Footgear in practice

[Michael Ekelmann]

I wear a pair of simple turn shoes. I used to wear sneakers, but found that they were too "grippy" on the court floor. Great for basketball, crappy for pivoting.
When I fight melees in the SCA, I wear the ever popular East German Officer's boot. For tournements and demostrations, it's turnshoes.

[Jake_Norwood]

Again, I'm not going to fight with a longsword in the real world. Neither are you. Ringen? Yeah, maybe. I am, however, much more likely to use ringen in a civilian environment than a military one. So light shoes--what I wear off duty and when I train--are appropriate.

If I'm training a modern martial art for modern use, I need to be in the gear I'm going to use it in. I'm not going to get into a longsword fight in boots. But I may end up grappling in boots or shoes or whatever. I agree with you about training like you fight. That's why I *don't* wear boots when I fight with RMA weapons especially--because it distorts the way I fight, move, etc., all to my detriment.

Jake

[Justin Toliver]

my favorite clothing would haft to be no shirt and a kilt I ware allterain(sp) ruining shoos most of the time but occasionally ware thin soled lace up moccasins and ofcors no shoos is an option but not one I'm fond of broken toes hurt

[Gene Tausk]

One aspect of this that needs to be mentioned is that the purpose of footwear is not only to protect the feet, but also not be harmful to the feet. Some "historically accurate" footwear can bind feet and restrict the flow of blood. Wearing such footwear over an extended period of time can cause damage to the feet that can require surgery and other drastic means to cure. Sometimes cures are not even available and the feet are permanently damaged.

My best friend from high school is now a practicing DPM and he informs me that about 25% of his practice involves dealing with patients who have damaged their feet by wearing shoes or footwear that is just not suitable for them. Some of his patients are women who wear footwear that can damage the feet, but he is also noticing more and more athletes who wear incorrect footwear for their chosen sport.

Bottom line - if you are wearing something which is making your feet uncomfortable, chances are it is bad for you.


------------->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>gene tausk
SFS
Director - ARMA Southside Houston

[GaryGrzybek]

In case anyone is interested, I found these Adidas Martial Arts shoes. It looks like they might be pretty decent for general training. The thin sole and light weight should make these pretty comfy, plus they are just the right color <img src="/forum/images/icons/wink.gif" alt="" />

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/superfoot/admararshoes.html

I'm currently using the Nike Tiempo 750 soccer shoes without the cleats. They're not too bad and seem to be wearing well after a few months.

[ColinWheeler]

True, none of us are likely to use longswords in a self-defense situation. For myself , however, I cannot generate the proper amount of intent and martial emotional focus (i.e., calm ferocity), if I view my training as an abstract excercise in re-creating period fighting systems. I never, ever buy a tool (and guns and swords are of course merely tools, with a singularly specialized purpose) without the intent to use it in practice or in earnest if need be. By the same token, I can't practice a combative skill without the intention of using it for real if the need arises...despite the fact that I know that if I ever need to kill a person in defense of my life, a firearm is more practical and far more likely to be on my person or at hand.
Don't get me wrong, I love doing WMA on all sorts of levels; as excercise, as a way of getting in touch with my cultural heritage, for the pure joy and beauty of swords and the techniques designed for them. Crosstraining in various footgear is just a byproduct of the way I view martial training in general.

[Stacy Clifford]

We may not ever fight with a longsword in the real world, but it seems like any time I pick up any straight, stick-shaped object, I find myself going through longsword moves with it - and they work fairly well more often than not, even though the object might not have the best balance. That's what I love about this art - it gives me the basics I need to use all sorts of other things as potential substitute weapons. From that perspective, I do think our training qualifies for modern self defense to a certain degree, and I prefer to train in the shoes I'd be wearing when a board or a pipe or a pool cue might be the handiest thing available.

[Jake_Norwood]

I agree, however, I must maintain that if we are trying to understand and learn *their* martial art we must not force it to fit our mold. If so, we are not doing RMA at all, but something modern. It comes down to goals.

Jake

[Stacy Clifford]

True enough, but then for me I haven't found different footgear to make a hill of beans worth of difference in the way I fight as long as I don't throw on my heavy work boots. Since it's negligable to me, I don't see a need for me to worry about it much. If you feel that different footgear does make a noticeable difference in the way you fight, then I believe you should address it.

[Ray Brunk]

Gary,
I own a pair of those addidas and they are great for RMA. They are comfortable and were designed for both hard floor and the mat. Due to joint issues, I prefer the ankle support from high top wrestling shoes but the soles are virtually the same.

[scott adair]

You go out of town for Spring Break and look what happens!

I have trained in my work boots, running shoes, sport sandals, bog shoes and barefooted. Here are my thoughts:

If we want to simply train then use whatever gives you the best combination of comfort, stability and traction. If we want to go beyond that and really get a feel for the dynamics of the techniques then we need to approximate the footgear of the era. The same can be said about clothing, but to a lesser degree IMO. If you wear something that does not restrict you I think that is enough.

The test is simple. Put on your typical training shoes and do a florysh on grass, concrete and dirt/gravel. Now put on something with leather soles and do the same. The lack of stability and traction changes what you can and can't get away with in terms of movement.

IN the end I think cross training is the way to go. Just like our sword training. If all we did was waster work it would limit our understanding.

I did a fair bit of rock climbing and used to wear the "traditional" heavy high top rock shoes. One of my climbing partners had me try his slippers out and the diference was staggering.

In backpacking they say, "one pound on the feet is like five on the back". Something to think about.

I will try to get a friend to take some photos of my bog shoes with a digital camera. They are easy to make. I have been practicing my leather stitching and hope to make some 'outstitched' shoes soon. Not necessarily period, but easier IMO.

Scott Adair

[Webmaster]

Proxy post for Scott Adair - some pictures of the bog shoes that were mentioned earlier in this thread:

[scott adair]

Thanks Stacy