Bare feet?

f.Channell · Post by **f.Channell** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:31 pm

Tradition aside does it make any sense to go barefoot in the dojo.

Foot fungus disease, plantars warts, MRSA.

Also considering any of us who may kick someone are likely to do it in footwear of some type.

Thoughts?

F.

MikeK · Post by **MikeK** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:16 pm

You could be attacked in the middle of the night by a karambit wielding nut case, or by an old flame who has tracked you down to the White Tail Nudist Camp.

cxt · Post by **cxt** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:43 pm

Not sure, depends on the floor in the school.

MRSA and things like it, are probably going to change a few things all the way around........just last seasion on the Ultimate Fighter (or the season prior to that?) pretty much everyone got some kind of nasty looking skin infection from rolling and using contaminated equipment/mats etc.

Most people I know deal with maybe getting a broken nose or hand etc far bett than they would deal with getting some sort of infection at the school.

Spraying EVERYTHING down with a bleach based cleaner is now pretty much standard with the folks I know.

Floors, gloves, equipment, mats, all surfaces.

Don't know how potentially infectious a hardwood floor might be--or what effect sealing might have---or if some other surface might be "better" in terms of being a vector for infections.

Hate to see the days of the polished hardwood floor go.

TSDguy · Post by **TSDguy** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:49 pm

I think I remember reading somewhere that spraying mats doesn't get the bad stuff off?

I also wonder if this is creating stronger bad stuff, like anti-bacterial soap does.

f.Channell · Post by **f.Channell** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:18 pm

Why not just wear athletic or Karate shoes?

Heresy?

F.

MikeK · Post by **MikeK** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 2:09 am

Nothing like a cowboy boot coming at you to remind you of how serious a kick can be.

Seth Rosenblatt · Post by **Seth Rosenblatt** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 3:42 am

might as well get rid of the gi, too. if you can't tell whether your kick or punch is solid without the snap of that heavy cotton...

Rick Wilson · Post by **Rick Wilson** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:21 am

I have Tatami mats and I spray them down once a week with Citrus II a medical disinfectant that kills pretty much everything.

http://www.citrus2.com/cleaner.html

http://www.citrus2.com/pdf/germicidal.pdf

But something could show up the night after I spray them down.

I have in the mail coming to me a pair of Scott Sonnon’s Sambo shoes because they will not hurt the mats and if they work well my students will be free to use them as well.

We’ll see how they work out.

MikeK · Post by **MikeK** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:44 am

I gave up on the gi as I find it to be less than adequate to train in.

Maybe karate needs a makeover?
The Sport Karate Uniform: Enhancing the Competitive Edge

JimHawkins · Post by **JimHawkins** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 12:31 pm

MikeK wrote: The Sport Karate Uniform: Enhancing the Competitive Edge

Wow what an amazing article.. An extended rumination of minutia. Some folks are so wrapped up in tradition and trimmings and other do dads.. If you took most of that away I wonder how much of 'the art' would be left.

I haven't trained in a gi since karate.. Most kung fu schools these days seem to be going in for the T-Shirt & sweats and/or street clothes.. While the traditional Chinese garb can look flashy it just looks too goofy to me for training in now--maybe for making movies, Halloween, demos or something like that..

MikeK · Post by **MikeK** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:07 pm

I do think a karate gi can look good if done right.
BTW my old karate instructor would have us get our gi tailored. It may sound silly but it wasn't expensive and you were guaranteed that the pants and jacket were the right lengths. Also had the name of the style embroidered on the jacket. Looked real nice.

Enjoy this one then

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:29 pm

If you're going to train Uechi Ryu, you need SOME barefoot training. It isn't possible to work on the sokusen if you don't look at the toes. And then when it gets to shoe time, a sokusen inside a shoe is a nasty weapon. But first with the handicap (barefoot), and then later without.

There are liability issues with kicking and wearing footwear. Shoes cause abrasions (at the very least) when engaged in partner exercises that involve kicking. And abrasions would be more of a cause of MRSA and other infections than any of the treatable things you can get on your feet. Check out the rules in MMA competition. That says a lot.

It's important to do some training with shoes so you know how to modify the kicks.

I'm a big believer in a martial arts gi. "Self-defense" styles are my favorite for everyday training. T-shirts don't cut it in my Uechi classes, unless folks don't mind me ripping them apart once a class, or don't mind me grabbing the flesh on their arms. That's just the way we Uechi people grab.

Getting used to using a judogi to do some kinds of lateral vascular neck restraints can be something that doesn't transfer well to the street.

Any kind of uniform helps in the espirit de corp and social etiquette of a martial arts school.

- Bill

Glenn · Post by **Glenn** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:52 pm

Well we could go back to traditional pre-WWII Uechi, which seemed to be training only in undershorts. There was obvious practical reasons for that, to keep from getting their everyday clothes torn or dirty. Thus it was only natural that a practical uniform created by a sister martial art would be adopted by karate, and so we now use the gi thanks to judo.

But of course gis, belts, and barefeet as training requirements are cultural constructs, based on a particular culture from a particular point in time. If the Okinawans could adopt barefeet and Japanese clothing to train in a Chinese martial art, seems to me that other cultures are free to change the training clothing as they see fit!

I've been fortunate in that the various Okinawan-style and Chinese-style schools I have joined over the years have had a casual policy about training attire, with t-shirts/sweats and street clothes being the norm. The Okinawa-style schools were always barefoot, but at the two Chinese-style schools everyone wore shoes, usually tennis shoes. Bill mentioned abrasions from shoes, I can attest that velcro leaves marks on bare skin.

Rick Wilson · Post by **Rick Wilson** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 5:30 am

Got the shoes – love them.

Jim Robinson · Post by **Jim Robinson** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:02 pm

Best way to help keep toe fungis and disease away is to keep your dojo floor/bathrooms and changing areas clean.
At the tender age of 67 I can still pass my toes through three one inch pine boards so I don't feel there would be a problem passing my booted foot through some nasty boys groin.
Those who advocate no bare feet or Gi or the traditional bow or whatever is fine with me. What works in thier dojo for them is thier business.
For me personally, i'm in the business of teaching self defense and not selling fancy sneakers
Jim Robinson