Why tabi shoes

In , Margiela, freshly inspired by the Japanese footwear, was ready to send the Tabi down the runway. But when he introduced the design for the boot, cobblers rejected his idea. His models strutted down the runway wearing lab coats and dripping in red paint, while their Tabis left a trail of split-toe footprints.

After the show, Margiela was bombarded with clients requesting the Tabi to come in more colors. As the Tabi became a staple in the Margiela house for the next 30 years, the shoe itself has gone through many different patterns, colorways, and has even become unisex. Most recently, Tabi has gone through another round of evolution.

In , Nike created the Air Rift , a split-toe velcro shoe. Once again centered around holistic reflexology, the shoe was inspired by Kenyan runners who would run long-distance barefoot. The shoe was shelved due to unpopularity, but made its comeback in You'll either hate it or love it—there's no in between. I like how it's made to be comfortable since it follows the foot's shape. But it looks weird. It was my third time.

Classes, Greek life and even social gatherings can take place online. But how do you rehearse songs over Zoom? How do you put together an entire musical production through a computer screen? Flashing rainbow lights. Athletes who depend on accurate biofeedback from the ground for balance and performance admire that Marugo hi-toe shoes are lightweight and promote the three points of contact—the heel, the big toe, and the pinky toe.

This is why Charlie Merrill, Physical Therapist and Performance Advocate, encourages his clients to transition to hi-toe tabi shoes. The Japanese consider the feet to be a separate entity from the rest of the body—they consider it an appendage with special guest status that must be treated with care and respect. They invented the split-toe shoe, which dates back to ancient times. The Samurai, and later martial artists, prefer them for their agile and active feel.

In modern times, the shoes have been adopted by the working class, including laborers and landscapers who spend a ton of active time on their feet, as they are the most functional and comfortable shoe to wear day-in and day-out.

The tabi split toe design allows for enhanced mobility and lateral gripping of the toes. Of all the enclosed footwear we have tested at Earth Runners, no design has tested higher in overall foot health, freedom and functionality than the ancient tabi shoe design. Further research done at Marugo found that measured data related to dynamic balance, through improvement in the ability to to adjust standing posture, it was found that fall prevention is possible.

Want to increase your dynamic balance and keep your stability strong as you age? Minimize the interference between your feet and the ground to allow for a more accurate response and coordination to the complexity of dynamic balance. Each foot has 26 bones, 33 joints, and over dedicated muscles, tendons, and ligaments.

Like any body part, if you put your feet in a brace, they will weaken over time. When you put your feet in modern shoes—which are more akin to stiff foot boxes—you rob your feet of the diverse range of natural movement they are designed to experience.