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.