Sparring - What do you wear?

[Mr. Hall]

Do you prefer to spar with the cloth shin and instep or the foam boot?

[tommarker]

none of the above.

[DemXanth]

Me neither, who needs that crap.

[karatekid1975]

Me either, but I have to wear the cloth things. The plastic boot things and helmet make me sweat like a pig. I hate that.

[Pacificshore]

I marked the foam boot, but I also use the cloth shin guard. In all reality in this day and age with SUE happy people, it is wise to use as much precaution as you can when you spar. Especially when dealing with students.

 

Now if I were sparring with my training buddy, we'd still pad up, but the contact is something else. In other words, we'd let loose a bit on the control .

[SBN Doug]

Same here. I wear the foam foot top cover, but can't stand it. However, that's what our organization requires to do contact sparring.

[Red J]

Other: Either we wear nothing for light contact, or we put on a foam instep/shin guard. No boots.

[SaiFightsMS]

We were required to wear foam sparring boots to throw round house kicks that used the instep. Safety matter. I have used cloth shin pads to protect a medical device.

[monkeygirl]

My dojo requires us to where foam boots, and shin guards are optional. I wear shin guards just because they bruise like a peach

 

I love the shin guards but I hate the boots. They're so clumsy feeling...it's really hard to find any that fit well. I'm always stepping on them, plus they weigh down my feet and make me kick slower.

 

I prefer the light, free feeling of kicking barefoot. Unfortunately that's not my decision

[Ryan]

On rare occasions we spar without any gear at all. Otherwise we have to wear the foot guards. I sometimes wear shin gaurds too, depending on whether or not my shins are particularly beat up that day. Take today for example. I will wear shin guards tonight becuase from instep to knee, my right shin is an interesting purple/green color and lumpy to boot. Once it heals, I wont wear them again unless needed.