Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling
Deshui Yu
M.S. Sports Product Design, University of Oregon
SPD 610: Thesis Research
Vanessa Preisler
SPD 688: Thesis Studio
Carly Mick
SPD 689: Thesis Capstone
Carly Mick, Rachael Volker
June 14, 2023
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 2
Introduction....................................................................................................................................5
History.............................................................................................................................................6
Rules & Regulations...................................................................................................................... 7
Environment...................................................................................................................................8
User & Market............................................................................................................................. 10
User..........................................................................................................................................10
Design for Different Genders...................................................................................................11
Footwear.............................................................................................................................11
Market......................................................................................................................................12
Design Opportunity & Product Classification.......................................................................... 12
Design Opportunity..................................................................................................................12
Golden Circle........................................................................................................................... 15
Product Classification.............................................................................................................. 15
Problem Statement...................................................................................................................16
Footwear............................................................................................................................ 16
Equipment..........................................................................................................................16
Professional Statement................................................................................................................ 16
Research Studies & Athlete Skills.............................................................................................. 17
Physiological Research............................................................................................................ 18
Physique and Body Composition.......................................................................................18
Anaerobic Characteristics.................................................................................................. 18
Aerobic Characteristics......................................................................................................19
Biomechanical Research..........................................................................................................20
Psychological Research........................................................................................................... 22
Quick Response................................................................................................................. 22
High Concentration............................................................................................................22
Energy Management.......................................................................................................... 22
Technical Skills..................................................................................................................22
Stress Resistance................................................................................................................22
Research Methods....................................................................................................................23
Product Anatomy & Materials & Manufacturing & Jobs to be Done....................................23
Traditional Mongolian Wrestling Products Anatomy..............................................................23
Modern Wrestling Footwear Anatomy & Manufacturing....................................................... 27
Footwear............................................................................................................................ 27
Upper material preparation and cutting....................................................................... 27
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 3
Assembly of upper and sole.........................................................................................28
Quality Control............................................................................................................ 28
Shin Guard......................................................................................................................... 29
Material Preparation.....................................................................................................29
Assembly of Parts........................................................................................................ 29
Competitor Landscape SWOT Analysis..................................................................................30
Shin Guard SWOT Analysis....................................................................................................34
Jobs to be Done........................................................................................................................35
Footwear & Shin guard......................................................................................................35
Intellectual Property and Patent Landscape.............................................................................36
Trend Analysis..............................................................................................................................40
Color Trends............................................................................................................................ 40
Graphic Trends.........................................................................................................................42
Branding Trends.......................................................................................................................43
Avoidance of Cultural Appropriation...................................................................................... 44
Athlete Insights............................................................................................................................ 49
Mongolian Wrestling Equipment Survey................................................................................ 49
Noteworthy Responses.............................................................................................................50
Insight Takeaways....................................................................................................................53
Travel Research Questions.......................................................................................................54
Manufacturing of traditional products............................................................................... 54
Use of current products......................................................................................................54
Daily training of athletes....................................................................................................54
Methods of Data Collecting & Analysis..................................................................................55
Consultancy & Mentorship.........................................................................................................57
Bokhin Ayin Team................................................................................................................... 57
Stefán Cristobal........................................................................................................................58
Ryan Foust............................................................................................................................... 58
Works Like Prototype & Comparison Test............................................................................... 59
Baseline Product Testing..........................................................................................................59
Ideation & Prototyping............................................................................................................ 60
Upper Construction & Lacing system................................................................................60
Heel Reinforcement & Hook Set & Soles......................................................................... 63
Traction Pattern Swatches & Shin Guard.......................................................................... 66
Final Works Like Prototype Assembling...........................................................................67
Comparison Test...................................................................................................................... 68
Donning & Doffing Test.................................................................................................... 68
Traction Performance Test................................................................................................. 69
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 4
Impact Absorption Performance Test................................................................................ 70
Platform Technology & Branding.............................................................................................. 72
Final Prototype.............................................................................................................................73
Inner and outer hook updates...................................................................................................74
Material and Construction Updates for the Sock Liner........................................................... 75
Pattern Updates........................................................................................................................ 76
Construction and Tooling Design of Outdoor Overshoes........................................................77
Indoor Wrestling shoes and Outdoor Overshoes Outsole Traction Pattern Design.................78
Shin Guard Material and Structure Update..............................................................................81
Final Prototype Making & Assembling................................................................................... 82
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 5
Introduction
As a combat sport with a very long history, wrestling is believed to have originated in the
Sumerian era 5,000 years ago and has various forms and genres in ancient Egypt, ancient Greece,
and ancient Rome (Pierre, n.d.). Among the different genres, Khalkha bökh, or Mongolian
wrestling, is a particular case. Unlike the mainstream form represented by Olympic wrestling, the
sport does not limit the participants' weight, age, or competition time, and even there are no rules
for the wrestling ring (New World Encyclopedia, n.d.). Contemporary Mongolian wrestling
competitions, even professional ones during the Naadam, the most significant traditional festival
in Mongolian culture, are still played on outdoor grass covered with sand and stones. Besides
that, another big difference that separates Mongolian wrestling from contemporary wrestling is
that it falls under the category of jacket wrestling, in which wrestlers wear unique jackets and
belts for gripping to pin down their opponents. For thousands of years, the particular arena and
climatic characteristics have shaped the unique clothing habits of this nation. Bökh wrestlers still
wear almost the same traditional shoes and shin guards as they did in the era of Genghis Khan,
which may have severely limited the athletes’ performance. However, with the gradual process
of specialization and standardization in the era of this sport, we can also see people exploring the
modernization of Mongolian wrestling venues in competitions such as the World Nomad Games
and the Chinese Minority Traditional Sports Games. Unlike the authentic grassland environment,
the wrestling mats of Olympic wrestling, indoor basketball courts with wooden floors, football
turf and green carpets that try to simulate the appearance of grasslands are all battlefields for
modern Mongolian wrestlers.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 6
This paper will define design opportunities by analyzing the development history of
Mongolian wrestling, tracking wrestlers' training and competition behavior, understanding the
peculiarities of the competition environment, and investigating competitive products. This design
innovation project aims to provide an outdoor performance footwear and shin guard set for
Mongolian wrestling's unique arena based on research data, helping wrestlers reduce injuries and
have a better competitive experience.
History
Bökh, meaning wrestling in Mongolian, is a traditional Mongolian sport and
entertainment activity. This sport has existed in Mongolia in many forms for a long history, and
research by historians shows the sport originated 7,000 years ago (New World Encyclopedia,
n.d.).
In ancient times, Mongolian Bökh was called "King Sports" by Mongolian ancestors.
Many legendary Mongolian leaders like Genghis Khan or Khutulhan were outstanding wrestlers.
At the same time, Bökh became one of the primary screening criteria for selecting general sand
officers of ancient Mongolian tribes and was applied to the training of the Mongolian army. In
addition to being popular among kings and armies, Bökh is also a favorite sport of the ancient
Mongolian civilians and nobles and has always played a pivotal and essential role in the
Mongolian people. The government of the last feudal dynasty in China, established by the
Manchus, the Qing Dynasty (1636-1912), frequently held wrestling competitions, during which
the Manchus and Mongolians would compete on the same stage (New World Encyclopedia,
n.d.).
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 7
The word Bökh also means solidarity, solidity, and permanence. Therefore, Mongols
regard wrestling as the most important of the Mongolian "three skills of a man (wrestling, horse
racing, and archery)." wrestling will become one of the main activities for every major festival or
sacrificial event. Mongolia and Inner Mongolia Province in China will hold the biggest
Mongolian traditional festival, the Naadam Festival, every summer. Furthermore, the three sports
mentioned above will be the climax of the whole festival. For a long time, wrestling has always
had an irreplaceable special place in the hearts of Mongolians (男儿三艺系列——搏克-知乎
[Three Skills of a Man Series: Bökh], 2020).
Rules & Regulations
The hallmark of winning a game is trying to get the opponent to touch the ground above
the waist, knees, or elbows. In the rules of Inner Mongolia, if the player's body part other than
the feet touches the ground, it will be judged as a failure. Furthermore, a match often has no
heavyweight, time, or even age limit. Scenes of a child competing with an adult are also typical
during the Naadam festival in Mongolia. At a high level during the Naadam festival, wrestlers'
zasuuls (trainers and field guides) establish a proper grip position between wrestlers and help
them move the game forward when the match is too long. Each wrestler plays once per round,
the winner moves on to the next round, and the loser is eliminated (New World Encyclopedia,
n.d.).
There are subtle differences between Mongolian rules and Inner Mongolian rules. Both
use multiple kinds of throwing techniques, trips, and lifts to bring down opponents. Inner
Mongolia rules allow hand-to-leg contact, and it is legal to use someone else's leg as a focal
point in Mongolia. Knocking, choking, or locking is not permitted in both area.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 8
Environment
The competitive stage of Mongolian wrestling distributes in the vast Mongolian
Manchurian grassland, which has a cold, temperate continental climate with irregular low
precipitation and significant temperature changes. The eastern part has a semi-humid zone and a
semi-arid zone in the west. The temperature difference between day and night usually reaches
more than 10°C (18°F). The Mongolian Manchuria steppe covers most of the inland Asian
plateau, including Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and some other provinces in China. The area
comprises typical steppe, desert steppe, and the Gobi desert, with sporadic alpine grasslands,
sandy land, shrubs, broad-leaved forests, and coniferous forests near the Russian border (Guo et
al., 2021, #).
Wrestling competitions are held any time of the year, and the players' daily training also
includes frequent switching between indoor and outdoor environments. A variety of indoor
surfaces are used to explore the future of Mongolian wrestling amidst the athletes' efforts to
professionalize and standardize the sport. It includes the wooden floor of the basketball court, the
standard Olympic wrestling mat, the turf court for soccer, etc. The outdoor ground is solid soil
covered with gravel and turf most of the year and may be covered with snow or crushed ice in
winter. This project will observe complex local climate characteristics and ground surface
textures and use them as design guidelines to analyze the factors that affect wrestlers' sole
perception and material construction of future innovation.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 9
Figure 1. Mongolian wrestlers competing on multiple types of terrains
Figure 2. Map of Mongolian Manzhouli Grassland Topography and Vegetation Distribution (Guo
et al., 2021, #)
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 10
User & Market
User
The project mainly aims at professional Mongolian wrestlers aged 18-50. They train
regularly indoors for the required on-field performance and compete outdoors in Naadam festival
wrestling events and local tournaments of various sizes. Despite the fact that traditional
Mongolian culture defines wrestling as one of the "three skills of masculinity," with the progress
of this sport and traditional society, there is never a shortage of heroic female wrestlers on the
grassland. It is exciting that two of the three founders of Bokin Ayin, the consulting team for this
project, are outstanding female elite wrestlers. Therefore, the target population of this project
will be the product market for both males and females.
Figure 3. The Variation Types of Users, Products and Environments in Mongolian Wrestling
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 11
Design for Different Genders
Footwear
The main differences between men's and women's shoes are reflected in the following
three aspects:
Shape: Women's shoes are wider at the toes and narrower at the heel than men's shoes
(Every First Step, n.d.).
The weight factor: Since men weigh more than women, the soles of their shoes need to
withstand more impact. Because the midsole of women's shoes carries 15% less weight, the
midsoles of these shoes will be softer and lighter (Every First Step, n.d.).
Q-angle: The Q-angle is the angle of the muscles of the foot, precisely the angle of the
quadriceps around the kneecap. Women have a larger Q-angle due to the fact that women have
more prominent hips than men. Because of this, they require more support and tend to pronate
more. This overpronation could cause women to wear out certain shoe areas (Every First Step,
n.d.).
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 12
Figure 4. Q-Angle in Footwear Design
Market
According to the data in the Fifth Census Report of the National Bureau of Statistics of
China, there are 4,247,815 Mongolians in Inner Mongolia, and 30% of them often participate in
the sport, which means there are 1.3 million potential users in inner Mongolia (National Bureau
of Statistics of China, 2002).
An interesting fact is that the number of wrestlers participating in the Naadam Festival
must be a multiple of 8. In Mongolia's summer Naadam festival, 521 athletes will participate. On
the unique commemorative anniversary festival, the scale of the competition will be expanded to
1024 players participating in 10 knockout rounds, and only one champion will remain in the end.
Design Opportunity & Product Classification
Design Opportunity
As mentioned in previous sections, athletes compete and train in an environment with
variable climatic conditions and complex terrain over a year. The traditional leather boots they
still wear may hinder their advancement.
Modern wrestling requires athletes to compete on cushioned indoor pads in specially
designed wrestling shoes. Wrestling shoes are designed to provide enhanced support and stability
for wrestlers' movements, bring better traction to the soles of the feet to prevent slipping due to
sweat on the field, and ensure users have a barefoot-like experience. In addition, wrestling shoes
can also prevent injuries caused by skin infections and exposed toenails. Since the soft pad in the
indoor arena absorbs the impact of the ground, most professional wrestling shoes usually only
have an outsole and an insole but no midsole made of foam. In addition, the shoe collar adopts a
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 13
high-cut pattern to protect and support the ankle. From the perspective of upper fabrics,
flexibility and breathability are the primary features, and warmth retention does not need to be
specially considered due to the indoor gymnasium environment with a suitable temperature. But
when it comes to open natural terrain, these shoes' thin layers and fragile outsole need more
protection and durability. They will break quickly and make the lower limbs of these tremendous
athletes bear excessive impact forces, and loads can eventually lead to contusions of the ankles
and punctures of the soles of the feet.
Traditional Mongolian leather riding boots are still the only choice for wrestlers today.
Made of cotton, felt, and rawhide, these bulky leather boots have roomy interiors, allowing a
wrestler's feet plenty of room to relax and promote good ventilation before and after bouts.
Wrestlers would use cowhide cords to tie the boot upper to the sole for a better fit and to add
traction to the non-patterned flat leather outsole before getting ready to fight. Shoemakers used
exaggeratedly shaped symmetrical lasts to apply tension to the pattern, which made the boots not
quite fit. In addition, flat soles and lack of ankle support significantly increase the chance of
injury.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 14
Figure 5. Traditional Mongolian shoe lasts (Inner Mongolia Pictorial, 2019)
To avoid bruises and bone injuries from shin impacts and knee strikes, wrestlers wear
leather panels on the lower leg of the boot collar, eventually wrapped with bamboo or wooden
strips for protection. Although these additional components provide users with comprehensive
and customized cushioning, they invisibly increase the load on the legs and sacrifice much
flexibility.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 15
Figure 6. Mongolian wrestling boots with shin/knee guards (New Barag Left Banner Culture,
Tourism and Sports Bureau, 2020)
Golden Circle
Mongolian wrestling is the only type of outdoor jacket wrestling with shoes. This project
will use the consistent approach in my Golden Circle to create innovative, adaptable
high-performance protective outdoor wrestling shoes and apparel for athletes.
Product Classification
Indoor wrestling shoe
Outdoor wrestling overshoe module
Protective shin guards
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 16
Problem Statement
Footwear
Utilizing modern construction & technology, how might we make Mongolian wrestling
boot adaptive to various environments/calf sizes, and provide better performance in stability,
flexibility and traction?
Equipment
How might we update the shin guards with impact-absorbing material that is
lightweight/flexible and integrate them with the wrestling boot?
Professional Statement
The author believes that products and humans should have a symbiotic relationship. To
achieve this ultimate goal, the author will devote himself to designing adaptive high-performance
wearable products by going deep into the user journey and exploring user behavior/cognitive
patterns.
During the development of this and future design projects, the author will organically
integrate his five Clifton Strengths into the entire process. In addition, a high degree of
completion in Capstone will help him demonstrate to the industry my problem-solving and
story-telling skills around design as a graduate of the Sports Product Design program.
Clifton Strengths
The author’s 5 Clifton Strengths are:
● Empathy
● Maximizer
● Includer
● Communication
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 17
● Connectedness (GALLUP. n.d.)
These strengths will help the author efficiently drive innovation at every stage of the
design process. During research and interviews with athletes, Empathy and Includer and
Communication will help him put himself in the shoes of users; capture behavioral details that
are easily overlooked in the user journey; communicate efficiently through interviews and
surveys; and finally, accurately summarize users’ insights to locate critical problems and design
opportunities. When it comes to the conception stage, Connectedness enables the author to use
different products with similar functions as a source of inspiration; Maximizer can push him to
conduct practical sketch divergence and prototype iteration.
Research Studies & Athlete Skills
Bökh wrestling is played almost exclusively among Mongolians as a traditional sport
with vital cultural attributes. There is very little research into the physiology, biomechanics, and
psychology of athletes in this particular genre in the academic field of sports science related to
wrestling. Nevertheless, as mentioned in the rules section, like modern Olympic wrestling,
Mongolian wrestling is still a sport about keeping balance and the opponent off balance. The
most notable difference is in terms of rules. Similarities in movement mechanisms make those
studies on Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling and movement in contemporary wrestling
equally valuable to Mongolian wrestling. In the rest of this section, the research and conclusions
applicable to the Mongolian genre will be selected from the existing research on modern
wrestling, forming an essential reference for later product design.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 18
Physiological Research
Physique and Body Composition
A significant feature of Mongolian wrestling is that the competition does not limit the
weight of the competitors, and the weight of the wrestlers ranges from 60kg to 170kg. The
average weight of professional athletes attending the Naadam festival is about 115kg. However,
for 2010 All Ethnic Mongolian Wrestling Tournament held in Ulan-Ude, Buryatia, Russia, the
organizing committee created two weight classes to divide the competitors: -75kg and +75kg.
(Mongolian Wrestling, n.d.). Mongolian wrestlers' massive physique and weight place extreme
demands on their footwear when competing.
Anaerobic Characteristics
Strength is the maximum ability to output force independent of exercise time and
distance. It depends on the efficiency of the nervous system in mobilizing motor units, the power
of the muscle to expend energy [adenosine triphosphate-creatine triphosphate (ATP-PC)] for
muscle contraction, and the amount (cross-sectional area) of the muscle contraction. Due to its
relationship to cross-sectional area and size, strength is usually analyzed relative to body
weight—the relative strength. The absolute strength of heavier wrestlers is greater than that of
lighter wrestlers; however, the opposite is true for relative strength (Yoon, 2012). When
comparing elite wrestlers to non-professional wrestlers or seasoned wrestlers to novice wrestlers,
more power is better. High muscular endurance in an anaerobic energy system is the general
physiological trait of a senior wrestler. Anaerobic activity is crucially important, as seen from
examining the intensity. In recent years, successful wrestlers' blood lactate concentration has
been utilized to measure their anaerobic strength and capacity (Yoon, 2012).
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 19
Aerobic Characteristics
Aerobic capacity is an essential physical factor determining whether a wrestler can
achieve good results. The VO₂Max of a wrestler capable of attending international competition
is approximately 53 ml/kg/min. During the Seoul Olympics, the typical value for professional
wrestlers was around 60 ml/kg/min. However, this value may occasionally exceed 70 ml/kg/min
(Yoon, 2012).
Figure 7. Summary of peak oxygen uptake (ml/kg/min) (Yoon, 2012)
Regarding pulmonary system function in wrestlers, the average minute ventilation of
their lungs fluctuated between 129 L/min and 156.6 L/min during maximal aerobic exercise.
Wrestlers' lung volume and function are above non-athlete levels but average among other
trained athletes. As a kind of martial art, Mongolian wrestling also requires athletes to have
considerable flexibility. Flexibility refers to the maximum range of motion of an athlete's
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 20
particular joint or joint system during exercise. In addition to helping athletes perform various
movements accurately and quickly, flexibility is an important protection to help them avoid
injury and pain. Surprisingly, the flexibility of wrestlers is not far above the level of ordinary
people. Wrestlers have more muscular shoulder and neck rotation and abduction/adduction than
nonathletes. However, wrist flexibility is below the level of ordinary people (Yoon, 2012).
Biomechanical Research
As mentioned above, Mongolian wrestling has a high degree of consistency with modern
wrestling regarding technical body movements. This project investigates the classification of
movements in modern wrestling and normative standards in different contexts. In general,
wrestling includes 15 movements, divided into four categories according to different wrestling
postures and mechanical movement states. In the par-terre position, the defensive wrestler lies on
his stomach in the center of the ring, with his arms and feet outstretched, and is pressed against
the ground by his opponent. This position does not appear in Mongolian wrestling because the
passive side will be directly judged as a failure. Therefore this scenario will not be considered
part of the analysis (López-González, 2013).
Figure 8. Body Movements Classification (López-González, 2013)
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 21
Strategic techniques are divided into two broad categories, active and reactive, in which they are
subdivided into seven different tactical means. Athletes will quickly decide which method to
attack or defend by judging the competitive situation (López-González, 2013).
Figure 9. Tactical Means classification (López-González, 2013)
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 22
Psychological Research
Quick Response
Wrestling is a sport that produces frequent and intense confrontations in a short time,
which requires athletes to have fast enough reflexes and explosive muscles to switch between
offensive and defensive postures (López-González, 2013).
High Concentration
Due to the limited physical strength of the athletes on both sides, the wrestler will try to
seize any openings in the opponent and knock him to the ground. Therefore, wrestlers must
maintain a high concentration during the competition and analyze the situation information on
the court in time (López-González, 2013).
Energy Management
Since the competition has no time limit. Wrestlers need to develop enough stamina and
use strategic force during the confrontation to avoid exhaustion and loss of balance
(López-González, 2013).
Technical Skills
Field experience and active training are essential for wrestlers to control the game. In
addition, they must learn to form sufficient technical knowledge to be well-prepared for different
attack styles(López-González, 2013).
Stress Resistance
Wrestling involves a fierce psychological confrontation between two athletes. Wrestlers
must withstand the pressure and make judgments when faced with much information
(López-González, 2013).
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 23
Research Methods
In order to obtain more specific and reliable sports data and facts related to professional
Mongolian wrestling, the research will base on the research tools and methods mentioned in the
book "Research Methods for Product Design." (Milton & Rodgers, 2013).
To establish an initial understanding of the current state of the sport as a whole, the
research process began with ethnographic research and shadowing methods. This project will
observe the daily training life of wrestlers and summarize the differences in wrestling experience
in indoor and outdoor environments. The observation will focus on interaction patterns between
users and wearable products and the adaptability of the product to the environment. Information
and data such as images, materials, and behavior patterns will form a database for problem
positioning and design opportunity discovery.
On top of this, athletes will receive product experience-centric questionnaires to provide
in-depth user-perspective competitor analysis and expectations for future designs.
In response to the feedback received from the questionnaire, the project will organize
further user interviews to more intuitively perceive and record users' positive and negative
emotions in the process of using the product to clearly define the real needs of athletes and the
design basis.
Product Anatomy & Materials & Manufacturing & Jobs to be Done
Traditional Mongolian Wrestling Products Anatomy
In contemporary times, Mongolian wrestlers wear modern shoes to train indoors on
wrestling mats but still wear traditional Mongolian leather boots for official competitions
outdoors. In this section, this project will research and analyze the styles, hand-made process,
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 24
and composition of conventional Mongolian boots to understand the needs and experiences of
the wearers.
Wrestlers' leather boots have two styles: Inner Mongolian and Mongolian styles. Most
athletes wear Mongolian boots that have upturned tips. Because Inner Mongolian rules allow
athletes to sweep their legs to attack the opponent's lower body, the Inner Mongolian style has a
rounded toe section, which allows for more rapid leg movements (Pulido, 2021). In addition, a
loose upper fit allows more airflow to keep wrestlers cool on hot summer days. When the game
starts, athletes wrap durable leather straps around the boots to tighten around the ankle and instep
for traction and more fitness.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 25
Figure 10. Inner Mongolian Style Boot and Straps
Figure 11. Mongolian Style Wrestling Boot and Components
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 26
The artisans mainly handcraft the upper and wear-resistant outsole from raw cowhide,
then install them with the midsole composed of felt and cotton layers (MNB WORLD, 2020).
Figure 12. Making Process of Mongolian Style Wrestling Boot (MNB WORLD, 2020)
Mongolian wrestling is a form of jacket wrestling or belt-and-jacket wrestling. Both sides
will try to grab the other's sleeves and collar edges or waistbands to gain control and eventually
throw or trip the other to lose balance (New World Encyclopedia, n.d.).
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 27
Modern Wrestling Footwear Anatomy & Manufacturing
Footwear
As mentioned in the Design Opportunities section above, modern indoor wrestling shoes'
design follows a minimalist, lightweight design, and the main components and production
processes are no different from mainstream sports shoes. Key components include a breathable
and mobile high-cut upper, sewn and glued to a thin outsole for traction. The collar that can be
tightened and the heel/toe reinforcement between the upper and the lining provide sufficient
ankle support and long-lasting protection for athletes. The cushions used in wrestling or the dojo
mats laid in some training gyms have replaced the function of the shoe midsole. A single layer of
EVA foam insole is placed over the footbed for comfort. It is a pity that State-of-the-art products
related to the ancient sport of wrestling have not seen remarkable innovations in materials and
manufacturing in recent years. Even Nike, which has always been known for its bold
innovations, only uses Flyknit technology on the Nike TAWA wrestling shoes launched in 2020.
The Flyknit knitted upper can provide a variety of required tension and breathing capabilities in
different areas (NIKE, 2020). However, it has received few positive reviews since it was on the
market. Materials like suede, engineered mesh, and classic rubber outsoles seem more reliable
options for wrestlers. This nostalgic market may also be why products in this category are
hesitant to promote innovation.
Upper material preparation and cutting
Rolls of various shoe upper materials are transported to the factory. These natural,
synthetic fabrics or polymers are cut into required shapes of different sizes by stamping dies. The
notch cut at the edge of the corresponding position can guide the workers to align and assemble
the patterns of different layers in the later stage. In the case of wrestling shoes, the thin outsole is
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 28
also die-cut from a large piece of rubber and then put into a mold to create the traction pattern
(How Products are Made, n.d.).
Assembly of upper and sole
Components such as toe reinforcements, heel counters, and tongues are assembled with
stitches and glue to create a flattened upper. The finished upper is heated and stretched to fit on
the last. The stamping machine will cut the eyelets on top of the eyestay. The workers will then
use a Strobel machine to sew the upper with a paper fiberboard called a lasting board and then
glue it to the outsole, and a pair of shoes will take shape (How Products are Made, n.d.).
Quality Control
Finished shoes are tested at the factory using an inspection process developed by the
Shoe and Allied Trades Research Association. Factory inspectors will check the shoes for
incorrect stitching, loose glue, or deformities. After the defective products are screened, the
shoes are packaged and sent to the market and warehouse (How Products are Made, n.d.).
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 29
Figure 13. Modern wrestling shoe anatomy (Motawi, 2018, #)
Shin Guard
In combat sports such as MMA, kickboxing, or Muay Thai that emphasize kicking
attacks, shin guards are essential for athletes. Although the leg-sweeping movements in
Mongolian wrestling are not as violent as the kicks in the above-mentioned martial arts, these
products can still be used as inspiration for the design (How Products are Made, n.d.).
Shin guards are mainly composed of multiple gel or foam cushioning layers inside, outer
fabric or polyurethane leather backing/shell, and strap loops. The preferred strap material is
Velcro for quick adjustment and donning by the athlete. These parts are assembled by sewing or
heat pressing (How Products are Made, n.d.).
Material Preparation
A hot die-cutting machine will cut the polyurethane sheets into the shape of backing and
shell. Gel or EVA foam for cushioning can be die-cut or cast-molded into more organic shapes to
fit users’ legs.
Assembly of Parts
Polyurethane backing and shell will be assembled together by sewing or heat pressing
with layers of gel/foam cushioning and velcro straps in the middle.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 30
Figure 14. Modern martial arts shin guard anatomy
Competitor Landscape SWOT Analysis
As mentioned in the previous section, Mongolian wrestlers only have Inner Mongolian
and Outer Mongolian style boots to choose from, and there are no other traditional shoe
competitors on the market. Except for the shape of the outsole, the material production and
processing of the two are precisely the same. Most of the shin guards used by Mongolian
wrestlers are self-made or in the form of hard leather plates extended on the inner bootie. The
SWOT analysis of this will be included in the footwear part.
The main baseline product of this project will only be traditional Mongolian leather
boots, but contemporary wrestling shoes will also be analyzed as benchmarking products to
provide performance reference for future designs.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 31
Figure 15. Traditional Mongolian wrestling boots
Figure 16. ASICS Aggressor wrestling shoe (ASICS, 2022)
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 32
Figure 17. ADIDAS adiZero wrestling shoe (ADIDAS, 2022)
Figure 18. NIKE Tawa wrestling shoe (NIKE, 2022)
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 33
Figure 19. NIKE Hypersweep wrestling shoe (NIKE, 2022)
Figure 20. RUDIS Sole Covers (RUDIS, 2022)
RUDIS is an exception among all competitors. Since wrestlers have a variety of venues
for daily training, the one-piece overshoe designed by the RUDIS team can save time for
changing shoes and avoid damage to or from different kinds of mats (RUDIS, 2022).
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 34
Shin Guard SWOT Analysis
Figure 21. Fairtex Competition Muay Thai shin guards
Figure 22. Yokkao Matrix Muay Thai shin guards
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 35
Figure 23. Venum Elite shin guards
Jobs to be Done
To bring down the opponent in the shortest possible time, Mongolian wrestling includes
intense hand fighting, foot movements, and sweeps. In addition, this sport's unique terrain and
climate characteristics require all innovative product components to work together. Some
potentially critical jobs to be done would be:
Footwear & Shin guard
Shoe last Adjust the shape for Asian foot characteristics
Upper Ankle support and protection.
Utilize breathable, softer, and more elastic
materials.
Flexibility in bending areas.
High tolerance for different calf sizes.
Secure the inner bootie to the boot at certain
points.
Tongue Apply gusseted construction to resist the sand
and stones lifted by the sole from falling into
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 36
the shoe.
Lacing system Easy-to-adjust tighten/loosen.
Apply laces/straps with enhanced durability.
Be located away from the contact surface of
the sweeping leg movements.
Midsole Sufficient energy absorption capacity.
Eliminate discomfort from possible stones on
the sole of the shoe.
Insole Arch support.
Shape differently for more support and
overpronation for female users.
Outsole High durability.
Optimize the edge of the outsole to offer
multidimensional traction.
Shin guard Easy-to-adjust strap system.
Lightweight.
Flexibility at pinch points.
Integrate with wrestling shoes as a whole.
Intellectual Property and Patent Landscape
Wrestling shoe assembly that includes an auxiliary overshoe
(U.S. Patent No.: US 9,173,448 B1, 2015)
This patent, published by Eric Knoblauch, contains a specially designed overshoe
accessory for wrestling shoes. Wrestlers can wear overshoes with padded midsoles over
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 37
wrestling shoes without a cushioning structure, allowing them to train on softer surfaces without
changing shoes. The overshoe's surface precisely engages the wrestling shoe's outer contour and
provides enhanced fit and traction (Knoblauch, 2015).
Wrestling shoe with separated outer soles
(U.S. Patent No.: US 7,325,336 B2 2008)
This patent was published by Yoshio Yamashita, Hidenori Yamashita, and Yasuhiro
Morikawa. The design is for a wrestling shoe with a separated outsole developed by Asics. The
outsole of the forefoot and heel portion protrudes more than the outer surface of the arch to
support the front and rear feet when contacting the court floor. Laminated cushioning material is
added to the inside near the arch to help absorb the reaction force of the ground (Yamashita et al.,
2008).
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 38
Wrestling shoe with textile on toe cap
(U.S. Pub. No.: US 2016/0242500 A1)
This patent, published by Elizabeth Langvin and Nadia Panian, demonstrates a process
for manufacturing a toe reinforcement part. The reinforcing parts can be manufactured integrally
with the outsole of the wrestling shoe. After the elastic upper and outsole are integrally molded, a
layer of fibers in the form of a mesh is glued to the outer surface of the toe cap under sufficient
temperature and pressure conditions. The elastic material near the reinforcing part will be cured.
This area allows for better durability when the wrestler's toes rub against the ground (Langvin &
Panian, 2016).
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 39
Martial Arts Shin Guard
(U.S. Pub. No.: US 2014/0215678 A1, 2014)
This patent was invented by Eric A. Greenbaum. It covers a two-piece shin guard and
martial arts sock system. On the outer surface of the socks, there are connection points
corresponding to the inside of the shin guards. The two fixing methods of velcro and straps can
make the shin guards fit better on the calf and instep. The specially cut sock shape precisely
matches the contours of the shin guard, allowing for more flexibility (Greenbaum, 2014).
Protective Article
(U.S. Patent No.: US 2008/0120756 A1, 2008)
This patent, invented by Steven H. Shepherd, covers a three-piece martial arts shin guard.
This product mainly comprises a shin protection pad, a midfoot protection pad, and a toe
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 40
protection pad. The tibia part is fixed on the user's lower leg with straps; the midfoot and toe part
is equipped with elastic straps for the user to step on to ensure mobility (Shepherd, 2008).
Mixed martial arts shin guard and detachable training calf pad
(U.S. Pub. No.: US 2022/0040556 A1, 2022)
This patent, invented by Nabih Barakat, covers a solution that adds EVA or silicon calf
cushioning to standard shin guards to prevent back attacks. The calf guard can also be used
independently after being detached from the main shin guard (Barakat, 2022).
Trend Analysis
Color Trends
This project will focus on providing a series of modern performance equipment for a
traditional minority sport. The aesthetic elements displayed through color, graphics, and
branding will try to retain cultural symbols moderately while adding changes that are more in
line with the trend. The classic Mongolian boots are made of durable natural leather and felt.
Rich and warm earth tones are the perfect base color for the raw strength and earthy solidity of
the sport. On top of this, Mongolian traditional costumes are also keen to use high-saturation
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 41
colors to show herdsmen's vigorous vitality and enthusiasm. Wrestlers wear necklaces called
Jangga, which symbolize their rank, decorated with colorful ribbons representing the number of
victories. Bold and bright red, yellow, green, and blue are also used as accent colors to place on
the technology area of the product that needs to be emphasized (Bokhin Ayin, n.d.).
In the color forecast 24/25 A/W report of WGSN, the high-contrast vibrant colors
coincide with the palette of traditional Mongolian products. These exciting and high-profile
colors will be used as the embellishment colors of this project (Kostiak, 2022).
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 42
Graphic Trends
As mentioned above, nomadic life and nature worship are the core of Mongolian culture.
Mongolian wrestling competitions are still played on the most primitive grass outdoors. In
addition to being a sport, Mongolian wrestling can also be seen as a form of training for herders
to practice their survival skills in subduing livestock such as sheep, which contains ancient
survival philosophies. For the printing graphic design of this project, camouflage patterns in the
natural landscape will be selected to create the impression of grassland. The calming curves and
swirling lines drawn from the organically flowing landscape contours also reflect the serene and
timeless side of the sport.
On traditional leather products, the maker will cut out a hollow structure imitating the
multi-curved, interlaced, and geometrically beautiful national patterns and then embed colorful
decorative pieces as the background to set off the pattern (Gerelee, 2020). This project will try to
combine future pattern designs with this craft to ensure cultural inheritance and innovation.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 43
Branding Trends
In current products, artisans will emboss patterns or signatures representing personal
brands on the hard leather badge on the back of the jacket and boot decorations. In recent years,
deconstructed and reconstructed logo design printing has become mainstream. The classic
pattern is recreated by means of repetition, gradient, and contrast through the principle of plane
composition, which brings a new look and feels to the brand image. At the same time, since the
advent of the first generation of Airmax running shoes, sports companies have been using a
high-profile way to intuitively present the technology used in the product to users. For example,
design dedicated fonts and flat icons for different technologies to improve recognition or cut
small windows on the outsole to guide users to feel how soft the midsole cushioning material is
with their fingers. These practices provide marketing topics and make it easier for brands to
spread.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 44
Avoidance of Cultural Appropriation
Since the research object of this project has a strong connection with the culture of a
specific ethnic minority, it is very important to prevent the problem of cultural appropriation
during the design process. According to the explanation of Wikipedia's definition of cultural
appropriation:
Cultural appropriation is the inappropriate or unacknowledged adoption of an element or
elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity. This can be
controversial when members of a dominant culture appropriate from minority cultures
(Shriver, n.d.).
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 45
This project will follow the 5 Ways to Avoid Cultural Appropriation for design
mentioned in “How to Avoid Cultural Appropriation & Promote Cultural Awareness Instead”
(Culture Vulture, n.d.).
Research the Culture
Avoid the Sacred
Don’t Stereotype
Promote Diversity
Engage, Promote & Share Benefits
This project investigates Mongolian motifs that may be used for inspiration in the graphic and
branding design process, and sacred graphics with religious attributes will be avoided. Some
common graphics that are often used in people's daily life and have other rich connotations
include (Gerelee, 2020):
Ulzii pattern – Represents the growth of
knowledge, wealth, happiness and good
karma
Horn pattern – Symbolizes growth of
livestock and happiness of nomadic people
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 46
Hammer pattern – Represents endless motion
and eternal life
Khorol pattern – Represents sturdiness
Tumen nast or eternal age pattern –
Represents unending eternal happiness of the
people
King bracelet and queen carriage – Represents
loyalty and eternal love of husband and wife.
Wedding rings in Mongolia have these
patterns
Fish pattern – Represents good deed, cheerful
and resourceful attitude
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 47
Patterns of lions, tigers, dragons and garuda–
Represents spirit of a man, power, knowledge
and good deed
Flower pattern – Represents eternal peace and
happiness
Water pattern – Represents happiness and
evergrowth of livestock
Cultural appropriation occurs when cultural imagery and materials are removed from their
cultural context and used in ways they were never intended. For example, a dress from the
high street brand Top Shop featuring a graphic of a Palestinian black and white scarf was
withdrawn because the graphic represented the culture's history of suffering.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 48
The core difference from the above-mentioned typical cultural appropriation cases is that the
starting point of this project comes from Mongolian culture, and the final submitted product still
serves Mongolian wrestling itself. This project does not conceal the fact that the aesthetic
elements used come from Mongolian culture, which means that no cultural imagery is removed
from their cultural context and used in ways they were never intended. These graphics and colors
aim to preserve and celebrate this traditional culture on innovative products and even enhance
the world’s awareness of this culture. A typical case with a similar positioning as this project is
the Shaolinquan kung fu shoes launched by Nike during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. In
this pair of shoes, Nike uses the classic color palette and traditional cloud patterns in Chinese
culture to convey the aesthetics of this Chinese martial art (Culture Vulture, n.d.).
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 49
Athlete Insights
Mongolian Wrestling Equipment Survey
17 professional wrestlers from Inner Mongolia participated in the questionnaire survey,
and 15 valid responses were returned.
What brands and models of wrestling shoes are you wearing during training
indoors?
Do you wear one-piece shoes or split-sole shoes?
Do you wear modern wrestling shoes outdoors?
How does it feel when wrestling in traditional boots?
Will outdoor ground cause severe wear and tear to your boots?
What training shoe is your favorite and least favorite?
Where do you think the traditional boot needs to be improved?
Material
Lacing system
Volume
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 50
Other
Where do you think the traditional products need to be maintained?
Material
Lacing system
Volume
Have you ever hurt yourself with traditional equipment (boots, jackets, or pants)?
Does Mongolia's weather affect your Experience wearing traditional gear?
What aspects of shoes do you think affect a wrestler's performance?
Stability
Durability
Fitness
Flexibility
Breathability
Difficulty of adjustment
Noteworthy Responses
Survey Respondents Provided Valuable Insights and Feedback on Training Habits,
Traditional Product Experience, and Expectations for Innovation. Users’ perceptions of
traditional products, product damage characteristics, usage habits, and injuries will provide a
reliable data basis for the later stage of design ideation and iterations.
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Insight Takeaways
Wrestlers train in modern wrestling shoes and change to traditional boots outdoors.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 54
Wrestlers tried to wear modern shoes outside, but these shoes lack shin protection and
cushioning and end up breaking easily.
Wrestlers wear soccer shin guards in training.
The traditional wrestling boot slips on artificial grass.
Fit, traction, ankle support, and lightweight are primary features wrestlers value.
Wrestlers are expecting for new products.
Wrestlers are promoting the professionalization of the Mongolian Wrestling League.
The process of putting a felt sock liner over a modern sock and putting on a boot and tying the
straps is time consuming.
Wrestlers, even professional ones, go back to their own life after game seasons.
Travel Research Questions
Manufacturing of traditional products
How do traditional materials feel?
What is the performance of the functional components they are using?
Which parts are outdated, and which parts can be preserved and innovated?
Use of current products
What are the characteristics of different terrains that affect wrestlers' footwork?
Where do traditional wrestling shoes get worn and damaged?
How different seasonal weather can affect a wrestler's wearing experience?
How different seasonal weather can affect the feeling of leather products?
Daily training of athletes
How do modern wrestling shoes fit Mongolians’ feet?
What modern wrestling shoes do athletes wear while training indoors and why?
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 55
Will wrestlers do anything to improve the wearing experience of traditional wrestling
shoes?
Methods of Data Collecting & Analysis
Based on the wear pattern database established by using photos, this project will evaluate
where the product is frequently damaged and summarize its reasons, providing a reliable
reference for material selection and product composition.
On the basis of the athlete's movement pattern database established by the motion capture
camera, this project will combine the existing research on the general wrestling physiology,
biomechanics, and psychology mentioned above to observe the athlete's experience of using the
product in a deeper level, and conclude Potential user needs that are easily overlooked. Motion
capture will be performed through the XSENS application in the IOS system, and the built-in
lidar scanner in the smartphone can create 3D representations of close-range objects (up to 5 m
away). Motion capture data can replay 3D actions in stereo space whenever needed. Some visual
blind spots that may not be observed in 2D video materials can also be recorded. On top of that,
the 2D video will also be recorded at the same time to complement each other with the 3D
mannequin data.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 56
In order to allow future shoes to have a better fit, the foot size data of Mongolian
wrestlers established through 3D scanning technology will be used to develop shoe lasts that are
more suitable for this population. The scanning is completed on the smartphone through the 3D
scanning application Polycam, which can upload dozens of photos taken continuously by the
user around the scanned object to the cloud processor, and then send the high-precision model
back to the smartphone. The overall time takes about 10 minutes. Afterward, the foot model file
database is imported into the 3D modeling software Rhino or Gravity Sketch. A shoe last tailored
to the target group will be built from these data.
Photos and video data obtained through on-site interviews will be analyzed and made into
a user experience map. The ups and downs of positive/negative emotions accompanying each
touch point of the user's interaction with the product will be recorded and visualized. The project
will study how products can innovate at each touchpoint to stimulate positive emotions and
eliminate negative emotions.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 57
Consultancy & Mentorship
Bokhin Ayin Team
Bokhin Ayin is an online community website for Mongolian wrestling enthusiasts
founded by American wrestlers Lavell Marshall, Ariela Pulido-Westlake, and Inner Mongolian
local wrestler Oyuntana Tongshnar. They spread and promote Mongolian culture and wrestling
to the world by reporting wrestling news and journals and selling local clothing and utensils to
the international market. Performance Footwear and Apparel Design for Mongolian Wrestling.
Bokhin Ayin team was founded and run by elite Mongolian wrestlers who have close ties
to the local athlete community and manufacturers of wrestling supplies. These connections will
provide the project with a large number of expert-level interviewees, valuable insights and
feedback, access to local suppliers and designers, and a unique understanding of the competition
environment and climate.
The Bokhin Ayin team can meet me in person during field trip research and meet online
monthly.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 58
Stefán Cristobal
Stefán is an experienced footwear designer who has worked at Nike for eight years and is
an alumnus of the University of Oregon in the Product Design program. He designs in the Nike
Kids department, focusing on hands-free/easy-on innovation, skateboarding, and Airmax.
Stefán’s work content and process highly align with the structure of the industry standard
design process required by this project. His job is project-based, so he is at different points of the
design process depending on the footwear category he is working on. His job could include
researching, inspiration gathering, sketching, prototyping, rendering, tech packing, and revisions.
Stefán’s professional perspective and experience will significantly support this project. At
the same time, his insight into easy-to-wear and take-off products will bring valuable input to
this project regarding adaptive apparel and footwear design.
Stefán can critique the project monthly online and provide feedback by email anytime.
Ryan Foust
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 59
Ryan is a footwear designer with a rich experience in the outdoor footwear industry. He
has worked for LaCrosse Footwear Incorporated and KEEN as a senior footwear designer and is
now the lead footwear designer and developer for Bass Pro Shops. In 2020 he founded his own
brand Trail United to create innovative footwear combining hiking performance with casual city
style.
I believe that Ryan's rich experience in outdoor shoe design can bring much valuable
inspiration to this project's research on outdoor wrestling products.
Ryan can meet with me monthly in person or online and provide feedback by email
anytime.
Works Like Prototype & Comparison Test
Baseline Product Testing
Baseline product testing objectives for this program will focus on the donning and doffing times
of the wrestling shoe, the traction performance of the outsole, and the impact absorption of the
shin guard. As mentioned above, based on the fact that the user's personal favorite shoes in an
indoor environment include traditional leather boots, regular wrestling shoes, running shoes,
vulcanized shoes, and even casual shoes, the baseline products are only traditional Mongolian
boots and shin guards. A video recording of the whole process of an elite wrestler wearing
traditional Mongolian boots will be compared with the design prototype to show the
simplification of the overall steps and the reduction of time spent by the design concept.
To keep the variables under control, a laminated swatch with the same structure as the
Mongolian boot was used to simulate the outsole of a leather boot. The swatch is also wrapped
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 60
with a leather strap that increases the outsole's traction. The cross-sectional area of the baseline
product swatch and the design prototype is 10cm x 10cm.
Based on the same principle, shin guards made of wooden strips with the same shape as the
design prototype will also be used to simulate a homemade baseline product wrestlers use.
Wooden shin guards will be used to test impact absorption performance against design
prototypes.
The test results and process will be compared and presented in the prototyping section later.
Ideation & Prototyping
Upper Construction & Lacing system
In the first stage of ideation, sketches and prototypes of the footwear focus on how the lacing
system tightens in key locations for ankle support, better comfort, and a wider range of size
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 61
tolerance while retaining the silhouette of a classic wrestling boot. Adjustability and ease of
operation are also important basis for the easy donning & doffing feature.
After communicating with the instructors, the final solution used a double-lacing system. The
upper built-in lace is distributed on the instep through a preset pattern to provide even
compression. The second lace will pass through the loops left by the built-in laces at the heel,
arch, and forefoot anchors, and the ends will be joined at the heel by the lace toggle. When
pulled back by the user, the shortened portion of the second lace on the upper pulls the built-in
lace down to tighten the entire shoe and is eventually secured to the heel by the toggle.
Since Mongolian wrestling includes kicking attack techniques, the final design decision was to
place the closure at the heel and add a heel tongue structure to the inner lining to have a clean
upper. The opening at the heel will adapt to the change in the size of the user's calf to adjust the
opening and closing scale.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 62
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Heel Reinforcement & Hook Set & Soles
On the basis of establishing the design of the lacing system, the goal of ideation in the second
stage is to develop heel reinforcement parts, shoelace fixing parts, and the form of indoor outsole
+ outdoor overshoe that cooperate with shoelaces.
The heel reinforcement part is inspired by the highback structure of the snowboard binding
system. A piece of molded TPU that is similar to the contour of the heel tongue covers the heel
closure. The two laces can be threaded through the holes in this part to secure it by pulling it taut
over the Achilles tendon.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 64
To secure the laces to the upper, a special set of lace hooks was developed and tested. The
biggest challenge in this part is how to fix the overshoe at the same point and keep the
adjustability of the original system under the premise that the position of the shoelace fixing
point has been determined. The final lace hook set resembles the metal hooks commonly found
on outdoor hiking boots. Unlike shoe eyelets, the user can remove or hook the shoelaces at any
time through the opening of the hook to adjust the fit. The kit contains one inner hook and one
outer hook. Two hooks work in a nested structure, and their complementary shapes allow them to
be combined into the same hook. The inner hook is attached to the upper to provide the lace
attachment point, while the outer hook is part of the overshoe. When the user needs to wear
overshoes, he or she only needs to remove the shoelace from the inner hook, put on the overshoe,
pop the inner hook into the outer hook, and hook the shoelace again to restore the entire lacing
system. The whole process does not require taking off the shoes or pulling out the shoelaces.
The contour of the indoor and outsole echoes the position of the inner hook, while a gap is
formed at the toe for better forefoot flexibility. The overshoe design at this stage did not take
tooling into consideration and was mainly devoted to determining the contour and testing the
usability of the inner and outer hook system.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 65
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Traction Pattern Swatches & Shin Guard
Three different basic traction patterns (circle, square, and hexagon) are distributed with the same
density on a square plate of the same size as the baseline product swatch, and the size of the
gradient is adjusted through the attractor points in parametric modeling software grasshopper to
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 67
simulate the final outsole design. The 3D model was finally printed using TPU filament for
testing.
Using the same method, a similar hexagonal pattern was applied to the shin guards. The path
drawn in Rhino will guide the laser cutter to cut grooves in the Poron Xrd foam so that it can be
easily bent to fit the shin curve.
Final Works Like Prototype Assembling
The upper of the final works like prototype mainly consists of three layers. The first layer is an
elastic lining with a heel tongue, and the thickened foam of the heel part at the cuboid can lock
the heel better. The stretchy material provides a great fit and isolates the instep from the built-in
laces to eliminate the discomfort of being cut. The middle layer is the first shell of the upper and
is sewn together with the lining and collar to hold it in place. The outermost shell is made of
durable Ripstop fabric and Cordura fabric with DWR coating. The shape of the pattern refers to
the minimalist four-piece construction used in traditional Mongolian boots. The instep of the
outer shell creates a larger cavity than the inner shell for inserting the shin guard module. Finally,
the three layers are sewn on the same piece of strobel board and assembled with the outsole
through shoe glue.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 68
The heel reinforcement parts, indoor and outdoor soles, and outdoor overshoes mentioned above
are all printed with TPU filaments with rubber-like properties. The shoelace hook kit that
requires stronger rigidity is printed with PETG filaments.
Comparison Test
Donning & Doffing Test
As mentioned above, the test of the easy donning & doffing feature of this project is to compare
the time and steps of putting on and taking off the baseline product and the prototype. An expert
user (master Huhe from bokhinayin team) was asked to record and time the overall process of
putting on Mongolian leather boots. The test results are as follows:
Baseline Product Prototype
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 69
00:10 Felt sock liner 00:05 Loose the whole shoe
00:21 Sock liner lacing 00:09 Step in
01:15 Liner reinforcement 00:12 Fasten the lace
01:31 Put on the boot 00:13 Insert the shinguard
03:00 Ankle reinforcement 00:20 Unhook the lace
03:03 Overall fit adjustment 00:22 Step in the overshoe
00:26 Attach the hook set
00:31 Fasten the lace
An elite wrestler took 3 minutes to don a traditional leather boot, compared with 30 seconds for a
prototype. The overall speed is 600% before the design.
Traction Performance Test
Traction performance tests were conducted outdoors on grass. The test object is connected to the
dynamometer through a wire, and the tester pulls the dynamometer and records the maximum
static friction force when the test object produces sliding displacement through a slow-motion
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 70
camera. The wire remains parallel to the ground throughout the test, and the two ends of the
dynamometer are on the same line as the wire. Each test subject carried the same weight to
obtain the same vertical pressure. The test results are as follows:
Baseline Product 13.2 N
Prototype A (circular pattern) 18.6 N
Prototype B (square pattern) 20.2 N
Prototype C (hexagon pattern) 21.8 N
The traction performance of the prototype is 65.2% better than the baseline product.
Impact Absorption Performance Test
Ball bearing tests were conducted to test the impact absorption capabilities of the baseline shin
guards and prototypes. The metal ball was released at the same height to impact the shin guards
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 71
lying flat, and the height at which the ball bounced was indicative of the impact absorption
properties of the test subject. Test results are as follows:
Baseline Product 81.0 mm
Prototype 30.5 mm
The impact absorption performance of the prototype is 62.3% better than the baseline product.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 72
Platform Technology & Branding
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 73
Final Prototype
Based on the feedback on the work like prototype received at the end of the winter term, Work
for the fall semester will focus on the following:
Inner and outer hook set material, structure and reorientation of position;
Material and construction updates for the sock liner layer;
Pattern updates for specially crafted high top wrestling lasts sponsored by Jones & Vining;
Construction and tooling design of outdoor wrestling overshoes;
Indoor wrestling shoes and outdoor overshoes outsole traction pattern design;
Shin guard material and structure update.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 74
Inner and outer hook updates
Based on the feedback given by the consulting team, the construction of the shoelace hook
directly installed on the outer surface of the shoe upper adopted in the previous scheme may
cause discomfort when kicking. After multiple rounds of 3D printing tests, the prototype material
of the Hook set was updated from a hard resin material to a more flexible Ninjatek Cheetah TPU
material. The overall structure has also become smaller and can be sewn directly on the surface
of the fabric through the groove design.
At the same time, to improve the shoelace system's compression efficiency, the inner hooks are
relocated to the innermost sock liner layer. When the shoelace is tightened, the shoelace hook
will be lifted together with the bottom of the liner to wrap the user's foot tightly.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 75
Material and Construction Updates for the Sock Liner
The sock liner material used in the previous prototype was updated from rib knit to neoprene for
better multi-directional elasticity and comfort. On this basis, the inner hooks sewn on the liner
will pass through the corresponding openings on the middle and outer shell layers for shoelace
installation. The shell layer made of Cordura fabric adds open cell foam padding to make the
outer surface and the inner hook sewn on the liner at the same height and eliminate the
discomfort of the instep when kicking to attack.
Unlike the first-stage prototype, the sock liner in the final prototype is sewn onto a separate layer
of strobel board, rather than using the same board as the other two layers. This allows the sole of
the sock liner to be pulled up for better contraction when the laces are tightened.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 76
Pattern Updates
A pair of specially designed high-top wrestling lasts funded by Jones & Vining were used to
create the final pattern and prototype. The updated last is scanned as a digital 3D file and
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 77
imported into 3D software platforms such as Rhino and Gravity Sketch as a reference for tooling.
Construction and Tooling Design of Outdoor Overshoes
After multiple rounds of sketches and 3D ideation, the construction of the overshoe adopts a
three-layer design: the traction outsole with outdoor performance; the EVA midsole with
cushioning performance; the TPU cage that surrounds the midsole and the outsole combined
with outer hooks.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 78
Indoor Wrestling shoes and Outdoor Overshoes Outsole Traction Pattern Design
The design of the outsole of indoor shoes uses the method of parametric design. In Rhino's
Grasshopper modeling platform, attractors are placed at the rotation and center of gravity points
of the wrestler's foot: the five toes, the ball of the foot and the heel. The resulting pattern of
concentric circles and magnetic field lines spreading outward from a central point helps the user
eliminate friction in the tangential direction of rotation and provide traction in the normal
direction.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 79
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 80
The traction pattern of the overshoe outsole is made up of multiple gripping units. The shape of
the traction unit is a triangular prism with an inclined upper surface. When moving, the sharp
edge at one end can efficiently break into the outdoor ground. The steeper flat on the other end
allows for gripping when planted in the ground. The traction units are distributed in opposite
directions according to the push and pull zones of the forefoot and heel. This allows the user to
slide quickly in the direction needed to push or pull when the sole hits the ground but grip in the
opposite direction for traction.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 81
Shin Guard Material and Structure Update
The final material for the shin guards ended up being D3O Aero for Defense foam. The structure
adopts an auxetic structure that can be extended in multiple directions to ensure that the module
can be dynamically stretched with the movement of the athlete when assembled.
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 82
Final Prototype Making & Assembling
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 83
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Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 85
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 86
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 87
Footwear and Shin Guards Design for Male & Female Mongolian Wrestling 88
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