Full-Contact Kung Fu Gear: Fairtex, Ringside, other?

Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Kung Fu Forum
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I am about to start taking San Shou (San Da) classes and I was wondering what equipment brands other people who do San Shou in the US prefer for the sport? I notice some practitioners wear Muay Thai gear like Fairtex and Windy and others just use boxing equipment like Ringside gear. Anyone have any personal experience with any particular brand and have a recommendation on what is best for San Shou? Much appreciated and thanks in advance!

Side question: Are Feiyue shoes the definitive “best shoes for Kung Fu”?

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ive always been a fan of everlast or adidas personally. but i think its more a matter of personal preference and quality of product than anything else.

as for the shoes, i would say that yes feiyue is pretty much the go to kungfu shoe. i dont know if best is the right word to describe it though. again i think its a matter of personal preference. feiyue is a great shoe for practicing in though. I have a couple pair, then i also have a pair of adidas martial art shoes and a few pairs of in door soccer shoes of varying brands.

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[QUOTE=wushuaddict;1181443]I am about to start taking San Shou (San Da) classes and I was wondering what equipment brands other people who do San Shou in the US prefer for the sport? I notice some practitioners wear Muay Thai gear like Fairtex and Windy and others just use boxing equipment like Ringside gear. Anyone have any personal experience with any particular brand and have a recommendation on what is best for San Shou? Much appreciated and thanks in advance![/QUOTE]

Everlast is what we use.

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Thanks for the replies. Everlast and Adidas seems to have good glove selections but I’m curious about where to get other San Shou gear like a good chest guard similar to the ones in this San Shou vid:

2003 San Shou Championships

All the ones I’ve found look really bulky and “puffy” and don’t really look like the ones these athletes use.

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[QUOTE=wushuaddict;1181454]Thanks for the replies. Everlast and Adidas seems to have good glove selections but I’m curious about where to get other San Shou gear like a good chest guard similar to the ones in this San Shou vid:

2003 San Shou Championships

All the ones I’ve found look really bulky and “puffy” and don’t really look like the ones these athletes use.[/QUOTE]

We use the one commonly used in Taekwondo schools. It has a neck loop and a velcro belt with loop in the rear. It has good chest, stomach and kidney protection. Plus the metal loop is small enough to prevent injuries if thrown.

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[QUOTE=wushuaddict;1181454]Thanks for the replies. Everlast and Adidas seems to have good glove selections but I’m curious about where to get other San Shou gear like a good chest guard similar to the ones in this San Shou vid:

2003 San Shou Championships

All the ones I’ve found look really bulky and “puffy” and don’t really look like the ones these athletes use.[/QUOTE]

martialartsmart has a some Adidas ones :stuck_out_tongue: looks like some Adidas gear is on sale too.

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[QUOTE=Lucas;1181449]
as for the shoes, i would say that yes feiyue is pretty much the go to kungfu shoe. i dont know if best is the right word to describe it though. again i think its a matter of personal preference. feiyue is a great shoe for practicing in though. I have a couple pair, then i also have a pair of adidas martial art shoes and a few pairs of in door soccer shoes of varying brands.[/QUOTE]

For an opposing point of view… I hate feiyues. I find the treads are too deep giving too much resistance during any sort of pivoting motion, shuffling or sliding step. Also every pair I’ve bought has the sole at the toe so thickly cushioned that it feels even more awkward. For my money I’d take almost anything else.

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twins is really high quality stuff, I also like ringside good leather and they hold up well.

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I like the feiyue’s, but if you want to use spend your money wisely, I would get a pair of Asic’s wrestling shoes because they work on just about any surface and provide plenty of support.

For boxing/kickboxing gloves I go with everlast, but shinpads, I have a Tigerclaw brand that I absolutely love.

Savate shoes I hear are really nice for kickboxing with shoes, they were designed for it too.

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Faxing, wrestling shoes are designed so that you are leaning forward keeping your ankles bent way forward, in your stance… absolutly horrible for martial arts

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[QUOTE=EarthDragon;1181493]Faxing, wrestling shoes are designed so that you are leaning forward keeping your ankles bent way forward, in your stance… absolutly horrible for martial arts[/QUOTE]

Your description of “keeping your ankles bent way forward” doesn’t make much anatomical sense, but I will say that I am going to probably disagree with you. I have never had the experience of being off balance while wearing them.

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wrestling boots have flat soles and thin inner soles, so there is no leaning forward.
If you look at Jing Mo Kung-Fu boots and wrestling boots, wrestling boots are “state of the art” Jing-Mo boots-flat soles, reinforced toe and heel, ankle high, but they lace up and have arches, providing support.

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I thought that sounded weird to me.

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[QUOTE=Fa Xing;1181491]I like the feiyue’s, but if you want to use spend your money wisely, I would get a pair of Asic’s wrestling shoes because they work on just about any surface and provide plenty of support.

For boxing/kickboxing gloves I go with everlast, but shinpads, I have a Tigerclaw brand that I absolutely love.

Savate shoes I hear are really nice for kickboxing with shoes, they were designed for it too.[/QUOTE]

i really like asics. dont like the high top so i usually wear the tigers. the thing about feiyues is that they wear out pretty quickly. i normally use feiyues when im training outside, then in door soccer shoes when im inside. i actually like running in my feiyues too.

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I share my school with wrestlers and coaches, they sell all kinds of wrestling shoes. When you look at them they are desgined to keep you leaning forward and the ankle in a forward bent postition, this is not good at all for falling postions, leaning back , sweeps etc etc, its would actually pinch your achilles tendon nad crimp the shoe if you lean back for any reason. I have inlused a pic so you can see what I am trying to explian.

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[QUOTE=EarthDragon;1181523]I share my school with wrestlers and coaches, they sell all kinds of wrestling shoes. When you look at them they are desgined to keep you leaning forward and the ankle in a forward bent postition, this is not good at all for falling postions, leaning back , sweeps etc etc, its would actually pinch your achilles tendon nad crimp the shoe if you lean back for any reason. I have inlused a pic so you can see what I am trying to explian.[/QUOTE]

I wrote Asics:

Maybe Adidas shoes do that but mine do not. Now as I understand it, most TCMA have the heel on the ground when training but I am usually putting most of the weight on the balls of feet or anterior half. Therefore it doesn’t bother me if that’s the case.

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Top King makes the best shinguard on the market, unless you’re really having problems with kick catches causing them to slip - then get the Fairtex grappling shinguards.

Gloves are a personal thing. I find Everlast gloves to be absolute garbage and I REALLY don’t appreciate people wearing them for sparring.

For sparring, 16oz is the standard.
Gloves with IMF or similar padding is probably ideal: Winning, Ringside, RingToCage, Top Ten, Title Gels, Rival.
Thai brands are also not bad: Boon, Fairtex, Top King, Twins, Windy, Raja, King, FBT, etc.

For bags & pads, it’s usually smaller gloves or gloves specifically labeled “super bag gloves”.
The following companies make awesome super bag gloves: Grant, Rival, Ringside, Title.
I’ve also had a lot of luck with Thai brands in smaller sizes (between 10 and 12oz).

Mexican gloves are typically if you want to bust someone up real bad in sparring.
Depending on the brand, they can be okay on bags & pads (Reyes, Seyer, Zepol, JC Pacheco, Campeon, etc).

Top King and Fairtex make some of the best thai pads on the market. Also notable are Twins and Ring to Cage.

Belly pads, I like fairtex & boon the best, but you really can’t go wrong.

Chest guard - I recommend whatever you can get from martialartsmart. It’s not common to wear them in muay thai; amateur muay thai that requires them is a pretty recent development.

Focus mitts, I’ve always had good luck with Ringside, but Rivals have been great, and Titles will do in a pinch.

Headgear; I’ve had great luck with Fightgear (a Ringside subsidiary). Rival, Winning, and Reyes make the highest rated headgear. Title is solid too.

Mouthguards: Gladiator is probably the best custom. I usually go with Shock Doctor.

If you have any questions about a particular gear I can try to help.

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just curious what you dont like about any everlast gloves. how come you REALLY dont appreciate people using them? bad experience?

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[QUOTE=Lucas;1181534]just curious what you dont like about any everlast gloves. how come you REALLY dont appreciate people using them? bad experience?[/QUOTE]

To be clear, I’m talking about the $40 models you can get from Academy sports.
Everybody’s seen them - white trim and a basic, primary color like blue, red, black, or pink.
Padding-wise, they have almost none and are just not sufficient for sparring.
This is especially true when considering people buy these cheap pieces of sh*t as their only gloves, use them day-in, day-out on the bags & pads, then jump in the ring to spar with them.

I’ve been busted up more in sparring (surface/skin damage) from these gloves than from any other.
I’ll usually break out my Grants or American Stand Ups (ie gloves with a lot of pop, hard/minimal padding) if I know in advance someone is going to be using these.
In Fort Worth a guy jumped in the ring with some of these on, most of the paint had already been worn off, split my lip with the first punch - I didn’t go easy after that.

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gotcha. totally understandable lol

was just curious.