Friday, June 29, 2012

Think Before You Buy: MMA Gloves

By Leo Elbert


Mixed Martial Arts started off without the use of MMA gloves. It wasn't until 1993 when they became mandatory by request of the competitors in the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC. Since that time, all Mixed Martial Arts make it a point to make the fighters wear MMA gloves. They work both ways: enable the fighter to deal a blow and, at the same time, protect their fists from being injured. MMA gloves are designed with an open palm and open fingers. This allows so much freedom of movement for the hands. There are four types of MMA gloves according to purpose: sparring, bag, fight and hybrid gloves.

Sparring gloves are usually used in practice bouts, hence their other names: practice or training gloves. There are two types of sparring gloves, namely the traditional ones with finger slots, and the nontraditional one with a padded striking area and finger loops. The choice of gloves to spar or train with will depend on what the fighter wants or is most comfortable with. Among all MMA gloves, sparring gloves have more generous padding.

Bag gloves are designed in such a way as to minimize the impact of the strike, when the MMA fighter is heating the bag or striking pads. They have quite some padding and wrist support is provided for, as well as a grip bar. They should only be used to hit bags with, not for fighting or sparring. You'd only risk injuries if you insist.

Fight gloves, on the other hand, are self-explanatory. They are for MMA fighting. When it comes to padding, fight gloves are not as padded. To be honest, sometimes they don't even have any padding at all, and they weigh so little, roughly 4 oz only. Hence, they are not to be used when sparring.

If you combine all those gloves, you come up with hybrid gloves. Basically, they can be classified as sparring gloves, bag gloves, and fight gloves. However, most experts advise to spend a little money and have all three types of gloves if one wants to practice MMA professionally. It is also advisable when competing to have a new fight gloves as they will provide the best protection.

A handwrap is encouraged to be used beneath any of these gloves so as to soften the impact of the punches. You can also use handwraps in sparring aside from fights or matches.

MMA gloves come in two different sizes: 4 oz and 6 oz. The 6 oz are great for the beginners as they are densely padded, they will enable maximum protection for the fists, whereas 4 oz are designed for MMA professionals who want to enter MMA competitions.

Choose MMA gloves that have double stitches rather than those with single stitches because they will serve you longer. If you want to clean the gloves, do not wash them or put them in the laundry. To maintain cleanliness of the inside of the gloves, you should use a bandage.




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