07-03-2006, 09:51 AM
In Africa, people go barefoot as the norm (outside the cities). Even so, Shaka Zulu apparently found it necessary to toughen the feet of his warriors by forcing them to march over thorns.
As one contributor here has pointed out, it is possible to toughen the feet to a high degree. However, the instep doesn't normally come in contact with the ground and therefore remains comparatively tender, so that any projection - thorns or rocks, for example - which reaches this part of the foot wil be a problem. Africa can be thorny and rocky but I don't think frostbite is much of a problem, which it can be in Greece!
I conclude that you can do a lot barefoot, but that the wise general equips his troops for the terrain and the climate. Contrary to Napoleon's assertion, an army marches on its feet. ( What did he know? -The Russians and the Brits whipped his little bottom!)
As one contributor here has pointed out, it is possible to toughen the feet to a high degree. However, the instep doesn't normally come in contact with the ground and therefore remains comparatively tender, so that any projection - thorns or rocks, for example - which reaches this part of the foot wil be a problem. Africa can be thorny and rocky but I don't think frostbite is much of a problem, which it can be in Greece!
I conclude that you can do a lot barefoot, but that the wise general equips his troops for the terrain and the climate. Contrary to Napoleon's assertion, an army marches on its feet. ( What did he know? -The Russians and the Brits whipped his little bottom!)
