Dipped foam sparring gear

[JR 137]

I'm looking into Century's sparring gear. I had some Macho gear back in the day, and it was junk. It fell apart pretty quickly, and I got tired of it and started duck taping it. The boots would rip along the edges that touched the floor, the finger loops would separate from the gloves, etc. The only thing that lasted were the helmets.

I'm looking at Century's student line vs the P2 line. Other than the amount of padding, is there much of a difference? Is the P2 or even P2 Premium line more durable?

Or are they all the same junk, buy whatever's prettiest and call it a day? If the extra money means a more durable product, I'm ok with it. If not, I'm good with the plain stuff. I'd rather spend more and replace it every few years than save $20 and replace it every few months.

Anything else recommended? Rules are it has to be black or white, no fingerless MMA gloves or boxing gloves, and the head gear has to protect the back of the head. I don't want forearm, shin, or chest protectors.

No desire to look cool. My technique makes me look cool. Truthfully, nothing will make me look good once my CI says to begin.

[126barnes]

My kids grew out of century gear before the wore it out.

But for myself I went with top ten. Got the competion head gear( more temple protection) and the 3000 series open hand gloves and kicks. No issues with 1-2 hrs/wk of sparring for 4 years. Gloves and kicks are leather.

They did resently changed the chip strap on the helmets that I don't care for.

Gear cost me $350 cdn, so a lot more than the dipped foam. Pretty sure there is a USA site as well, but might be worth a look at the Canadian site with the cdn $ @.72 US.

I sure there is better gear out there, but this is what I got.

[CDraper]

I've had the regular P2 boots for about a year now with no issues. Seem to be decent so far. I cannot comment as to how they would hold up against the standard "student" gear. The tournaments I've been to mandated foamed dipped gear so my options were kind of limited.

Good luck!

[DWx]

My kids grew out of century gear before the wore it out.

But for myself I went with top ten. Got the competion head gear( more temple protection) and the 3000 series open hand gloves and kicks. No issues with 1-2 hrs/wk of sparring for 4 years. Gloves and kicks are leather.

They did resently changed the chip strap on the helmets that I don't care for.

Gear cost me $350 cdn, so a lot more than the dipped foam. Pretty sure there is a USA site as well, but might be worth a look at the Canadian site with the cdn $ @.72 US.

I sure there is better gear out there, but this is what I got.

+1 for Top Ten gear if you're allowed it. I have two sets on the go (red and blue) and get about 5 to 6 years of heavy use out of them. They do cost a little more than dipped foam but you'll get a solid few years out of them.

With regards to dipped foam gear, I found the Macho Warrior range to be longer lasting that the standard one.

[JR 137]

Thanks, everyone. A classmate has a Top Ten helmet, but not the hands and feet. Seems like well made gear. Expensive, but it looks worth it.

Not sure if the feet and hands will be allowed due to them being leather. I'll check with my CI.

Seems like the Century gear is better made than the Macho gear I had is. The guys who would come to class more than once or twice a week were lucky if we got a full year out of it. I remember my Sensei laughing at how me and two other guys were duck taping our sparring gear, yet wearing Shureido and Tokaido gis and buying Shureido weapons. Priorities, I guess.

[126barnes]

Not sure if the feet and hands will be allowed due to them being leather. I'll check with my CI.

+1 for Top Ten gear if you're allowed it.

Just wondering why they wouldn't be allowed? I did notice a different style of glove used in WKA format.

Thanks for the info in advance[/img]

[JR 137]

I'm not basing it on any competition standards. Everyone in the dojo has dipped foam. According to my CI, people have showed up over the years with some stuff that wasn't allowed - MMA type gloves, boxing gloves, gloves without thumb padding, etc. I want to avoid return shipping, and the customary restocking fees that MA suppliers love to charge.

[skullsplitter]

Another vote for here for Top 10. Kwon also has some good gear. I'd put it better than Century, but a little below Top 10.

[Oshishinobu]

OSU!!!

I have owned and used century's gear. The p.s isn't bad good padding and nice feel, I think this might be something with all foam dipped but the boot made my feet sweat. OSU!!

[el-peligroso]

TOP TEN makes the THE BEST headgear. I've had the same white headgear since 2001 and it's awesome. TOP TEN makes some pretty good 10 oz competition gloves as well.

Rival makes great 18 oz training gloves.