Best Self Defense Shoe??

[BiNKy]

I have been experimenting with different shoe types this week. I've been walking around in my heavy leather boots and my light sneakers. I have also practiced on the heavy bag with both. I see advantages and disadvantages with both. The boots give me great ankle support, stomping power, and grounding but they hinder movement, speed, and flexibility. The sneakers allow me to move quietly, quickly, and agile. The sneakers don't give me that extra edge when it comes to pounding though. So I decided to once again tap into the great wisdom from all of you on this board. When it comes to self defense and fighting what do you look for in a shoe? Thanks in advance!

[red_fists]

Here is my take.

1.) Keep shoes that allow the most flexibility in a fight.
2.) If you train for a specific type of shoe, in order for your fighting to remain effective you will need to ALWAYS wear those shoes.

Rather be flexible and be able to defend yourself regardless of what you wear.

[Leonidas]

Go with sneakers or tennis shoes. Basically anything with a rubber sole for good grip. You shouldn't really rely on footwear to put power into your techniques. Even if the boots lets you pound "better" what if you're getting your a$$ kicked and you have to bail. Either that or if you must get boots go with steel-toed. That'll stop any 300 pound drugged-out-psycho. My personal favorite :D

[Paul]

I really don't wear sneakers much unless I'm working out. If I had to get in a fight I would hope it's on a day that I had decided to wear my steel toed boots.

[TenTigers]

I usually wear sneakers, or boots when I'm riding. I once bought these steel toed sneakers at Sears, they look like reeboks but have steel safety toes> I call them my Fong Sai-Yuk shoes! Trouble is, you get holes in your socks from your big toe rubbing up against the steel cap, so I chucked them.

[EARTH DRAGON]

For training... bare feet
For class time (kwoon MA shoes) are the best long lasting
For grip and ankle support wrestling shoes
For fighting whatever you have on your feet at the time for we never know when we are going to have to fight

[rogue]

Capezio's!

[PHILBERT]

I wear steel toed boots myself. Not for in case I get in a fight, but rather because I just like them. After I got them it dawned on me that they'd cause more pain if I hit someone.

[Johnny Hot Shot]

The Cowboy boot.

[red_fists]

To be honest.

I was quiet succesfull using my Biker Boots.

Not flexible enough for stances, but a good kick on the shin works well.

[JasBourne]

My teacher always says that wherever you are and whatever you are wearing when a fight comes down, there is no 'best', what you got is what you got - so you better train yourself to be effective no matter what.

I do something you guys are going to think is funny, but I consider vital - at home, I sometimes do my forms while wearing heels. This is because I spend most of my day in business attire, and I want to be sure to train myself to be able to move in a combat manner wearing a skirt and heels.

Make sense? Lots of nights, I leave the office late and have to cut across two large parking lots in the dark, a not good place. Also, I sometimes have to go on business to different locations, not all savory - any of you that live/work in a metropolitan area know that big business may "have offices" downtown, but so does every lowlife freak and junkie. If I am attacked, and I can't keep my balance wearing business clothes, what frikkin good is my kungfu then?

What you are wearing when a fight starts is what you have to work with. Where you are is where you are. You can't say to your attacker "oh wait, I have to put on my steel-toed boots, and can we move off this nasty driveway? There's broken glass on it!" etc. At the higher levels in my kwoon, we actually go outside in the parking lot and spar. Going full-speed on asphalt is a whole different experience!

:cool:

[PHILBERT]

JasBourne is right, I practice at home wearing steel toed boots. Since that is what I wear the majority of the time, that's what I will probably be wearing if I get in a fight. I also practice wearing jeans and a leather jacket since that is what I wear alot too. In the summer I switch over to my tennis shoes, shorts, and the same shirts I wear year round. It just depends what you wear and you want to hope you know how to move in them.

[Badger]

self-defense shoe (http://www.kissonline.com/archives/photos/01/0408-995/source/140043.html)



Badger

[DelicateSound]

Adidas Sambas for training.

Man, I'd never like to fight Jas.......

[apoweyn]

as big as my feet are, i'm lucky i don't kill people just walking around. never mind what shoes i'm wearing.

[PHILBERT]

Originally posted by DelicateSound
...Man, I'd never like to fight Jas.......

Same here. Mainly because she is a girl and I can't hit girls. If I do, I'd do everything to stop them without hurting them.

[JasBourne]

Making assumptions and underestimating your opponent is the best way to get killed.

;)

[ShaolinTiger00]

its not the shoe..... Its my foot that makes it so good :D

[SanHeChuan]

Van's least combersome, most foot like. skater shoes, most like kung fu shoes.

[SanHeChuan]

Van's least combersome, most foot like. skater shoes, most like kung fu shoes.

[Qi dup]

I'm with SanHeChuan and the skater shoes. I like etnies shoes al ot, there really nice. I bought some 10$ shoes at Wal-mart and there pretty great. there so light, I can dig it. I've got skin chicken legs which couldn't really throw around big heavy boots with an accuracy. I think if my feet felt pretty heavy I'd be subconsiously less likely to throw any kicks. I sapose some kicks to the knee and shin wouldn't be bad with steel toed boots though.

[Sharky]

what the hell would you wanna wear those moon boots for man?

those skater shoes really get to me man, they are far too padded for me and feel/look stupid imo.

Edd

[anton]

Even if your worst enemy is a guy he shares a with you charecteristic I like to call ball-sympathy. Girls have never been kicked in the groin and hence have no sub-concious sympathy for the kickee. I'm sure many of you guys out there have been on the receiving end of a groin kick from a girl - even when sparring/playing around girls have no conception of the pain caused by a sharp flick to the nads.

I should write a paper on this ("On Fighting Females and the Theory of Ball-Sympathy") :D

[red_fists]

anton.

Obviously you ain't got the slightest idea what the same kick will do to a woman.

[Qi dup]

Originally posted by Sharky
what the hell would you wanna wear those moon boots for man?

those skater shoes really get to me man, they are far too padded for me and feel/look stupid imo.

Edd

It's true, Skate shoes have gotten overly puffy. They make your feet look really wide and stuby. I have an old piar of etnies that arnt puffy at all. I like them a lot because I still have them and there in pretty good shape. In my experiance most skater shoes age very well because there made to constantly be scraping against the grip tape on your skate board. I picked them up for pretty cheap too. For the most part I always wear regular street shoes and I wore a lot of saucony shoes and they were lite and felt great to kick with but I must drag my feet funny when I walk because the fronts always wore out really quickly. How's that for a run on sentence?

[Highlander]

Originally posted by Qi dup
It's true, Skate shoes have gotten overly puffy.

Not all of them. I have some Vans that are similar to the old canvas type sneaker. What I like about the skater style shoes are the flat soles without the big tread. When I buy shoes, I put them on and do a couple of pivots to make sure they don't hang up. I hate shoes that are built for running type traction and hang up on carpet. Also, the cheaper the better as far as less padding. I buy mine at Big 5 Sporting Good. They always have some on sale and I never pay more than $20.00 for a pair.

[JasBourne]

Girls have never been kicked in the groin and hence have no sub-concious sympathy for the kickee.

Uh-huh. How would you like to lose YOUR 'virginity' by falling on the crossbar of a bike (a common occurrence of hymen rupture in young girls)? Let me tell you something, jack - a girl gets kicked in the groin, it hurts so bad you can pass out. The clitoris has an incredible number of nerve endings, actually MORE per square inch than a pen!s or testicles do. You're gonna need to do a tad more homework before you publish that paper ;)

[Ryu]

aowwwwwwww.... Jeez Jas... :(

:D
Even though I'm chivalrous and openly say I don't like violence towards women, all bets are off with Jas! :mad:

*fighting stance*

Let's go!


.............. *waking up later after tremendous WC punishment to my neck, eyes, and face...*
:confused:

:D

Ryu

[JasBourne]

*recovering from sleeper hold and particularly vicious armbar*

jeez... maybe I should just fallen on the crossbar and called it a day... *groans piteously*

:D :D :D

[DelicateSound]

I'd never want to fight Jas

Replace "Fight" with "Argue with"

Man - the whole hymen thing - THAT sounds bad. Really though - the ball thing has to be worse. I got hit by a football once when I was in goal. Aw man - I didn't move for at least 25 minutes. Just prone. Not moving. Trying to block out the pain.

[dwid]

Yeah, and if you think a broken hymen from a crossbar on a bike is a big deal, listen to this:

I had a ten-speed and the chain locked up, putting me on the crossbar. I actually impacted right behind the testes, and hurt my urethra so badly that it's taken over 10 years, and countless surgeries (2 of them urethral reconstructions) to get rid of the problem. I'm told I may never be completely rid of it. My last reconstruction was about 9 months ago, and I'm doing well, but who knows what the future holds. Anyway, I know from my trials and tribulations and no small amount of research that the male urinary and reproductive systems have a lot more structural weaknesses than the female ones. One look in a urologist's office would be enough to tell you that. The patients are almost all men.

Just my little rant. Oh, the mixed blessing of a pen!s.

[JasBourne]

Massive mega-yowtch.

We should ban crossbars altogether. You with me, dwid?

:D ;)

[JasBourne]

Replace "Fight" with "Argue with"

Well, arguing is counter-productive, and I'll admit sometimes I forget that and just go full-force when I get riled up enough. I'll take it up with my shrink next session ;)

Seriously though, the debate on this board can be utterly excellent sometimes, the kind of excellent that used to get me really fired up in college. I love it when you fellas present a different point of view in a way that gets me to open my mind!

On the whole getting kicked in the privvies topic, not by any stretch minimizing the reality of men's pain or trying to do a one-up - I've seen fellas go down and turn purple, there's no way that can be anything but excrutiating torture. Just wanted to point out that its no picnic for the chicas, either, and women do not "have no sub-concious sympathy for the kickee" - on the contrary, we have plenty of sympathy. :)

[dwid]

I'm ready to ban bikes altogether, but I'd settle for crossbars. I always found it funny that when I was a kid, girls bikes had that angled crossbar, and boys didn't. It seems weird to me. With all the research going into bikes, they should be able to build one that isn't so threatening to your goods.