Patent ID: 7971374

Claim:
An apparatus for use in footwear and the like, the apparatus comprising a shoe body having a sole, an upper portion and a forward portion and adapted to be worn on the foot of a user having movable toes and a ball of the foot on the underside of the foot adjacent to said movable toes; a first housing on the forward portion of the shoe body dimensioned to receive one of said movable toes, said first housing being an extension of said forward portion of the shoe body and said sole; a second housing mounted on the forward portion of the shoe body dimensioned to receive the remainder of said movable toes, the second housing being an extension of said forward portion of the shoe body and said sole, and the first housing and the second housing being separated from each other by a channel so that the first housing and second housing are movable relative to each other and the shoe body; and spikes mounted on the underside of said sole of said first housing and said second housing on opposite sides of the channel and a plurality of spikes mounted on the underside of said sole beneath said ball of the foot and wherein the sole beneath said first housing and said second housing is of less thickness than the thickness of the remainder of said sole to facilitate movement of the first housing and the second housing permitting the user to move the first housing and said second housing independently of each other and said plurality of plurality of spikes mounted on the underside of said sole beneath said ball of the foot under the impetus of the movable toes of the users foot therein to control the grip thereof and the application of said spikes.