[Guide] Which Boxing Gloves Should I Buy?

these are all 14oz

When you start training in Muay Thai, Boxing, MMA or else, you will get to that moment where you are going to buy a pair of gloves, but you have no idea which brand, size or style of glove you need or you will like.

To make it simple I will suggest one to two pairs.

The Weight
You will use your gloves pads, bag or sparring.
When sparring is recommend to use a padded glove. A rule of thumb is if you are 70kg (160lbs) and over use 16oz gloves, if under go for 14oz. I wouldn't recommend to use anything under 14oz, especially if you are a bit heavy with your blows.
On bag and pads, you can go full power with your strikes and a lighter glove will be less bulky, lighter and have a better feedback when hitting. Anything under 12oz is fine. I have started training with 8oz on pads and love it!
But if you cannot afford two pairs, just get sparring ones; they will be fine on pads too. However, hitting the pads, and bag will make the padding to degrade more quickly, and some gyms may not recommend to use your pair of sparring gloves for pads and bag too.

The Brand
Most popular brand are good, some are more acclaimed than others, but all it comes down to preferences and costs.
Your gloves if treated well will last about two years average. Don't buy anything cheap, you will regret it soon enough and you will end up to change your gloves anyways.
I used to have cheap gloves and I hurt my wrist so many times, hopefully was never serious, but I risked an injury every times I did pads.
If you have had any problems with your gloves, you may look into gloves that protect a particular area of the hand more than another. Usually that comes down to wrist, thumb and knuckles.

The Comfort
This is a tricky one. Everyone has a different idea of what feels good or not. Thumb positioning is sometime an issue for some people (like in Cleto Reyes, Hayabusa). Another is the padding, both in shock absorption and feel, and of course the wrist.
There are two major style of gloves: mexican and thai.
Mexican have usually a longer cuff and a recurve thumb, while thai have a shorter one and a flat thumb. Gloves have various differences and each one will feel different to anyone.
Other things you may want to look into is how snug or roomy the compartment is, or wether your fingers will fit comfortably.
Three major thai brand are Top King, Twins and Fairtex.
Fairtex are my favourites, although I'm not sure people would like them better over Twins.
Fairtex are considered the most expensive of the three, but depending where you live you may see a more or a less price gap between brands. For example in UK the difference is minimal, but in Thailand I know that Fairtex cost twice as much as any other brand.
Fairtex is also the most compact glove of the three but also the one that is less snug, and you will have some room sideways.
I would say get Twins if you don't know what to get. They are snug, but not tight, while Top King are very very tight.
You need to give your gloves some time to break in and adapt to your hand. So, don't despise them right away, and see in a month how they feel.

Current Gloves

I did some shopping in Thailand and I got a pair of Boon 14oz, Boon Thai Pads and a pair of Fairtex 8oz.

I wanted to get a pair of Fairtex BGV1-B (Breathable) and a pair of BGV9 but Fairtex are quite hard to find. You can find Twins anywhere, then Top King is the next in the list. I also found King and Windy, but Fairtex are kind of rare. I spent a day to look for the Boon shop which is quite hidden.

I always buy 14oz for both sparring and pads, but then I decided to give the 8oz a go on pads and I loved them so much! Now I would like to give away the Reyes 14oz to get the smaller size.

Muay Thai Is Slow

"Muay Thai is slow" - that is what my kruu Petsila was telling me while gently stepping rhythmically from one foot to another, waving his hands hands up and down like a cobra's head in front of his face.

This is not news to me, but somehow I hadn't realised fully. Every time I saw a fight on youtube, or an inter club at my gym, you notice that westerners they have to rush. They start a fight and they have to knock the other person down in the shortest time possible. I don't like that, and I don't like the trash talk behind every single fight of american competition. UFC is just the new Boxing in America, with the same attitude, the anger, the television biz. Muay Thai is a sport, is not a street fight, and westerners should learn that as well when they train.

I saw fights at Lumpini stadium, Bangla and Suwit. Thai people are relaxed, they start slow for the first two rounds. They feel each other with single strikes and see how the other reacts. If someone hits they other good, they nod at each other - "that was good, you got me, back I will get back at you".
They go for a good exchange of blows, and then reset for the next one. If someone miss a kick, they don't capitalise on their mistake instead they wait for one another. Just have a look at any thai vs thai fight, you can tell they have an understanding, that they have to show who is better, but in the same time they want a challenge, they don't want an easy fight. Often they taunt each other just because the fight is too easy, they want the other to recoup stamina and get back at them so that they can have a good fight.

This is the opposite for westerners. The intent is to kill not to have a good fight. If the fight is too easy they pressure more until the opponent is down on the floor. There is no understanding, there is no sportsmanships, there is no fun, is just kill-kill-kill.

By the last round often, a fighter know whether they have won or lost already, you will find thai people walking around the ring and play a little. "I know I won, I don't have to prove anything anymore" and "I know I lost, he was the better fighter" are the thoughts in the fighters mind's, there is no need to knock each other out, the fight is over.

Training in Phuket

When we arrived to Phuket we started to look for gyms right away. Luckily the area we chose to stay is where all the gyms are located. Tiger, Dragon and Top Team are all in the same road not to far from our hotel (although we still needed a taxi to get there). Not so far from that road there is the Suwit Stadium which also has a gym.

We decided to go for Dragon, and I was very happy with this choice. All trainers are thai and some of them are fighters too. All the gyms have two classes a day except for Sunday in which people rest. Classes are a good deal, they are cheap, you get a full training and you get to meet people, but we went for one-to-one session.

In Dragon when they assign you a trainer is going to be permanent, unless they are not available. My kruu was Petsila, which is also a fighter and he was awesome. The training however is only on pads and light sparring, no warming up or conditioning, but you can do that in your own time, which is good, because then you pay 1 hour of personal training instead of half.

The first day the trainer tested us a bit to understand our level, and each of them established a different pace. During the training they focused 100% on technique, correcting us every single time, and then let us flow on pads until the next thing came up.

It appears to me that gyms here don't have a style, but the style of training and fighting is different with every kruu. In a way is good to learn different styles, but for I am taught the style is reflected on the way I fight, and the style we fight in my gym is very tactical. This happened in Banchamek as well, and I believe is true for most other gyms too.

On the other hand Petsila gave me really good advice, and helped me a lot technically. Minor things that I wouldn't know in by training with westerners, but very important. I would like to go train again there, and if you have a chance to train in Phuket I would like to recommend you to go to Dragon.

Training in Bangkok

Me and some friends from my muay thai gym decided to take a holiday together in  Thailand, and include in the holiday some training days. Training in Thailand is an experience that a lot of people go for if they already train muay thai as Thailand is where this martial art is coming from.

We didn't have an exact plan of where to go and thought to just stay in central Bangkok and try different gym. But unfortunately Bangkok is extremely crowded, gyms are not as close as we thought and getting anywhere with taxis is always an adventure. Believe me when I say that taxi meter don't know how to get anywhere even if they have an address or sometime don't want to even bother.

Eventually we found out that Banchamek gym was in range from where we were staying and decided to try and go there. If you are not familiar with this name you may have heard of Buakaw? Well, that is  his own gym.

The place is not far, however we were staying at Asia Hotel by Rachatewi station which incidentally is on Petchaburi road which lead straight to the gym. On the other hand that area feature a massive, permanent traffic jam.

We got lucky on the first day as we took a taxi early in the afternoon and somehow managed to get there in less then half an hour and with less that 100 baht(not even £2).

The place is surrounded by banana trees and look amazing and genuine. We have been greeted warmingly by one of the fighters and said that we could train right away, but we didn't bring any gear with us and decided to come back later in the afternoon.

The place is not visited by tourist, most fighters were in Surin with Buakaw (the other gym outside Bangkok) and we had a chance to train one-to-one for about and hour with a trainer each.

We started with some skipping with the classic thai heavy rope, then moved on to shadow boxing follow with 4 rounds of pads. We are not training in the hottest season, but the heat makes the workout quite harder. After pads we would do some bag work for technique and conditioning, a bit of clinch and we concluded with some abs.

The trainers are fun and make the staying there very enjoyable, but they get serious during training. They also test you, and see how far you can take it. In fact some days I have been pushed harded the others with longer skipping time, more and longer rounds of pads.

We have been kept going for a week now and loved it, but in few days we will be flying to Phuket, therefore we will be soon say goodbye to Banchamek gym and see what the south of Thailand has to offer.

A Bit of Mexican Spice

I just received my hybrid Cleto Reyes!

Planning for Thailand

Some guys of my gym were planning on going to Thailand. A lot of people practicing muay thai do eventually a trip there to experience the hard training in the hot country. So, I decided to tag along, but in the end only few of us are going there anyways (3 of us).
There are plenty of gyms as you can imagine where people can train, and there are big chances that those are promoting some muay thai champions. My choice was to go at Sitsongpeenong in Bangkok, the training schedule is great with as much padwork as clinch work. The facilities are top as well and that is something you don't find everywhere.
I started studying thai language a couple of months ago, I'm making some progress, however is not easy to remember everything when I can't practice with someone.
Although my trip was initially to train I decided that I want to mix some tourism and language practicing with it. So, I won't be training everyday.
I'm planning of buying a lot of gear there, in fact in my first day I will be go to ActionZone(popular muay thai shop) and spend all my money, well, maybe not all of them, I have to visit the Boon shop too!
I will probably be doing some video blogs and reviews, so stay posted!

Moved Up to Intermediate Class

Last week I have moved on to the higher class: intermediate. I have been waiting for a push to move up for a long time. I always get scared to take a chance on things, but finally the opportunity came up.

In my gym the are three classes: intro, general and intermediate. The latter is what prepare you to be a proper fighter. The training is not necessarily harder, but is taken way more seriously than the general class. The kruu (instructor) is always there to push you, to do more and better, to be physically and mentally ready.

The warm up, the sparring and the conditioning are more intense. I have been punched and kick a lot in the face these days. In general I would say to my partner to power down, but here you just go with it. It seems scary, but is not that painful.

I was surprised that I keep up with the training, at least I did so far, and I am really pleased with it; however, now that I spar with people that are a notch better than me, I can tell that I do poorly technically. I mean, that was not a news to me, but now is the time where if you don't get better you get kicked in the face.

Two Weeks Break and Back to Muay Thai

I had exams and courseworks coming up in university and I decided to take two weeks break from muay thai to focus on my study. That was really bad for my fitness. Those two weeks drop my fitness so down that I couldn't do full skipping rounds with sprints as I was mentioning in the previous post.

Now I am back to training, however for the past couple of weeks I only went 2 times a week instead my usual 3, and I actually could even do 4 as university is finished. I didn't feel up to it and I took that slowly. My aim is now to return to the state I left off and try to move up a class, from general to intermediate. Going to intermediate in my gym is not about fitness or experience, but is about determination, will to learn and most of all having focus and a good mindset.

Having a good technique get you so far, but the mindset is mandatory for progression. When our Kru ask us to do some exercise using some tactics he doesn't have to explain us, we have to just do it, without spending time over thinking, you just do it. If your mind is not ready for it the body won't follow, and you will be sent back to a previous class until ready.

I am not at that level just yet, but I notice some improvements in the past month, my mind is getting more reactive but still a long way to go. However, in the same way when I move from intro to general I felt I couldn't make it, and then it was just fine. Of course the gap between intro and general classes is smaller than general to intermediate, but I think is going to be good to force myself to improve this way.

Stamina Up

I have been training for about 8 months now, and my stamina always have been one of my main concern. I suffer of light asthma and I don't really have any problem until I do intense anaerobic exercise, for example sprints.
When I first started training I have a couple of episodes when I have not eat anything and felt dizzy to the point I was about to faint. So I would stop and go home. In my gym we warm up by doing 3 x 3mins rounds of skipping with sprints every 20 seconds for 20 seconds. Within rounds we do 10 burpies, 10 press up, 10 push up and 10 squats. After this we do shuttles for 2 minutes and 2 minutes shadow boxing for 3 times.
I recollect that at the very beginning I was barely able to skip, and never done any of the sprints. In between skipping rounds I was barely able to do all the sets and my legs felt so heavy, and during the shuttles I wasn't dashing instead just jogging back and forth.
After my first interclub I felt powerless and out of breath to the point that I was about to quit at the second round. When I was back to training I started pushing my self up during the warm up so that I would be able to do an interclub without struggle.
So I started doing sprints during skipping which I never used to. Of course beside the extra effort I put I still had 6 months of training behind me, but just recently I just thought of the progress I made. In fact we sometime do 5 rounds of skipping with sprints, and I do all of them! Between rounds I use to barely get to the end of the set of burpies and all, and now I manage to do it under the minute so I can start the new round of skipping on the zero mark on the clock.
It took a while, its true, but perhaps if I would put a bit more effort before, my stamina would have been even better.
This is reflected on pad work as well. Before if I had to do sets of 20 kicks per leg on the pads, I would have to take a break because I could not breath no more, but now is way easier.

New Custom Mouthguard!

I finally received my custom mouthguard from Piranha Guard: It's amazing!

I paid only £36 for it. They sent me a modeling kit that had arrived the day after I order it.

After I made the mould I sent it of with the envelop that they enclosed in the packet. I thought I messed it up because the gum line was not as pronounced as they mentioned on the instruction, but they haven't sent me a second kit, so I thought it was fine.

I took a while to get the mouthguard because the were holidays in the middle, and today I received it!

The fit is superb! I'm coming from a opro silver, which I kind of chewed off a bit too, then I got a opro gold, but I did not make a good bite on it and I ended up wasting £15 on it. Then I though to try a custom mould and I found this, and I gave it a try. I'm really pleased, but yet I have to try it while training.

Second Inter Club Fight

I finally fought in my second inter club, this time in my own gym.

I got weighted in at 55.2kg around 12 o'clock and then I had to wait for 8 hours to fight. There were tons of kids and youth fight, it was endless. I did not know when my fight was until late afternoon, and end up fighting at the next to last match. I got seriously bored waiting, but at least I was relaxed throughout the day.

I didn't know whom I was going to fight until the very last minute. I was worried but not anxious that my opponent would be bigger, taller or anyway better prepared or skilled than me, but it was a fair match.
He was probably younger than me, and it was his first inter club. We were equally skilled, and I think he had my same weaknesses. I even realised that, but did not take advantage of it. I should have been more mobile and just a bit more aggressive.

Few of the guys from my gym assisted me in the warm up, and although they had been preparing me well, I didn't do them justice. I was too stiff on my feet, didn't kick enough, didn't angle off and didn't do any combo. I feel bad for not do what we practiced.

On the bright side, I felt better on the right. I felt more confident. I had more stamina, and I didn't feel like I was gonna die because I couldn't breath. I had loosen the bodyguard a bit, brought my asthma inhaler and I think the hard training paid off well. However, I felt the tiredness, even though I could push more I didn't.

Overall I felt better, but I haven't done [much] better from last time, in spite of the fact that I really could have.

Two Weeks to My Second Fight

I'm now less than two weeks away from my next inter-club fight. Is, as the first one, a soft-core non-decision encounter. I have no idea who I will be matched with until that very day.

In the mean time I kept going 3 times a week to the gym and focus mostly on my stamina, as in the first inter-club I was shatter at the end of the second round. I couldn't breath and I felt horribly to the point I was about to give up. Hopefully this time won't happen.

I had given the most I could in term of endurance and power at every training session. I had done the skipping at a fast pace and done all the sprinting. I also used the mouthguard while skipping to get used on breathing with that on. It seems like my stamina went up a bit, but I know that on the ring is a completely different story. During pad work I used all the strength I could so that I would make the most of it. I bought an inhaler for my asthma just in case I have that bad feeling again during the fight.

The other thing I looked upon was my weight. For some reason I thought that my weight was about 55-56kg, but at the inter-club I was weighting 57kg. I was shocked. I cannot risk to fight in a higher category as I am only 165cm taller, therefore if I get matched with heavier contender I will likely end up fighting someone taller, meaning I will have a reach disadvantage.
So, I started to eat lean food, I avoided red meat, had a lot of fish and nuts, and yogurt. I haven't been eating any junk food, and I swear I have a craving for it. I hope I can keep my weight down, but so far the changes were so minimals that I cannot tell whether I am loosing weight or not. Yet again is just been about a week. I aim to get at 55kg again.

There were other things I had to focus during my training, such as clinch. Unfortunately I could not go to the clinch class, and I didn't practiced as much as I should have, but hopefully confidence and stamina will make up for it.

Fairtex BGV1 vs Hayabusa Ikusa [14oz]

Before you read the comparison, do understand that my knowledge of boxing gloves is quite small. I only had 6 months of training in Muay Thai and I have been using this gloves for a really short period as they both are new.
Moreover, I am 165cm tall and weight 56kg, my hand are quite small, so you can understand my impression on the gloves.

I have been researching for a while on the internet for what gloves to get, and although I have a thing for Hayabusa I could not get my hands on their gloves as they were not in the catalog in the european store until now.
I received the Ikusa today, and had the BGV1 for a week now.

My main concern was that I have been training with a pair of cheap Londsdale 8oz for 6 months and when I went competing the interclub, my hands felt heavy. I did not know that my gloves were 8oz until after I competed.
I happened to have some problems with my wrist while doing hooks and uppercuts on the Lonsdale.

I read that the Fairtex is a beloved brand, although a bit pricey but the quality was outstanding, I decided to buy them over Twins or Top King and other Thai brands.

Fairtex BGV1

The leather on the BGV1 looks really good and well pull on the glove.
The compartment is snug, however I feel a little gap on the wrist.
The strap is of a really good quality, but I can't make it to wrap the wrist as tight as I would like it to be.
The glove seems quite compact overall and feel sturdy but I could not tell until I got the Ikusa.
The palm is hard to open, in fact I can't.

What I don't like is how the leather fold on the palm inside. Is not smooth, it wrinkles in a way that bumps on the fingers, and so does the seam on the tip of the fingers. On the other side, it doesn't really bother me while training and it does not affect my performance.

Hayabusa Ikusa

Ikusa gloves uses engineered leather, but is not pulled well as the BGV1, leaving wrinkles on the sides and the tip of the glove.
It has really nice graphics.
The compartment is bigger than the BGV1.
The Ikusa has a dual strap system which should give better protection on the wrist. Also the glove look slightly longer and should get more surface of the wrist, and the opening of the glove goes up to the palm so that you can pull one side to the other more easily.
The glove itself seems slightly wider than the BGV1 but lighter too.
The palm can be open with some effort which makes it good for clinching.

I don't have the problem inside the compartment that I have with the BGV1, in fact I have a smooth grip inside.

Hayabusa Ikusa

The Hayabusa european website has finally updated its inventory with the Ikusa series - but not Tokushu.

I decided to jump on right away and get a pair of Ikusa 14oz gloves. The theme is really nice with the Hayabusa logo with matte and glossy black rays on the glove and a red thumb.
The glove has a soft feel and the palm can be open with a bit of effort.
The compartment inside has some space, but too much for my liking.
I wanted these gloves mostly because of the dual strap because I want my gloves to give me a lot of wrist support, but I yet have to try them during training.

What I don't really like of these gloves is how the leather has been pulled to fit the glove. It has a lot of wrinkles and does not look good. Too bad.

GoFundMe

I decided to create a page on GoFundMe.com to raise some money for one-on-one sessions.

Crowdfunding

My initial goal is £350 for 10 one-on-one sessions to prepare for the inter club competition, but I really need about £100 to get me started as I might get featured in the GoFundMe search.
I will make few videos of training, sparring and the actual competition with the help of some friends.
Thank you for the support!

Fairtex BGV1

They arrived!

So, as I mentioned earlier I had to get a decent pair of gloves that were 14oz. I read a lot of different reviews of different gloves, but apparently there isn't a brand that fits everyone.

Most famous brands are great, especially brands from Thailand. When coming of choosing a pair of gloves there are a lot of things that you have to check, especially what type of gloves you want.
Some want wider and some more compact gloves, soft or hard padding. You focus more on wrist or knuckles support. More or less space in the glove, and loops or straps.

Well, for me I wanted a compact gloves, that I could do also clinch with and I really care of wrist support. However, I didn't check whether all of this fits the BGV1.

I can tell you right away that the glove seems quite broad on the writs and the strap although seems very sturdy, cannot really tighten on the wrist. I am not really happy about it, but I guess I should try them first.

Inside there seems to be enough space, but I have small hands, and with the wraps on the glove get snuggy.

The padding, seems solid and quality looks good at a first impression.

I'm coming from a pair of Londsdale that are very soft and were only 8oz. I don't have experience on other brands, but I will learn some more throughout the years.

Equipment

Here is my equipment so far.
My KO uniform, Hayabusa compressor shorts and cup, and shinguards, Londsdale gloves.

At the inter club we were using 14oz and I really felt the difference in weight during the fight. The problem was that I never invested in a pair of gloves, and instead used some that I bought over a year ago for cheap. So I wanted to find out why the inter club gloves felt so heavy. The reason? My gloves were 8oz! What!?

That was stupid of me, I know. Anyway I just ordered a pair of Fairtex BGV1 red 14oz.

However I really like Hayabusa, and wanted to buy a pair of Tokushu.

Unfortunately these are not in stock everywhere, and in the European store they are not even in catalog.

Interclub #1 Highlights

First Fight

As I promised, here's my first fight!

This is a soft core match, muay thai rules, no knee to the head, no elbow. 4 x 1.5 minutes rounds.

We were both competing for the first time, and we had similar experience.

I was looking forward this fight, I felt excited and I was well rested. Before noon I got weighted 57kg, even though I did not have breakfast and I am usually 55kg. After the weigh-in I had some muller rice yoghurt, a banana and hazelnuts.

I met my opponent in the changing room and we had a chat, but we were not sure to be in the same match until later in the afternoon, although we had a feeling we would fight each other.

There were a lot of junior fight before us, probably at least 30. I was the 11th fight in the senior and I fought at 5pm.

Before the fight I had a warm up for 15 minutes with some people of my team. I received shinguards and body armour from the gym before going to the ring.

We waited few minutes in the changing room, until they called my name, then we made our way to the blue corner. There I got the helmet and the gloves. The gloves were 14oz, and felt heavier then the one I use to train, which I think are 10 or 12oz.

We got briefed by the referee and then the match started.

I remember looking at my opponent head to toe and thinking, "...and now what?", and I only remember the advice 'attack first' - and so I did, but that is far as I went.

Generally my opponent dominated more with clinching, and clinching is what I trained the least. Also had a general good offence.
I planned the fight in my mind and wanted to pace it down in the first two rounds. That didn't work out. By the end of the first round I was tired. At the end of the second round I swear I was going to die. I couldn't breath and I felt as I was fainting, I nearly gave up the fight. My Kru told me to breath, and they waited 10 seconds more for me, then I decided to get back to the game, but I really was weak.
I am happy that I endured another two rounds.

Beside not be able to breath - which asthma aside, I blame it on the body armour of being too tight - I had a couple of punches to the face that I felt very well. In fact I felt a bit groggy, even after the fight for few minutes. Pain is just temporary, it's just a flash.

Welcome

Hi everyone,

I started this blog to show the progress I am doing while training in Muay Thai.

I am 28 years old, 165cm tall and weight around 56kg. I started training in August 2012 and last Sunday I had my first inter-club fight, which I will post within a week from now.

I have a light asthma problem but I never used the inhaler so far. Sometimes when I do intense anaerobic exercise I have a hard time catching up my breath, but I try do my best nonetheless.

Another thing about me is that I don't have good reflexes and I am not really a natural fighter.

So what you have here is a bad subject that is doing a sport that is not really meant for him and here I will show you how I will fare at it.

My records so far are:
About 6 months of training, 2 to 4 classes a week, each class is 1.5 hours long.
My first inter-club fight as been a non-decision soft-core match, muay thai rules, no elbows, no knees to the head, 4 rounds, 1.5 minutes each.

What you will see in the upcoming video is the result of 100 hours of training.