Hi Tim,

I've got a question regarding head gear with face shields for sparring. I remember seeing a while ago that you use to hold an in house competition at the Shen Wu academy, and remember photos where the participants wore head gear with clear plastic face shields. I'm in the market for one, and I was wondering if you have any advice on the pros and cons of this equipment? If there is a brand you'd suggest ? Do you guys still use them in training?

Thanks,
Craig

I've had both. To be honest they both suck and here's why. The fiber glass face shield would get doggy on me and I could not breathe well while wearing it. Visibility was good though. The one with the bars for a face shield was more breathable but it limited visibility way too much and left me susceptible to hooks.

You can try the helmet with no face shirk but you might get your face broken unless you have smart training partners.

Hi Craig,

I can't remember the brand I used back in the day. One thing to look out for is the type of plastic face shield used. The first ones we used had an oval cut out for the eyes, and a couple people cut their fingers on the edge. Therefore, I'd recommend the solid plastic face shields with drilled out air holes (although they did tend to fog up more).

We don't use them anymore, now we use standard boxing headgear.

Thanks for the response and advice!

I used one of these while sparring with some Daido Juku guys in Belgium a few years ago:

http://www.chokesports.com/head-guard-premium-296-p.asp

... it worked well enough, but it was as comfortable as it looks and the shield fogged up.

Thanks Jack.