shoes and support

[QuantumBalance]

a long time ago in a galaxy far far away, the kung fu master approached me wearing his 6 us dollar mesh kung fu shoes and started to freestyle. I said, whoa dude when did you get those shoes and he intoned, "In China-town."

They are mesh with a plastic sole. There is also a 20-30 dollar version with a rubber shoe. I am not sure as to the shock absorbtion properties of either sole, which is surely a main factor in the shoe. Since I don't have that knowledge as of now, I will assume its THE BEST EVER.

So, today I am going to the martial arts supply store to get those shoes I was asking around on the INTERNET mostly about why blurricane is so canadian. And Allan Hagget said he just started playing in "New Balance ct300w

Here is the shoe:
http://www.newbalance.com/productbrowse ... ort=Tennis

I asked him about my master's shoes and he said:

"I've seen those kung fu shoes. NO support... if they're the ones I saw."

Let us assume that they are the same shoes because I don't think that there is much variation on the mesh kung shoe fu shoe... fu... shoe. Here is my question:

How do you define suport? Is it something that helps our ankles not twist? Is it arch support? Is it the shock absorbtion that I have as of yet no knowledge? Doesn't support usually add mass to the shoe. I guess it must be the ankle twisting cause people would say that high tops have more support than low tops. I used to play in milleniums and it was great but then I switched to OGs and i feel so much faster.

Can we train our ankles to support themselves. All those deep interior small muscles.... I wonder, I have never seen crazy barefoot symposium runs. I would think that any shoe that works for a martial art would work for us. Are we hindering ourselves by playing in padded freestyle shoes that still have a hint of skater shoe in them. True if you have weak ankles you will need a shoe with more support. But won't continuously using that shoe never place all that responsibility of support on your ankles? My ankles MUST LEARN! Even in jazz dance there are 2 types of basic shoes, jazz shoes which are very plain and somewhat similar to kung fu shoes, and jazz sneakers which have way more supoort and also air cushioning. The teachers say that the latter type of shoe are used more in hip hop and MTV style dance which is less physically demanding and more flashy. The teacher says that in order to improve y our technique you should use the equipment that places the most responsibility on your body otherwise you are doing your skills a disservice and significanly lowering your potential.

So...

Less mass, more reliability on foot and ankle strength for safety and support. More speed and more accuracy.

or

More mass, more reliability on shoe and massive shoe technique for safety, Less speed, less accuary, but more surface area.

I also would like to know how many of you that respond to this post ever practice barefoot and if you only do toe stuff.

P{E}ACE O{U}T yall

samurai

[ToeGuiltless]

I think support depends on what moves you do, and your stature. If you do more symposium, you need cushion support so your knees don't take in all the impact. If you do scorpions tail > blurry drifter, you need ankle support, so you don't roll your ankle on this combo. Some people need support elsewhereas well. Neck braces for those double ducking freaks, and headgear for those trials, streetstyle falling guys. I personally have never rolled my ankle in footbag, and probably never will (karma!). But that's cause I'm short and light, so in that case I don't need the ankle rolling support, just the bottom cushion type of support. I think Sam Colclough needs a back support for when I throw him on the ground tomorrow when I see him.

[QuantumBalance]

You're right on Chris, all those different types of support would be of nescisity based upon said players style. What I'm thinking / wondering / questioning is if this support comes from your shoes/insoles/neck braces or from within your foot. No matter what you wear, as you practice more you are going to get stronger... but what about the upper limits? Do you think they will be different if you have a more basic shoe over a more cushy shoe?

Do you think that wearing more supportive shoes like milleniums or Allan's New Balance shoes over OG lavers affects the strength of your ankles and your overall technique? I say overall cause obviously each shoe molds a different technique. Ah hah... do shoes mold your game?

[Lexiticus]

Im sure Support is the whole Ankle thing, And Lavers give almost None of that, So If theres a better shoe without the ankle support Go for it!

[Matt]

Do shoes mold your game? I'd say you change your style to fit your shoes. If thats the same thing.

What about tevas? where do they stand in this whole arguement

[QuantumBalance]

ive noticed that the people who play in tevas ....

you MAY HAVE FOUND SOMETHING WATSON.... maybe ill try tevas... crazy

[Bono]

my uncle is the head of accounting and marketing for Teva. He's second in authority there only to Mark Thatcher, the inventor or Teva sandals. I've often thought about showing one of them Dave Holton's section in Lion's Den, but I don't really know what the goal would be with something like that. I don't know, maybe I could convince them to make a Teva commercial with footbag... or something.

[Matt]

or a more footbag oriented sandal. You should show him anyway, that would be neat.