ASICS (アシックス, ashikkusu) (TYO: 7936) is an athletic equipment company that started in 1949 when Kihachiro Onitsuka began manufacturing sports shoes at his home in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Asics produces shoes designed for football, running, tennis, martial arts, cricket, golf, wrestling, track & field, cross-training, volleyball, cheerleading,Lacrosse, and for many other sports. Initially the company was known as Onitsuka Tiger, and was famous for their Mexico 66 line of shoes and their distinctive stripes. In 1977, Onitsuka Tiger merged with GTO and JELENK to form ASICS Corporation. Despite the name change, a vintage range of Asics shoes are still produced and sold internationally under the Onitsuka Tiger label. The name of the company "ASICS" is an acronym of the Latin phrase "anima sana in corpore sano" which translates to "a sound mind in a sound body". Since 2007 there has been a larger emphasis placed on this acronym.