Masai Barefoot Technology

In 2003 Bikram had a yoga exposition at the Los Angeles convention center where I found the Massi Barefoot booth. I had never seen or heard of the shoe's before the expo, so when I walked by the booth the only thing I recognized was the name Masai tribe in Africa, what do they have to do with shoe's?

I got this from MBT internet site.

MBT, Masai Barefoot Technology, was invented by Swiss engineer Karl Müller. During a visit to Korea he made the startling discovery that walking barefoot over paddy fields alleviated his back pain. Back in Switzerland, Müller began to develop a footwear technology that would make the natural instability of soft ground such as Korean paddy fields or the East African savannah accessible also to those, who have to walk on hard surfaces. In 1996, after years spent on research and development, Masai Barefoot Technology was mature enough to be launched on the market. MBTs are now available in over twenty countries, and approximately one million pairs of this revolutionary footwear technology are sold every year.

This is from the ryn shoe site.

It is impossible to find medical troubles in old Masian tribesmen who walk over 30,000 steps per day without getting tired. As a nomadic tribe who likely eat high fat, high quality protein food, it is surprisingly impossible to find any health problems due to the Masai method of walking. Masai tribe walking is like walking on a cloud and is the best exercise which mankind has ever created. Normal walking focuses the weight of the body into each step putting stress on your joints and back because the heel and toe touch the ground at the same time. The reason the Masai Tribes do not feel tired or suffer from backache, even though they have been walking all day long, is due to their unique walking style, because they roll their foot from the heel to the centre (or arch) to toes during their step. The load is distributed so that it does not put stress on the feet, joints, back and hips. This method of walking also straightens the lower body and helps prevent arthritis, backache, waist ailments and spinal disc herniation. The walking exercise, known as the safest exercise of all, can cause musculoskeletal disorders when you walk incorrectly.

This makes sense for me as the human race has been walking on flat surface's for only a couple hundred years and have been walking on uneven surfaces for thousands of years. I really like these shoe's it makes walking and standing so much easier for me. The shoe's are pricey, they cost around $220.00 but a good investment in your bodies well being

Here is their website

http://www.swissmasaius.com/

I also found another company with similar shoes. I am not sure if they sell in U.S.

http://www.rynshoes.co.uk/information.php?info_id=1

Video showing the difference in walking with MBT shoes




Masai Barefootin' Shoes - Introduction