There are some really strange rules for qigong and tai chi. My favorite is: tu tan wu di.
It means, “don’t keep spitting.” True story.
Actually, it’s not a bad rule. The immune system activates when practicing qigong and tai chi, and saliva forms in the mouth. It’s better to swallow it than keep spitting it out.
Anyway, one of my masters had a strict rule about not practicing qigong or tai chi barefoot outside.
Another master told me the opposite – that it was good to practice barefoot.
Which one was right?
I’ve been on a 10-year journey to find an answer to that question.
My Flat Feet
First of all, you need to know something about me.
I have flat feet. Like, completely flat. Like, it’s-amazing-that-I-can-do-tai-chi-at-all flat.
Over the years, I’ve searched for ways to strengthen my flat feet. I knew that healthier arches would improve my tai chi.
How did I know that healthy arches would help? That takes us back 10 years to the start of this fascinating journey.
Traditional Chinese Medicine and Structure
When I was in acupuncture college, I learned that the physical structure of the human body is important. Poor structure not only blocks energy flow, it also blocks the effectiveness of acupuncture.
We were taught to address some of the structural issues first in order to make our acupuncture treatments more effective.
By then, I had been practicing these arts for nearly a decade, and I had seen the importance of structure. For example, the first of the Eight Brocades Qigong (pictured left) helped a lot of students to improve their structure and thus get more out of the art.
I have pretty good posture, but terrible feet. I started to think about how healthy arches might change the angle of my ankles, knees, hips, and pelvis.
In other words, I realized that structure starts at the very bottom, right where the body actually touches the ground.
And that’s the moment that I began my journey down the proverbial rabbit hole.
The Reticular Activating System (RAS)
I want to switch gears and briefly talk about the RAS, or Reticular Activating System.
Have you ever noticed that when you buy a new (or new-to-you) car, you suddenly start seeing that model everywhere?
That’s your RAS in action. People didn’t suddenly start driving that model car. Instead, your brain just started noticing it more.
Once I started looking into the barefoot world, once I activated my RAS, I started seeing all sorts of fascinating things — things that had previously been off my radar. That’s why I started to feel a bit like Alice going down the rabbit hole.
The Barefoot Running Movement
When I first heard about barefoot running, I thought it was crazy. “Just another fad,” I told myself.
But then I heard about someone fixing fallen arches with barefoot running, and I instantly perked up.
Apparently, a growing number of people are running barefoot. I’m not talking about barefoot shoes, or Vibram Five Fingers. I’m talking about 100% barefoot running.
After some googling, I found a book called Running Barefoot (that’s an affiliate link, which means I get a tiny commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you). In the book, he talks about healing his own flat feet with barefoot running.
I was looking for solutions to my flat feet, so I kept my mind open. I was skeptical about barefoot running, but my RAS was activated, and I continued to investigate.
Barefoot Anatomy
Did you know that many barefoot runners have fewer injuries?
This blew my mind. How was that even possible?
As I investigated deeper, I learned that the human foot is basically a supercomputer. It is designed to take in a ton of information from the ground, and transmit it to your brain.
When you wear shoes (often called “foot prisons” by barefoot enthusiasts), you block a lot of that information.
With less information coming from your feet and toes, you’re more likely to lose your balance, roll an ankle, or wrench a knee.
This was an “aha” moment for me. It matched my own experience.
For years, I had been searching for the perfect tai chi shoe. Without any understanding of the barefoot movement, I had found that I preferred thin-soled shoes.
I suddenly realized that thin soles gave me more feedback from the ground. With better feedback from the ground, I found it easier to align myself in the tai chi postures.
The Earthing Movement
Not long after this, I stumbled on another movement called “Earthing.” In spite of its sensationalist title, I bought a book called Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever!
The book argues that being grounded — literally being barefoot on the earth — naturally discharges and prevents chronic inflammation in the body.
At the time, I had a sore knee from a tai chi sparring injury (yes, we spar in tai chi). So there was inflammation in my knee.
I was very skeptical of the book, not only because of the title, but because, at the time, I subscribed to the “barefoot qigong is bad” rule.
But I started walking around my yard barefoot, just for fun.
And you know what? It actually helped. My inflammation went down, and my knee healed faster than usual.
So I tried a few qigong sessions barefoot outside. Because I’ve practiced for over 20 years, I’ve developed some sensitivity to energy. (I was extremely insensitive to energy in the beginning, so if I can become sensitive, so can you.)
And what I felt was that there clearly was some sort of energetic exchange between me and the ground.
But which direction was the energy going?
Bubbling Well or Gushing Spring?
In the tai chi world, there’s a lot of talk about the “bubbling well” energy point (Kidney 1 for the acupuncturists) on the bottom of the foot.
People talk about the energy bubbling up from the ground.
This never matched my experience.
After I learned Chinese, I investigated deeper. I found that the word for the energy point is as follows:
Yongquan
涌泉
Another translation could be “gushing spring”.
Again, something clicked. The idea of a “gushing spring” matched my experience.
As I continued to investigate, I could feel the energy gushing out of the yongquan energy point and into the ground.
Don’t Be Callus
This was an exciting discovery for me. I could clearly feel the energy “draining” down into the ground.
But I wasn’t sure if I was also absorbing some negative energy up from the ground.
When the ground was cold (yes, it gets cold in Florida!), it felt uncomfortable to go barefoot. Not only did my feet get cold, but I felt the energy getting stuck as well.
Around this time, I met a barefoot runner, and I noticed that his feet were covered in thick calluses. He basically had a natural shoe on the bottom of his feet.
“So your feet don’t get cold?” I asked.
“Nope. I can also walk on hot pavement without getting burned.”
This was fascinating to me, and new questions started to arise in my mind.
How might the calluses change things? Could it affect the energy transfer, just like a regular shoe? Would it protect us from negative energy from the ground?
Why I’m Keeping My Mind Open
Maybe you’re expecting clear answers to these questions.
Sorry. I don’t have them yet. I’m still exploring.
One thing is clear — there is some benefit to practicing qigong and tai chi barefoot.
Whether there are also negative side effects, I can’t yet say. For me, the positives definitely outweigh any negatives I’ve noticed.
Even if I did have conclusive answers, I’d still encourage you to experiment for yourself rather than taking my word for it.
They say that it’s the journey that matters, not the destination.
In my case, my personal journey taught me the importance of investigation and inquiry, and that’s the most important thing I’d like you to take away from this article.
Start your own investigation. Here are some questions to help you along your journey:
- Can you feel a difference between practicing barefoot on grass, sand, and dirt?
- Can you feel a difference between rubber-soled shoes and natural soles (like hemp)?
- Can you feel how the ground temperature affects your energy?
- Does simply walking barefoot alleviate any of your chronic pain?
- Can you notice any negative side effects, like feeling fatigued or drained?
And here are a few cautions:
- Remember that what works for you may not work for others. That’s a basic tenet of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
- Watch out for insects. Ticks are definitely a form of negative energy.
- If you’ve never gone barefoot, then your feet will need time to adjust. Go slow.
Today, I practice barefoot, and also with a variety of barefoot-style shoes.
But most importantly, I enjoy the process of investigating. Rather than just accept rules blindly from past masters, I like to explore for myself.
What is your experience with going barefoot? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. From the heart, Sifu Anthony
Great advice! I like practicing barefoot on the beach. It gives me much better balance and adaptability throughout the forms. And I can definitely tell the difference when I switch to shoes during our cold snaps here in south Florida.
Wearing thick boots during those South Florida cold snaps, are you George?
I was taught by you that barefoot practice on wet surfaces IE: Moist grass etc. Wasn’t good for the practice. I am wondering now if that still applies.
Did I teach you that, David? Either way, that rule is probably about the Traditional Chinese Medicine concept of dampness. If it feels bad practicing on damp grass, I say don’t do it.
Yes you did, or at least we were told at the time not practice Barefoot under certain conditions, such as Dampness. But in the spirit of your questioning certain traditional teachings. I will take your advice; If it turns out that my practice doesn’t give me certain results or if it does not feel right. I will continue as I was taught with shoes outdoors. My own barefoot practice is indoors at home. I have never really had any problems with practicing anything barefoot. Kind of like our Karate days when shoes weren’t allowed inside the Dojo. I suppose it was a programmed habit . .
Great article. I’ve been wearing Merril Barefoots daily for about two years now and go barefoot if I’m on grass. I’ve felt a big difference in the sense of grounded security.
I remember visiting family in Panama when I was about 6 years old. All of my cousins walked barefoot. They only wore shoes/sneakers for school and church. I tried it one day and had to run to my grandmothers home after about half a block. The street was burning my feet like I was standing in a barbeque pit. Unlike my cousins, I had moved to the U.S. with my parents when I was one year old. No calluses= no barefoot on the tar. : )
See, your cousins have natural shoes!
Don’t know if you recall, but pretty sure I posed this question to you far over a year ago! I believe barefoot is amazing, and when I did it religiously, I was much healthier. Even in practice. Have not been able to for a variety of reasons, and i can feel it! So happy to see this written about finally, especially in this realm, where it was dismissed!
Cheers!
btw, I just found VivoBarefoot. Love them, and I love Lunasandals.com, and Earth Runners.
I love my VivoBarefoot shoes, and I had the original DIY Huaraches kit from Lunasandals from way back when!
This article is fascinating. I am a barefoot girl – or rather woman! – I was barefoot before I discovered T’ai Chi – and yes I was an original hippy!! Even nowadays the only time I wear shoes of any kind is when I have to go into town. At home, no shoes! My neighbours tell me I’m crazy, but you know I feel a huge difference between shoes and no shoes – I don’t feel connected and the minute I get home shoes come off!! I always practice my T’ai Chi in bare feet, even in class and when it’s cold I wear socks – I definitely feel a difference. My feet may not be ‘as soft as a baby’s bottom’ but I’m more than happy with the job they do.
Hi Anthony,
Nice article, I prefer to were shoes outside and enjoy shoes or bare feet inside. I think a big consideration is grip. It is much easier to relax if your feet or shoes are well secured to the ground, particularly in stance training.
After sometime into stance practice my leg from the knee down seems to blend into one with the ground. My feeling is that the energy is going down into the ground and makes no difference if I have shoes on or not.
If the Qi is travelling down and passing through the soles of my shoes, then it must be able to travel back up the same way, so maybe on that level shoes dont make a difference.
I would recommend shoes outside, it can be a away of illuminating a few distractions and increase comfort.
Warm Regards,
Steve.
I teach yoga and I always tell my students “the best thing about yoga is bare feet”. It is so important to work our feet. Shoes became more supportive over the years and our feet got weaker and weaker. If you wear shoes most of the time, eventually they won’t hold you up. Work and strengthen your feet (and your toes), massage them, balance on them, go up on your tip toes, and always connect them to the earth energy. If you live in a cold climate, step bare foot into the snow (not for long of course). 😊 It’s mind blowing.
Focusing awareness on feet and toes will strengthen mind/body connection. The toes are the farthest away from our brain and we’re the most disconnected from them. Wiggle your toes when you’re stressed. I could go on……..
Love your feet and appreciate them. 💜 They hold you up all day long.
You should give iron shin a try. It will work on the bones of your legs and feet.
Jake Mace has a Iron Bone training video set you might want to explore.
No, no, and no!!! Please do not recommend anything from Jake Mace, who loves himself so much and talks so much garbage rather than ever learning something of substance himself! He demonstrates the worst quality of martial arts, especially internal arts, to the point he is called a fraud for misleading beginners.
I live in Washington State and love to practice barefoot alongside (and even within) our beautiful rivers here. Just slow meditative walking on smooth river rock, I’ve found, can be both healing and strengthening for the feet.
I grew up in Hawaii and never wore shoes until I was an adult. I had flip-flops for school etc. but didn’t like wearing them – and as I recall – got scoldings on a regular basis. I had such strong feet and callouses that I could run and jump around the sharp black lava rock in Hawaii without even thinking about it. Steaming-hot pavement was not even noticed.
I read recently that cultures that never or rarely wear shoes have zero reports of plantar fasciitis – it appears to only be prevalent in people who have worn shoes most of their lives.
One note of warning however… if you are going to try barefoot anything (running, walking, tai chi/qigong) you should transition very slowly. Most of the bad experiences reported by people switching to barefoot are believed to be caused by quick transitions – take it slow, little bits at a time to adjust your feet to the real world. If you are going to switch to very thin soles (like vibrams etc) try to only wear them on natural surfaces. When walking/running on pavement or sidewalks – stick to your normal soles until you feel your feet are fully transitioned.
A few years ago my shoulder would always hurt and one day I was going to the gym (this was before I practiced taiji) and when I got there I realized I forgot my gym shoes so I looked up if barefoot running was bad for you and then learned how good it is for you. I feel like the human body is designed to move on a bare foot. So when I finished running my whole body felt amazing and my shoulder was pain free! Grounding is great too I’ve only been practicing for a little over a year so I’m just starting to get a feel for sensing the energy around me but I’d like to try and see if i notice a difference. You can even buy a grounding blanket online so you can be grounded all night as you sleep!
Cool. Thanks for sharing. I’m curious now lol.
I meant I’ve been practicing for a bit over 2 years*
As with most of my experience with Tai Chi and Qigong, there is no “right” answer to this question. One day you may feel better with shoes, the next without. There are so many circumstances.. weather or ground conditions, your own energies, time of day etc.
I find it best not to have expectations and to let it flow into shoes or no shoes. I know indoors is a shoes off deal for me. Outside, ya just never know till you try.
This is a question I often ask myself. When I was young I used to walk with my feet turned inside…until I started to practice Tai Chi. Right posture, right feet. It is over without me even noticing it. I like walking barefoot and practicing barefoot I can feel a lot of energy coming up from my soles. I guess that’s grounding. But if you feel energy running out of YongQuan, I would says energy flows where it has to flow.
Thank you for sharing
Sandra
I was advised by a Judo master to try to wear thinner shoes and/or go barefoot. I want to talk to him again sometime. And I heard about how Wing Chun talks about bouncing energy down and back up and has emphasis in rooting one’s self. The posture they use I think is the same or similar to the one in the Lifting Water/ Raising Hands form? the Yee Gee Kim Yueng Ma (Goat Stance…lol)stance is emphasized in Wing Chun. And I heard about the importance of coordinating the six harmonies (ankle, knee, hip, shoulder, elbow, wrist). I like how Sifu Phu at Enter Shaolin (another online Kung Fu/Tai Chi/Chin Na/etc. school) has emphasis (word of the day kids – “emphasis”) on energy – “Don’t let style define you, let energy refine you”. He also has a physics and anatomy background and seems to always look for the optimal structure and body alignment in the postures I’ve watched him teach concerning Wing Chun and Tai Chi. Thanks for the interesting article Sifu/Shifu!
Shifu, as it stands I’m am under the impression that I would benefit much more from Tai Chi than I could from Wing Chun health wise. I’ve been told by others that Wing Chun is more external, maybe more rigid since it seems to involve trying to hold your ground rather than the lithe forms Tai Chi has, and that it only contains about 50% of what Tai Chi offers. The Kung Fu nerd in me wants to get a wooden dummy and learn those sets, get the Siu Lum Tao routine down, etc. But right now what appears to be the better choice for a wooden dummy is a) really expensive and b) won’t fit in the bedroom that I currently occupy at my parent’ place lol. I’m also trying to save money for school lol. I’ve completed a 10 form and 16 form routine with Yang Style Tai Chi under my Shifu where I live. Based on my research I will gain many of the fundamental principles that Wing Chun shares with Tai Chi, and, I believe, greater health benefits. I also have a buddy who does Brazilian Jujitsu tell me and I guess somewhat prove to me how Wing Chun wouldn’t be as wise an art to take up for self defense as BJJ is. Can you let me down easy with your personal opinion of Wing Chun? Thanks again for all you’re sharing. Gotta get your book when it’s ready!
Sorry, one more thing! I found a guy, Dominick Izzo, who did a seven video series on YouTube that seemed good that digs into how the wooden dummy helps sharpen a Wing Chun person’s skills. Based on my rudimentary knowledge of physics and Chi he seemed like he was on the right path at getting the most out of Wing Chun. So I’ve done some Tai Chi and Wing Chun forms, read a few books, and watched various videos of teachers explaining their Kung Fu. I need to practice a bit longer and more often. Seems like moving mountains by collecting small rocks in a pail over and over is the Tao of Kung Fu and probably most any good habits one wants to do. I read your article about how you did Karate first and found Kung Fu later and how you see that being the better way. Thanks for that article and thanks again. Ok I will wait for a response.
Hi John. I think the teacher is much more important than the style. Pick a teacher that you would trust with your life.
If the Wing Chun teacher is great, and the Tai Chi teacher is mediocre, then go for the former rather than the latter.
To get your internal training, just add qigong. We have that luxury today. This just wasn’t possible in the old days.
This article will help you understand more about combining internal and external: http://flowingzen.com/19548/why-qigong-and-calisthenics-are-not-the-same/
I tried barefoot running on the beach and it did wonders for my flat feet. My shoes have a more even wear on the heels. It got to the point to where I was running 6 miles with no issues the following day.
Hello,
Spending time grounded is a wonderful source of energy to me. I’ve struggled with chronic fatigue/adrenal fatigue kinds of symptoms for years and I leanrned to make the difference about how I feel grounded/ungrounded last spring. I recovered so much energy it feels like magic! And now it’s winter, can’t practice as much (eventhough I have an earthing mat and sleep grounded, it’s not exactly the same as being outside) and I can feel my energy struggling again.
I practice tai-chi (I’m in my 6th year of practice) and I still struggle to feel the energy. All I can say is that I have more balance and a better memory when practicing barefoot in the grass! I also breathe so much more easily in general while grounded! I won’t practice tai-chi outside when it gets cold though. I may stay barefoot in the grass a few minutes now (winter time!) but without walking, just standing without moving (my feet then can warm up the ground a tiny bit if I stay still, instead of just sucking up the cold if I walk).
Practicing tai-chi in a regular gymnasium has become a big problem to me. I’ve always struggled in that kind of place (poor memory, coordination, attention, getting thirsty quickly, feeling like peeing very often, kidneys/root obviously weakened…), now I understand why: the ground is always covered with plastic!!
As for the energy you feel “bubbling out”, isn’t there a celestial chi that’s supposed to travel through us from head to ground? And a terrestrial chi travelling from our feet up to the sky? Then couldn’t that energy bubbling out be that celestial chi going down through you? My taichi teacher keeps saying we can store energy but which energy coming from where? Is it really our purpose to store earth’s or sky’s energies or shouldn’t we merely chanel them, let them do their job within us and then let them go?
Or could that bubbling have anything to do with root chakra, growing roots?
Grounding (or Earthing) is obviously working for you. Keep going!
Yes, there’s Cosmic (or Heavenly or Celestial) Qi coming down from head to toe. That I can clearly feel.
But the ground energy coming up is not something I can feel, and not for a lack of sensitivity. I can feel energy going down into the ground, but not up.
Yes, we can definitely store energy in the body. But we also channel it.
Another great post Anthony! So were you able to fix your flat feet after all?
Still a work in progress. There are some new pieces to the puzzle though, notably myofascial release and a new way of walking. Once I make visible progress with my arches, I’ll blog about it.
Hello, have you looked into Superfeet? Vionic? A simple arch support is everything to fix feet, knee, hip, back issues for many people.
I have tried everything, including Superfeet. I even spent hundreds of dollars on custom orthotics. None of these things helped. The modern thinking is that orthotics further weaken the feet.
Aloha Anthony! We ran a Cooperative CrossFit style Gym where we set-up a medical study (we were affiliated with an independent physicians association) to measure athletic performance with or without shoes. The conclusions were: 1) 30% improvement in balance if barefoot; 2) Fewer foot injuries if barefoot (tend to be more aware of possible challenges); 3) Better agility, coordination, flexibility if barefoot; 4) Way more playful/joyful if barefoot. 5) Structural improvements in the overall body if barefoot (really important for Olympic Lifting); I am now a barefoot enthusiast (age 62) and practice QiGong daily inside and outside, barefoot. I don’t require my students to go barefoot but do recommend they try it…most end up going barefoot.
Hello, when I’m barefoot on the grass, or on a floor that allows grounding, I come alive! standing on plastic (soles, floors…), makes my energy go down, as well as posture, attention, memory, breathing… To me, standing on plastic is like trying to live under water.
I’ve practiced taï-chi for a few years and I learned it on plastic. Then I discovered earthing and got to practice a bit barefoot sometimes. Sure it doesn’t allow to do everything as on plastic, but still, I get better ballance or flexibility (same for yoga grounded, of course), and I just feel, well, more grounded. I offered the earthing book to my taï-chi teacher on my last day of class with him. Don’t know how it went for him, if he bothered to try!
I also believe that the effects you get when you ground may not be the same when you’re just beginning after decades spent ungrounded, as when you’ve spent your whole life grounded or at least several years. I believe that there can be no true “grounding” (growing of our energetic root system) without grounding and that being grounded may feel like being slowed down by those who have the most energy (on the hyperactivity side). That slowing down is precisely what’s grounding is about: being present and rooted to what is here now instead of always on the move to some place else.
Thanks for that article!
Cool article 🙂 A couple of months ago, I joined a Tai Chi group (where I live, in southern Thailand). We do warm ups and 18-form Qigong starting about 5.30am, and finish Tai Chi forms about 6.45am. My first day, I did it barefoot and enjoyed it. But a more experienced guy (who also has some understanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine) explained to me that I should wear shoes because the bricks / the ground is too cool. If I understood his explanation correctly, he said that doing Tai Chi warms the body, and interaction with the cool bricks upsets the temperature balance of the body. Honestly, it seems to me that the coolness mixed with the heat would have more of a balancing effect, but I didn’t argue. I will try it barefoot next time we practice. (Plus, I understand the various benefits of going barefoot just in daily life.)
I used to live with a Buddhist group in the mountains of northern Thailand. Monks for sure, barefoot almost all the time. Laypeople usually barefoot. When walking on dirt / soil / bare ground, for sure, barefoot. Even when in the city, many people are barefoot. (Some members of the group reject, for hygiene reasons, being barefoot in the city, and I can understand their arguments.) My first day at the temple, a guy told me that he believes Earth’s minerals somehow make their way into our bodies. Not so sure that’d pass scientific muster, but I suppose there just might be something right about that belief 🙂
I have recently been curious about the earthing movement, and I’m happy to see you are open to it too, Sifu! I do like to go barefoot outdoors with my qigong practice, and I have only been trying it this way for a few weeks now, but I notice a difference. I can still feel the qi tingle in my feet for over an hour after putting my shoes back on from outdoors. When you say you can feel your energy going down into the earth, that makes sense. Grounding is about releasing stress & charge back into the earth to reduce inflammation in the body. It’s a form of venting by releasing the piezoelectricity we build up in our bodies from movement, electrical devices, and stress itself. The earth can absorb all that extra charge we hold, and the earth will carry it away. Our bodies are a battery, conductive like a live wire, just like those wires in our homes that also need to be grounded to the earth to release their extra charge. In other words, we quite literality can’t “let go” without her.
Calluses on the feet don’t insulate you from the earth the way rubber plastic, asphalt, or wood will. Calluses just help protect our feet from the sharp, hot, & cold surfaces. It’s like wearing an extra layer of leather to protect the feet, but the calluses do not separate us from the electrical ground of the earth.
As for receiving from the earth, this medical study says this:
“Our main hypothesis is that connecting the body to the Earth enables free electrons from the Earth’s surface to spread over and into the body, where they can have antioxidant effects. Specifically, we suggest that mobile electrons create an antioxidant microenvironment around the injury repair field, slowing or preventing reactive oxygen species (ROS) delivered by the oxidative burst from causing “collateral damage” to healthy tissue, and preventing or reducing the formation of the so-called “inflammatory barricade”. We also hypothesize that electrons from the Earth can prevent or resolve so-called “silent” or “smoldering” inflammation. If verified, these concepts may help us better understand and research the inflammatory response and wound healing, and develop new information on how the immune system functions in health and disease.”
Link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4378297/#:~:text=Wounds%20heal%20very%20differently%20when,very%20different%20in%20grounded%20individuals.