Kickboxing Training Gloves Article

Know The Differences Between A Bag Mitt And A Glove For Sparring? Find Out Which One Suits You Best

So you've decided to start training in muay thai, you've signed up in a class and you've been told to get some gloves before next training...

Which gloves are best to buy for muay thai?

Well, good question...the short answer is many different types!

But that isn't practical for most people just starting out because the costs are too much and you probably don't know if your going to stick with it yet. You need to know what the different types of gloves are used for in muay thai and therefore which ones you are likely to need.

Let's go through the different muay thai gloves one by one, what they look like and what they are used for. The first thing I must mention is that you should buy only genuine leather even if you're just starting out or don't know if you will continue with muay thai.

The increase in price for leather is well worth it because they last so much longer it's not funny. I learned this lesson a few times before I wised up and only bought leather gloves. I tried to tell one of my students this but he bought 3 different pairs of gloves because he wanted to be able to hit all the equipment straight away (more about this in a minute).

This student learned before one training session was up that it pays to buy leather because 2 gloves had splits in them. One glove split after 3 hits on the heavy bag.

I can't stress this enough...BUY LEATHER GLOVES!

The reason there are so many different types of gloves is that they are all designed to hit something different. If you use some types of gloves against the wrong piece of equipment you run the risk of wrecking them as well...even if they are leather.

The good thing is that you can get a pair of gloves that will last on most pieces of equipment...especially if you are a beginner.

One thing I'll mention before I describe the different gloves is the importance of getting your own gloves instead of using the gloves at the gym. Even the cleanest of muay thai kickboxing gyms where they make you where freshly cleaned cotton glove inserts under your gloves, and they put anti-fungal powder in the gloves after every training session, has gloves that are rife with germs. They cannot get away from this... it is just the way things are.

If you have you're own gloves you cannot catch germs from other students. As a registered nurse by profession I have always had my own gloves because I no the risks. Some skin infections can stay around for years. It's just not worth it.

That being said here are the different gloves and their uses. As a general rule the thinner gloves are used with equipment where you need a good feel through the gloves because dexterity is important (eg. thai pads or speed balls) and the closer you get to hitting someone the thicker the padding needs to be on the glove.

1. Speed Bag Gloves - These are light weight thin gloves used for striking equipment that require the most dexterity. They are thin so you can feel the striking of the equipment easily through the glove and you can make modifications to your technique as you go.

You will not be hitting the equipment hard so little padding is needed. The equipment you can hit with these gloves are the speed bag, floor to ceiling ball, and the hand mitts if you are a beginner without much power.

2. Bag Gloves - These vary in their weight, thickness, and quality because they are the most used type of glove and therefore lots of companies make them. They give you good protection against almost all types of equipment and give you good feedback as they are not too thick.

Get a good pair of bag gloves that are thick enough to use on the heavy bag and you can use them on practically everything...except a human! They aren't thick enough for sparring because they will hurt your opponent too much and you won't find any sparring partners anymore. Beginners and advanced students alike will need a good set of bag gloves.

3. Sparring Gloves - These gloves are usually made of foam rubber and are open in the palm area. These are used in other types of martial arts where grabbing with the fingers is allowed...these are not used in muay thai so don't buy them.

4. And remember what I said about gloves that aren't made of leather? Gloves used for muay thai sparring are usually normal boxing gloves of various weights.

5. 8 Ounce Gloves - These are boxing gloves that weigh in at 8 ounces. They are thick enough to spar with without severely damaging your partner but thin enough to get good feel and feedback when hitting the pads.

Also very good when hitting the heavy bag if you have a lot of power and thinner gloves don't protect your hands enough.

6. 12 Ounce Gloves - Boxing gloves that weigh 12 ounces. Same as above but more used in sparring. The heavier the glove go the less accurate the fighter gets because of the weight.

Good for increasing endurance though when training for a fight because when you go back to a lighter weight you go faster for longer.

7. 16 Ounce gloves - Used almost exclusively for sparring when close to a fight. These are very thick and heavy boxing gloves and you can go pretty hard in sparring without hurting your opponent too much just before a competition. You don't want to go into a fight with any injuries.

8. MMA Gloves - Open fingered gloves used in mixed martial arts or vale tudo contests. Muay thai uses the closed gloves so these are not generally used. I have seen people use them in training but I don't recommend them.

First you don't get the right feel that you would experience in a muay thai fight...you should use equipment that you will use in a fight. Also I have used MMA gloves in training which had the leather surrounding each finger. As I hit the bags more and more this leather started to rub the skin off in between my fingers.

9. Boxing Gloves - There isn't much difference between boxing and muay thai kickboxing gloves. Each governing body of boxing will have different requirements for gloves worn by fighters which you would only worry about if you were competing in a boxing match. The promoters of a fight night usually supply them for fighters anyway.

10. Muay Thai Gloves - As I said, there isn't much difference between boxing and muay thai kickboxing gloves. The main governing body of muay thai is the World Muay Thai Council (WMC) which has the following rules for gloves worn by fighters.

For Mini Flyweight to Junior Featherweight - 6 ounce gloves

For Featherweight to Welterweight - 8 ounce gloves

For middleweight and above - 10 ounce gloves.

The result of all this is that if you are a thai boxing beginner I recommend you get a pair of hand wraps for protection from wrist injury and for hitting equipment like the speed bag where you need dexterity. You should also get a good pair of bag gloves that are heavy enough to hit the heavy bag. Because you are just beginning muay thai you won't need boxing gloves because you won't be doing any sparring yet.