Mix Martial Arts, more commonly known as MMA, is one of the most famous combat sports in the world today. MMA is practiced as a hobby, profession or self-defense in almost every country of the world. Professional MMA athletes or fighters are amongst the richest sportsmen in the world. Practicing MMA as a profession or hobby is a great challenge and requires an immense amount of physical and mental strength. However, if practiced well, MMA has numerous benefits such as the improvement in physical health and mental wellbeing as well as self-defense and protection of not only yourself but those around you.
Just like any other sport, MMA also has a specific gear. Whether you are a beginner or an expert, the MMA gear is one of the most important things to focus on. MMA gear is essential as its basic purpose is to protect you while training, sparring or in an actual fight. Injuries are a constant scare in all sports let alone in a combat sport where the purpose is to hurt your opponent. Hence, having the best gear is the utmost necessity for MMA to minimize the risk of injuries. Apart from protection, a good quality MMA gears can also enhance your performance and make your experience more enjoyable.
Discussed below are the essential parts of the Best MMA Gear for Beginners:
Gloves
A large part of MMA practice involves the use of hands. Whether it is punching, blocking or any other maneuver, hands are an essential part of MMA practice. The peculiar finger joints and the wrists need to be protected while throwing punches or blocking. MMA gloves provide the protection to the hands and minimize the risk of hand-related injuries.
There are two types of MMA gloves. One pair of gloves is for bag and pad training and is 14-16 ounces, also known as standard boxing gloves. While for sparring or actual fight competition, you will need much lighter gloves also known as MMA Gloves that are only 4 ounces. As a beginner, you may just get the standard boxing gloves for the pad and bag training. Once you start sparring or have proper combat with an opponent, you can get the MMA gloves. It is essential to wear the correct type of gloves before the practice to avoid injuries.
Cups
One of the most sensitive and fragile part of your body is the groin area. The intensity is high while training, sparring or fighting against an opponent. Even the slightest of hits to your unprotected groin area can be catastrophic; hence the groin area must be protected.
Cups provide the protection to the groin area as they go underneath the gym shorts or similar piece of clothing. There are several types of cups for example, an elastic strap with a removable cup or full padded cup from front, back and sides. Several sizes and shapes are available for you to choose from. The important thing to focus on is the impact of hits on the groin area while wearing the cups. Whether the material of the cups is hard plastic or foam wrapped in vinyl, you should go with the one that feels the best of you. Cups made up of foam wrapped in vinyl are used in professional MMA competitions.
Mouth guards
A large percentage of attacks in MMA are directed at the mouth or the face of the fighters. The mouth and teeth are in constant barrage of punches and kicks and therefore, they must be protected. Mouth guards provide the protection to the mouth and teeth.
There are two versions of mouthpieces; a soft mouthpiece is used by beginners for sparring alongside headgear. But as you progress through the MMA training, you will need to upgrade your mouth guard to the standard used in professional MMA competitions. The upgraded mouthpiece allows the fighter to breathe easily and talk to their corner in case of an emergency or in between the rounds.
Shin Guards
Feet and Shins are two complicated parts of the body and if injured, they can create massive problems for you. While practicing MMA, you must use Shin Guards.
There are two main types of Shin Guards: one of the guards only protects the shin while the other one also protects the foot. As MMA involves kicking, the risk of foot or shin injuries is increased. Therefore, whether you are a beginner or a pro, the shin guards are a must-have gear before starting any practice of MMA.
Headgear
As stated earlier, the face, head, mouth, etc. are a primary target in MMA practice. Hence the protection of head is necessary. Headgear provides protection to your head during training, sparring or in an actual competition.
There are several designs of MMA headgear out in the market. You can choose the headgear based on your head-shape or the sort of training you are involved in. Some examples of headgear are full face headgear or open face helmet. A full face headgear is wrapped around the head, face, chin and cheeks. It is made of soft padding to protect the beginners. The open face helmet is a more commonly used headgear. It has padding over the head but the chin and the face are open. As a result, you would be able to breathe easily.
Ear Guards
Ears are under attack during any MMA combat and therefore can be torn, ripped or scraped if not protected using ear guards. Moreover, ear guards also minimize the cauliflower ear which is caused by blunt trauma to the ear that causes inflammation which restricts the blood flow to the ear.
Two types of ear gauds are available; the old wrestling mat style or the new style that has straps around the head and chin. The ear guards are not a substitute for the headgear but are a separate essential MMA gear for beginners or pros.
Other MMA gear may also be available but above mentioned are the essential but Best MMA Gear for Beginners.
