Shoes for training: Feiyue

I hereby translate several posts (including my own) from a topic about these shoes. It was originally published on the forum of the Association Grenobloise de Parkour (AGP). Here.

by Aurelien Bonhomme

FEIYUE

If that doesn't ring a bell, it is weird because those shoes can be seen in every second shop. These tiny little soles covered with cloth are perfect for discovering another side of parkour.

The Feiyue shoes, everyday shoes of the Chinese, ideal for sports and martial arts will delight the traceurs. In fact, they are flexible. Very flexible, actually, so that you will be forced to work on your landings.

Now a little review of the pair I got.The following is nothing but my "IMHO"

First impressions

Size matters
Feiyue need to be small. If they aren't, you won't be able to "feel" the surface, so all the point of thin soles will be lost. So try the size before buying!!
if, however, you bought one size bigger, it's no big deal, because if you add 1 or 2 internal soles, you'll gain some damping (can you say that? (ô_-') ), which is not bad, as the original level of damping is... zero. But we know that, as this shoe is supposed to make you feel like you were barefoot.

After some detailed study

- The build quality is poor. Very. The material, the glue, the sewing job... Thus, I don't know how much you paid for it, but above 10 bucks I find it too much. And in France the average price is 35 euros! (some say it is because of the shipping. Fact is...)
- Kalenjis are lighter. And I mean it.
- the sole is kind of "round" from side to side, so the feeling when walking/running/jumping is unusual, but I bet you can get used to it.

During the practicing

- these are GREAT for precisions. I mean really great! You can actually feel all the effort needed to perform a jump, so it helps you to understand how to improve the smoothness of your takeoffs and landings. The grip, on precisions is excellent.
- however, there's absolutely NO GRIP on catleaps. This might be due to the striped sole. Or maybe I'm messing it up. Gotta get more practice to tell the truth.
- the rubber protection (lol) of the front part of the shoe is really helpful. And looks strong enough to resist some inconvenient cloth tearing (that can occure on the Kalenjis instead)

To sum it up, I am disappointed. While the Feiyue are excellent for working on precisions, they are too expensive for what they are. Training in these invides a complete change of style, too. Think about it before buying it.
If I could give you a piece of advice, that would be to try to train in any other shoes with thin sole to see what it's like. And if you like it, then you should buy Feiyue's.

Peace.

Hi!
A little add-on to the review, considering some yesterday training.

First: the walking

1) The round shape of the sole makes your foot oscillate from right to the left if your walking isn't balanced enough: too much weight on the inside or the outside of the foot and you risk your ankle being twisted.
2) If your calfs aren't strong enough (and believe me, they never are ), you are going to put too much weight on your heels; as there's no damping, that'll hurt at some point.
Thus, you have to walk on your tiptoe(s)! God knows it's hard...
3) Same remarks for running: tiptoe(s) forever!

Precisions

1) You shall not jump over 9 feet gaps to begin with. That will hurt. The shoe is flexible, so if you do not land perfectly on your tiptoe, your feet will die.
2) There is massive grip, as long as you focus on your landings: you shall consider the concrete wall as a rail to land on.
Thus, you have to control your jumps.

Runnings jumps (a l'Anglaise )

-> I strongly recommend NOT TO DO IT from the start. Take your time, get used to the feelings the shoes give you; as a reward for your patience, you'll feel like you can fly afterwards

Miscellaneous

1) those two added soles were really welcome; giving some heel protection and warming your feet a bit too, which is good considering the poor general insolation of the shoe.
2) Feiyue are quiet. Well, can be. The sole is made of flexible rubber, which feels good for "flow" motion.
3) wallruns and catleaps use the sole really fast, so try to avoid it.

Summing up

Feiyue are GREAT for precisions and other steady exercises (quadrupedia or "flow" work). And you really have to change your style of motion when wearing them. Otherwise, you will die, probably.

Do not use them if you are a beginner. And I mean it!

In fact, these shoes revealed all my flaws. And I must say, it appears I had some