Tai Chi Finder

The Feiyue brand dates back to the 1920s and until recently there have been only slight changes. Perhaps they became just a little bit narrower but this happened many years ago. Most Europeans only discovered them since the turn of the century so would not be aware of that. 

Sourcing a good pair of Chinese Feiyue shoes can be difficult. It is even more important to get things right when you are buying in bulk. We have been aware for some time of some differences between different manufacturers and between genuine and fake. Only recently did we discover a more complete explanation.

 The French have done much to raise the profile of the brand amongst the general public but it does seem to have had the side effect of making things harder for the traditional buyers of these shoes. So what are the differences?

Most noticably the word Feiyue is much larger in the French version and of course the range of colours is much wider.

The sole is redisgned and they look somehow sleeker.

Confusingly they do also make a version 'Shaolin Soul' in white with red and blue stripes (top picture).

We are finding an increasing number of people approaching us who have been wearing Feiyue shoes for years who find their previous supplier has suddenly without warning changed the style of their shoes. We haven't as yet been able to find out why this is happening but have our suspicions and would love to get to the bottom of it.

It is as though as the Chinese are to be a bit star-struck by the success of the French version and some factories seem to have moved to bring their shoes into line with the French. All this is bad news for the martial artists and Parkour traceurs looking for the original styles.

But to take a step back, it is our understanding that there are essentially two authorised manufacturers in China (Shanghai Dafu Rubber and Top One) and these manufacturers may each have one or more than one factories producing different variations on the basic design.

There are also many imitations such as Feilon and Feiyin and fakes (shanzhai) out there as well but lets not venture onto the dark side. Things are complicated enough in the light.

There are a few basic things I now look for in these shoes to know I'm getting the right ones.

• Trademarks - Top One trademarks of the green triangle on the base and the star with the words 'Top One' on the tongue. But then that is a personal preference. We have been dealing with that company for years.
• Weight of Shoe - A pair of the originals weigh just over 600g in most sizes whereas a similar shoe of the modern style (due to a thick layer of rubber under the insole or sock liner) weighs around 700g
• Thickness of Sole (internal) - As the exterior height is about the same, the thinner sole on the originals makes the shoes more accomodating for people with high insteps. Although both styles are flexible the originals are of course more flexible.
• Start of Tongue - If you measure the distance from the toecap to the start of the tongue it measures about 2.5cm for example on the size 44. On some of the newer designs it measures more than 3cm making it harder to hold the foot in place.
• Length of Heel - If you turn the shoe over and look at the heel, some of the new designs seem to have a shorter heel. I'm not sure of the effect of this but it does make a subtle difference.
• Width of Soles - I have seen pictures of Feiyues with narrower soles although I haven't seen them in the flesh. The differences are much more obvious to the foor than to the eye so try a single pair first. 

Now I don't want to complain about the changes I have seen. No doubt they have good reasons for making these changes.

I am just here to fight for those of us in movement oriented sports, martial arts, dance, circus, free-running etc. who need a reliable long-term source of good value shoes with excellent balance, ground contact and room for the toes to move. 

As far as we know, the factory we deal with are not planning to make any changes to their design but just to be sure, we have already secured our supplies of the black ones for the next year!

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