Athletic sandals and running sandals have only recently made a comeback in modern times. We all seem to have forgotten that humans relied on sandals for thousands of years! From marathon-running (and inventing) Greeks to warrior Romans to Inuit peoples to Japanese samurai - sandals used to be made as more than "flip-flops". In modern times, cheap manufacturing processes and off-shoring have led to a perception of sandals as only something for relaxing in.Luckily that's started to change. There are a lot of benefits to having your feet in the open air - your toes can splay, you sweat less, swell less (looking at you, Athlete's Foot), don't get nasty blisters, and you can flex and pronate your feet more naturally. This provides a whole bunch of benefits not only to your toes and feet, but also to your legs, knees, hips, back, and spine, which all rely on your feet for balance and coordination.Huaraches are a general kind of sandal in and around Mexico and are not always made as an athletic sandal. It's a term that became popular from the book, Born to Run. It's also not a super easy word to say. We prefer athletic sandals or simply running sandals. You can certainly do more than run in them - we have people climbing mountains, dead-lifting in the gym, kayaking, camping, fishing, backpacking, and even competing in Spartan Races. But we figure that if you know you can securely run in them, you can understand how dependable they will be for other activities.Shammas have been fine-tuned to create a secure hold on your foot while remaining so comfortable that you stop noticing they're there. We've spent a lot of time tweaking and adjusting until we've gotten sandals so minimal that they melt away and you don't have to worry about what you're wearing anymore. You just do what you want to do, and forget about the rest.