| Locate Outstanding Mixed Martial Arts Sparring | | | | on the toe. The joint suffered, the toe swelled up |
| Footware | | | | to twice its size, and only pure blind luck kept me |
| If you train in any form of martial arts sparring, | | | | from having a visit to an emergency room. |
| you know that protective gear is critically | | | | OK, so kicking wooden dummies in bare feet is a |
| important. A man who has the stones to begin a | | | | stupid idea.... |
| sparring match without a jock on, wont be | | | | I went in search of things to save me from my |
| standing for for very long. Theres protective | | | | own senselessness and found MMA sparring |
| equipment like the well-padded foot gloves that I | | | | shoes. Now, those sparring shoes are different |
| wear when Im drilling, so I dont do a spinning kick | | | | from tournament foot pads. Theyre so light that |
| and accidentally kick someone in the head, kick | | | | you wont develop compensatory habits to adjust |
| someone in the face if they happen to miss a | | | | for the weight and while they dont offer as much |
| block. But the protective gear I want to extol the | | | | protection, its the difference between kicking a |
| virtues of today are the MMA sparring shoes. | | | | wooden dummy with your bare foot and kicking |
| I use the MMA shoe for two extremely precise | | | | it with a pair of boots on. |
| factors. The first is that after I did a series of | | | | In addition, they also improve traction on the |
| practice drills against a wooden sparring dummy, I | | | | floor, and stability when doing workouts and drills. |
| walked out of the dojo with several bone-deep | | | | Because of how much I like Kung Fu styles, and |
| bruises on my feet. Now, bruises are the price | | | | how acrobatic they are, that extra traction was |
| you pay for any contact sport, including mixed | | | | quite attractive. While its not fun to be tossed on |
| martial arts. Even a small bit of protection could've | | | | your posterior by a sparring partner, its even less |
| kept me from limping funny for two days. My | | | | fun to fall on your own because you slipped. |
| friends and co-workers were making fun of my | | | | Plus, to be honest, it was good to come home |
| little tentative baby steps to avoid putting weight | | | | from training in the dojo without feeling like I was |
| on the tops of my feet from a particularly painful | | | | being a sniveling, whiney brat because my feet |
| bruise almost a crack in the bone. | | | | were sore. Trust me, these things have saved |
| The foot has so many miniscule bones. And | | | | my marriage my wife was making fun of my |
| almost no meat. No fat. Almost no protection. | | | | new dance steps when I was busy beating the |
| Weak bloodflow. At least mine do. Pain sticks | | | | crap out of my feet and whining about it when I |
| attached to my legs! | | | | had to take out the garbage. |
| I suppose Im not a fast study. Three weeks | | | | Didn't I mention I can dance? That's for another |
| later, I did the same drill and just about smashed | | | | article. My wife saw Dancing With The Stars and I |
| my big toe when I mis-judged the distance to the | | | | was dragged to dance lessons immediately. I don't |
| wingchun wooden dummy on a kick instead of | | | | know what hurts more, learning to tango or |
| hitting it with the arch of the foot, I did a direct | | | | kicking that wooden dummy! |
| full force kick with the point of contact centered | | | | |