steel-tipped shoes for fighting
There are actually a whole line of steel-tipped shoes for industrial work, mostly work boots, but I have seen steel-tipped athletic shoes. When I worked as a swordmaker, I went through a steel-tip phase out of fear of dropping a pommel on my toe. I got over it. There are a few downsides to metal-tipped shoes from my experience. First, they're heavy. Over a long day at work, the extra weight can be bothersome. I suppose you can get used to it, like working with ankle weights, but there is a definate trade-off. Second, their cold. That sword shop was freezing in the winter - you'd see you breath inside and often clutch metal that had just been ground to get warm. But third, and most significant for our topic here, is that steel-tip tend to pinch your foot with the edge of the steel when you kick something. I imagine that this is in part a design flaw, since steel tips are designed to protect, not inflict. Perhaps with an improved design and some practice on what type of kicks to use, this is surmountable.
As for steel-tips actually being marketed to martial artists, that seems unlikely. We have enough problems just selling nunchuks. Where you might see something like that would be the survivalist/paramilitary suppliers.
To develop a shoe in the martial arts is pretty costly and it's a very competative market. Shoes are big business, as you know. The start-up is a lot because of production, and you have to stock all the sizes. The only advantage is that most are outsourced ato be made in Asia, but then you have clothing tariff to deal with. So you frequently see small start-ups trying to push a new shoe, but they are often destined to failure.
excellent link Gene I loved it
Well, I guess for now we will just have to call them the mystery black shoes! :p But don't worry Gene I will be watching the shoe line as they come out. I like Feiyues dont get me wrong. I just tend to go through them rather quickly. But at any rate Shi Xing Hao always liked that brand and he's got boxes of them in his office. Oh yeah nice ding bu stance pic Gene!!!! :D