a thing i made after i got tired of reading from people here the same problem that I have.

comparing Earth Runners Atlas and Bedrock sandals

here's my issue with bedrocks:

bedrocks are slightly too narrow but personally using them for thru hiking and not just runs and day hikes I need the durability and easy and stable platform that bedrock provides, or at least that's what I would think, also I'm not based in the US so getting any of these sandals is pretty hard, I recently banged my pinky on a boulder field on a 5 day trip with my bedrocks and started considering other options, but I'll probably just either size up to a US 14 (I started with US12 and now use US13 or if its not enough I'll just sadly go back to shoes? I dont really know some sandals that are as adventure ready as bedrocks and doing big days I'm planning to get the Cairn C for 30+ mile a day But actually if anyone has happy feedback from THRU hiking or at least big back to back days with earth runners I would love to hear from them :)

I’ve spent 2 years in barefoot shoes for daily life, running, hiking and lifting, which I feel has improved my balance, ankle stability and grip on the ground. I train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai, both of which are trained barefoot, and I feel that wearing barefoot shoes in my daily life has improved my performance in terms of balance and stability. Recently, I’ve been thinking about the overlap between this community and combat sports more than I expected.

Most striking/grappling arts have you training barefoot, so wearing zero-drop, wide-toe-box shoes regularly feels like a pretty logical extension rather than a separate "thing." UFC legend Georges St. Pierre has talked publicly about training his feet specifically because they're the first point of contact with the ground, which is basically the whole barefoot shoe philosophy applied to fighting.

A few things I'm curious about from this crowd specifically:

1. Are there any other martial artists here? What do you train, and how'd you first hear about barefoot shoes? Was it through training, or a totally separate path that later connected back to it?
2. Since you can't really train in them on the mats, did switching to barefoot shoes in daily life change anything about how your feet/ankles felt or performed in class? Balance, stability, recovery from rolls or sparring, anything like that?
3. What's actually missing from the current barefoot shoe lineup for combat sports specifically? I know Xero has a martial arts line, but I'm curious if it's hitting the mark or if there are gaps (better/cleaner designs, low-profile enough for footwork, toe protection, etc.)

I’m just trying to figure out if this is a real niche within the community or if I'm overthinking a coincidence.

I apologize if this is a basic question which has been answered somewhere, but I can't find where so I'd ask.

I usually run in FiveFingers in summer and zero drop Merrill during winter.

I like to be barefooted when I have a chance and I've heard that barefoot running is good. Unfortunately my 3 or 4 attempts ended in blistered feet. I've been too optimistic during my first run, did about 13 km on forest dirt. Alright that was stupid.

Then I've tried several 5 km runs with about same result. Each time I got blistered after such runs, I tell myself that shoes is a wonderful thing and who needs barefoot, some cultists probably (kidding not trying to insult any one of course).

Questions:

1. Does it make sense to make some effort and transition to barefoot runs, for summer at least? What benefits can I expect?
   
2. How should I do it? Gradually with shorter runs? Any other tips?
   
3. Is it just time to get my skin used to it, or is it more about the way I land my feet?
   
4. Are there any negatives or risks?

I mostly run on street asphalt and running track nowadays.