Just bought a pair of karate shoes

[Danny T]

I wear wrestling shoes for the most part. Excellent grip, ankle support, and no slipping.

 

[JR 137]

This sort of thing makes me wish I could apply my forty years of experience in footwear development. I would love to sit down with companies who make shoes like these and redraw the pattern to avoid problems like this.

Having said that, if you can find some of that arch foam they sell to prop up the arch area, you could trim it back a bit, shape it to the topline and use the sticky stuff on the back to hold it in place. You just need to get the topline away from the ankle a couple of millimeters.

The problem is everyone’s feet are shaped so differently. And everyone carries their weight on their feet differently. Making a shoe, no matter how well thought out, will only serve a small portion of people well; you’d need several different designs to get a strong following. Then add the small market for MA shoes, and most companies aren’t going to throw too many resources at them.