MMA Gear For Beginners : The Essentials

When coming to our gyms and our MMA classes for beginners for the first time, a frequent question arises : What do I need to bring? Now this can be a complicated question to answer as different disciplines require different types of equipment and gear. However, there are some gear options that are essential for MMA beginners to buy as well as common items that you’ll want to bring with you to ensure you are able to perform your best.

Therefore, we have prepared the ultimate beginner’s guide to MMA gear; detailing the clothes you’ll need and the gear you’ll need to wear. MMA is a fun and engaging way to stay fit and meet new people but as it is a contact sport, you’ll need the proper gear to keep yourself and any sparring partners safe and protected.

Gear Guide

MMA Gloves vs Boxing Gloves

You are more than likely familiar with MMA and boxing gloves if you have an interest in combat sports. However, what is the difference between the two? It all comes down to the purpose of the gloves. In boxing, the main action is striking. This means that the boxing gloves have to be well padded around the hand and wrist, contain the entire hand and they typically have to be far heavier (10-16 lbs) to offer more solid protection. For beginners, a 12-14 lbs glove is often recommended as this allows you to do basic training on pads and on most punching bags and is more suited to beginners who haven’t built up the necessary arm strength to consistently strike with 16lbs gloves. 16lbs are generally reserved for sparring to protect both fighters as they provide more padding. In terms of what specific gloves to buy, there are a litany of different brands to choose from. If you are planning a long-term fitness program with boxing, the pricer the glove, the better the quality on average. A mid-price range glove is more than ideal for beginners as you may need to move up a weight as your striking power improves. A good thing to always check is online as these can help you find the right glove for you at the best price.

MMA gloves are very different from boxing gloves as they need to provide hand freedom for grappling and grabbing. Therefore, they are typically a lot lighter than boxing gloves (4-8lbs), they provide open finger movement and they are designed to provide easier mobility for the fighter. In most training cases, your gloves will weigh around 6-8lbs at least for sparring and more general training. This helps keep you better protected while not fully restricting your movement. As mentioned with boxing gloves, there are a wide range of options available. Our key tip here will be that since you are likely to use these more than boxing gloves and can use them over a wider range of disciplines, a more expensive pair of gloves is generally worth the investment. As always, MMA gloves are often reviewed online, especially the bigger brands, so give them a look over to find the right glove for you in the right sort of price range.

Shin Guards

While not typically used in most fights, a pair of shin guards is an essential piece of fight gear for beginners in MMA, mainly to protect your lower legs and your foot from your sparring partner. Shin pads in MMA are typically thinner and lighter than traditional sets and most designed to protect your feet as well as your shins. They are especially important for beginners in MMA as you won’t have any real shin conditioning so will be more susceptible to injury.

Mouth Guard

Mouth guards are key in all combat sports as they protect your mouth and face from dental fractures and jaw injuries. They are required for both training and competition. When it comes to a mouth guard, a proper fit is essential. The mouth guard needs to be comfortable and fit snug in the mouth to reduce the risk of it slipping during sparring or competition. It should allow you to easily breathe and speak as normal.

Groin Protection

The groin guard, also known as groin protector or groin cup, is one of the most significant and crucial pieces of training gear for mixed martial arts. You can avoid severe injury to the delicate portions of your lower body by wearing proper groin protection. These are a necessary piece of gear to use if you ever want to compete in amateur or professional combat sports. Even if it’s against the rules to strike the lower body’s delicate places during competition, you wouldn’t want to get hit there while working out and accidents can occasionally occur in competition. One unintentional blow to the groin is all it takes to cause severe pain and lasting harm. It is ideal to use them while training so you will also get used to wearing them in a fight scenario.

Hand Wraps

For combat sports, hand wraps are highly recommended, particularly in boxing. They keep the small joints and small bones in your hands safe as they are typically subject to fracture from the impact of repetitive punches. Hand wrapping also protects the tendons, muscles and cushions the impact of the wrist. This is particularly valuable for beginners and helps you train for longer periods of time while reducing the impact of your punches on your hands.

General Things to Bring

While the above are all valuable to MMA for beginners, beginners are liable to forget to bring the basics. Here are a few of the things you’ll need to bring, even for a standard workout.

Water

Keep hydrated. You can take a sports drink if you want as well to restore your electrolytes during exercise or a particular hard ride but ensure you are still drinking enough water. You are going to sweat a lot, especially as a beginner, so ensuring you stay replenished throughout longer training sessions will enable you to perform better.

Trainers

Slips are particularly common while working out so a comfortable and grippy pair of trainers is a priority. If you are going to be coming to one of our MMA classes, you’ll want a pair of trainers you can easily move about in and a pair of trainers that can reliably grip during continual movement.

Training shirt

A tight training shirt is very important in general training and it can be helpful for general MMA training. A loose t-shirt can restrict your movement and make it difficult to move quickly. A tight shirt provides easier movement and less stress. Ideally during training, it should feel like you are wearing nothing at all so you can concentrate on your approach and your technique.

This guide is designed to give a detailed list of all the gear and equipment you should try to bring to your MMA training sessions. These tips are mostly geared towards beginners but there are useful reminders in here for even the most hardened MMA fighter. Obviously with all the above, clothing can be subjective and you’ll want to use whatever makes you most comfortable but these are our suggestions for you to get the most of your MMA classes while also remaining safe and keeping your partners and coaches safe. We hope to see you at our next class!