Barefeet or shoes?

[Greek Fighter]

How many out there like to practice with thier feet? After a serious infection that I cuaght years back from a dojo, I grew

against training in bare feet. Why? because I believed it was very

unsanitary and alot of people's feet are very dirty. Also, the risk of diseases and infections are always a risk. I remember I had caught a very bad infection due to the floor in the dojo I went to being collected from dirt, sweat and other stuff. That was the dojo's fault for not keeping

preventing that problem and alot of the students caught infections like cracked feet, blisters, sore toes and bunions. Me, I had a major case of Athlete's foot from it. Not fun at all, and that time I was agianst it.

In that sense training with shoes was better. That all depended since that incident, thsy brought mats in and that was alot better.

However, I'm not agianst the tradition of training in the flesh of your feet.

I do believe barefeet is better for better balance developing which makes it harder t do it with your shoes because they don't help adjust the shape,

feeling or development of callousing to the feet which helps them become stronger. I myself have callous and it does improve alot with lower risks of pain and toughens the skin by making it hard. So, in all truth I love to train in barefeet better. How about you guys?

[lordtariel]

I do both because you never know what you might be wearing in a self defense situation. I'd like to be prepared for as many eventualities as possible.

Welcome to the forums by the way.

[Greek Fighter]

Well, yeah! In a self defense situation you definately are in need of shoes. No doubt about that. If you're in a self defense situation where you have no shoes on is entirely ludacris. Thanks for the welcome.

[MisterRadley]

I generally train barefoot, mostly because I'm used to it. However, I do wear shoes on occasion.

[cross]

However, I'm not agianst the tradition of training in the flesh of your feet.

I do believe barefeet is better for better balance developing which makes it harder t do it with your shoes because they don't help adjust the shape,

feeling or development of callousing to the feet which helps them become stronger. I myself have callous and it does improve alot with lower risks of pain and toughens the skin by making it hard. So, in all truth I love to train in barefeet better. How about you guys?

Doing something to maintain tradition is not always practical to modern life.

I focus specifically on self defence so do all my training in normal shoes and my everyday clothes (t-shirt and shorts, jumper and trackpants in winter). Never do i wear a gi, or train barefoot.

The whole dynamic of kicks, mobility, stomps, wrestling all changes when you throw shoes into the mix, so you better train with this.

I wonder how many females train in heels if they are likely to wear them when they go out at night?

[DragonMike]

I train barefoot, but when I teach self defense I always have people keep their shoes on.

[lordtariel]

You are most likely to be wearing shoes in a self defense situation, but there are times where you might have to fight barefoot. On the beach, at a swimming pool, in a locker room or in your own house at night.

[cross]

You are most likely to be wearing shoes in a self defense situation, but there are times where you might have to fight barefoot. On the beach, at a swimming pool, in a locker room or in your own house at night.

Does that mean training 90%(100% in most cases) barefoot, has seen in most dojos, is the most effective and realistic way?

[tekki]

I can see the value in some occasional shod training, just to connect the dots if you will, but I see nothing in barefoot training day in and dy out that would undermine your self-defense ability. However, if you're like me, you train in MA for a number of reasons, not just self-defense. Some of these reasons, like doing something aestheticlly pleasing, could be compromised by wearing shoes. I know I could defend myself just as well in shoes, if not better than if I were barefoot, but if I tried to do kata with footwear it just doesn't look so pretty. Kind of like trying to dance ballet in combat boots.

[bushido_man96]

I think that if you ask many people why they train barefoot, you would get an answer similar to "because it is tradition" or "because our master says so." In today's dojos, you will hear instructors say that they train barefoot in order to keep their floors in good shape, and so people don't track things in on the workout floor from their shoes.

That aside, I can see some relevant points to training in bare feet. Imagine getting kicked all the time in TKD by a person with shoes on. It would probably get you scratched, cut, and knicked up a lot more.

However, as cross has stated, it is important to be able to train with shoes on as well, because your kicks will feel alot different with that little extra weight on your feet.

As far as my opinion goes, I can take it or leave it. If my instructor says not to wear shoes, I won't. If he says to wear them, I will. If I was the head instructor, I would probably do mostly barefoot, but throw in shoes and street clothes for some scenario training as well.

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