The shoes that VC won the 2000 slam dunk contest in have finally arrived in our labs. Was it the shoes?

by Professor K, posted November 16, 2000

Definitely not. As we’ve said on numerous occasions, the shoes don’t make the player. If you’ve got skills like VC, you could play in a pair of beat up Buster Browns and still light it up. But, the right shoes can help you to play at your best. How are the Tai Chi Mids for hooping it up? Let’s find out…

On first wearing, the Tai Chi Mids are very comfortable. With a plush internal lining and a light, flexible sole, the Tai Chi Mids feel very good for running. The flexibility of the sole, however, is not a good thing when it comes to basketball.

Visible in all of the pictures of the shoe are the metallic shanks in the midfoot area of the shoe on both the lateral and medial sides. These shanks are supposed to provide lateral and torsional support, but they aren’t enough to do the job and the lack of midfoot support can lead to rapid foot fatigue and soreness in people with weak arches and poor overall stability for everyone.

figure 1. Visible above are the midfoot support shanks which are the metallic structures at the midfoot of the shoe. Also visible is the unique pattern on the outsole, which does a good job of providing traction.

We also found the Tai Chi Mid lacking in cushioning. While it wasn’t as bad as the Air Jordan VI Retro+, it wasn’t as good as any of the other modern-era shoes that we’ve reviewed to date. Good cushioning is a basic necessity in a hoops shoe so we were a bit surprised by the Tai Chi Mid’s poor performance in this critical area. The combination of poor midfoot support and cushioning may result in pain, not only in the foot and lower leg, but also in the back. Anyone with persistent back pain may want to look at other options that offer better midfoot support and cushioning.

We don’t want to make it sound as though there’s nothing to like about the shoe, however. As mentioned above, the inner of the shoe is very comfortable, the Tai Chi Mid is also very light, and the shoe offers good ankle support, better than most of the other hoops shoes on the market today. Also, the distinctive two-tone Yin-Yang design is visually striking and, in my opinion, very appealing (although this brings up another problem we had with the shoe; the red dye rubs off very easily, particularly when wet. After three days of wear the midsoles on the inner side of the shoes was very red from rubbing against the red portion of the shoe. If the shoes are worn with long pants, the bottoms of the pants will almost certainly become stained).

figure 2. Here you can see the visually distinctive two-toned design of the Tai Chi Mids. Combined with the two-toned laces, the shoes won’t be mistaken for anything else.

To sum up, at almost half the price of most of its competition, the And 1 Tai Chi Mid is a great value. The downside is that for people with weak arches or lower back pain, which is a big percentage of the hoops playing population, the Tai Chi Mid is not a very good choice.

Who’s Worn It
Latrell Sprewell (F- N.Y. Knicks), Stephon Marbury (G- N.J. Nets), Austin Croshere (F- Indiana Pacers), and numerous others.

Point-Counterpoint
Here’s a differing opinion on the Tai Chi Mids from Kicksology.net guest contributor T Skillet:

Overall:
The Tai Chi Mid is a shoe that is better than the sum of its parts. Nothing fancy here (except for the styling), but one of the best basketball shoes I’ve ever owned.

Comfort and fit:
Like I said before, super basic basketball shoe – it just works. Fit – again, nothing fancy here, and if you like the technology of the inner booties and neoprene wraps, then you’re looking in the wrong place. Simple, symmetrical lace-ups, with good height on the mid-tops to give you a good mix of freedom and support.

Cushioning:
I’ve spent a lot of money on fancy Nike shoes with Air, Air Max, Tuned Air, Zoom Air, Vis Zoom Air – and the Tai Chi Mid provides cushioning on par with any of them. The EVA cushioning is a little on the soft side, though, so if you like stiff, responsive shoes (something like the Jumpman Team J), the Tai Chi mids may not be for you.

Ankle support:
Coming back to the basic theme of the shoe – basic. There’s a heel counter, but other than that, it’s just a good-old lace up shoe. The support is there, but nothing technological like Nike’s Monkey Paw or anti-inversion straps. Overall – 3 1/2 bullets

Weight:
After a whole day of playing basketball, you don’t feel like you’re wearing shoes. This is probably attributable to the combination of the light weight (which is pretty light, but not as light as some of Nike’s Zoom Air Flight models) and overall comfort of the Tai Chi Mid.

And to give you some context for this review, here’s the stat sheet for our guest contributor:

T-Skillet
2 guard, has handle and range to the next county, unfortunately only goes one direction (left, just like Johnny Dawkins), and runs the break like a young Chris Dudley or, for those old schoolers, Mark Eaton
Favorite active player: Nick Van Exel – exactly the player I’d play like, if I was quick instead of slow – cocky bastard who backs it up, clutch and can rain the 3
Favorite shoe: Nike Air Maestro I, Nike Air GO LWP
Favorite beverage: Coca-Cola, straight, no chaser

AND 1 Tai Chi Mid Review Update

by Professor K, posted November 17, 2002

It hasn’t been around all that long, but the AND 1 Tai Chi Mid is quickly approaching “classic” status. Along with the Tochillin, the Tai Chi Mid established AND 1 in the footwear space and its success helped fuel the company’s rapid growth. Compared to current releases from AND 1 such as the Desire Mid and KG Low, the Tai Chi Mid is prehistoric, but like the Promodel for adidas and the Air Force 1 for Nike, the two-toned shoe will always hold a special place in the history of AND 1.

figure 3a, b & c. The AND 1 Tai Chi Mid in its limited edition city-specific form. From the topmost pic down the colorways are white/royal/orange for New York City, white/black/red for Chicago, and white/purple/gold for Los Angeles.

This latest release keeps the Tai Chi Mid alive, but in a very limited way. As you can see in the accompanying photos, each of the three new colorways represents a major U.S. city; white/royal/orange for New York City, white/black/red for Chicago, and white/purple/gold for Los Angeles. Only 1,000 pairs of each of these colorways will be available worldwide so they’re not going to be easy to come by. The good thing for people who want a pair is that, in this case, limited does not mean exorbitantly expensive. The price tag for these limited edition colorways is a very reasonable $80.

figure 4a, b & c. These shoes’ true colors don’t come out until you see their medial sides. Note the contrasting stitching, a nice touch.

But be ready to do some hunting as they won’t be available at the big name retailers such as Foot Locker, Footaction, or Finish Line. The NYC/Chi-town/LA Tai Chi Mids will only be available at local “mom-and-pop” sneaker stores. I’m a big fan of these mom-and-pop-only releases because they provide small, local retailers with a means to compete against the big guys. It might make the shoes harder to find, but supporting your local neighborhood stores is a good thing. And given how many local stores are being squeezed out by the national chains every single purchase counts.

figure 5. My favorite detail is the city-specific stitching at the back of the shoe. It shows AND 1’s Player set against an icon representing each shoe’s city and state.

As noted above, AND 1’s recent releases have far and away eclipsed the Tai Chi Mid in terms of performance, so I wouldn’t recommend the shoe for serious on-court wear. You can play in it, but these limited edition Tai Chi Mids are really meant as collectibles for shoe fiends or “rare-wear” for people who want a comfortable shoe that’s not being worn by everyone else on their block. If either of these profiles describes you, these city-specific Tai Chi Mids are a great pickup.