Equipment and sizing guide

Most of the studies in this app need nothing but floor space. This page is for the ones that do not, and for the visitor who is about to buy a first set of gloves and wants to know what the numbers mean. Sizing conventions vary by maker; your gym will have an opinion, and it will be a better one than a web page.

Nothing

Every study labelled Shadow, which is thirty of the thirty-six, is done with no equipment. Clear a space about two metres square, put the screen somewhere you can see it from the stance, and use the round clock. Shoes with a thin, flat sole let you feel the heel lift the studies keep talking about; thick running shoes hide it.

Wraps

Hand wraps go under the gloves and support the wrist and the small bones of the hand. Cloth wraps are sold by length, commonly around 4.5 metres for adults and shorter for smaller hands. Gel wraps slip on and are quicker but give less support. Ask a coach to show you a wrapping method the first time; the Straight punches / bag study assumes your wrists are wrapped.

Gloves

Boxing gloves are sized by weight in ounces, which is a measure of padding rather than of fit. Lighter gloves, around 8 to 10 oz, are worn for competition and some pad work; heavier gloves, 14 to 16 oz, are the usual choice for bag work and sparring because they protect both hands and partner. Which weight a gym asks you to spar in is the gym's rule, not yours. Fit is separate from weight: the glove should close around a wrapped hand with the thumb alongside the fist, not inside it. The figure in the app wears a training glove drawn at about 1.6 times the width of the hand, which is what a 12 to 14 oz glove looks like on this rig.

Heavy bag

A hanging bag for the Straight punches / bag and Hooks / bag studies. It should be heavy enough not to swing wildly under a straight punch and hung so the middle of it is at your chest height. A bag that swings away and comes back is the thing that teaches you to move after a combination, which is why both bag studies end with a step off.

Focus mitts

Pads worn by a holder. The One-two / pads and Jab → cross → hook / pads studies draw a holder to show the height and the range the pads are held at, and nothing else. Holding pads well is a skill in its own right and is not taught here.

Mouthguard, headguard, groin guard

Required for sparring in every gym the author knows and for competition everywhere. None of the studies in this app involve contact with a person, so none require them, and the app makes no recommendation about them beyond this: get fitted by someone who does it for a living.

The round clock and the phone

The clock in this app is a browser page. It pauses when the page is hidden and it needs the screen on. A cheap interval timer on the wall is more reliable for a room full of people; the clock here is for one person and a plan.