Martial arts gloves come in all different shapes and sizes. And in this post, I’m going to be going over three of the basic styles of gloves for martial arts; the MMA glove, Muay Thai boxing glove, and the Bag glove.
MMA Gloves
First, I’ll be going over the MMA glove, probably the most popular martial art glove out there.
MMA gloves will have an open palm and they’re good for grappling. The fingers move independently allowing you to grab.
There is padding across the top of the knuckels and the back of the hand.
Most will have a double loop velcro closure on the wrists. If you pull on the glove it won’t slide off your wrist.
If you’re grappling and you get your hand trapped in a hold, you can pull your hand out and the glove won’t come off.
I’ll use these when I’m training Wing Chun. Sometimes I’ll use them on the heavy bag, but I have specific bag gloves for that, which I’ll get into next.
MMA gloves also work really well for training Escrima.
They help protect your knuckles, and with the open palms, still allow you to grip the Escrima stick.
Bag Gloves
Next is the bag glove. Bag gloves are more for fitness training.
They are designed to slip on and off quickly with an elastic strap on the wrist.
Important note: bag gloves are not designed for sparring.
The gloves by Windy pictured above even have a warning label on the inside of the gloves saying they are not designed for sparring.
This is due to the fact that they do not have enough cushion around the fist for protection.
Muay Thai Gloves
And that brings me to the Muay Thai boxing gloves. These are what you want to use for sparring.
The padding is there to protect whoever you’re punching. It’s for their protection, not yours.
The Muay Thai glove allows you to open up your palms for when you’re doing clench work. You still are able to get a good grip on the back of the neck.
Muay Thai gloves by Sanabul actually have mesh lining in the palm that allows your hand to breathe.
The difference between Muay Thai and traditional Western-style boxing gloves is a little piece of material attaching the thumb to the glove, keeping the thumb in place.
Which Glove Works For You?
Those are the three basic styles of martial arts gloves. Which is the best?
Ultimately the type of training you plan to do will determine which type of glove will be best for you.
This is why I own all of these different types of gloves for martial arts.
If you prefer a visual review you can check out the video below.
Thank you for reading and let me know if you have any questions.
Take care,
Chuck