At Skylark our ninja classes are a fun fusion of parkour, gymnastics, obstacle training and stage fighting. Each of those sports has different footwear requirements, so it can be tricky for parents to know what’s best for their ninjas to wear on their feet. Never fear, we’ve made it easy to find the perfect pair so your ninja can make the most of their training.

In each of our activities in the NinjaZone it is important that we protect our feet from hard surfaces, but our ninjas also need to be able to ‘feel’ the surface underfoot and engage with it to maintain balance. Our ninja coaches recommend finding a thin soled and flexible shoe so you can have both protection and feeling. Having the correct footwear in ninja classes drastically increases chances of success and safety.

Thick soled shoes, like the ones used in obstacle racing, make it hard for the ninjas to feel where they are on poles and corners and makes it very difficult to find balance. It’s like trying to use a keyboard while wearing ski gloves. Thick soles are fantastic for navigating rocky and muddy obstacles – but we don’t have any of those in the gym.

We made a quick video to show you the difference between trying to balance in thick shoes vs in thin shoes. Check it out below

But what about the gymnastics elements? Gymnasts don’t wear shoes right?

The answer to this one is easy - when we move to our activities in gymnastics areas like trampoline, we just take our shoes off!

The great thing about most flexible and thin soled shoes is that they’re also easy to find at a great price.

The Skylark ninja coaches are huge fans of Feiyue shoes. Feiyue shoes started out as the go-to footwear for Shaolin monks and were the chosen footwear of the martial arts performers at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. These shoes have incredible grip and flexibility and are a fan favourite among Parkour runners, circus performers and Ninja Warrior athletes. The best part is you can get a pair for around $30 at Tan's Martial Arts. 

Feiyues aren’t the only option – even the humble Dunlop Volley makes a great ninja shoe. The rubber tread gives them great grip ability and they’re flexible enough that the ninjas will be able to feel the boxes and bars. Plus they’re an Australian Icon and have a great price tag at $29 at Big W.

These aren’t the only two options, if you find an enclosed shoe with a rubber sole that you can fold in half and put in your pocket – it’ll make a great ninja shoe.

Of course if you have any questions or would like more recommendations, just chat to the coach at your next ninja class. We’re here to help your ninja be the best they can be.