Ironbear24
Senior Master
All the moving around on the mat has given me some pretty nasty blisters and friction burns. Any advice for this? I think I now know why the other students wear socks, but socks look silly in my opinion.
Foot blisters.
- Thread starter Ironbear24
- Start date
Where on your foot are you getting your blisters and friction burns. Depending on where you are getting them, you may not be distributing the weight on your feet properly when you move your feet and as a result those areas on your feet may be grinding into the mat because you have too much weight on it. Sometimes blisters and friction burns can be a sign of improper footwork.
OP
OP
Ironbear24
Senior Master
The ball of the foot and heels.
Keep track of when you are on the ball of your foot and heels and see if there is an opportunity to reduce the weight on that foot and accomplish the same task. By reducing the weight on that foot you'll be able to reduce the friction. You may even have the opportunity lift the foot off the ground, turn it, and plant it into position instead of just twisting on it.
Kenpoguy123
Purple Belt
Look silly and wear the socks if it bothers you so much. Who cares what it looks like your there to train not look good do whatever's more comfortable
Be light on your feet.
Also you could try wearing some kind of bandage on your feet that covers where the blisters form, that way you can appear tough by training through an apparent injury instead of looking like a wuss for being stopped by blisters or looking silly by wearing socks.
Also you could try wearing some kind of bandage on your feet that covers where the blisters form, that way you can appear tough by training through an apparent injury instead of looking like a wuss for being stopped by blisters or looking silly by wearing socks.
I was think this as well. That he may not be releasing his root properly. So any pivots on the ball of the foot are like he's trying to drill a hole into the ground instead of trying to get a pivot designed to generate power. I'm not sure where the blisters on the heel are coming from unless his weight distribution is too far back on the heels. It almost makes me think that the blisters on the heel come from him trying to stay off the blisters on the ball of his feet.
I'm not sure either, in 29 years the only place I have ever gotten a blister on my feet are my big toes.
Used to weigh like a freight train. Back in those days, long past, I got blisters from training. Trying to stop/reverse movement quickly on wooden floor, the friction that was needed to stop my weight caused my feet to feel like they were burning and I quickly got blisters. Problem with blisters is that many cases they make it take a lot longer to roughen up the skin and preventing future blisters.
Tried walking often barefoot on rough surface? Watch out for glass shards however. As long as you dont get more blisters during that time it should help in the long run to toughen skin.
In my case I lost weight instead, worked charms as well.
So I took an 8 year break from martial arts, and just started back up two months ago. After my second session, I had a gigantic blister on the ball if my left foot. That was 100% the result of me getting exhausted halfway through class. The more tired I got, the less I was able to pick up my feet while moving around, and as a result of all the dragging and grinding into the mats, the friction proved too much for my delicate, unconditioned baby feet.
Two months in, and a combination of improved endurance and callouses developing, I haven't come close to getting any further blisters.
No idea how you managed getting blisters on your heels. Are you grappling? Is it mat burn?
Two months in, and a combination of improved endurance and callouses developing, I haven't come close to getting any further blisters.
No idea how you managed getting blisters on your heels. Are you grappling? Is it mat burn?
OP
OP
Ironbear24
Senior Master
Yes, also some techniques require a lot of pivoting on my heels.
I have really messed up ankles and feet. So nowadays I wear shoes ...with orthotic supports. Or at the very least kung fu slippers. On the mat, wrestling shoes. Visiting other people's dojo's, dojangs, kwoons ...i.e. gyms where shoes of all kinds are prohibited, I either wear socks or don't get on the floor.
You are pivoting too hard on your heels. Instead of getting a pivot motion you are grinding your heels into the ground. Decrease the weight that you place on your heels when you begin to pivot.
