Since UFC took the world by storm in around 2007, fighting has become an important physical discipline to many people. The world of mixed martial arts caused interest in this form of sport that hadn’t been seen since the kung-fu boom of the 70s — but this time, the many styles of martial arts mean people are more likely to get well-rounded training.
But different types of fighting require different types of fighting gloves. It’s no longer enough to just figure out your fighting glove size and buy yourself a pair of competition gloves, training gloves, or boxing gloves — you need to understand your options. This article will walk you through the vast world of fighting gloves so you can pick the best one for you.
1. Bag Gloves
Bag gloves are designed for one thing and one thing only — hitting the bag. If you want to become a fighter, it’s important that you start hitting the bag. This will help build up your bone density — something weightlifting can’t give you.
Bag gloves have a minimal design, featuring a small amount of padding. This helps you focus on form and technique, giving you as much feedback as possible and strengthening your fighting skills.
Many people make the mistake of thinking there are only a few types of gloves. Boxing gloves are really a general category. To understand this, check out the types of boxing gloves and uses they carry.
However, bag gloves are generally better for lighter bags. If you want to go for heavy bags, you might want to look into the following:
2. Training Gloves — Boxing
Training gloves are another important style of gloves you need for training as opposed to the fight itself. They contain significantly more padding than bag gloves, which makes them just right for heavy bag training and partner drills.
While it’s important to build up your resilience and bone density, you also want to keep your wrists safe. Repetitive strain injuries are a great way to end your fighting career early and put you in a world of hurt.
Invest in a great pair of training gloves if you’re serious about training and making sure that you keep your body ready for a fight.
3. Sparring Gloves — Boxing
Sparring gloves are built for one thing — sparring. Key to fighting is in-ring practice. You can learn all of the kata and martial arts philosophy in the world — and it might even help you become a better fighter — but it won’t mean anything unless you can apply yourself to sparring.
Sparring gloves are even bigger than training gloves and bag gloves — they’re designed with softer and larger padding to make sure that no one gets hurt before they step in the ring. Ideally, you would spar under the same circumstances in which you’d fight; however, if you do this, you’ll wind up injuring yourself.
For a more detailed answer to the question — what are sparring gloves? — check out this link. It’s important to get information that’s as specific as possible.
4. Competition Gloves — Boxing
Competition gloves are the gloves you’ll be lacing up during a professional boxing match. You can compare them to training gloves, with padding that hits a little bit harder.
Competition gloves are highly regulated, as the world of boxing does not want people getting any sort of unfair advantage. Make sure you invest in a pair of competition gloves that fits up-to-date standards — you don’t want to lose a match because of a technicality.
5. Training Gloves — MMA
Training gloves in MMA serve a slightly different purpose. A training glove will have space for a fighter’s fingers so that they can practice grabbing and grappling. However, they won’t be quite as free as competition gloves, so that a fighter’s small joints will stay protected while training.
Training gloves are designed to keep fighters safe while throwing punches and while grappling alike.
6. Sparring Gloves — MMA
Sparring is important in MMA as well. However, the unrestrained nature of the sport makes it dangerous to practice without the right equipment. Sparring gloves have more protective padding than another sort of glove you would see in MMA — they have special reinforcement for the fingers, protecting one of an MMA fighter’s greatest assets.
Grappling is an extremely important factor in a fight. While old-school boxers did not have to worry about it as much, contemporary MMA fighters need to be able to take a battle to the ground.
7. Grappling Gloves
Here’s a type of glove exclusive to the MMA — grappling gloves. These gloves have as little padding and protection as possible while still allowing fighters to safely maneuver on the ground.
It’s important for an MMA fighter to practice their grappling. They may have sparring sessions that focus entirely on grappling, to make sure they work on their leverage and submissions without having to rely on their punches.
Invest in a great pair of grappling gloves if you consider your ground game important to your style.
8. Competition Gloves
Just like competition boxing gloves, competition MMA gloves are highly regulated. It’s in the interest of the fighting industry to keep the fight fair and keep their fighters from getting injured.
Fighters also usually wrap their hands beneath their competition gloves in order to keep their hands extra safe. Competition gloves are thin (keeping in line with the verisimilitude of MMA), so fighters take the precautions necessary to make sure that they stay safe.
Understand the Different Types of Fighting Gloves
As you can see, there are many different types of fighting gloves that you need to invest in if you want to be a competitive fighter. Boxers and MMA fighters require different types of gloves, but at the end of the day, if you want to fight, you have to supply yourself a great pair of training gloves, sparring gloves, and bag gloves.
