It’s important when you come to a Muay Thai gym that you get the necessary equipment for that gym. In Muay Thai shin guard is considered one of the most important equipment without which no training is complete. If you turn up to a Muay Thai gym with a shin protector that has barely enough padding to protect you from a small thrown rocket at slow speed then you don’t wear them. These are for competitions only and not for training.
For training you must wear a proper shin guards authorized by that gym. Good protective shin guard can absorb hardest of kicks and protects against broken bones and other serious injuries.
It is important that any product you pick is approved by a professional who is in Muay Thai or someone who knows about shin protectors.
There are many different types of martial arts that use shin guards, but for Muay Thai you need the best quality shin protectors. Muay Thai fighter kicks harder than any other martial arts and they kick all the time as it is part of the contact sport.
Remember no shin guards will make you tougher, its only purpose is to protect you from injuring yourself. So always wear a high quality shin guards to be able to kick each other, block kicks and develop technique without injury.
How to select shin guards?
When you select a shin guard it is important that you get it fitted by someone who knows what they are doing. What is important for shin guards is that most injuries occur in top of the foot where there are a lot of soft bones. So you need a guard that has good coverage of the foot without restricting the foot movement. Ankle joint causes a lot of injuries so make sure you have a good padding in there, but also good mobility so you can move your foot freely. Underneath the shin guards you need to have a strapping system that doesn’t make it slippery because you are not wearing any shoes.
Now moving up to the shin region, this is primary weapon fighters use to hit their opponentsor use to defend with. Therefore, it must be heavily protected. The pads are not only there to protect the shin but are also used to protect your muscle surrounding the shin. The design of the shin guard covers up over the patella to give impact protect to the patella, which is important as well. Make sure the padding doesn’t go above the knee, because it not only looks clumsy but also restricts your movement.
The trapping of the shin pad should sit somewhere that is comfortable for you. Normally it is above the ankle to give the ankle free movement and then above the calf to make sure the padding sits perfectly and there is no loss of blood circulation as well.
Testing Your Shin Guards
Now when you are testing your shin guards for the first time, always do that while standing. Bend your knee to make sure they don’t come above the knees. Also make sure they are not covering the toes.
