Roots... aka toes

[Taomeow]

Edited July 7, 2014 by Taomeow

[GreytoWhite]

I can't see any images there. :/

[Chang]

This may help.

 

 

 

[Silent Answers]

No Chinese or tribal? Looks like I'm Egyptian I wonder how much truth there is to it.

[GrandmasterP]

Celtic.

I've seen that before.

Any podiatrist or reflexologist will tell you that "the feet are the windows to the soul."

Their shoes are the first 'tell' and the feet give you most of the rest.

 

A nice trick for QiGong or TaiChi teachers if ever you want to get a gasp of amazed...

.. "How did s/he know I was doing that?"...

from a class of new students is to say - two minutes into a set and in a commanding voice....

" Stop gripping the ground with your toes!"

 

Works every time.

 

Edited July 7, 2014 by GrandmasterP

[Taomeow]

This may help.

 

 

 

 

Thank you very much, Chang -- my original image somehow disappeared overnight, I've substituted this one.

[Taomeow]

No Chinese or tribal? Looks like I'm Egyptian I wonder how much truth there is to it.

 

"Tribal" -- that's probably impossible to find in the modern world, everybody has intermixed with everybody except for maybe just a few still-isolated tribes -- isolated enough for outsiders to have never seen their toes.

 

"Chinese" -- I suspect (though I don't know for sure) there's more "Egyptian" toes among the Chinese than in Europe or the US, they look like "taoist" toes to me.

Edited July 7, 2014 by Taomeow

[Taomeow]

Celtic.

I've seen that before.

Any podiatrist or reflexologist will tell you that "the feet are the windows to the soul."

Their shoes are the first 'tell' and the feet give you most of the rest.

 

A nice trick for QiGong or TaiChi teachers if ever you want to get a gasp of amazed...

.. "How did s/he know I was doing that?"...

from a class of new students is to say - two minutes into a set and in a commanding voice....

" Stop gripping the ground with your toes!"

 

Works every time.

 

 

The toes talk for sure...

[soaring crane]

Feet are where it's at for me.

 

I've been running (and living, whenever possible) barefoot for I guess five years now. My feet in that time have grown a little shorter, higher and wider. My toes are longer and splay much, much more than they used to, and the plantar skin is thick, tough, and suprisingly soft. Like supple leather.

 

But my toes are Roman. Always have been, and apparently always will be.

 

What about you, Taomeow?

 

Sidenote - in my experience, podiatrists are quick to tell patients that the foot is the weak link in the biomechanical chain, and absolutely needs all the support it can get. Which is of course unadulterated, shameless bullshit.

[i am]

I see Greek the most, when I think to look around.

 

Mine are Egyptian.

[Taomeow]

Feet are where it's at for me.

 

I've been running (and living, whenever possible) barefoot for I guess five years now. My feet in that time have grown a little shorter, higher and wider. My toes are longer and splay much, much more than they used to, and the plantar skin is thick, tough, and suprisingly soft. Like supple leather.

 

But my toes are Roman. Always have been, and apparently always will be.

 

What about you, Taomeow?

 

Sidenote - in my experience, podiatrists are quick to tell patients that the foot is the weak link in the biomechanical chain, and absolutely needs all the support it can get. Which is of course unadulterated, shameless bullshit.

 

I read your post right before going to my taiji lesson, and was inspired to try it barefoot, but halfway into the practice had to abandon the idea -- there's definite advantages (many), but the surface matters, and my teacher's practice area has lacquered parquet floor which sticks to a bare foot in all pivoting moves so you go screech instead of whoosh... not good. Maybe if I walk barefoot more and gain the kind of "supple leather" you describe on my soles too, this would be all-terrain. For now, I'm fine with barefoot taiji on some surfaces but not others. I do walk barefoot regularly for my walking qigong -- along the edge of the ocean, immersed to the ankle (or more) in warm weather, on dry sand when it's cold. This practice did make a difference already -- in inclement weather I used to always suffer from cold feet, even when I was little. Not anymore.

 

As for the toes, mine are, per the description offered, Egyptian.

 

I didn't take foot care so far as to lose all shoes yet, but I only wear high heels when I absolutely must (e.g. with a party dress that simply refuses to accommodate flats), maybe a few times a year, and the rest of the time I take great care to keep my footwear perfectly comfortable. Oh, and of course all my training shoes have the thinnest most flexible soles imaginable, no cushioning of any kind, no "support," the latter being, as you've correctly pointed out, total BS. The foot must move and learn to feel the surface, learn how to be sensitive and pliable. When I don't walk on the beach, my alternative qigong trail is on uneven bumpy terrain with parts of it on large sharp gravel along the railway tracks. The idea is to step on the sharp uneven stone with a thinly shod sole and have your own foot learn to flex around it so as not to get hurt. I found my inspiration in the Tarahumara way ("Born To Run") -- what about you?

Edited July 8, 2014 by Taomeow

[soaring crane]

I was into barefoot running before BtR came out - but only as a training technique. Berforehand, I would take my shoes off for a half mile or so toward the end of a run. I was inspired at that time by a couple guys in the Runners World forums (which if you think this place gets nutty, you should have seen that place in those days, wow) who wrote about BF running on roads. They were considered totally insane. But I tried it once and was blown away by how comfortable it was. But I continued to view it as a supplement to my normal, shod running. I also at least moved into 'nuetral' shoes at that time (which I now know are also a crock).

 

I suspect one of those guys back then was Ted MacDonald, and the other was KenBob Saxton.

 

Born to Run came out and that inspired me, for the first time, to leave the house for a run without any shoes at all. I felt soooo insecure without any 'backup' in case I got in trouble (I had decided I would do at least five miles). But it went well and I felt like a total rebel

 

Then I got into the scene in a big way. Had ups and downs. Experienced TOFP (Top Of Foot Pain) in a big way, but developed my own self-massage routine to combat and prevent it. Worked a lot on running form and technique... Got into ultra running, etc ...

 

Now I run a lot less, because I was burning myself out and want to regenerate. I'm back to a lot more qigong and a lot less running, but still run a couple times a week. Barefoot, of course.

 

Running barefoot is a whole different activity than walking. It's the running that tranforms the foot, and the plantar skin.

[Taomeow]

Thanks for the details, SC. Pretty cool.

 

I used to be opposed to running based on the prevalent view of my taoist gurus that it's not doing anything useful (contrary to the Western paradigm), and still prefer walking qigong which can eventually be transformed from walking to practically flying (can't do it yet but have seen it done, by a 60-something lady in Moscow, a Longmen pai practitioner). But my theoretical views were modified a bit by BtR -- since this whole deal taps into the times vastly and deeply predating taoism, and you know me -- I believe in a golden age which "civilization" enforcers have kicked us out of. So, just convince me that people of the golden age ran a lot (which I think this book did, at least as a working hypothesis for the moment) and I'll take their ways over the ways of people who came later -- even taoists, gasp... But I still think running in cushioned sneakers on hard even surfaces does a lot more damage than good. There's running and running... Small children run a lot, but they never, ever jog!

Edited July 8, 2014 by Taomeow

[soaring crane]

Nice

 

For me, the Achilles tendon is all the evidence I need. It's a unique and powerful, purpose-built tool, and the only way it could have developed is through 100s of thousands of years spent running.

 

And the sporting goods industry (and the orthopedic industry, as well) has waged a war against this beautiful, elegant piece of our anatomy.

[Taomeow]

Nice

 

For me, the Achilles tendon is all the evidence I need. It's a unique and powerful, purpose-built tool, and the only way it could have developed is through 100s of thousands of years spent running.

 

And the sporting goods industry (and the orthopedic industry, as well) has waged a war against this beautiful, elegant piece of our anatomy.

 

Indeed. And fashion industry too. I had a friend, a lovely woman with a self-inflicted disability -- she always wore high heels, for years, and eventually her Achilles tendons shortened so she couldn't walk without high heels anymore! It totally blew my mind -- even her house slippers had to have high heels. Another thing... all those beautiful shoes on all those fashionable feet look a lot better than the toes of the wearers. Most are totally bent out of shape. I think if it wasn't for our world being so overrun by really big atrocities that smaller ones can happily go unnoticed, a campaign to ban torture by fashion would be in order... Alas, even the really big ones mostly go unnoticed... but I digress.

[soaring crane]

I agree sooo much.

 

I also have a pet theory that if we were all barefoot all the time, there would be no litter - no tissues, food wrappers, gum, cigarette butts, etc, dropped carelessly. And that would carry over to the bigger picture i.e. no pollution. out of time have to post truncated

[Anoesjka]

Alas, I walk like an Egyptian too. It hurts after so many years that my feet have pointed to the left, yet my head pointed to the right.

[zerostao]

does anyone wear those "toe shoes" or 5 finger shoes from vibram?

i have read reviews that maybe they are not so good for the feet but the few folks i know that wear them , swear by them.

[zanshin]

I run in Vibrams, but switched to Luna sandals (Barefoot Ted's company) or full barefoot this summer. I did a half marathon in Vibrams 5 fingers. No problem, used to sprain my ankles falling off my conventional heel rise athletic shoes. Feet do not inherently need support, but feet that are accustomed to support need slow transition. I transitioned fast which was not bad for me as I've done martial arts for years barefoot and am enough of a hillbilly that barefoot running not a huge adjustment, but did aggravate an old strain in my calf when I started.

 

I noticed that Somalian people seem to have Greek toes today, I would have guessed Egyptian.

[soaring crane]

does anyone wear those "toe shoes" or 5 finger shoes from vibram?

i have read reviews that maybe they are not so good for the feet but the few folks i know that wear them , swear by them.

 

They're good for most feet (barefoot is better), but see Zanshin's comment about transitioning. Vibram marketed their product without informing customers about that major detail, and a lot them developed problems. Now there's a class-action suit against the company and purchasers can get something like 15-45 $$ refunded. Did you know that, Zanshin? Probably need the receipt.

 

Anyway, that's why they now have a bad reputation.

 

Oh, it's no surprise that APMA is behind the class-action suit. They're been up in arms with indignation since Born to Run came out and took a big hit at their customer base.

[zanshin]

 

I have 3 pairs, won't seek any refunds because I like them- although they are ridiculously overpriced. They basically jumped in the barefoot running market and suit was for false claims to strengthen feet and prevent injuries. Those were true for me, but the company didn't do any rigorous scientific research on it. They settled without actually admitting wrongdoing. $3.75 million and 25% of that goes to lawyers.

 

 

http://www.runnersworld.com/general-interest/vibram-agrees-to-settle-class-action-lawsuit?page=single

[Ish]

I wore the vibrams hiking/ climbing up and down mountain - no blisters or pain to speak of - and i'm not an accomplished hiker by an means!

 

You just have to be a little mindful of where you're stepping rather than clomping over some rocks as you would usually - i found it quite fun .