New students often wonder what gear they need to get started with Muay Thai. And as students progress with their training additional gear is often needed for sparring and, eventually, competing. Below is some guidance on what gear is needed depending on where you are in your training journey.
At a high level, the following is the list of gear required. Details on recommendations, sizes, and more can be found later in this blog post.
For new students:
- Handwraps
- Gloves
- Shin Guards
- Muay Thai Shorts
For sparring:
- Headgear
- Mouthguard
- Cup
For competition:
- Regulation-specific gear (see details below)
- Elbow pads (for Class B fighters or higher)
For New Students
When first starting, prior to reaching our level 2 sparring classes, there are a few pieces of key equipment needed to train.
Handwraps – hand wraps provide wrist support and additional padding to reduce the risk of injury to the wrist and hands while training. We recommend specifically getting a pair of 180” wraps to ensure maximum support.
Hit up the front desk at John’s Gym Austin for some Everlast 180” wraps ready to go! Alternatively, Sanabul, Fairex, and Ringside are some popular options that can be found from online retailers, such as Amazon.
Gloves – When it comes to gloves, one of the most important aspects is the weight of the gloves. While the weight is less relevant when it comes to bag work, it is important to get heavier gloves for sparring as the additional padding reduces the impact of your strikes to protect your partner. We recommend getting 16 oz gloves for this purpose, although you can choose to get separate gloves, one pair for sparring and one for bag work.
Everlast and Fairtex are the two most widely-used brands at our gym (Everlast gloves are available for purchase at the front desk). Sanabul is a popular low cost option while Hayabusa is a higher end option many of our members have chosen to invest in.
Shin Guards – Shin guards protect both your partner and yourself. While we do not use shin guards on bags and pads in order to condition our shins, we do wear shin guards during partner drills that involve checking (blocking) kicks and during sparring. When starting off and during most sparring sessions, we recommend getting a pair of leather shin guards, which offer the most protection. My personal recommendation for leather shin guards are the Fairtex “competition” shin guards.
Cup – While less likely to be needed prior to sparring, it is better to be safe than sorry and get a cup early in training. It is important to invest in a steel alloy cup for the best protection, as opposed to cheaper, plastic options, which can often break with the impact of a misplaced knee or kick.
Muay Thai Shorts – Just like any sport that has a uniform optimized for performance, as muay thai fighters we wear shorts designed for our sport. A variety of Thai shorts can be found online and a diverse number of brands can be found being worn by our gym members, ask them about their favorites! If you are competing, we require you to wear a pair of John’s Gym Muay Thai shorts in order to properly represent our gym. These can be found at the front desk.
For Sparring
While most of the gear needed for sparring is the same as that used in class there are a few additional items required when beginning to spar.
Gloves – If you already got 16 oz gloves for training, then those can be used in sparring. If you have been using lighter gloves for training then you need to get a pair of 16 oz to be used during sparring sessions. Using lighter gloves creates a higher risk to your sparring partner and we want to ensure the safety of all of our members.
Headgear – While headgear is technically to the discretion of the member, if you intend to compete it helps immensely to get used to wearing headgear while sparring, as it will be required in competition. It is important to choose a headgear that fits comfortably and provides visibility and protection. Head gear tends to vary a lot and can cause a lot of annoyances when sparring and competing if it continues to be knocked out of place. Since there is a lot of personal preference when it comes to headgear, I recommend asking some of your teammates if you can try on their head gear to get an idea of what works best for you. Two recommendations of headgear that seem to work well for our members are Fairtex Competition Headgear and Ringside Apex Training Headgear.
Mouthguard – Mouthguards are required for all sparrers. A simple boil and bite suffices and can be purchased at the front desk or on Amazon.
For Competition
When competing there are a few requirements to ensure that you are compliant with the common regulations for sanctioned events. The gear is mostly the same as sparring but a few items have specific regulation requirements. We recommend getting gear in neutral colors (i.e. not red or blue) as some promotions do not allow you to wear gear that is the color of the opposing corner.
Leg Guards – During competition, we wear cloth shin guards as opposed to the leather ones used for sparring. My personal recommendation is the Venum Kontact Shin Guards, but there are plenty of similar options from other brands that will work.
Headgear – The one requirement for headgear in many competitions is that it doesn’t have chin protection. The chin must be a strap as opposed to closed padding. Both recommendations provided above meet this requirement.
Elbow Pads – When reaching class B (4+ fights on your record) or competing in fight nights, elbows are allowed. The event promotion often provides elbow pads during the fight, but for the purpose of practicing elbows during sparring, it is important you have a pair to train with. Two good options are the Venum Kontact Elbow Pads or the Combat Sports Elbow Pads. The Venum elbow pads are similar to those used in competition, while the Combat Sports ones provide more coverage.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the gear needed or are looking for specific recommendations outside of those provided above, talk to your teammates! Many of us have had experience with different brands and styles of equipment, and most of us are happy to let you try on what we have so you can get a feel for whether the fit works for you before you make a purchase.