I've been wearing fairly clunky cross-training shoes (New Balances) for class, and I'm wondering if a lighter shoe would be better for movement. I'm curious what other people wear to train. I know there are "kung fu shoes" (the black cotton ones) but they seem too flimsy and not protective enough for the feet.
the hayashi kung fu slippers are quite good my friend has a pair of them of course us solid people train barefoot
you don't really need alot of protection for the feet, the wing tsun slippers i use are great. if i forget them, i just train in my socks. gotta be able to slide well, and i couldn't slide with gym shoes on.
I bought a pair of the kung fu slippers a while back... I went training on a wooden floor that had recently been polished... Its obvious what happened. Think ice skating!! Certainly made contolling my footwork interesting. Now I only wear them when training on carpetted surfaces....
To be honest with you, wearing Gung Fu slippers for training, especially in a realist art such as Wing Chun, is not recommended at all. They are flimsy, they have poor grip, and they are not what you would wear in a street fight, not even close. I wear light cross trainers, and they are great. A chap came into our class with Gung Fu slippers on and kept ending up on his ****, because of the lack of grip - also they kept flying off! Now worth it. Stick with cross trainers.
If you can only apply your footwork whilst wearing a certain type of footwear and on a certain type of floor, then I would contend that there is something amiss in your training. Obviously rubber soled trainers on carpet is not the easiest way to develop your turning and arrow steps, but what if that's where you end up having to fight? To actually answer the question , wear whatever you find comfortable - thin soled martial arts trainers, like some of the TKD guys, wear are quite good, but don't forget to practice in your boots / bare feet / best shoes occasionally; indoors and outside. You will then be able to find your optimal mechanics regardless of surface. I use Nike's myself, just cos they're comfy.
