Michael “Sifu” Banaag is quite an accomplished martial artist and self-defense instructor. He was taught by James DeMile, a student of Bruce Lee. He is also a Strap Removal [MOD] post. Read the rest to see what Michael says about his new modded Classics:
I’ve been following your great site for quite a while now, and finally got a pair of Classics. In the past, I tried on a pair of Classics, but didn’t like them due to the cord pushing into the top of my foot and the discomfort that obviously followed. Inspired by your post about “cutting the cord”, I decided to give the classics a shot again “cord-free” with the intention of making them the flip-flop VFF’s of my soon to be growing collection (I also own a pair of Black/Grey/Camo KSO’s).
I just recently returned from a short trip to the Detroit area, specifically Livonia, where I had the opportunity to visit the school of one of my seniors & fellow instructor in the self-defense method I practice (our instructor is James DeMile, an original student of Bruce Lee from the early Seattle years). I decided to bring my Cordless Classics, since they were experiencing close to 90 degree weather and I wasn’t sure how hot it would get in their school.
Originally, the plan was to just say hi, meet and greet. But I ended up training with his Intermediate/Advanced students. I gotta say, I had been wearing the Cordless Classics (Brown/Walnut) for a week and really liked how much more comfortable they were, and was happy to see that the shape and size of my feet made it fit well without slippage even without the cord! Now our method of self-defense is not Jeet Kune Do, or what most people remember of Bruce Lee with the high kicking. It involves usage of the hands and A LOT of footwork for movement. So much so that we have a saying that you know who trains hard because the rubber rubs out in the forefoot section of their shoes quite a bit. Knowing how durable and long lasting Vibram rubber is, I’ve always wanted to have some kind of footwear with their rubber that I could use for training that wasn’t a boot, or really hot like a hiking shoe can get for this kind of activity.
I’ve already been teaching/training in the KSO’s and loved how even after several months of wear and tear the rubber isn’t rubbed completely off (I’ve had tons of basketball shoes show some heavy wear after the same amount of time in them)! Now to have the breathability and comfort of the Cordless Classics with the rubber/grip durability of the Vibram rubber I experienced in the KSO is really AWESOME! Because I didn’t cut off the “tab” that goes up the achilles, it was really obvious when fired out the low kicks that we do that the Cordless classics will slip off, but other than that…they NEVER slipped off when we were moving around. Great job Vibram, and Great idea Justin! I think the Cordless Classics are actually becoming my favorite VFF. I haven’t gotten a pair of Sprints yet, to really be sure. But these Cordless Classics, are just SWEET!
Thanks for letting me share!
Michael Banaag
Thank you, Michael, for sharing your story!
James DeMile awarded Michael the rank of Black Belt at the age of 17. At the age of 19, he became an instructor and has been teaching for over 10 years. You can learn more about Michael at his Structural Self Defense website.
