Blood cleating

Growing up, I didn’t participate in any team sports. My parents were kind enough to enroll me in Tang Soo Do, a Korean martial arts style similar in origin to Tae Kwon Do, but I never played football or soccer or any of that stuff.

So forgive me when I say I don’t really understand the purpose of cleats. It’s not really all cleats that I don’t understand. It’s really the ones manufactured with literally metal spikes. The ones that are so sharp that you can hold the shoe at the toe and use the heel as a meat tenderizer.

The ones with rubber or plastic protrusions make a little sense; when you’re running, you want some additional traction. Without something sticking into the ground, people would be sliding all over the place.

But please explain to me why they manufacture these shoes with metal spikes underneath them.

If I were a kid, and I saw an opponent wearing those things, I’d be terrified. I can imagine 100 scenarios where things could get too close and a metal-cleated kid steps on some poor kid’s hand or bashes his head in.

So have at it. Teach me about what I am missing.