Shoes

[Yogicmotion]

[Asmo]

I have Otomix shoes I most wear, these are martial arts shoes, bit taekwondo shoe like:



But when out in the woods with my son I also wear low hiking shoes. Then I can also do some training, like a form or two and stance training. IMO its good to train in the shoes you normally wear as well.

But I even do a form on flip flops now and then when feeling like doing a form when I had those on.

[PM]

boxing shoes from Everlast - very thin sole, very comfortable and durable, best i have ever head



sidenote: many knee and low back problems are caused by wrong shoes; the closer to the bare foot the shoe is, the better. our bodies did not change for last couple of hundred thousand years, our world a lot.

[Jerry Battle]

I like to wear a good wrestling shoe, preferably Nike or Ascic, but I have gone with Adidas and Brutes.

[Tid Sin]

Sometimes, black Adidas cross-trainers or black boxing shoes. Usually, though, black Asics wrestling shoes:







Since the soles are without treads, traditional black Chinese boots tend to slip 'n slide on some smooth surfaces, so they're only used sparingly for functions. Maybe they're good for testing balance, but I couldn't be bothered.

Not a big fan of the black Chinese slippers with brown plastic/rubber soles. They're not very comfortable on my tender feet and I can feel pebbles and stones as if I'm barefoot, but they looked good on Lei Siu Lung.

[Asmo]

I notice a tendency to high covering shoes? As it supports the ankle more, dont you guys think that you'll loose strength on the ankle?

Its a known problem with wearing mountain boots. As it supports the ankle a lot it doesn't need to build up strength itself.

[Yogicmotion]

And black shoes, you guy not like white?

[Tid Sin]

My ankles are fine. Since I even wear the shoes loosely, ankle support is not an issue. I just like the close, flat, barefoot-like feel that PM had mentioned, unlike the barefoot feeling of Chinese slippers Bruce Lee-style. Plus, I have a little wrestling background, so I'm just used to that shoe style.

As for colour, it's just a personal preference to go with black. When I was teaching TKD, I wore the white Adidas MA shoes similar to Asmo's black pair. It was good for pivoting while kicking without drag.

[Xiaobian]

You all have such nice shoes! I just use my flat-soled tennis shoes

[PM]

[Tid Sin]

[vtml]

Currently I am wearing Adidas Taekwando shoes, black as well to go with the black uniform.
This pair of shoes have served me well for the last 3.5 years, started splitting on the front, used some Aradite super glue to glue them back on, good as new

I am thinking of getting a pair of ASICS for my next training shoes.

[abiraghi]

Tiger Tai Chi are great


But I'd love to find a paira of the wonderful Nike Wushu

[w gee lai]

There are alot of shoes that are readily available for Gung-fu use that have just the right sole thickness, arch/heel support (to prevent injuries) and in black.

Payless Source Source sells Champion. Look at Pique ($25) and Damsel Sport Oxford ($20.) Adidas has adinova ($36) and adicore ($60.) Also look at Marc Ecko and Diesel; and ASIC Copero S. All of these are on-line and some are on sale.

Many of the women styles (Yoga for example) are perfect for Gung-fu, you will need to get one full size or 1 1/2 sizes larger. A men's 8 is a womens 9 Wide.

I would avoid any "gung-fu" shoe made form China; theses are simple poorly made and will cause injury (ack, ankle, foot, etc.)

Buying "martial arts" shoes from Nike, Adidas, etc will just cost alot of $$$$$.

Hope this helps.

[Denlasoul]

I used these shoes back when I was taking classes. They are light, have a good sole, and are pretty affordable. Around $20usd but I've seen them for less.