Shoes - Weapons or hindrances?

[Orange Lightning]

The arch or kind of the middle of the foot for some stop kicks generally. Used as a block. And the oblique kick.

I side kick with the heel.

There are some weird variations. Pointera in capoeira is done with the toes.

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Somebody on this site posted a link a while ago about really old karate kicks using the toe. Apparently for striking the nerves. The article I read said some "karate expert" once toe kicked a guy in the armpit, and it killed him somehow.

Not the same article, but here's another.

The Old Okinawan Karate Toe Kick karate2sentena4

 

[Kiki]

Somebody on this site posted a link a while ago about really old karate kicks using the toe. Apparently for striking the nerves. The article I read said some "karate expert" once toe kicked a guy in the armpit, and it killed him somehow.

Not the same article, but here's another.

The Old Okinawan Karate Toe Kick karate2sentena4

My sensei's sensei could puncture hitting bags, etc. with his toes. Obviously that's not as useful nowadays and takes a long time to develop but even the tentative ones my teacher delivered to me hurt like hell.
He had a guy basically dare him to prove they worked and produced a giant bruise on the guy's thigh.

 

[Tony Dismukes]

For kicking, I don't find shoes to slow me down significantly, and they give some protection to the feet and allow me to kick with my toes.

For general movement, the shoes I wear allow for better traction and therefore quicker movement and direction changes than being barefoot.

For grappling, I find that having shoes one makes some of my guard work a little more awkward. It's sort of like grappling with mittens on. I can do it, but I lose a bit of sensitivity and control. Having shoes on also makes you more vulnerable to leg locks (not that this would be a real concern in street self-defense.)

Overall, I'm about equally comfortable fighting with or without shoes.

 

[Buka]

The thing is, we wear shoes (sneakers, whatever) almost every place we go. I don't particularly consider them a weapon, nor a hindrance, they're just shoes. I'd rather have them on than not if I was running, either away from somebody, or towards somebody. As for kicking, they change certain dynamics in more complicated kicks, but if we're speaking of self defense, do you really want to be using complicated kicks?

As for grappling, they can sometimes get in the way, but that same "complicated" dynamic also applies I think. I do like them for closed guard, though. Gives me grip.