Sparring Gear Retailers
All students with a yellow belt and above who wish to sparr must have appropriate protective gear to ensure both their own and their classmates' safety. At a minimum, students need padded gloves, padded boots, and a mouth guard. Some students also opt for shin pads, and head gear. Bear in mind that although you need protective gear, our style of sparring allows only very light contact to the chest and arms and absolutely no contact to the head.
Marina (your equipment officer/treasurer) has done some research on Canadian retailers and has prepared the following information:
Kontact Sports (link)
- Cheapest footgear (that includes shinpads): $40.00 (link)
- Cheapest hand gear: $28.95 (link). This is a cloth open finger glove. You may also want to look at the foam gloves listed below.
- delivery at Kontact sports is $6.00 (no matter how many items)
- The above items are from the "cloth and Vinyl sparring gear" section of their catalogue. Also take a look at the "foam sparring gear" section. In that section, I (Mark) would recommend the Kontact Stinger foam foot gear ($39.99, link) and glove ($39.99, link).
Bushido Martial Arts Supplies (link)
- Sport ONE foam foot gear (no shinpads): $34.99 (link)
- Sport ONE foam gloves: $34.99 (link)
- Browse their "sparring gear" section. They have the gear categorised my manufacturer.
Kamikaze (link)
There are a number of other Canadian retailers that also offer sparring equipment:
- London S/W Ontario Martial Arts Supply Inc. – more expensive (link)
- Hugo Sport Martial Arts Equipment (link)
Mouthguards can be picked up at a number of locations in Kingston. S & R (map) sells them. You dentist can also make a custom mouthguard (sometimes for no charge or covered by insurance).
