden floors and it just feels good.
Same as with most of you.
I have up to 10 pairs of shoes, but I like my kwon indoor training shoes for taekwondo best, leather with breathing holes, not too narrow and really good stances for phs.
But I also use thin leather gymnastic shoes for form training, socks only for groundwork on mats (burning rubber), old mainland gongfu slippers with a leather sole for carpet performances and so on.
It’s an endless storry!
I wear sock while doddling around the house, but real training I do outside. Barefoot is reserved for Summertime, and I find Keen brand has a variety of shoes with thin soles with wide toes beds. I wear them all year round including in snow, but I forget which particular ones I’ve used.
I appreciate new ideas. Feiyue I’d like to try.
For sports or any exercise an anti-slippery shoes are important.. but it must be comfortable for you..
I use Feiyue shoes both for my indoor practice and teaching of taijiquan and yoga. We train on a wood (simulated) floor.
Since I have diabetes, I must protect my feet. Going barefoot resulted in too many fissures in the toes (e.g., yoga Down Dog). After I started using Feiyue shoes five years ago I have not had a single foot injury, saving myself much pain and expense.
I purchase the Feiyue shoes from Amazon.
Those Adidas Samba indoor soccer shoes look like a fine shoe. I will look into that brand. Thanks for the suggestion.
Mike
You have to try the Asics Whizzers. They are my favorite for forms tourneys or just for practice.
Puma has several whole lines of shoes that are good. The Puma Cat series are all interesting.
Thanks for the suggestion, Dave. I will definitely keep the Asics in mind for next time
I bought the Adidas Samba for my Taichi practice. It fits very well for me. Thank you very much for your recommendation.
I do like the Sambas, however my next pair of shoes will be the AsicsWhizzers as recommended by Chessman
I use the Sambas all the time, but I tend to go through a pair every 3 or 4 months, as I train at least 2 hours a day, outside, in all different weather conditions . But I do find the Sambas to hold up the best.. Although, I am looking for a different pair of shoes, because I’ve been wearing these for at least 10 years.. So, I’m looking at other indoor soccer shoes.