Looking for the best parkour shoes to start parkour in? This post is for you!
In this article we are going to go over some shoe brands that we really love, and some standards that have been accepted by the wider community and some parkour philosophy to finish us off.
Parkour shoes are a personal choice. you have to find the shoes that suits you and your movement style
What makes a good parkour shoe?
It ultimately comes down to the type of training you want to do.
Want to do lots of rail stuff? a thinner sole, with high stickiness/grip is pretty important
- max barker from https://www.themotusprojects.com/
What about big drops? Something with a thicker sole to absorb just a little more impact to prevent foot bruising would be a advantageous.
- Dominic Di Tommaso who is part of Team Farang and a red bull sponsored athlete
What about arm jumps?
For this you want parkour shoes that have an intermediate grip. If they are too grippy it becomes harder to slow down your momentem by sliding your feet down the wall. You can overcome this restriction with a more advanced arm jump technique, but if you are just starting we recommend intermediate grip!
THE SHOES
5. Feyue
Originally made for martial arts but has been adapted by the parkour community for years.
These shoes are very thin meaning they will not provide any cushioning so it forces you to work on your technique rather than relying on thick padding. We suggest at least once in your parkour career training in a pair of minimalist shoes like these.
- Medium grip
- Thin sole
- Cheap
- Wears out quickly
4. Dunlop volleys
We put these in a very similar Category to feyue's but they are far more accessible
and easy to buy here in Australia.
We have been recommending this shoe to new students for years now.
Its a perfect intermediate shoe that promotes good technique until they decide on what kind of training they want to do!
- Medium/high grip
- Thin sole
- Cheap
- Wears out quickly
3. Onitsuka Tiger
Any shoe in the Onitsuka Tiger range have a fantastic reputation in the parkour community.
They are slightly thicker and better padded than Feyues or Volleys and seem to last a lot longer. But the downside is that these shoes run a lot more expensive than the above.
- Medium grip
- Longer lasting
- Expensive
- excellent all round shoe
2. Adidas Adistar Racers
These were my favorite shoes for a long time.
Offering a medium / thick sole, medium grip and lightweight overall they tick so many boxes for training. They are a perfect shoe for someone who has been training for a while, has good technique and wants to start pushing their training to a higher level.
- Medium grip
- Lasts forever
- On the expensive side
- Lightweight
Our top No 1 shoe?
For us, there is contention from everyone about what shoes are best so to put a number 1 next to a shoe would not make sense. You are going to over the course of your training try a whole bunch of difference shoes and will eventually find your own favorite shoes for the way you train.
In the end, you can train in pretty much anything as long as your technique is correct.
For rail precisions in 10 pairs of socks go to 5:30 into the below video. The entire series of stupid shoes parkour is fantastic. if you have not seen them give it a watch! courtesy of Storm Freerun
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