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[seienchin]

I have to face it - my very old, very worn, very flat bag mitts are nearly due to be pensioned out. I have discovered that they are impossible to replace. All the bag mitts now seem to be pre-shaped. Weird.

Anyway- I hauled my unused 10oz boxing gloves out of the bag last night, and did a training session in those- and they were fine. Felt like I had balloons on my hands, but I can live with that.

If I want to join the sparring classes, I have to get some 16 oz gloves. That's going to be like having dirigibles (blimps) attached to my hands.

I have been doing a bit of reading around, and have realised that there is more to this than just buying the right weight, and I'd appreciate some guidance from those of you who have been using gloves longer than me. (erm...that would be anyone who has been using them longer than since yesterday.....)

Considerations include:
Material - I'm pretty sure I'll go for leather - is that sensible?
Style - Mexican or standard - as I read it (between the lines) , the purpose of the mexican style is to meet the weight requirement for the gloves, but with the padding spread out so the knuckles are less padded. Seems to defeat the purpose that I am aiming for (minimise harm to partner), so I'd be tending to go standard unless someone else can advise if I have misunderstood this completely.
Weight - have to go 16 oz, so that's not a consideration.
Women's or not - I have very, very small hands (my old mitts are children's ones). I usually cringe at getting the women's specific products in most sports, because they are often inferior, and pink. Are there any things I am not understanding that mean that gloves made for "women" are better suited to me (other than size)?
Thumb-lock - must have.

Are there any other criteria I should be looking at? All help and advice gratefully received.

Note - glovemakers out there....colour is NOT on my list! I don't care, but I'd like to have choices in my size other than pink!!!!!

[sandman]

You'll also want to consider getting gloves with big flames on them:



In my opinion, that is far more important than weight or padding



Incidentally, these are the gloves I bought for training with my Lunchtime Fightclub crew - they are 16 oz, seem to be of high quality - I think they will last - they fit me well, and they offer pretty good padding for my training partners.

[seienchin]

I won't need the painted on flames. My hands will be moving so fast, the gloves will spontaneously combust......

[sandman]

Ha ha! Excellent! You will be feared in the gym, if you are not already

[wullie]

You can't really go wrong with 'twins' or 'fairtex' gloves, Blitzsport.com have some really good own brand products too

[Shokei Marcsui]

Seienchin,

I like Boon gloves, but the cuff is slightly longer than other brands. This can take some getting used. The designs are modest and solid colors only. The leather feels good at first fit.

Fairtex is a good brand too. Some clubs have problems with Fairtex because they are also a fight camp. It would be like wearing an Ichigeki dogi to a Shinkyokushin school.

I have a pair of 10 oz Fairtex gloves that I use for padwork and bagwork. The leather is high quality and the glove really fits well. Cuff length is good. Unfortunately Fairtex is so expensive and I already have a pair of Boon gloves for sparring.

If you are afraid that your hands are too small, perhaps buy longer wraps and go over the knuckles more than the wrist. I think my wrists are fairly strong from all of the seikan pushups and overall hand conditioning that we do. I tend to wrap the knuckles more than I do the wrists.

Being in Australia I am sure that you have a plethora of equipment available to you being so close to Thailand.

EDIT: Top King is also a very good brand, but it is also very loud.

Further EDIT: AU Distributor of Boon Muay Thai Fight Gear

Distributors BoonSport gear can be obtained through the following distributors:
AUSTRALIA

East Coast
TopTier Muay Thai
Victoria St, South Geelong,
3220 Victoria.
Australia.
www.toptiermt.com
Email.info@toptiermt.com
sales@toptiermt.com
+61 407 003588
F: 1300 456 863

[ItalianTankATT]

Twins, King or Top King, Ringside, Title all make good gloves for sparring. Also have a separate pair for bag and pad work.