Martial Arts Shoes
Almost every martial arts studio will require some type of foot protection. Although many martial arts are tradionally taught in bare feet, nowadays just makes sense to use martial arts shoes. They provide some protection to the feet, give you better traction than bare feet do, and dispense with a lot of hygiene problems that can crop up whout them. Nevertheless, not all martial arts shoes are the same, and some instructors are very particular about what they want you to use. That is why is so important for you to talk to your instructor before buying martial arts supplies.
Most of the martial artists I know like to use lightweight sneakers. These are more rugged and kung fu slippers, but they are less heavy the normal gym shoes. Don't get me wrong you can do martial arts in your sneakers. If you do, however, you will be at certain disadvantages. Tennis shoes give excellent support, but they are a ltle b too heavy if you are doing kicks, flips, or other intense martial arts moves. They also don't really give you the sensivy and balance for complex martial arts footwork.
Of course, kung fu shoes are the ultimate if you want a responsive martial arts shoe. They are extremely thin soled and flexible, providing a minimum of protection with a minimum of weight. They are great for agily and balance, but they have some really define drawbacks in other areas. Any serious martial artists will tell you that is much easier to hurt your feet in kung fu shoes than is in other kinds of martial arts shoes that have thicker padding. Although they are que a b safer than plain bare feet, they are a ltle b dicey for inexperienced users. In terms of sparring, I've always found them to be sort of a mixed bag. On the one hand, neher person gets hurt as much by being kicked. On the other hand, you can get hurt more when kicking.
Nonetheless, there are some people who absolutely swear by them. I know a lot of people who won't use any other kind of martial arts shoes. For advanced students working on form, they can be especially useful. Ultimately, as with all martial arts equipment, comes down to a matter of preference. Basically, you are always going to be looking at a trade off of sensivy and protection versus agily and balance.
