Wearing shoes for martial arts

[Dijita]

Bleh, I can't stand shoes... hehe even when I'm not doing martial arts I use shoes as little as I can. This past summer I spent most of it without footwear... I went camping and didn't wear shoes. You end up getting Flinstone feet though

[Darth Paul]

In Autodefence Wing Tchun we wear low top athletic shoes even in sparring. It doesn't affect the way we kick at all.

[turonaga]

shoes should and must never hinder you in martial arts. any shoes i wear don't bother when i do my karate. be it combat boots, leather boots, formal shoes or any shoes for that matter how much more if i don't wear one.

[Budderfly]

It's hard to slide your feet on the mats, making kicks harder to execute cause your foot sticks to the ground.

 

Example - Roundhouse Kick. The foot that turns in doens't move as easily.

 

I prefer not to wear them myself.

[italian_guy]

For Tai chi we have very light shoes.

 

For Kickboxing we don't wear shoes we have foot protection but the part of the foot which touches the floor is bare.

[ramymensa]

I've worn shoes in the winter (this was the first) because in the dojo the floor was quite cold (almost freezing temperature). As soon as the place was warmer i quit wearing the shoes. I like to train barefoot .. well to be honest ... at home I wear nothing too and of course it starts all sorts of discussions with my parents

[granmasterchen]

as a part of our oriental tradition we take them off .....but specific footwear designed for martial arts have made an appearance in the dojo....so that would be the only case and only because they are made specifically for martial arts and therefore are part of the uniform so to say....

[Rich_2k3]

If u think about it though, if ur ever attacked, say on the street then ur gonna be wearing shoes, so u might as well get used to it.

[aefibird]

True, that's why I think it's a good idea to get used to training with and without shoes and also with and without a gi (ie train in regular clothes occasionally IMO).

[sAtelitte]

We always wear light shoes during training, mainly because they were part of our uniform when we bought it and because we practice on a really hard and rough floor but if i ever faced an opponent bare footed i would probably hurt myself when kicking.