I've been using shoes for the past month or so in my kickboxing class on the bags, but I see a lot of people using no shoes. Should I just take them off and start kicking? What’s the benefit of this, if any?
Toughens your feet, also shoes can damage the bag as they can rip the bag if you make contact with the feet, even though you should be making contact with the shin or the top and sides of feet.
On purely 'feel' basis I always prefer training with no shoes. I think it feels weird with shoes on, both when using a bag or sparring with pads. Give the 'no shoes' thing a try and see what suits you best!
Ok thanks. I also have another question. I see a lot of people at my gym with these black pads on their feet. They arent pads per se, as much as they are skin guard things. I looked on the internet but I couldnt find any. The material reminds me of a diving suit. The heel has a hole in it. I know it's for kicking, I guess so you dont hurt your skin. Do you guys know what they are called, or where I can buy some off the internet?
I train without shoes but i wouldn't mind wearing them. It would make training more realistic for SF , but worse for fighting in the ring.
When you wear the anklets you feel your leg is very strong, you have to put em on to feel it. If you kick something hard you'll notice you were wrong though
Does anyone have any links where I can get some anklets inside the US? All the sites I have found are for UK and canada. The shipping is like $$$$$$ bam, expensive. :woo:
I wear ankles myself. I used to get bruses on the top part of the foot, but after using the anklets it seems to have stopped. They offer great support for the foot. And like Alex said, you've really got to put them on to feel how tight they hug your ankle. I also wear them on occasion when grappling. But im more prone to leg locks with them on because of the increase of friction they give.