Tale of Warrior

Do you know? Warriors Sport had made a deal with Liverpool FC, replacing their current sponsor, Adidas. You don't know? You don't care? Well, I reckon you won't, unless you're a LFC supporter. But anyway, this inconsequential piece of news reminded of something. A different kind of Warrior. Warrior shoes, to be precise.

Now, if you happened to go to public schools in Bandung in the '90s, I'm sure you would know what those are. Warrior shoes were the select regulation shoes at that time. They were cheap, they were made in China, and by God how I used to hate them. They had too many eyelets, their green insoles made your white socks (yes, only white socks were allowed) all grenish, and after a week of use they would definitely let wetness seep in from underneath--which is why Warriors were hardly the shoes of choice for angkot-taking school children in a relatively wet city in a tropical country.

The (in)famous Warrior Shoes

The funny thing was, school regulation didn't actually necessitate the use of that particular brand, but rather, a specific style--black high-tops canvas shoes. A couple of school mates ended up wearing New Balance or Converse, which were maybe five times more expensive than Warrior. Completely defeats the purpose, methinks.

Anyway, if someone were to ask me to pick out regulation shoes, I'd choose Chinmi shoes, or kung-fu shoes, or whatever it is that you call them. They're Chinese, too, and really cool. Okay, so they let water in as well, but at least Bruce Lee wore them. What more can you ask?