Wearing Gloves For What ?

[SteveLau]

Since I do not find much discussed of the question in mind, so I might start a thread of my own. In sparring exercise, I have long believed that wearing gloves is more for protection of the opponent rather than our hands. MA students quite often have trained one kind or more hard Qi work for attack and self-protection. So that includes our fingers, knuckes and hands in overall. Therefore when a student is ready to go into free fight training, he usually is up to some level of hard Qi work training. But for safety, they do wear gloves and other protection gears during the exercise. Lately, I have learnt from a TV show that wearing gloves is more for protecting our hands. It does not protect the opponent being struck much. The concussion effect is about the same as without gloves on. I have not changed my view on the matter yet.

So what is your view on the question ?

Wish you all have a healthy and prosperous Year of the Dragon.



KC
Hong Kong

[Neeros]

I haven't started san da yet, but the school I am a part of spars with no protective equipment whatsoever. Just as all Shaolin practitioners did in the past. However control of ones own body is also practiced so if a strike does end up getting through the guard that speedy White Snake Shoots Venom to the throat or eyes will tend to stop an inch or two away from it's target.

I haven't heard any stories of accidental eye gouging or throat maulings yet.

[Oso]

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[Dragonzbane76]

Wearing gear goes beyond protection. When u spar with gear on you can put force behind your shots. It is for protection but has many other perks. You can train close to full on and not hurt each other.

[Pork Chop]

It's a trade-off.
No gloves = more broken hands, more cuts (ie more "bloodbath nights"), more broken noses, and in general, more surface damage.

Gloves = an ability to punch harder, longer, at harder targets; in general, more concussive damage.

There's a reason punching in most traditional martial arts looks different than modern boxing.
There's a reason punching in most traditional martial arts looks a lot more like bare-knuckle boxing.

You're not going to throw 100 full-power head punches each round at a bony skull without hand protection, because you're more likely to break your hands.

Furthermore, concussive damage takes a much longer time to show its effects. Boxers don't usually get punchy until much later in their life, after thousands of rounds of contact. Unfortunately, though, concussive brain damage is irreversible, and can lead to death.

In training, the goal is longevity. So we attempt to use gloves to minimize the surface damage, but limit the contact (in training) in order to minimize the concussive damage. But that too is a double-edged sword, because the contact needs to be hard enough to be realistic. That's why harder levels of contact are used sparingly; usually more so in the early stages of training, to teach awareness. Once you know what you're doing, you can make the harder sessions more infrequent.

Also, one and two-step sparring methods are often used to keep the sparring focused and purposeful. Sparring full out is a very inefficient way to actually improve skill. The higher the level of contact; the more gross-motor the movement, and the less the refinement of skills. You only have so much of your body to spend, so better make every little bit count.

[Chadderz]

It is mostly to protect the hands (MMA gloves). Boxing gloves do have a certain amount of padding that makes knockouts a bit rarer. It also stops your face becoming all cut and stuff.

Not wearing gloves in sparring sounds quite stupid IMO.

[SteveLau]

Gentlemen, thanks for your input. So far, Pork Chop's view is the best and very detail. I largely agree with his view. Yes, if we want to acquire full range of fight skill, we eventually need to wear some protective gears. That include gloves. And in real fight or training, we do hold back sometimes. It is partly because of ethical reason and also technical reason. For example, we would like to conserve our energy, and we also do not want to hurt our striking tools. But Pork Chop's post has not answered my original question. My view on the question has not changed yet - gloves are more to protect the opponent than our hands.




KC
Hong Kong

[Chadderz]

Gentlemen, thanks for your input. So far, Pork Chop's view is the best and very detail. I largely agree with his view. Yes, if we want to acquire full range of fight skill, we eventually need to wear some protective gears. That include gloves. And in real fight or training, we do hold back sometimes. It is partly because of ethical reason and also technical reason. For example, we would like to conserve our energy, and we also do not want to hurt our striking tools. But Pork Chop's post has not answered my original question. My view on the question has not changed yet - gloves are more to protect the opponent than our hands.




KC
Hong Kong

Well do you want to knock your training partner out? Or give them black eyes all the time?

[Frost]

Gentlemen, thanks for your input. So far, Pork Chop's view is the best and very detail. I largely agree with his view. Yes, if we want to acquire full range of fight skill, we eventually need to wear some protective gears. That include gloves. And in real fight or training, we do hold back sometimes. It is partly because of ethical reason and also technical reason. For example, we would like to conserve our energy, and we also do not want to hurt our striking tools. But Pork Chop's post has not answered my original question. My view on the question has not changed yet - gloves are more to protect the opponent than our hands.




KC
Hong Kong

old style boxing with bare knuckles used to last up to 100 rounds, old school Vale tudo didnt see many knock outs, UFC saw a large increase in KOs after gloves were allowed (which is ironic because they were brought in for fighter protection lol) , those are simple facts easily googled, the facts are gloves allow you to hit harder and more often, thus they are for your protection

[sanjuro_ronin]

It is NOT a case of either/or gentlemen.
Gloves do BOTH.
The protect your hands which allows you to hit harder and more often.
The protect your sparring partner and to a more limited extent, your opponent because they limit superficial lacerations.
The concussive effect is greater because most people do tend to hold back a bit with bare hands when, after the first few shots when the adrenaline starts to wear off, they realize that hitting the head ( and elbows in the case of missed body shots) of their opponents hurts.

[David Jamieson]

[GeneChing]

I have learnt from a TV show

Learn a lot from TV shows, do we? Well, I guess that's better than learning from a forum.

I've broken both wrists and my right thumb in fights without gloves. That was when I was young and stupid. While some injury is inevitable during training, minimization of injury is always in your best interest. Always wear protection.

[Jimbo]

Also, it doesn't matter how much hard qi gong or iron hand you may have trained, your hands are still flesh and bone. You may condition them, but they can still be injured, esp. if your hand is blocked by an elbow, you hit wrong, etc.

**oops, Sanjuro already mentioned some of this.

[Dragonzbane76]

Also, it doesn't matter how much hard qi gong or iron hand you may have trained, your hands are still flesh and bone. You may condition them, but they can still be injured, esp. if your hand is blocked by an elbow, you hit wrong, etc.

agree. protection is always your best bet when training.

[SteveLau]

I've broken both wrists and my right thumb in fights without gloves.

Poor dear!


Well, what I had in when I asked the original question is a general situation. That the pyschological and mentality of the fighters is not considered. Just in general, whether gloves tend to protect our hands more or the opponent being struck more? That means I do not consider whether the fighters tend to fight with more power with gloves on. Though it is a good observation to know. Any more input from other forum members?