I fell off a step ladder.

There are pros and cons to using shoes and being barefoot; and I do train barefoot when I'm at home. But otherwise I prefer to train with shoes on... it's my personal preference. Barefoot training in Japanese martial arts didn't start because of podiatry reasons, but because of cultural reasons which - as far as modern Dojos are concerned - aren't relevant anymore (i.e. modern Dojo floors aren't covered with straw tatami mats anymore - they're either bare wooden floors or they have modern mats).

Your Dojo is privately owned by your Karate school, is it not? And I assume that it doesn't get used by anyone else? If so, then you guys have full control of your training hall's floor - in terms of hygiene and hazard prevention. Many other classes are held in hired venues, like school halls or function centres, and don't have that level of absolute control over hygiene and hazards. During last Friday's GKR training one girl pricked her foot on something sharp during warmup. Sensei stopped the exercise and tried to look for what had pricked her foot, but couldn't find it. Now fortunately for the student it was only a slight pricking sensation - Sensei checked her foot and there was no blood. But it could have been worse. Our Karate class is held in a school hall used not only by the Karate club, but by other sports clubs too (e.g. indoor soccer). So from a practical health and safety POV the best way to prevent injuries would be either:
(a) Establish your own exclusive training facility.
(b) Have your students wear shoes during training. Every Tai Chi class I've been too has either been held in a carpeted hall or outdoors in a park or basketball court etc. - not the kind of places I would trust walking barefoot on.
(c) Have your students clean the halls themselves. That's what they do in Japan - every student lines up against a wall and are given a large wet rag. They then get down on their hands and knees and go up and down the hall cleaning the floors. I used to wonder why they don't just use mops, but being on one's hands and feet does mean that you can get a better view of any small hazards that could potentially injure someone during training.

I'm happy to train barefoot at home where I know my floors are clean and hazard free; and I'd be willing to do so in a privately run exclusive martial arts hall - but in a publicly shared hired venue where we can't control what other hirees are doing in there... hrmm... you wouldn't believe the number of times I've been in a hired venue that's been left an absolute mess by previous hirees -- sometimes school furniture/equipment left strewn about, but the worst times is when they leave food scraps around and it's covered in ants, maggots etc.! <shudder>

Anyway... any advice/comments on the use of Taekwondo shoes?