A Japanese entrepreneur named Kihachiro Onitsuka founded the Asics Shoe Company in 1949. At first, Asics shoes were meant for basketball, but the company expanded its purview shortly after its initial business success. Today, you can find Asics shoes for wrestling, volleyball, track and field, basketball, golf, and practically any other sport you can think of.

Despite Asics' success in Japan, the company didn't introduce shoes to the U.S. market until the late 1970s. Asics became known for their state-of-the-art gel cushioning and all around durability. The company's name is actually an acronym for the phrase 'Anima Sana In Corpore Sano,' which roughly translates from Latin to English as 'a sound mind in a sound body.'

Some of most popular women's cushioned shoes include the GEL-KAYANO XI, the GEL-EMPIRE, the GEL-TEMPO II, and the GEL-1100. You can also find regular cushioned shoes under the brand names Nimbus and Stimulus. Asics executives and engineers focus on developing shoes which are bio-mechanically adapted for sports.

At the Asics website, you can find information about the mechanics of running. The company has broken down running into three general actions--contact, mid stance, and propulsion. Each period of this so-called gait cycle requires different kinds of engineering. Asics designers study the effects of footwear on each one of these steps. The mid stance is perhaps the most dangerous part of the cycle, since this is the time when the weight of the body is pressed into the foot.