In a recent blog post about Barefoot Pioneers, we recognized some of the people who stood up against popular opinion to show the world the benefits of natural foot function and the dangers of restrictive, inhibiting shoes. One of the pioneers we mentioned, Dr. Simon J. Wikler, seems to be lesser known than the rest. We thought he deserved a...

Walking Lesson We're big fans of Michael Sandler at Soft Star. We met the barefoot guru and his wife, Jessica Lee, shortly after they released their first book, Barefoot Running, in 2011. Several members of our staff befriended the happy couple after attending one of their touring workshops, and they visited our Soft Star workshop the next day. Michael's interest...

The Moc3 Barefoot Running "Sock" Yes, we're a shoe company, but we're a shoe company that believes barefoot is best. We think your bare feet are already the perfect design for walking and running and any shoes that inhibit their natural function with "motion control technology" will only hold you back. We also understand that there are times when you...

In my recent interview with Tim Norwood, sales monkey for Luna Sandals, I spoke to him as he was heading down to Mexico with Barefoot Ted to run the 50-mile Ultramarathon Caballo Blanco. The race, formerly called the Copper Canyon Ultramarathon, was made famous by Christopher McDougall's book Born to Run. The book documented Caballo Blanco's efforts to create an endurance...

The arches of the Roman Aqueducts are so strong they're still standing after nearly 2,000 years. In Part 1 of our blog post about arches, we discussed the idea that arch supports in shoes may actually weaken the natural arches in your feet. In this follow-up post, we'll provide you with tips to develop strong arches. To recap the last...

Be sure to check out the second part of this series: The Mighty Arch, Part 2: Strengthen Your Arches to Treat and Prevent Foot Pain I consider myself to be very lucky. I began working at Softstar right around the time I developed a sharp and persistent pain the arch of my foot, later identified as plantar fasciitis. After learning...

It's been a busy year at the Soft Star workshop! The past 12 months have brought a lot of memories to our shoemakers, both happy and sad. As we find ourselves fast approaching 2013, we thought it would be a good time to look back at the highlights of 2012. Here are some of the events that had the biggest...