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Where to Find Martial Arts Shoes
by Carole Vansickle
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Overview
Martial arts shoes can be difficult to find, especially since every school has its own requirements for footwear--or lack thereof. Martial arts shoes are great for training, but you must be sure that you purchase legitimate shoes that are specific to your discipline. Simply selecting a shoe that looks similar to a required shoe will not be sufficient.
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Function
Marital arts shoes are designed to protect your feet while you are sparring or training in any martial art. These shoes are padded to protect the tops and sides of the feet while kicking and sparring. The delicate bones and thin skin of the feet are susceptible to bruising and breakage just from kicking a practice bag. Martial arts shoes are also good for protecting feet from infections that often are found on even clean gym floors and sparring arenas such as staph and athlete's foot.
Martial arts shoes are fairly easy to purchase since they are available both online at Websites that promote this type of equipment and at most martial arts supply stores. You can find a martial arts supply store in your area using your local phone directory. If you do not have one in your area, check in the nearest metropolitan area. You can usually find a limited selection of martial arts shoes in mall-based athletic shoe stores.
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Features
Martial arts shoes tend to be fairly soft on the bottom and padded on the top. This protects the flooring or mats in the sparring area as well as your feet. Martial arts shoes are particularly popular because they are more hygienic than going barefoot. However, the additional padding that protects you and your sparring partner means that soft-soled athletic shoes are generally not sufficient for this purpose. Make sure you get your martial arts shoes from a martial arts equipment dealer whenever possible.
These shoes are padded to protect your feet and your opponent as well.
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Identification
You will be able to identify a martial arts equipment dealer by the types of goods that they carry. As we mentioned, you may be able to find martial arts shoes in athletic stores, but it's wiser to buy them directly from a martial arts equipment dealer. Dealers will carry shoes in specific disciplines, such as for karate. They also will likely have particular types of shoes for indoor and outdoor wear.
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Effects
Martial arts shoes protect both your feet and your training facilities. They prevent the floor from getting scuffed by street shoes and also help keep floors free of bacteria that can cause staph infections and athlete's foot. They also keep you from getting broken bones from kicking and sparring. Talk to the owner of the school and the teacher of your child's class. Both will probably have wonderful suggestions on where to find a completely protective shoe. Make sure to express to them your concerns for the shoe.
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Training in any sport with improper equipment is dangerous. If you do not get martial arts shoes that are padded appropriately, you risk broken bones and major bruising. Always make sure that your shoes fit. Also make sure that they fit your training habits.
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