Taking part in any physical sport can be a dangerous affair without the right type of protection, especially if you decide to take up amateur boxing. Ensuring that you have all of the correct headgear, mouth guards, hand wraps and other bits and pieces will help you to train longer and harder, whilst reducing the likelihood of injury. This simple guide will explain the importance of the three most important pieces of kit you'll be using, to help you better understand boxing so that you can enjoy it as one of the leading fitness and combat sports in the world. 

Gloves

Boxing focuses on utilising the hands to inflict damage on another person. However in today's civilised world boxers compete as a sport and therefore focus as much lot effort on protecting themselves as they do training, in order to beat their opponent. Having the right gloves is essential and will protect your hands from damage, as well as protect your sparring partners from any unnecessary injury, especially to the mouth and head.

Gloves come in a variety of weights and are weighed in ounces. The heavier the glove, the more padding it has and the better it is for safe sparring. If a glove is lighter, it fatigues the fighter less but has the potential to cause more damage to both boxers. Depending on whether you are also training with a heavy bag will also dictate the type of glove you use, as bag gloves are flatter and designed to impact with the bag itself. However it's not just the gloves that matter.

Handwraps

Handwraps are long lengths of cloth that boxers and mixed martial artists wrap around their hands. These are essential and should be worn when doing any sort of impact training. The wrap is wrapped around the hand using various techniques, often weaving through the fingers and around the wrist. This helps to keep the wrist aligned with the arm when making contact, minimising the risk of a fracture and allowing the boxer to put more weight behind the punch. It also helps to stop fingers from bending if the punch lands off target, and can also be used to provide added padding to the knuckles. Along with the tensing of the hand during impact, this creates a solid object from which to launch an attach.

Mouthguard

Mouthguards are one of the most important pieces of kit you'll need after gloves. Not only do they protect your teeth and gums from a punch, they also prevent you from biting your tongue. A good mouthguard will be custom made by a dental practitioner, approved by the Australian Dental Association (ADA), and will allow you to both breathe and talk without it falling out. Cheaper variations can also be purchased that mould to your gums after being boiled in water. However these are less effective and should be used as a back up.