Alright, so you wanna know about kickboxing gloves versus boxing gloves, huh? Lemme tell ya, I figured this one out the good old-fashioned way – by kinda messing it up first. It’s not like I read a manual or anything, this is straight from my own bumps and, well, not quite bruises, but definitely some awkward moments.
My Brilliant Idea (Not So Much)
So, I started with boxing. Pure boxing. Got myself a decent pair of 16oz boxing gloves, you know, the ones with all that nice padding right on the knuckles. Felt like a champ hitting the heavy bag, and they were great for sparring with just punches. Then, a few months down the line, my buddy convinced me to try out kickboxing. I was all pumped, ready to go. And I thought, “Hey, gloves are gloves, right? My boxing ones will be just fine.” Seemed logical. Save a bit of cash.
Famous last words. Or, well, thoughts.
The first few kickboxing classes, I was using my boxing gloves. Punching felt okay, no surprise there. But then came the other stuff. That’s where things got a little weird.
The “Uh Oh” Moments
We started doing drills where we had to block kicks. So, you bring your forearms up, kinda using the outside of your gloves too. My boxing gloves, they’re super padded on the front, but the padding on the back of the hand and around the wrist? Not so much designed for taking a shin kick, even a light one from a training partner. It wasn’t painful-painful, but it was definitely not comfortable. I remember thinking, “Oof, that felt a bit thin right there.”
Then there was the clinch. In kickboxing, you do a bit of clinching, like the Thai plum. Trying to get a decent grip with my boxing gloves was a total pain. The thumbs on boxing gloves are usually really attached and stiff – which is great for preventing eye pokes and thumb sprains in boxing. But for trying to grab onto someone’s neck or arm? Forget about it. My hands felt like they were stuck in big, round bricks. I couldn’t get the flexibility I needed.
I even noticed a subtle thing when I was trying to parry kicks or catch a teep. Boxing gloves are generally more… rounded and bulky at the front. Kickboxing gloves, I later found out, sometimes have a slightly different shape, maybe a bit more distributed padding on the back of the hand and cuff, which just works better for deflecting kicks or having a slightly more open hand position when you need it.
Figuring It Out
After a couple of sessions of feeling clumsy when it wasn’t about punching, I finally asked my coach. I was like, “Man, these gloves feel kinda off when I’m not just throwing hands.” He just kinda chuckled and pointed out that, yeah, there’s a reason they make different gloves. Duh, right?
So, I bit the bullet and decided to get a proper pair of kickboxing gloves. I went to the store, tried a few on. The differences I noticed right away:
- Padding distribution: The kickboxing gloves often had more padding on the back of the hand and along the wrist. Not crazy thick, but definitely more than my boxing gloves in those areas. This made a huge difference when blocking.
- Wrist support and cuff: Some kickboxing gloves have a different cuff design. Still supportive, but maybe a little more flexible or designed to better integrate with blocking kicks.
- Palm and thumb: While still protective, some kickboxing gloves I looked at seemed to allow for a slightly more open hand, or the thumb wasn’t as rigidly attached as a pure boxing glove. This made clinching way easier.
The Switch-Up and What I Learned
Once I got my actual kickboxing gloves, it was like night and day for anything that wasn’t just straight punching. Blocking kicks felt more secure. My hands didn’t feel as vulnerable. Clinch work was still hard (because clinching is hard!), but at least my gloves weren’t fighting me every step of the way. The overall feel was just better suited for the all-around demands of kickboxing.
So, yeah, that’s my story. Can you use boxing gloves for kickboxing if you’re just starting out or in a pinch? Sure, for a little while, especially if you’re mostly focusing on punches. But if you’re gonna stick with kickboxing, getting the right gloves designed for it makes a real difference in comfort, protection for certain techniques, and just overall feel. I learned that one by just jumping in and, you know, feeling it out. Sometimes you just gotta try stuff to see what works, or in my case, what doesn’t!
