Where Do You Train?
One of the most important factors that I take into consideration when I'm choosing a pair of shoes for martial arts training is the surface I'm going to be training on.
Is it going to be on the mats or hardwood floors? Maybe you're outside and you're training on concrete, gravel, grass, or dirt.
Below are the best shoes for martial arts training based on the different training environments you might find yourself in.
On The Mats
If you are in a training situation where you going to be needing a martial arts shoe for the mats, I recommend going with a mat shoe like the Asics Mat shoe pictured below.
Those are designed to have a really good grip on the mat, as well as a nice and flexible for your foot. Sizes tend to run a little tight so keep that in mind.
I know that they're designed really well and they'll last a long time as Asics is a really good brand.
Indoors
So when it comes to training indoors on the hardwood floor, I wear the Asics GT-2000.
The only thing that I can say that I don't like about wearing these on the hardwood floor is that if the floors a little dusty or a little dirty, then these don't have that great of traction.
You kind of have to do the basketball move, you know, wipe your palm on the bottom of your shoe to get a little grip going on.
Especially if you're doing a bunch of kicks, like I train Muay Thai as one of my arts and doing the kicks on a dusty floor with your foot slipping around, Isn't a lot of fun, one thing to take into consideration.
Outdoors
When I'm training outdoors, I prefer to wear the New Balance Nitrel.
It's an all terrain shoe and it works great for transitioning in between the different types of surfaces. For example a park where there's multiple surfaces like concrete, brick, grass, and dirt.
This is a great shoe that allows me to transition between all those different environments while I'm training in martial arts.
I have had these for a couple of years now, and the only bad thing that I can say about them is that the material has a come loose and there's a hole on the outside of where my pinky toe is.
But like I said, these have lasted me quite a while and they're also one of the more comfortable shoes that I have. I would like to get a new pair of these.
However, because the material failed here on the outside, I will be looking for something different in the future.
Other Options
At one point I did own a pair of the Vibram FiveFingers shoes.
My main art is Wing Chun. And when I owned those shoes, whenever I would do a closing step, my toes would catch and kind of bend back underneath briefly.
And with no cover on the toes, they can get smashed pretty easily, so that became super annoying.
That's another benefit of having a fully covered shoe, is it protects your foot and your toes don't catch.
Which One Is Best For You?
Ultimately, what I wanted to highlight in this article is; the best shoe for martial arts is whatever is comfortable and works for your specific training situation.
And of course, if you ever find yourself in a self defense situation, whatever you're wearing at the time is going to have to do right?
That's just one thing to keep in the back of your mind.
Take care,
Chuck