Martial Arts

Boxing gloves by the ounce:

glove weight comes first, and it depends on what the gloves are for more than on who wears them. Sixteen-ounce gloves are the norm for sparring in most gyms, because the extra padding protects your partner; lighter pairs suit bag and pad work. Lace-ups fit closest but need someone to tie them, while hook-and-loop straps let you train alone. Muay Thai gloves spread the padding more evenly and keep a softer palm for the clinch, and shin guards go with them. MMA gloves leave the fingers open for grappling. Hand wraps go under all of them and are not worth buying used. A heavy bag completes the set-up at home, while weights and benches for strength days sit under exercise equipment.

Kimonos for the jiu-jitsu and judo mat:

a jiu-jitsu kimono is sized on the A scale, A1 to A4 for most adults, read off each maker’s height and weight chart, and Brazilian and American brands cut differently. Pearl weave is light and dries fast after a sweaty class; gold and double weaves resist grips and last longer. A judo kimono is heavier again and built to be yanked, so the two are not interchangeable. Karate gis split by use: light for kumite, stiff heavy cotton that snaps for kata. Rash guards cover no-gi classes, and the stretching many grapplers add between sessions has its own gear under yoga and pilates.

Tae kwon do doboks and electronic scoring kit:

children’s doboks change hands constantly, because kids grow faster than they climb the belts, so many arrive barely worn. Protectors are where tae kwon do gets technical. A traditional chest guard, the hogu, with foam forearm, shin and head guards is enough for club training. Tournaments use electronic protectors with sensor socks that register scoring kicks, and the Daedo and KP&P systems do not work with each other, so ask which one your club competes on before buying a used electronic hogu.

Leather gloves from a Mexican workbench against foam ones:

synthetic training gloves cost around $40 to $60 new in Panama, and once the foam has packed down and the lining has soaked up a few months of sweat they resell for very little. Handmade leather gloves from Cleto Reyes in Mexico or Winning in Japan start around $250 new and hold their value far better: a used pair with clean lining and padding that still springs back goes for $130 to $170, because good padding keeps its shape for years rather than months.

Pressing the knuckles of a used glove:

tells you most of what you need. Push the padding over the knuckles with your thumb: it should resist and spring back, not fold flat. Slide your hand in and feel for torn lining and loose stitching around the thumb, then smell it, because an odour that lives in the foam does not wash out. Fake Cleto Reyes and Winning gloves are common, so look for tight, even stitching, a crisp logo, the maker’s label inside the cuff and a price that makes sense. On a kimono the thick collar and the trouser knees wear out first, and cotton shrinks in a dryer, so ask how it was washed. A heavy bag whose filling has sunk to the bottom, or whose top seam is opening by the chains, needs work before it hangs again.

Gloves and kimonos for the next fighter:

sell faster when the listing settles the size question before anyone asks. For gloves give the brand, the ounces, laces or strap and how long they were used; for a kimono the A size, the weave and whether it has shrunk; for a dobok the child’s height when it fitted. Photograph inside each glove, the palm, a gi’s collar and knees, and be straight about the smell. A fighter coming over from a gym in El Chorrillo or Curundú will want to pull the gloves on over their own wraps and hit your palms a few times, so leave the laces loose and meet somewhere with room to throw a punch.