“Walk Like A Barefoot Masai Warrior”: MBT Shoes
Published by Alex May 3rd, 2007 in Clothes. Share This
It’s no secret that one’s lifestyle contributes greatly to one’s overall health, fitness, and sense of well-being. However, it’s alarming how few people seem to realize that, from the mattresses upon which we sleep to the shoes in which we walk, so many of the items that we use in our daily existences either help or hurt us. Thus, I’m particularly intrigued by the novel footwear from Swiss shoemaker Karl Müller, of MBT Physiological Footwear
Müller, a Swiss engineer, made the connection that the East African Masai tribesmen, who walk barefoot over soft, uneven surfaces, never get backaches; this led him to years of research and development, and some years later he produced these shoes which mimic the experience of walking barefoot in soft earth. With the compressible heel and the ergonomic rolling slope in the sole, a more natural gait is achieved, relieving stress on the joints and working muscle groups that go largely unused in modern man’s bipedal locomotion.
I’m ordering a pair of these immediately. While none of the styles particularly interest me, my back went out like a mad bastard this week, and there’s nothing like serious chronic pain to help one overcome his fashion over function hangup.
interesting idea, but sweet jebus those are ugly.
There are other models…I am thinking that these might work: http://www.shermanshoes.net/store/product2210.html
Now: One issue I didn’t address in the post is the seemingly high cost of these suckers. This pair retails for $244. Before you say, “Holy fuck!”, let me point out that we spend about 2/3rds of our lives in shoes. As a colleague of mine once pointed out, footwear is something worth investing serious cash in, because we *live* in them. Sure, you could spend $20 on some dinky kicks from payless, but how long will they last, how well were they designed and built, and what will they do for your feet/knees/back?
Being that I’ve spent thousands of dollars on back-related treatments, from acupuncture to steroid injections to chiro treatments to massage to PT, this ounce of prevention might well preclude pounds upon pounds of cure.
But yeah, they’re fugly for the most part, I’ll give ya that, Adam.
You should try some Nike Frees. I have several pairs for casual and also for working out and running. They look a lot better than these ugly orthopedic frankenstein shoes.
The nike frees are designed to mimic walking barefoot, and will strengthen your feet, legs and may even help your back. They do take some getting used to, same as if you walked all day barefoot. Also I’m sure they are alot less expensive than the frankenstein shoes.
Thing is, calling ‘em “Frankenstein” shoes makes me want them more.
No matter what model you choose, you’re going to look dead silly in the masai shoes. I have yet to see a nice model or person pulling those off.
You watch. If I start wearing these, in two years, all you chumps will be too, and you’ll think that you invented the fucking trend.
They’ll go great with The Hat.
Like Jesse said, Nike realized this concept 2years ago with the Nike Free. I was a little skeptical at first but after wearing them every day for 6 months(no running, just walking and standing) I could feel an increase in balance, foot and leg strength…it really was a lot better than I anticipated. It may be unrelated, but after this time, I found myself running down the Boston sidewalks barefoot for about 2 miles with very little problem (yes, I was drunk at the time…it was for a bet).
The principle definately works, some of the products realize the theories better than others.
**Disclosure: I worked for Nike for 2+ years, and was employed during the wearing of the Frees. However, I am not one to blindly swallow the company Kool-Aid. Nike Shox are the worst shoes ever made
You might also consider custom orthotic insoles. They run around $100-150, but you can use them in pretty much any shoes.
Orthotics are the exact opposite of what these shoes are about. Orthotics are ultra rigid to provide the support for your feet…ultimately causing (or reinforcing) weakness. These shoes make the feet work harder to support yourself. They are initially uncomfortable under stressful load and generally require you to ease your way in to them (like any workout).
The way to think about them is like a balance ball. They make otherwise easy tasks a little more difficult because they force the stabilizer muscles that are generally not used to start working again.
These shoes will make you look “special”, but they are so weirdly comfortable. Yes, I have a pair. But they were free.
My wife has been wearing a pair for the past month. She says there is a definite change in her back stiffness since wearing them. (she stands all day - retail maganment) I’m thinking of getting a pair too - mostly for when I’m out walking the dogs
I also love the Nike Free. I wear them around the office and have run a marathon in them. They have definitely helped make my legs stronger. I believe they are the most comfortable footwear I have every owned. And they also fell apart pretty quickly.
Maasai tribesmen!! years of research!! is this guy crazy, am a Maasai and we don’t walk around barefoot, we have some tough rubber sandals made out car tires called Akala, Nginyera etc……….. because….. the ground is usually hot and dry as bones
plus those shoes are so ugly no maasai would were shoes like those!!!
Last year our personal friend and inventor of the MBT, Karl Mueller, departed from his MBT kingdom in order to pursue other inventions and creations. At first we felt that this would not at all have an impact on the MBT product, which seemed to be at such a high quality and outstanding level. Nor did we feel it would impact the company’s business units as Karl had partnered his brand with many excellent people worldwide.
On the business side we were wrong: immediately MBT’s US subsidiary in Idaho (our direct business partner for the brand) was completely reorganized and new managers were hired, most of whom had made their previous careers in the low end and discount shoe businesses.
Their first move was to completely change the MBT product line: out with the old and in with the new. Even more significantly, on the product side we were unfortunately also wrong: having recommended, fitted and sold over 5,000 pairs of the entire MBT product line since 2004 from both our brick & mortar and our online virtual stores, it quickly became apparent to ourselves and to our customers that most of the MBTs produced after Karl’s departure were not even close to what we had become accustom to…
In particular, starting in November 2007 we began receiving a plethora of complaints from customers that their MBTs were wearing out — of the outsoles and collapsing Masai sensors — already after only three weeks of usage (on http://www.FeetFirstFitness.com is a picture study of the outsole of the MBT Sport comparing the older and the newer product executions).
Since then we have also wear-tested many of the new Spring 2008 MBTs and, also unfortunately, the results have been extremely poor: POOR FIT, COLLAPSING MASAI SENSOR, PREMATURE & COMPLETE OUTSOLE WEAR, LACK OF STABILITY, EXTREMELY HEAVY… And as a result somewhat reluctantly, we have now decided to no longer sell the MBT in our store until (hopefully) the former quality of this once-great-product has one day been completely restored.
Just as we had been so enthusiastic in communicating and promoting the MBT brand when it was in its prime, we hope you understand our decision that we can not support any of our former efforts, convictions and recommendations based on the poor product quality issues present in almost all of the current MBT products. Quite frankly, there is no way we could recommend & sell the MBT in its current execution FOR OVER US$ 200!!! and expect our customers at all to continue to take our advice and recommendation seriously.
To conclude, it appears that even more significantly than driving the MBT creation and innovation, Karl Mueller, during his time at the company, was successful in maintaining the MBT shoe’s high execution standard of quality production. With him no longer involved, we are convinced that the MBT is no longer what it once was… and that anyone who has been as involved with the MBT as closely, as thoroughly and as long as ourselves is similarly in complete agreement with our position.
I agree with Mpesha, I am kenyan and definately know that the masai people do not walk around barefeet, they wear akalas (sandals made with used car tyre) hard wearing and durable. Try leading a nomadic life barefoot, walking on the hot ground, exposed to thorns, insects, snakes you name it. I assume the design is meant to imitate the akala sandals, a credit to the masai and great to hear they are so comfy.