If ChiRunning appeals to you as a way to lessen impact on your body, improve your running form and maybe even be able to continue your running career after being injured (or being afraid of getting injuries) from "normal" running techniques, then I would check out barefoot running right along with ChiRunning.

Here is why: there are at least 5 factors that ChiRunning and barefoot running have in common, and you can only benefit from knowing as much as you can about both, especially if you are considering altering your running style now, either for enjoyment - or because of previous or threatening injuries.

Here are 5 factors (and there probably are more) that ChiRunning and barefoot running have in common:

Factor #1: Spine alignment.

ChiRunning advocates aligning the body in a vertical column; this is also the best way to approach the barefoot running stance. In barefoot running, you want to have your spine from neck to seat aligned straight up and down, and ChiRunning is the same. As you will see in Factor #2, you do want to have the body leaning forward a bit, in both barefoot and ChiRunning; however that should not mean bending the spine or neck.

Factor #2: Use gravity.

With ChiRunning you let your body lean forward a bit while running, so you are pulled forward by gravity, and barefoot running benefits from the same pose. You do not want to be forcing your body forward by pushing with your feet or legs in barefoot running, as this will strain your feet and can contribute to bad blisters on your soles. With ChiRunning you want to allow gravity and your natural weight "pull" you forward, rather than overtaxing your muscles to try to "propel' your self forward.

Factor #3: Mid-foot strike.

ChiRunning uses a mid-foot strike rather than the heel strike commonly used by today's runners. Barefoot running does too; in fact, it's almost impossible (and definitely damaging) to try to do a heel strike while barefoot running - so, while ChiRunning may "advocate" a mid-foot strike, barefoot running practically forces it. Something to keep in mind if you have been trying to move toward ChiRunning but haven't been able to achieve a consistent mid-foot strike. What would happen if you took your shoes off?

Factor #4: Relaxing the body, especially the lower limbs.

In ChiRunning relaxation is encouraged, and this is also highly beneficial in barefoot running. Once you have your spine aligned, your body angled, and your foot strike figured out, the main thing with barefoot running (and with ChiRunning) is to allow your body to relax, and not be tense as many runners are. For barefoot running when you relax you allow your body to move more efficiently and with less effort; and the bottoms of your soles also benefit from being relaxed and not too tense (tenseness can contribute to wear and tear).

Factor #5: Use of minimal footwear.

ChiRunning is done best in minimal footwear, and in fact was one of the movements propelling the development of some early minimal shoes for running. Barefoot running, of course, by necessity assumes either no shoes or minimal shoes, so this is a big commonality between ChiRunning and barefoot running.

If you are looking for minimalist running shoes for ChiRunning, you may want to consider "going all the way" and combining barefoot running with ChiRunning and see what happens.

As you can see, overall the similarities between barefoot running and ChiRunning are great, and if you are interested in one I think you would only benefit by becoming knowledgeable about both techniques (and as I say, maybe even combining ChiRunning with barefoot running) before making a big change in your running style.

You can learn about ChiRunning from Danny Dreyer's course in ChiRunning, and you can learn about barefoot running from my complete course in How To Run Barefoot (see below).