The UK-based magazine Shook just released their third issue this week featuring Detroiters such as Danny Brown, Osborne, Samiyam, and Channel One. Shook is quickly becoming a respected magazine of urban music globally. The first three issue can be downloaded in PDF format on their site, but
Download Issue #1: GUILTY SIMPSON, INVINCIBLE, DENAUN PORTER, BLACK MILK, JAY ELECTRONICA, GOYA MUSIC, BENJI B, PAUL WHITE,HVW8 FEIYUE SHOES, DJ MURO, SPACE INVADER, and more.
Download Issue #2: SAMIYAM, FLYING LOTUS, RAS_G, POO BAH RECORDS, HUDSON MOHAWKE, MIKE SLOTT, JOE GIBBS, TAKE, SA-RA, JAMES POYSER, KARRIEM RIGGINS, ANDREW MEZA, BLU, TA'RAACH, and more.
Download issue #3: DANNY BROWN, OSBORNE, SAMIYAM, KID CREOLE, ACID HOUSE, HECTOR LAVOE, JUNOT DIAZ, and more.
Still familiar with this ? It's Slam Dunk, one of the best anime ever. When in high school, many young people joined basketball due to inspiration of SD. It's incredibly cute and fun!
How do you like it ?actually remind you a bit of those days when playing basket ball and with a pair of warriors sneakers too?(it may not feel as good as NIKE but still cool!) It's a pity they stop the production on television after the national tournament, but you can take a review of the whole stories on the appended links, enjoy~
What's are they? It's a character from the famous Japanese manga Slam Dunk. Do you think the shoes he's wearing is kinda like Chinese sneaker-Warriors model WK-1? hah, I know they can't be the same though ,but it still looks cool isn't it?
About Slam Dunk (manga) Series Starts 10.16.1993
Series Ends 03.23.1996
Number of Episodes 101
Author/Artist Takhikou Inoue
Slam Dunk includes four OVAs
The Series revolves around Hanamichi Sakuragi, a high school freshman who is prone to fisticuffs and street fights. He falls head over heels in love with A girl named Haruko. Unfortunately, Haruko has an uncurable crush on the basketball club's popular small forward Kaede Rukawa. So what does our tall redhead do? He joins the basketball team of course -- even though he doesn't know a thing about the sport. And so the fun begins...
People watch Slam Dunk for the excitement of sports television with the added dimension of soap operatic drama. In watching an NBA game, you’re going to know who scored how many points and who got fouled out how many times... in watching Shohoku take on another high school team, you get that plus the chance to delve into the players’ lives and see what inspires them to dazzle us on the court. Definitely a spell-binding and heart-stopping viewing experience.
Slam Dunk has excellent characterization that makes it likeable by all. We find ourselves drawn into the workings of each character’s mind during the game.
The manga was originally licensed in North America to the now-defunct Gutsoon! Entertainment and serialized in Raijin Comics during 2003 and 2004 before Gutsoon folded. The license has since been picked up by VIZ Media, who confirmed at Comic Con International 2007 that will start publishing the series in September 2008. A preview of the series was published in the December 2007 issue of Shonen Jump[4] It was also stated in the April 2008 issue that starting in the next issue, the series would appear in the monthly lineup. Another English version has been published in Singapore by Chuang Yi.
PS.
We do not sell Manga Comics or the DVD sets for Slam Dunk over here. However, if you have interest about this amazing manga that strongly influenced many teenagers, try google it. There are plenty of other sites that offer such.
Hi, My name is Steward. I'm a native Chinese student in Shanghai, where I got a fantastic and formative education. I collaborate with friends to write this blog about Feiyue shoes (clike to know more background of the shoes), as I observe many people are eager to know about Feiyue and other Chinese classical brands. However much of the information are only available in Chinese on web, making it difficult for the spread. And that gives me the push to create this blog. Posts, data collected from various sources, and all put into English, provides an informative overview of the shoes. Hope you enjoy it. Feel free to contact us if you're interested in any topic we ever involved.
Steward Email: steward.du(at)gmail.com
Contribute to this blog (Suggested by some readers)I am currently launching a series of posts about stories of Feiyue fans around the world. So,if you'd be interested in sharing your experience as a guest post - DO NOT HESITATE TO SHOOT ME AN EMAIL !
It's an article I found from Landor (a branding company with 24 global offices and 854 talented people.) about Feiyue and let's see how they reviewed the hit. - Steward
This summer IWOM spread beyond the borders and interestingly enough, Chinese old-school sports brands are making a comeback among the right crowd. Sneakers from such brands as Feiyue (meaning Flying Forward), and Shuang Xing (Double Star) were the hottest shoes in China back in the 70s and now are cool again among kids from the Middle Kingdom to the United Kingdom.
Cool Hunting is praising the comfortable shoes, and if that wasn’t enough, the shoes are hard to find, even in China, which makes the hunt for them equally exciting. A pair of these sneakers is being sold for as much as 50 EU in London.
In China the buzz started when Orlando Bloom was photographed wearing a pair of Feiyue. The photo quickly spread through BBSes and sparkled among netizens, leading to a cult following, including such tributes as the photo book by a Chinese graphic design student and the coveted “Warrior” t-shirts in Beijing, which I bought myself at the Gu Lou area.
From Mr. Bloom playing an Elf in the Lord of the Rings movies to wearing Feiyue, the “flying forward” sneakers, it makes me wonder whether this is a clever below-the-line move or one of the most curious brand hijacks we are about to witness, all thanks to P2P (online peer to peer) power.
Keywords: bbs, feiyue, internet word of mouth, iwom, shuang xing [see full text here]
Feiyue Feiyue started in the 1920's in Shanghai, China. The name is pronounce Fay-Wee. Like a girls name, and then the thing you say when you go down a slide. They have been popular in the martial arts community for years due to their comfort and almost imperceptible weight. Recently Feiyue has started to court the Parkour community, claiming it's lightweight, flexible shoe would be perfect for training. They come in a huge amount of colors variations (each of which has it's own name), though many retailers only carry white or black only. Considering their popularity in martial arts, and their extremely affordable price, I decided to give them a try.
Where I found them I went searching on Amazon to try and find a competitive price and discovered that they almost exclusively sell for $14.99. With shipping, it cost me 23 bucks. Not too shabby for a pair of shoes.
First impressions My first impressions as I pulled them out of the box, was that they were 15 dollar shoes. The came in a clear plastic sleeve, and when I opened it up, it stank of that new rubber smell. They basically look like Chuck Taylors designed for running. Thin canvas body, with a thick rubber sole, and a strip of rubber around the whole thing. I put them on, and found they felt somewhat odd on my feet. The sole of the shoes seems to stick out more towards the middle of the foot, so it's almost feels like your feet are wider than the shoe. It's not an uncomfortable feeling, it's just very different from any shoes I've worn. It gives the impression that you're balancing on something. More on that later.
So I've had mine for nearly a month now, and I wear them pretty much daily. I find them very comfortable in that bare foot sort of way. Also, with the thin heels encouraging me to stand on the balls of my feet I find myself always wanting to bounce around. These shoes literally make me want to train more than other shoes. Sounds weird I know, but it's the God's honest truth. The lightness of them, and the way you can feel the ground, it makes you hyper aware of your feet, which just makes me want to run and jump.
Parkour (sometimes abbreviated to PK) or l'art du déplacement(English: the art of movement) is an activity with the aim of moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the abilities of the human body. It is meant to help one overcome obstacles, which can be anything in the surrounding environment—from branches and rocks to rails and concrete walls—and can be practised in both rural and urban areas. Parkour practitioners are referred to as traceurs, or traceuses for females.
Continue Reading...
I created a group on Facebook several minutes ago, with the same name of the blog “Return of Feiyue_飞跃归来”.
With the impact of this social network system, hope more fans will be grabbed in. The subtext to the group is consistent with what I’ve been doing, facilitate free expression of ideas, bridges deep cultural divides. (oh! It’s one of the centeral concept behinds the Olympics,lol)
We do know about what all these old shoes should represent: low in price, durable, their good old days in highschool and finally the most important, some kinds of memory. I can't even remember when is the last time wearing the warrior sneakers and touch basketball like a child, until last night I really repicked them all, just simply from a pairs of warrior.
And here comes the question: at the same time of the continuation of the old warrior, where comes the new life of this "Chinese old school"? With the answer yes, the local design organization AMg and the designer Lijia bring us the chance to discover more possible ways of the Warrior memo. Not only the revolutionary color match, but also the butt shape improvement and new logo style show the the traditional Chinese root of these unconventional sneakers. Plus, the whole design project also includes different posters and sport suits, low-tune but irreplaceable part, which run us back to the 80s China, the days without Nike, Adi and Puma. Continue Reading...
Classical Profile Logo Feiyue's classical shoe designs feature 2 parallel arrows (in red and blue colors,and the same motif is incorporated into it's Frensh version logo). The shoes take its name Feiyue, in Chinese meaning huge progress. This combination form the highly recognized profile of Feiyue shoes.
the Shoe Tongue The original version of Feiyue has on the tougue, TOPONE(大博文)'s wording and a star incon as trademark logo. When we compare it with the French version, Topone s trademark is replaced with Feiyue and two parallel arrows.
Sole of the Shoe The sole of Feiyue.I would not advise them for running, as the sole does not have much padding. They are excellent for any martial arts requiring a wide range of foot motion or very low stances (like karate/Northern style kung fu/wushu) because they leave the ankles uncovered, allowing a large range of ankle flexibility.The inside of the shoe, you see the size of it.(I wear a #43 lol)They're also good because the flat sole keeps you from pronating while doing kicks or being in low stances, which can sprain or strain an ankle
See comments from those wore Feiyue ---Excellent and Comfortable Shoe!--- I do not study martial arts or wear the shoes as intended; however, I do wear these shoes nearly every day and have for about two years. I love these shoes. I have worn through six pairs so far (straight through the soles), yet I continue to buy them. The main reason is because they are incredibly comfortable. If worn indoors or rarely they would certainly be durable enough, but I wear them outside, every day, in the streets of New York, winter and summer. They really are a great shoe: comfortable, inexpensive, nice-looking and they have great traction.
Nice fit I love them and they are very useful when practing on gravel or concrete. They will stick to matts or wood. Good traction but sometimes to good. Good for stances but not for fluid movement like in capoeria.
This is the legendary Feiyue shoes, it's the earliest model of Feiyue (over 70 years )and also the most classical one. It's the very type of shoe Patrice Bastian found in China and brought back to France in 2005.
I know some friends on Facebook that like wearing Feiyue when training Kung Fu. It's the #1 shoe choice for Shaolin monks and masters! Feiyue Martial Arts shoes have a simple, durable canvas lace-up top and a padded yet light sole. The tread is perfect for all styles, providing maximum traction for ultimate performance. I saw these shoes are sold at high price overseas. Come on ! Friends if you're interested, contact me, and let me get you some original ones in low price. (Steward)
This a series of redesigned Feiyue. After the sales of classical Feiyue proved success in Paris and London, now FEIYUE and other shoe brand are co-operating to design new shoes. Various type of new Feiyue add to the family of Feiyue, but there's something consistant. Because these shoes are all from the same factory in China (TopOne, kown as 大博文 in Chinese), produced in the same facility by the same skilled workers. Besides, TopOne is also doing OEM for other well-known shoe brand like Converse and Levis.
Feiyue are making return, but this time, not only for Kung Fu people, but also for young people who admire individuality and vintage. At the beginning of 2008, Feiyue and Shanghai based photographer Luyao teamed up to create a new series of visuals for the release of the new summer 2008 collection.
In May 2007 Feiyue became a sponsor of WORLDWIDE JAM PARKOUR athletes. "Parkour" is a physical art of French origin, the aim of which is to move from point A to point B as efficiently and quickly as possible, using the abilities of the human body. To many, Parkour is an extreme sport. To others it's a discipline more comparable to martial arts but whatever the description, Parkour encapsulates humn movement in its most beautiful, dynamic and explosive form.
Personally I consider Feiyue is really good fit for Parkour, it's light and durable, furthermore, Feiyue has a literally meaning of flying foward in Chinese !- StewardContinue Reading...
It's a book about Warriors Sneaker(known to Chinese as 回力).
From the author of the book Shumeng Ye: ” My name is Shumeng Ye and I'm a graphic design student from Helsinki. I was born in Kunming, China but I moved as a child to Germany and later to Finland. … Inspired by their unique and classic style, I took pictures of people wearing Warriors in various areas of China in 2007. Now these pictures have been released as the Book of Warriors and each copy is accompanied by a pair of Warrior sneakers. Through my book, I hope to tell the story behind the shoes and I would like show a different side of China. Not the industrial and economical power, but the daily life of a country with its own distinctive sneaker culture.”
It was just a special chance that I found Shumeng’s works on web, I liked it a lot and sent the link to many friends of mine. I am so happy to know overseas Chinese young people are doing such brilliant contribution to spread something so meaningful. Looking forward to the meet-up with her this Sept!
Which is the Star in Paris, Feiyue or Warriors ? Surely the answer to this question is Feiyue,but as hit of Feiyue in Paris and London grew, more and more media spotlight was shed on this mysterious band from China. Yet some media mistakenly call the shoes a different name- Warriors sneaker（known to Chinese as 回力）. So, people got confused, what’s warriors sneaker, is it the same with Feiyue or any connection with Feiyue?
About Warriors shoe First thing to clarify, Feiyue and Warrios are two different shoe brand. Besides, there’re many things similar between them, both household names, they used to be a much sought-after but no longer objects of desire over the last decades.
A return of Warriors shoe But thanks to the misunderstanding, more attention are drawn to the warriors shoe. Today, many Chinese young people put on warriors sneakers, and it looks perfect matching a pair of levis jeans!
Hush Puppies story is happening in China Hush Puppies shoes had a similar return in the United States during the mid 1990s. The once extremely popular shoes died out but made a major comeback with trend setters in New York City that caused the tipping point bringing the shoes into all of the major malls. There seems to be a trend of resurgence of sneakers that comes about by trendsetters.
This pic is the classical style of Warriors basketball shoes. The shoes are one of the well-known name in China market during a long time.
Many Chinese young people owned a pair of this before especially considered it as a basketball requirements. And there's a Chinese article gave evaluation about overall performance of the shoes, criteria including ankle support, traction,comfort,durability and weight. The findings show the shoes are competetive even against NIKE , yet at a much lower price!
related links - See a detail introduction of Warriors shoes, click to view. But only Chinese version is available.
- Warriors Shoes' official website, click to view (english version available)
Today, more people both from home and abroad know Feiyue, probably because a photo of Orlando Bloom wearing Feiyue recently made the rounds on web.
Old Chinese sneaker brands have been getting a lot of attention these days. Chinese media has been talking recently about the reinvention in the west of the old Chinese brand Feiyue (Flying Forward). Three years ago a French company bought the label started placing order to Feiyue’s China factory. From then, bunch of Feiyue were shipped to the Europe. It came from China, with combination of classical, Kung Fu and fashion elements. At the same time, Feiyue gained spotlight on many world mainstream Fashion magazine. Customers were crazy about it, shoes are being sold in London and Paris for 40 to 50 Euro.
Now they’re designing some new generation of Feiyue with other French Company enriching the Feiyue collection, but most Feiyue fans still consider the original one is the best!
An article with the title “History of Feiyue shoes”(飞跃鞋的前世今生) appeared on one of the most infulential Chinese Magazine, Lifeweek on its last week issue.
Origin,Year 1931
According to the press, the unique original Feiyue shoes manufacturer in China is called TopOne (大博文鞋业有限公司), dating back to 1931 when the firm was first founded. The firm’s former name was 大孚(meaning reliablity) Rubber Factory, became state-owned after the foundation of People’s Republic of China. Since then, the firm started producing automobile tyres and sneakers for domestic market.
1.6 millions
One of the retired employee of TopOne said, in 1959, the annual production scale of Feiyue reached 1.6 millions, bringing the brand No.1 Title in the market in 1964. During the 1990’s, the firm underwent a series of merger and finally became part of Shanghai LanSheng Corporation (兰生,listed in China A-share 600826). The manufacturing plants then moved from West Zhongshan Road (SH) to Pudong new district(SH), and at last relocated to Qingpu Industrial Park (SH) recently.
200 thousands
Nowadays, Mr. Chen Jianyue, factory director told the reporter, the factory is still producing original Feiyue sneakers, yet already shrank to 200 thousands pairs per year. When mentioned the decline of Feiyue, Mr.Chen still remembered the good old days ”We had high demand, trucks from all over China were always waiting for the shoes with bunch of cash ready to pay.”
New address becomes a blur after relocation
On the package of Feiyue shoes, we can see the address of the manufacturing site is still Pudong new district, yet the contact information is no longer available. Reporters from Lifeweek tried to manage a visit to the new plant in Qingpu Industrial Park, but Mr.Chen said because the new location was not yet fully in operation and refused the request. Even postman has no idea about the exact address of the plant, adding mystery to the shoe legend.
The only existing retail shop
Now to the fans of Feiyue, probably the retail shop on No.585 Zunyi Road, Shanghai is the only place has root with the firm. It was born as the firm, and witnessed the long history. It’s reported to be the only existing Franchised Stores for TopOne in China.
In the photo, it's the retail shop mentioned. Ms.Ma(left),owner of the shop,now 53 has began to work in TopOne since she was 18. In the article, she shared stories between she and Feiyue.Zhao Shifu(right), has experiences of making Feiyue for over 40 years.
Original article on Lifeweek, 490th issue(Aug 4th released), Chinese version available only.
Here at this blog, you know more about Feiyue, people with common interest, and more about China as well ! Forwarding this video clip from youtube, have a look!
Don't miss MAD ABOUT ENGLISH! A hilarious and heartwarming film about the people of China and their mad, mad rush to learn English before the Olympics begins. Featuring real-life characters, shot on actual locations across China and including never-before-seen, uncensored footages of the world's most bizarre way of mastering English, MAD ABOUT ENGLISH! is the must-see film of the year!
A cinematic milestone by a Singaporean filmmaker
The Globe & Mail in Canada says MAD ABOUT ENGLISH!tells its amazing story with "gusto and wacky charm".
Realscreen in Cannes says the film is "hilarious and heartwaming".
Award-winning Singaporean fillmmaker and former CNN anchor PEK SIOK LIAN (Sayonara Changi, Born Again Buddhists) has created a film that's filled with so many laugh-out-loud moments, stunning visuals and beautifully layered pathos.
Check out this "I love Feiyues" group on facebook. I am already a part of it, now we have over 300 people in it.
Here you will meet Kung Fu fans, fashionable guys, people who admires matial art, or simply Feiyue's lightness and comfort!
---PS--- It's pleasure to know all these friends Joseph (who know well about China and considered Feiyue chinese version of diesel) Derek (the kung fu fans), Steven (the coolest ) and Marie (who has great interest about Feiyue and China) ...
Beijing held its formal opening ceremony today for the 2008 Summer Olympics. The ceremony, held in the National Stadium known as the Bird's Nest, was attended by thousands, and watched by millions more on television. Below are some highlights of the nearly 4-hour performance
These martial artists performing at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics were wearing Feiyue shoes!
They probably got a good deal supplying so many and for such an event, but still, at least they’re sticking to local brands.
Feiyue shoes was born in Shanghai in the 1920’s. It has been a reference among all Chinese social categories from the countryman to the politician, from the captain of the national soccer Team to the famous Shaolin masters... Feiyue became famous during the 30's for its robustness, its flexibility and its comfort, essential requirements for Chinese martial arts. According to Chinese tradition, Feiyue symbolizes the dual elevation of both body and mind.
In 2005, Patrice Bastian a globe trotter living in Shanghai with an unconditional passion for “sneakers”, decided to team up with friend and graphic designer Charles Munka to lift up the image and looks of Feiyue. With the help of Nicolas Seguy, and Clement Fauth, an ideal Team was then built to give back to Feiyue its noble touch. After a creative transformation/modification, yet keeping Feiyue’s vintage touch, hard work on quality requirements bound to western markets has been done. Thus, in February 2006, the first real Feiyue collection was born.
Now even some Hollywood stars like Orlando Bloom, Brad Pitt chose to wear Feiyue.
Les chaussures de la marque chinoise FEIYUE rencontrent un vif succès en Europe et aux Etats-Unis
Orlando Bloom portant des chaussures de marque FEIYUE
Hi, My name is Steward. I'm a native Chinese student in Shanghai. I collaborate with friends to write this blog about Feiyue shoes (clike to know more about us...)
The UK-based magazine Shook just released their third issue this week featuring Detroiters such as Danny Brown, Osborne, Samiyam, and Channel One. Shook is quickly becoming a respected magazine of urban music globally. The first three issue can be downloaded in PDF format on their site, but 
