An Interview with Barefoot Michael, Founder of the Primalfoot Alliance

BirthdayShoes recently interviewed the Founder of the Primalfoot Alliance, Barefoot Michael (We’ve previously seen Michael on BirthdayShoes in his Sprint Vibram Five Fingers here, Michael blogs at Barefoot and Grounded). The Primalfoot Alliance was founded to advocate on behalf of feet — and for those who would prefer to engage the world “primalfoot.” Without further ado, here’s our interview with Barefoot Michael on the Primalfoot Alliance:

How did you get into barefooting? Why do you think it is important?

First of all, let me take an opportunity to thank you for this interview and the ability to speak to your readers. You operate a fantastic site and I look forward to working with you more in the future. Hopefully your readers will be able to see that I’m a regular guy that just likes to take his shoes off…a lot.

About five years ago, I was researching online the legality of driving barefoot. I’d always heard it was illegal, but wanted to find out more. I was interested because I had developed the habit of removing my flip flops in the summer to drive. I felt like I actually had better control over the pedals while barefoot instead of with the flops on. They always shifted around too much for me to feel as safe while driving.

I discovered the Website for The Society for Barefoot Living. Their site revealed that driving barefoot actually is NOT illegal, which came as a surprise to me. While I was on their site, I found all kinds of other articles about people who enjoy living barefoot. I was intrigued that people enjoyed hiking, shopping and running without shoes.

Something about the idea of going barefoot became more and more appealing to me. Over the next few years, I found opportunities to go sans shoes. While in stores, I’d slip off my flip flops and shop without anything on my feet. While editing late at night at the TV station I worked for in college, I’d walk around barefoot. I tried out more and more things unshod. Finally, I made the decision in early 2009 to wholeheartedly pursue a barefoot lifestyle.

That’s the short version of my story. The longer version is available on my blog, Barefoot and Grounded.

Going barefoot is important for a number of reasons. As you have stated on Birthday Shoes, the most natural and baseline state for our feet is bare. They have been formed the way they are for a reason. Our feet really do provide our grounding, physically connecting us to the world. We do a tremendous disservice to our feet if we trap them in tight, inflexible, non-breathing shoes most of the time. By going barefoot or wearing “minimalist” footwear like Vibram Five Fingers, our feet are allowed to be flexible and STRONG. I think it’s sad seeing how weak people’s feet typically are. Often you can even see the individual bones because their feet are so atrophied. So many people rely on their shoes to do all the work for their feet, that they never allow their feet to truly be healthy. While VFFs are a good way to allow our feet to move and function freely, there is something to be said for having sole to ground. By feeling the ground with our feet, we have so much greater perception of the environment around us. We feel every small variation in temperature, texture and hardness. It’s like watching a movie in HD after only seeing it on VHS tape. There’s so much more detail to what you experience! Lastly, going barefoot is a great way to keep our feet from sweating, smelling and to avoid problems like nail fungus and athlete’s foot. Those afflictions need a warm, dark, moist environment to thrive. That’s nearly impossible while totally barefoot.

How long have you been incorporating being barefoot (outside the house) places into your regular, everyday life?

I’ve gone barefoot outside the house for nearly five years. I slowly worked my way into it, starting out by simply slipping off my flip flops and driving barefoot in the summer. I later worked my way into occasionally taking off my flops at stores and shopping barefoot. Last year I made the “plunge” and decided to live barefoot whenever possible. Unfortunately, that is somewhat limited by the fact I am required by policy at work to wear socks and shoes. Even then, however, I wear “minimalist” shoes, so my feet can still function very primally.

Could you tell us about the reactions you’ve gotten to being barefoot at large? Positive? negative?

The absolute first reaction from others when I go barefoot in public is usually confusion, whether good, bad or indifferent. A vast majority of society has a hard time understanding why ANYONE would want to go out in public without some kind of footwear on. That said, I get the occasional child telling their parents, “He doesn’t have any shoes on!” To that, I usually just smile. Some adults ask why I’m not wearing any shoes. I typically reply, “I don’t need any,” to which they give me an even more confused look.

I have been told by management or security at a number of establishments that I need to put on footwear if I wish to continue there. They have cited all kinds of reasons; usually they’re not well thought out. They are typically never based on an actual posted dress code because I don’t go barefoot in stores that have a sign requiring shoes. Many people mistakenly believe that it’s against health codes to go barefoot in public. Many say that it’s a safety issue and that they don’t want me possibly getting cut on a random sharp object on the ground. I’ve even been told that management doesn’t want other patrons being “offended” by my bare feet. The funny thing about that was the location: I was visiting an art gallery where paintings and sculptures of nude people were on display. Yeah, there are a lot of very bad and unfortunate stigmas against feet out there.

Tell me a bit about the Primalfoot Alliance. What was the impetus to start this organization? What would you like to see it accomplish?

Put simply, The Primalfoot Alliance is an advocate for letting feet be feet first. It is meant to be a unified voice for everyone who believes going barefoot is the best way to function, or who desire to ensure that their feet stay healthy by wearing the most primal shoes possible. We believe that the primal foot is one that is allowed to be free of imprudently restrictive, inflexible or gait-altering footwear. Barefoot is best, but we acknowledge that there are times that footwear is a better choice — just like when people sometimes wear gloves.

I started the organization after becoming greatly concerned about a reoccurring problem. While reading about the benefits of going barefoot (increased sensory awareness, stronger feet, lack of sweatiness/smell) I was also hearing about the numerous forms of discrimination that barefooters regularly encounter when they go unshod in public. At a minimum, they get strange looks from others. At the worst, they’re asked to leave the establishment into which they went barefoot. When I really thought about it, I realized that this is actually very wrong! There aren’t enough safety risks out there to justify such regular use of footwear. There aren’t significant health concerns like so many people tend to believe. Remove those issues and all you have left is a populace that is terribly misinformed and has built up terrible stereotypes about feet. That said, arguing the merits of letting us go barefoot in the grocery store isn’t enough.

As you know all too well, there’s intense debate stirring right now about barefoot-style running. Running shoe companies, podiatrists and other experts continually warn about the dangers of running without shoes or landing with a forefoot strike wearing “improper” footwear. Even though many people have found success from running without regular trainers, there’s still a backlash. Even though many of these experts haven’t given barefoot-style running a chance, they are quick to dismiss it as dangerous and unhealthy. Doctors never recommend that the public regularly use surgical gloves and masks as an effective way to prevent the spread of flu, yet many are quick to recommend against barefoot running just in case there’s some random razor-sharp thing laying somewhere on the ground. They say that they want people to have “healthy” feet, but hardly ever recommend exercises or footwear that actually strengthen the feet. They know that high heels are very bad for women but refuse to condemn the shoes outright. These issues and more need to be properly addressed.

In the end, these problems all boil down to a general hesitancy by the public to let feet be feet. Society has just developed this weird way of thinking about feet so that they have almost become taboo. While feet are not considered “private” parts of the body and there’s generally no laws against them, they are often looked at as inferior appendages. If someone does give them consideration, it’s nothing more than stuffing their toes into “fashionable” shoes.

We’re called The “Primalfoot” Alliance because it’s not just about going barefoot. It’s not just about encouraging “minimalist” footwear. It’s about letting our feet get back to their natural state, the first and primary way of functioning. It’s not about becoming cavemen, but instead about letting our feet function in the way that they were hardwired. In the history of humanity, modern shoes are a blip on the timeline. Now it’s time to take our feet back.

The main things we would like to accomplish are education and advocacy. People need to be reminded that feet are wonderful. We want to reassure individuals that they need not trap their feet in stuffy shoes and that most of the fashionable footwear that’s been developed is actually quite bad for us. We will share with the public that there are lots of us out there that aren’t poor or gross but just want to go barefoot for our own well being. We will encourage businesses to give up outdated and discriminatory “No Shoes, No Service” policies and reassure them that the liability in letting patrons go barefoot is very low. We even hope to dialogue with shoe companies, podiatrists and other experts to work toward a common purpose of foot health through primal footwear — not just supportive shoes and orthotics. Finally, we will stand up for those who experience discrimination for going barefoot or wearing primal footwear. It’s imperative that others understand that going primalfoot has legitimate merits that are worth defending.

What sorts of things are in the works for www.PrimalfootAlliance.org ?

We have a lot of great information planned for the site. The overall focus, obviously, will be to advocate for letting feet be feet. We’re still nailing down specifics, but I can tell you that we are working to dispel a lot of the myths and misconceptions about feet that are out there. Along with that, we’ll have practical tips that people can use to try out barefooting, accept barefooters into their business, manufacture primal footwear and more. The goal will be to keep things simple while posting a lot of good educational materials. We want visitors to find our site informative and useful no matter how they view the topics related to primal feet.

How do minimalist shoes like Vibram Five Fingers fit into the actually-barefoot paradigm?

I think Vibram Fivefingers are a wonderful shoe for those who want their feet to function primally. That said, only going barefoot is truly going barefoot and VFFs block out a lot of sensation between our feet and the ground. I think it’s a bit misleading when people say they’re “going barefoot” wearing VFFs, but admittedly it’s been tough so far to come up with a good way to say it.

I’ve struggled for a while with the terminology that we in the primalfoot communities have been using. While we generally get the ideas, the terms are usually not very accurate. It can be very confusing when people who run in VFFs or other similar shoes call themselves “barefoot” runners. Some people think it’s misleading to call shoes “minimalist” when they cover the foot just as much as normal shoes or cost $150 (USD) or more. There’s also a lot of debate over the merits of flip flops; while they are very open and minimal, they actually unnaturally alter our walking gait. We need to clear up some of these discrepancies.

A side note: I have heard several hard-core barefooters say that primal footwear is a sham. They think that anything that comes between your soles and the ground is an affront to feet. They would say that it doesn’t matter how light, flexible or thin-soled a shoe is. If it’s not barefoot it’s a shoe, and all shoes are bad. While I can appreciate their passion for the cause, shoes have legitimate uses in our society. Just like there are times in our lives when gloves are necessary (surgical gloves, oven mitts, mechanics gloves, etc.), sometimes footwear is a better choice than barefoot (construction sites, rocky terrain, hot asphalt, etc.). That’s not a denial of bare feet, but instead an attempt to keep our feet in the best condition possible so we can go barefoot again soon. The Primalfoot Alliance will say that in situations that footwear really is necessary, go as primal as possible.

The most important thing in all of this is to remember what brought us here. Whether it’s the desire to go totally barefoot or wear shoes that allow our feet to function primally, we all really want the same thing: letting feet be feet first. The term “primalfoot” gets to the heart of the matter and addresses most of the concerns above. It’s concise and includes bare feet. It also adequately describes footwear like VFFs, VivoBarefoot and others that may not really be “minimal,” but are still better for feet than most shoes out there.

Connect with Primalfoot —

The Primalfoot Alliance
The Primalfoot Alliance on Twitter

Afterward —

As part of the founding of the Primalfoot Alliance, Michael asked Justin, as well as a number of other prominent online figures advocating for free feet, to join the organization’s advisory board. Even as BirthdayShoes focuses on everyone’s favorite five toed footwear, a derivative mission of this fandom is to increase awareness around getting in touch with the world through “freeing your feet” a la Vibram Five Fingers. After all, the big picture behind foot freedom is that healthier feet lead to healthier people. Advocacy on behalf of “free feet” is ultimately advocacy for healthier and happy human beings.