I get a lot of emails and messages asking for advice and pointers on where to get various gear. It is certainly not a problem for me, since I enjoy corresponding and talking about all things Martial Art/combatives/fighting oriented with interested people all day long. However, I end up writing the same things over and over, so I thought a series of blog articles that cover some of my basic pieces of general gear advice was in order. The first one up for discussion is what boxing gloves do I recommend?
For a good starter glove for someone just getting into the need for working striking skills, go to
http://www.kofightgear.com/sparring_gloves.htm
These are really well made gloves that are properly designed and hold up well under moderate use. You absolutely cannot beat the pricing.
For more dedicated work, or for someone who is getting deeper into a boxing paradigm, I prefer Thai-style gloves. There are a couple of reasons for that. Number one, most of the padding is concentrated over the knuckles where it actually matters. Mexican and American gloves tend to have the padding distributed over the whole glove, including areas that never see impact. Which is kind of goofy, in my opinion, but that is how it is. In reality, lighter Thai gloves are equivalent to heavier American gloves, generally by about two ounces. So a 12 oz Thai glove generally has the same knuckle padding as a 14 oz American or Mexican glove.
The second reason I prefer Thai gloves is that they typically are more snug and have minimal padding around the base of the hand, which makes entangled clinch work slightly easier and more functional. You can do that kind of work with “puffier” gloves, but it is not as convenient nor do you get the feel of the techniques to the same level.
There are a number of Thai brands, the most prominent of which are Fairtex and Twins. I myself prefer Twins. Their gloves seem to mold to my hand just right. Other people feel the exact same way about Fairtex. Twins has a tendency to be slightly cheaper, but a bit harder to find. There are a number of places to get Thai gloves, including the big places like Ringside. I have had good luck here:
If you have more specific questions, feel free to hit me up.