"The more you know, the less you need."--Aboriginal Saying
"Even shoes!!"--Me


this latest wednesday jam and some other days were days when i have been experimenting without shoes.  it kindof holds a guy back but thats not the point.  shoes change the dynamic between you and the ground/wall/rail/mouth.  without shoes you expose more nerve endings to the surface you are working on, this improves balance, spatial awareness and body/environmental understanding.  also, by walking barefoot your muscles in your feet that are normally supported by the use of shoes are forced to work to support you once again, thus building them up.

some things to be conscious of.  sharpness of things, when we evolved as humans things like glass concrete and steel did not exist.  these things can hurt us if not respected.  the less prior barefoot acclimation you have the longer it takes to get used to it.  like using muscles after not using them for a long time, so take it slow, one day or even hour at a time.  you can get a foot strain.  tetanus.  and tetanus.  have your shots and again be weary of surroundings.

fortunately after only a week of training up to it, and a whole life in the gym,  i did some barefoot parkour,  light barefoot parkour.  it is cool drops are out of the question, as are precisions for now and maybe forever, but it was cool.  my silence while moving was noted by others, i was so quiet that i didnt even notice.  in many ways it did feel much more natural and was a very much more down to earth thing.

Very cool Kaanagisai!

This is something that some higher level practitioners of climbing have experimented with from time to time.

The greatest probably being Henry Barber's barefoot soloing escapades back in the 70's. The only footage of that that I've seen is in the Movie Uncommon Ground. It has some old footage of him HIGH up on these climbs with just shorts and a chalkbag..sick!

Barber used to get his feet all cut up on the crystalline granite so he even made a sticky rubber sole that he tied onto his foot to prevent bleeding. He is THE MAN!

One further thing..as animals, we have the capability to increase the density of the skin on our feet. It's just that, since we spend so much time in shoes it never develops. I have seen diehard barefootists with feet like dog pads. They can walk over glass without getting cut. (Though I would not recommend it!!)

One other thought..and this is off the barefoot topic is the use of climbing shoes or some of the hybrid climbing/running shoes that are out there. The thin, responsive slippers give you that "barefoot" feel. But some have EVA foam in the heel to absorb shock. Maybe someone needs to talk to La Sportiva's designers <grin>

Kudos Kaanagisai!