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Sparring

Muay Thai Champion

Don’t you want to be a Muay Thai Champion?

 (Don’t forget to check out 30 seconds of the AWESOME clip at the end)

Table of Contents

  • An Introduction to Sparring
  • Beginners Sparring
  • Intermediate Sparring
  • Advanced Sparring
  • Conclusion

 

An Introduction to Sparring

First, let’s quickly talk about Muay Thai Sparring.

This guide is assuming you are sparring someone of a similar build and are in the gym practicing, not professionally competing. You should be going at close to full speed but not with full strength – you’re trying to practice, not beat them into a pulp :). It would be ideal if you and your sparring partner are on the same page about all of this.

Muay Thai Pre Sparring

Ready to spar?

With that said, let’s get started! Each section will explain the gear you should wear for that level of experience.

Beginners Sparring

This section of the guide assumes you are a beginner to Muay Thai. You and your partner’s control may not be extremely precise, and you may have little to no sparring experience beforehand.

Head: You are looking for something called a “Full Face Guard”, “Full Head Guard”, or “MMA Head Guard”. It will wrap around your head while leaving room for your eyes, nose, and mouth to poke through. Beginners should not be sparring to the head, but if you are going to spar then you should always wear head protection. An injury to the head is something you NEED to avoid.

Body: You can wear any size-appropriate regular torso clothing like a training shirt. Make sure it is not billowing out (Wear your real size). An undershirt may also be acceptable, it depends on your gym.

Groin: You are looking for a “Groin Cup”, “Groin Guard”, or “Jock Strap”. Basically, it’s a strong (usually plastic) cup that covers your family jewels. Do not forget, women can also wear groin cups.

Legs: You are looking for “Basketball Shorts” or any other form of shorts you already have where you can be athletic in. One potential issue with basketball shorts is that they are generally loose – in the picture you can see that his shorts are almost skin tight, and placed over skintight boxer briefs. The goal is to have full range of motion without ripping the shorts or injuring yourself. If you really want to invest early, you can get “Muay Thai Shorts” which are generally made out of satin and a little lighter and tighter fitting.

Shins: You can wear “Shin Guards” to protect your shins BUT IT IS NOT RECOMMENDED. This differs from gym to gym, and I don’t recommend getting used to them at all. At most, you may want to use general hand wraps to tightly bind your shins, but it is better not to get too comfortable even as a beginner. The reason behind this is to harden up your shins in a process that restructures your bones to be harder than before. Yes, this is a real thing, and yes, you should start doing this right away if you want to be taken seriously.

Hands: You are looking for “Training Gloves”. At some gyms, “Boxing Gloves” are also acceptable. Be sure not to get something to heavy or you will wear yourself out quickly as well as potentially hit significantly harder than you intended to. At later levels, depending on area, you can progress to hand wraps.

Feet: You are looking for “Martial Arts Shoes” or “MMA Shoes”, however a regular pair of running sneakers will suffice. Flat-footed shoes such as Chuck Taylors are NOT recommended for beginners. Theoretically you can use any kind of athletic sports shoes such as running shoes at this level, but it will be cheaper in the long run to invest in a good, light pair of martial arts shoes right away. It will improve your speed and accuracy with kicks, as well as wear you out less.

 

Beginner to Muay Thai Sparring

Channel your inner newbie

 

Injured Muay Thai Fighter

Don’t end up looking like this guy

 

Intermediate Sparring

This section of the guide assumes you are comfortable with the basics of Muay Thai (ok, maybe not the cobra punch) and are getting more serious about your practice. Your strikes should have some control to their technique and you should be comfortable in the gym.

Head: “Full Face Guard” or “MMA Head Guard” is what you are looking for – something that wraps completely around the head. A mouth guard is also recommended at this point. You can and probably will be sparring to the face by intermediate level, if you weren’t already from the beginning of your training.

Body: A skin-tight shirt such as UnderArmour or shirtless depending on the gym. You should be comfortable with yourself and your body in the ring. Not everyone has a rippling six pack, get over it. It’s about improving your Muay Thai, not showing off at the beach.

Groin: You are looking for a “Groin Cup”, “Groin Guard”, or “Jock Strap”. As you progress in your Muay Thai career the probability of facing a strike to the groin (whether intentional or unintentional) exponentially increases.

Legs: “Muay Thai Shorts” are now appropriate. At this level, basketball shorts are too loose fitting. You could wear other light, tight shorts but if you’re at the intermediate level you’re probably serious enough to invest the $20 or less into a good pair of shorts – seriously, they’re not too costly. The difference between basketball and Muay Thai shorts is that Muay Thai shorts tend to be lighter and made out of satin. This will provide you better flexibility and range of motion with your kicks so that your apparel isn’t getting in the way of your techniques.

Shins: You should not be wearing shin guards unless it is expected in your gym. In that case, find a new gym.

Hands: “Training Gloves” or “Hand Wraps”. Hand Wraps are an art and take some time to learn how to tie properly. Improperly tied hand wraps may come lose during the sparring session and cause significant injury – PRACTICE IS RECOMMENDED before using hand wraps in the ring. Not to mention that it injures your technique when you’re constantly thinking about your wraps coming undone or loose. Whichever one you choose in training, stick with it in the ring. You need to be comfortable with what you’re sparring in and you’ll have enough on your mind with the other guy in there with you, trust me.

Feet: “Martial Arts Shoes” or “MMA Shoes” are firmly recommended at this point.

Muay Thai Training

Note, no fancy Muay Thai shorts

A Professional Muay Thai Fighter

This is what a professional looks like. If you want to be like a professional, start acting like one.

Advanced Sparring

Advanced sparring in Muay Thai can be slightly more dangerous because there is generally less gear. Advanced Muay Thai gear also differs greatly from North American professional rings to the Nak Muay in Thailand.

Head: Mouth guard. If you don’t wear a mouth guard at this level you will lose teeth.

Body: None. That’s right, you’re going shirtless. If you truly are an advanced Muay Thai boxer you will have conditioned your body, and I don’t just mean appearance wise but also physically. Tattoo’s optional.

Groin: You definitely need a “Groin Cup”, “Groin Guard”, or “Jock Strap” if doing advanced sparring. While some gyms frown on groin strikes, others are less selective and view it as part of the fight. Either way, accidents do happen and groin injuries are no laughing matter.

Legs: “Muay Thai Shorts” are really the only way to go as an advanced Muay Thai boxer. Theoretically they can be any short, flexible, light, form-fitting shorts, or if you are advanced enough you can make do with more kinds of clothing than beginner and advanced boxers actually because you understand your body better. However, you should still probably just spring the cash for a pair of Muay Thai Shorts and have one less thing to worry about.

Hands: “Training Gloves”, “Boxing Gloves”, “Hand Wraps”, or “Hand Tape” are what you’re looking for. The American professionals generally use boxing gloves. Note that if you train with boxing gloves, you should spar with boxing gloves. If you train with hand wraps or hand tape, you should spar with hand wraps or hand tape. This is because you will actually have slightly different strength and speed when switching hand gear. From observation, those in Thailand generally stick to wraps or tape as opposed to gloves which are a fairly new introduction in the last century of Muay Thai. If you use tape, expect to hit harder as it compresses your hands resulting in a stronger strike.

Feet: “Ankle Support Wraps” (NOT Foot Wraps!), “Boxing Tape”, or “Fighter’s Tape” dominate the arena of advanced Muay Thai shoes. If you use boxing tape it will actually make your strikes significantly stronger as everything will be bound together much more tightly, increasing the impact behind your strikes.

Advanced Muay Thai Sparring

Advanced Muay Thai Sparring

 

Muay Thai Handwrap

Professional Muay Thai Hand Binding

 

Conclusion

The equipment you use for Muay Thai sparring will differ depending on the level you are at. People at the basic and introductory level can re-purpose a significant amount of street wear with their athletic sneakers and basketball shorts. As you get more advanced and become more serious however, real Muay Thai shorts are recommended along with MMA shoes. Finally, as control and skill improves, a lot of the gear becomes to begin optional as you and your partner trust each other not to lose control and cause significant damage to each other. This permits barefoot, shinguard-less, headguard-less sparring which is significantly more dangerous but is appropriate for those who are able to control their strikes and trust their partner to do the same.

An Epic Highlights Reel: