The Boxer’s Essential Guide To Buying Gear

One of the upsides of boxing as a sport is that it is relatively inexpensive, especially if you are not planning to be a professional and remain at the amateur level. To those starting out the sport for the very first time, there is no hard and fast rule of requiring every single gadget, and even when you are up for your very first amateur match, there is still no actual need for every little equipment and product. In fact, what you will be needing at most when you start out are your boxing gloves and your athletic clothes – any clothes you can freely move in.

Once you start sparring with a partner, however, you will have to invest in protective gear. To begin with, you will need a dedicated pair of sparring gloves – most gym coaches, however, tend to be quite specific with regards to what they allow, so you will find that most gyms actually provide you with sparring gloves – and mouth guards, headgear, groin protectors and if you are a female, a chest protector as well. But what about the other necessities? Well, here is a quick rundown to tell you whether you need something or not:

Boxing shoes – you certainly won’t be needing these for training. And even when you have your first amateur matches, you can certainly do well enough even with your average athletic shoes or trainers. However, once it is time for you to step into the ring, it would make sense to invest in a good pair of dedicated shoes. These have better grip and weight balance, after all.

Boxing hand wraps – if there is one very important thing that any boxer needs to learn, it is how to properly bandage their hands. Boxing is all about landing heavy punches, and there is a very good chance of injuring your hands and breaking bones if you do not bandage your hands properly. To this end, it is ideal to buy good hand wraps as soon as you find it possible – possibly before beginning sparring matches.

Punching bag – once you have begun getting into boxing, you might want to look around for a good punching bag that you can use to train with at home. There won’t be any need for you to invest in one right at the start, but there is no rule saying that beginners cannot have a punching bag in their homes! Either way, when buying a good punching bag, it would be a good idea to skip water-filled bags and go for a regular one, with either hard or soft fill (there is no great difference between the two). A good bag can easily last several years of punching.