Are you familiar with sasuke? More commonly known in this country as Ninja Warrior? It’s a competition that originated in Japan where competitors go through a 4 stage obstacle course… and these obstacles are no joke. Most of the obstacles take intense amounts of upper body strength, in levels that I’m not even sure women are physically capable of having. But I LOVE watching this show… it airs on the G4 network as both “American Ninja Warrior” (following the American athletes that are entering the competition) and as “Ninja Warrior” (the Japanese version of the program.) I watch this show with excitement and trepidation as the competitors tackle these tasks, I audibly cry out when they fall and feel sad for them when they are out of competition. I get very emotionally invested in the competition!
I will never compete as a Ninja Warrior, but I do have my own pair of ninja shoes!
My ZEMgear O2 Oxygen Ninja split-toe minimal shoes give me super ninja powers… or at least they make me feel like I can kick and jump and stealth like a ninja! My husband called them my ninja shoes from the first time I put them on, so now that’s what they are permanently!
Since I work out of the home I get the benefit of not having to wear shoes all day. But I don’t want to go barefoot all the time, sometimes my feet get cold (yep, even in the Vegas heat). On the flipside, I don’t want to wear built-up shoes around the home either. More and more I want my shoe wardrobe to be more minimal, not just my running shoe wardrobe.
My ZEM Ninjas have been a good solution for this. I can walk around feeling like I’m mostly barefoot, but I have some level of protection.
ZEMs have a bamboo charcoal footbed to protect against odor. They can be worn for yoga, pilates, gym or just living. Supposedly you can wear these at the airport through security, although it seems like each airport’s TSA operates by their own rules.
I did try running on my treadmill in these once… but I wasn’t a fan. The seam around the inside that connects the sole to the upper just felt a little too stiff to me. Maybe if I had the rounded toe version instead of the split toe version for that use it would feel better. Or maybe if I had a pair of the 360 line, those are specifically for runners. But no matter, I’m extremely happy with the ones I do have… they are about a million times better than the cheap Costco socks that I used to wear inside to keep my feet warm/protected… those were very slippery on the wood and tile floors.
Now back to Ninja Warrior… here are my favorite athletes:
Have you watched Ninja Warrior? And would you wear Ninja shoes out in public?
ZEM sent me these shoes for free… after I contacted them for more information because I was so intrigued.
Jill Will Run 
Very interesting! I have never seen these before! I love walking around barefoot and surprisingly, my plantar fasciitis prone feet seem to do better without shoes. It is when I put shoes on that I have issues, especially any shoes other than my Brooks Glycerin 8’s that I run in.
Thanks for sharing!
Kim
I LOVE Ninja Warrior. Watched it for the first time a few weeks back on a trip to San Francisco, and I’m hooked! Hmm… do you find that your ninja shoes work well for post-run recovery around the house? They look very comfy and fun!
They’re pretty nice for recovery because they are kind of snug around the bridge of the foot, but not too snug. So it kind of acts in a slight compression manner. Another recovery-ish shoe are Yoga Sandals. Those spread your toes, helps to make sure all your toe bones are in good alignment and gives a gentle stretch to the foot. I’ve found the combination of the ZEMgear shoes and the Yoga Sandals have been really good for my feet post-fracture especially!