When looking for the best shoes for training Parkour there are a few things that should be taken into account, certain things to look for, and other things to avoid. Sometimes the best shoes for training can be as little as $20 rather than a gimmicky ‘Parkour specific’ shoe that can be over $200 and not actually be that good for Parkour at all.
Weight
Ideally the shoe should be as light as possible, when your running around all day the less weight you carry the longer you can continue to train. Generally, less added weight to the body is beneficial because it will allow more natural and free movement.
Sole
There are a couple of factors that need to be considered when looking at the sole of a shoe:
Thickness
Despite what some may believe, a thick sole is not advisable in a Parkour shoe. Thick soles can sometimes assist in promoting poor technique. Thick soles generally provide a lack of sensitivity between your feet and the environment you interact with. This lack of sensitivity allows some people to attempt drops that they are not yet ready for. Having thinner soles allows you to feel the impact of landings. This is beneficial as it forces you to maintain correct technique so as to avoid injury.
Design
Shoes with a one piece sole will be the most effective as they do not tear away in chunks as many soles that are glued together in segments tend to do.
As soles similar to the ones in the image above wear down, some of the individual parts of rubber (shown in red) will rip off while others stay on, exposing the padding which will wear through very quickly and provide less traction. Most people tend to want to avoid this.
Arches
Arches are preferable when choosing a shoe, these work as a safety mechanism when performing precision landings. Sometimes when landing on an edge our feet slip forward, by having an arch in the shoe you can drop the heels and the edge of the landing tends to lock into the foot arch.The only exception to this rule would be when wearing a thin soled flexible shoe like the Feiyue or Dunlop volleys, due to the exceptional flexibility and sensitivity of these shoes you can use the natural arch of your foot for safety.
One thing to avoid is shoes that have hard plastic in the arches (shown in the above image in blue) as this can cause slippage when climbing, and if you happen to land on a metal rail with the hard plastic arch part it will cause you to easily slip off.
Compound
The rubber that the sole is manufactured from will generally affect how long the shoe lasts and its ability to grip. Softer compounds tend to supply more grip but wear down more quickly. While harder compounds last longer, their grip can be ineffective at times allowing you to slip down on arm jumps.
The preferred shoes of many members of the APA are:
Merrell Waterpros or Slams
Good for pretty much everything and fulfil all the requirements stated above. They can be expensive, but they tend to last a considerable length of time for a shoe put through the stresses of Parkour training. You can sometimes get them cheaply if you search around on the internet.
Cost: $80 – $180AU
Nike Darts
Soles are a bit thick, but they are cheaper than the Merrells. Apart from that, they fulfil all of the requirements of a good Parkour shoe.
Cost: $60 – $90AU
Dunlop Volleys
Cheap, thin soles, good grip, with the only drawback being the soft compound used for the sole which means they wear away very quickly if you train certain techniques.
Cost: $20 – $30AU
Feiyues
Similar to Dunlop Volley’s, but with an even thinner sole and a little more expensive. If you’re after a really light, unobtrusive shoe which allows great touch and sensitivity, this is a great choice. But be warned, they are very minimal and provide very little support or padding in the sole and can be hard to adjust to. They are often worn as martial art shoes with the Shaolin Monks being known to wear them.
Cost: $30 – $40AU
There are a few companies out there who have made “Parkour Shoes” and generally, these are not great, and much better and cheaper shoes can be found. It’s recommend that you avoid the gimmicks and go with one of the recommended shoes above. If you must have a “Parkour Shoe” taking the attributes disccussed above into account, and price, the 5.10 Freerunners are recommended.
Although this has been all about shoes, taking them off and training barefoot is very beneficial. As discussed, a good shoe gives you good touch and sensitivity, hinders movement as little as possible, and promotes solid and refined technique. Training barefooted gives you the greatest feel for your environment, allows for complete freedom of movement, and forces you to have solid technique particularly in regards to landing. If you land poorly barefoot it will most likely hurt, so it forces you to land with very good technique, minimising impact.
Whilst it is very hard to train all techniques at a high level barefooted, it is great to take off your shoes and train, even if it is only occasionally. Once you have a reasonable grasp of the techniques involved in Parkour it is a good idea to start doing some barefoot training. Just start by taking your shoes off whilst you normally train and seeing how it feels. Make sure you approach your training with the appropriate caution until you adjust.
As your skill and experience training barefoot increases, you can train extensively without your shoes, eventually being able to train primarily barefoot.
Please be aware that the Australian Parkour Association and contributors to this article are in no way commercially associated with any of the mentioned shoe makers.
PARKOUR鞋
當你想找一雙好的鞋子來訓練Parkour時，有幾點是必須要考量進去的，一些要注意，而一些要必免。很多時後一雙好的鞋子可能只要20塊澳幣，比一雙”專門Parkour鞋”動輒要200塊澳幣還好得許多。
“ Parkour鞋需要考量的因素”
重量:
理想的鞋子是盡可能的輕，當你整天都在跑步時，越輕的鞋子能讓你訓練的越久，一般而言，身體少一點重量是有益的，能讓你移動的更自然更自在。
鞋底:
當你在看鞋底時需要注意幾點:
1.厚度
僅管有些人認為厚一點的鞋底有時後可以輔助一些比較不純熟的技巧動作，但Parkour鞋是不建議用厚鞋底的。厚底鞋通常會使腳底地版的接觸更為不敏感，這種厚底鞋使腳底比較不敏感的能讓一些還沒準備好的人可以從較高的地方落下，但比較薄的鞋底那種對腳底的感覺能幫助你專注在自己的動作上並不斷的去修正它並且讓你避免受傷。
2.設計
一體成形的鞋底是最能避免鞋底撕裂開，很多鞋底都是一個部份一個部份拼湊而成，很容易被撕裂開。
很多像上圖這樣子的鞋底，一些像膠的部份(紅圈起來部份)很容易被扯掉，當鞋底被扯掉一塊，就減少了抓地力，並很快的就會破掉，這是大多數人都要注意並且避免的地方。
3.足弓:
當你選擇鞋子時在足弓的選擇上盡量可以選擇，它就像一個當你在做精準跳躍落地時的安全裝置。一些時後當你落地時腳的側邊會滑出去，當你有一雙有足弓的鞋子時，當你的腳跟著地時力道會消散在足弓間(這兩句我不確定，意思七成大概是這樣)。但有一些例外像是你穿比較薄並且有彈性的鞋底鞋子時，因為它的彈性跟敏感度，你可以使用你本身的足弓來保護自己。(足弓這一段大約七成意思有到，我得再跟SONA和JOSH確認一次)
幫你在選擇足弓時要避免足弓有硬塑膠(藍色圈起來的部份)因為它可以讓你會讓你在攀爬時比較慢(我在想是因為腳底比較不好彎曲導致爬得比較慢)，還有就是當你跳上鐵欄杆時硬塑膠會很容易打滑。
4.材質
鞋底的像膠成份影響著這雙鞋可以穿多久與抓地力的強弱，比較軟的成份會讓你有多一點的抓地力但是比較容易壞掉，硬一點的成份可以穿比較久，它們的抓地力(後面這句翻的很怪 大家自行想像) can be ineffective at times allowing you to slip down on arm jumps.
以下是APA隊員所推薦的幾雙鞋子:
Merrell Waterpros or Slams
幾乎每一像都符合要求，它們通常比較貴，但穿來訓練PARKOUR可以穿很久，或許你可以上網找找有沒有比較便宜的。
(今天我去看，價位在3500 ~ 4500之間)
Nike Darts
鞋底比較薄，但它比Merrell便宜，除此之外，它符合了一雙好的parkour鞋所需要的要素
1700~2700之間
Dunlop Volleys
便宜，輕薄，抓地力佳，唯一的缺點就是鞋底太薄如果你常練習很容易就壞掉
600~900之間
Feiyues
像Dunlop Volleys一樣，但它更輕更薄更便宜，如果你需要很輕便的鞋子，讓你在訓練時對地版能有更好的觸感，這是一雙最好的選擇，但請小心，它們的鞋底無法提供好的保護，會讓你比較難以適應，這種鞋通常是給一些少林和尚、武術家穿的。
一些公司號稱它們做了”Parkour鞋”但通常它們都不是很棒，有其它更多更便宜更好的鞋子可以選擇，不要被那些噱頭給耍了，如果你真的需要一雙parkour鞋，多跟人討論，聽個5到10位的freeruner的建意。
赤腳訓練
雖然上面都在說鞋子，但是脫掉鞋子赤腳練習是非常有好處的，像我們討論的一樣一雙好的鞋子讓你的腳有更好的敏感度，盡可能的降低你移動時的阻礙，使你的技術更紮實更好。赤腳練習能讓你對環境的感覺好最強，讓你感覺移動的更自由，而且讓你更專注在一般技巧，特別是在跳躍著地時。如果你的著地不好，赤腳時通常會受傷，所以赤腳會讓你更專注在技巧與使衝擊降低到最小。
然而赤腳練習是很難做一些高難度的動作，但你平常時可以盡量赤腳練習，哪怕偶爾一次也好。當你真的想要增進你的parkour技巧時，赤腳練時是最好的主意，你可以完全的感受，並且能做最適當的調整。
當你赤腳練習的技巧與經驗曾加時，你可以更頻繁的赤腳練如，最後你主要的訓練都是赤腳練習。