Equipment, Training Gear and Advice.

[donnydarkoIRL]

Since starting boxing, I personally have been injured a number of times and have been present on numerous occasions when colleagues and friends get injured. Injury of course is a plague to any serious boxer and I felt that it would be a good idea to attempt to investigate the source of injury problems.

On a personal level, I have concluded that a large amount of injuries (for me over 50%) have been the resultant of using poor quality equipment and training gear. So I decided to open this thread for all participants on Saddoboxing's training board to logour expieriences with certain items of equipment and advice on how to use equipment correctly, good brands and stores to purchase from and perhaps identify problems with certain implements you have used.
This thread will be of the most benefit if many people contribute as our collective experiences and knowledge is far superior than one person's alone.

[donnydarkoIRL]

I'll get things underway I guess.

The first thing I found a help in my battle to preserve my hands is the use of Mexican wraps. These are the same as standard except they are made of a lighter-stretchy material. They wrap the hands well, unravel less than standard cloth wraps and less importantly stink less. They're available on most distributors but I got mine at
www.everlast.com store.

Gloves. I used an Irish brand of Glove for a while called Elvery's. They were a duisaster. I've since used Top Pro's amateur 10, 12 and 16 oz's and although they are weighty, they're ideal for training. Top Pro seems to be a European brand and I'm not sure where to locate them.

I've had an issue with "Green hills" head guards before. Although I found them a beautiful fit, the one i Received had a rough leather interior and it irratated the skin. Pity they were a nice guard.
They seem to have released a new plasticy headguard and I'd advise against. The y seem to have a bag glove that are poor quality too. But I would search they're stuff because in the past they did quality amateur stuff.

[Trainer Monkey]

My biggest problem,other then dottering old age(figured Id save you guys the trouble of saying it ) is arrogance not equipment
We have one of the hardest heavy bags in the buisness,an Everlast(also one of the best lasting though)but if someones working it,and their doing something wrong,Im right there to show them what I actually want compaired to what their doing
Do I do it at slow speed? Do I bother to wrap my hands? No of course not,in my mind Im still 23 and solid as a rock,and completely unbreakable.
And later that night my hands in a bucket of ice water,and Feur's giving me a "look"

[Sharla]

I have to confess to arrogance being a big problem for me also I read recently in a running magazine that most people will feel more easily motivated when they get things right with their sleeping and eating patterns etc. Unfortunately then a lot of people overtrain when their feeling good, rather than allowing themselves to have the recovery they need. The result is a cycle of overtraining and crashing which is less beneficial than just being honest about how much you can do and actually recover from.

As far as equipment goes I think skipping on anything other than sprung floor boards is a common killer. I've never suffered from using equipment the wrong way - touchwood!

[donnydarkoIRL]

Ok, well what equipment would you guys recommend?

[StrictlySP]

Trainer Monkey said:

My biggest problem,other then dottering old age(figured Id save you guys the trouble of saying it Grin) is arrogance not equipment

It's mine too. I keep forgetting I'm 43 not 23...

I used to recover from injuries, when I got them, relatively quick. However, at around 38/39 years old, when the injuries came, it significantly took a longer time to recover. Like Trainer Monkey, equipment has never been the source of my injuries; it's been "old" age and overzealousness with training and teaching. I still have the habit of going too fast and hard, too soon but not as frequently. As I've gotten older and somewhat wiser through my body's feedback, I still go from "zero to a hundred" but in shorter durations for specific, non-sportive reasons. Anyway, I believe the best way to avoid/lessen injuries as one gets older is to reduce the frequency and duration of training. Having said that, the two elements you can still up the ante on in spite of age, relatively speaking, are in the realms of intensity and modality.

Anyway, training "harder smarter" (i.e. having good training plans with clearly established objectives with an emphasis on increasing the quality and intensity while decreasing the frequency and duration) is the key to lessening injuries coupled with having good training partners, and good, well-maintained equipment.

In regards to your original inquiry, I've had good fortune with pretty much every piece of equipment and gear I've ever trained with (e.g. Ringside, Everlast, Title, Reyes, Twins, Fairtex, Century, etc). No problems I can think of with any particular brand. Sentimentally, I like Tuf-Wear and Perma-Bilt products the most because all the gear I first purchased when I began boxing/Thai-boxing were from these two companies and have served me very, very well. In fact, I still have and practically use every piece of gear I bought from these two companies a long time ago. The most important considerations with equipment are proper size, fit, and feel in all areas concerned along with not skimping on quality.

Take Care,
Lito

[cpcompany]

Ok, well what equipment would you guys recommend?

I stopped using the mexican hand wraps, the bandage is a bit too wide for me and feels a bit chunky/uncomfortable on my palms and my thumb. I got some winning hand warps which are a normal crepe bandage with velcro. Much lighter and comfortable for me because my hands are small.

[Trainer Monkey]

Accounting for personal taste,Ill run down the list
Heavy bag and speed bag,I like Everlast for durability,the added benefit of the Everlast heavy bags is they over stuff them,you can yank that excess padding and with a carry on bag,and a couple of bags of sand you can build your own upper cut bag
Double end bag,with a few modifications I really like our Title
Bag gloves our Everlasts have taken a serious beating over the years and keep holding nicely
Sparring gloves,at an affordable price range Id go with the Titles,the Everlasts around that price are quite frankly rubbish
Wraps,depends on how you like your hands wrapped(or in my case remember to wrap)if you like a straight wrap,the black Everlasts work great,if you prefer Mexican,Id go with the blue Ringsides
Mitts,I again go for durability and go with the Everlasts,hey Im wearing them,durability means a lot to me
Stability ball Golds Gym makes a very nice affordable one
Mouthpiece,gotta be a Brainpad with the breathing channel
Shoes,Ok point of contention,I love my high Tyguns,Feurs had good luck with her Titles comfort wise,but I like to be able to twist out of stuff more then her,disclaimer,I have not tried the redesigned Tygun 2's yet
Knuckle Guards,frankly we made our own
Jump Rope,we're still on our way to finding one we like,but after torching two of them,Wal Marts available ones suck,total garbage
Headgear and no foul belt-Everlast again(at this point they should give us a sponsorship )
You also probably want a round timer that will strap on to your arm,sometimes you need to work alone and you cant hear a remote one,Ill recomend one later,but frankly Feur has ours right now,in lieu of that one I use the freebie hand one she got from work
Thats all I can think of off the top of my head

[Sharla]

I love top ten headgear - feel like I get hit twice as much wearing anything else because other headgear messes with my peripheral vision.

I am not a big person but even for my punches I don't like the little cheap bag mits you often see in cheap packages at general sports stores. I like to use at ten ounce gloves for bag work. Layered foam gloves being OK for bag work but moulded foam ones best for sparring (softer and safer for the same weight).

Good quality running shoes fitted at a store recommended by runners makes a big difference too. General sports outlets will often just find out what colours you like and sell you shoes that aren't good for you. Shoe stores which specialize in providing shoes for competitive runners are usually much better at getting you what you actually need without charging you the earth either.

[donnydarkoIRL]

Ok....From now on as a religious belief I'm wearing 16 oz soparring gloves...
I wear Top Ten personally, but i'd love to grab a set of Ergo's as the comfort and "whack" out of them is unrivalled...

Sharla. Dou you mean the small-plastic, Top Ten Head gear? The ones you need vaseline to wear
I wore one last night and it was nice.

Also a rare "Starpak" headgear is really nice.

[Sharla]

I guess it looks plastic but I only use vaseline with it over my nose and eyebrows a little when I'm competing.

It's this one (sorry haven't worked out how to do that properly):
http://www.martialartshop.co.uk/imag...adguard_lg.jpg

I've never heard of Starpak - I'll keep my eye out for it though CC hitmandonny

[donnydarkoIRL]

Yeah thats the one Sharla, they're nice and light for slipping those are!

[Von Milash]

I have a fight Gear neoprene noggin protector
Grant Campeon nut saver.
Grant Campeon lace up training gloves
Tuff Wear lace up training gloves

And by accident (my wife was trying to order me new bag gloves for Christmas but the Canadian importer f'd up, so), I got these babies..

Title Campeon training gloves. And I'll tell ya, these suckers are the best $40 gloves I've ever seen. The leather is perfect and they damn well hurt when you get hit by em. They're marked down from 70 b/c they look rather unimpressive, but trust me. they're gorgeous.

[Von Milash]

i never realized how much of a fetish i have for training gloves i had until writing it out. that's ok. you can never have enough pairs of gloves..

[donnydarkoIRL]

True enough.
I feel good gloves are essential as they protect ur most important tools and the part of your body you most need in our sport. I'm actually looking for ergos now, for exqactly that reason.