macho or ringside?

[Gerry]

On the straight blast gym tapes Ive primarily seen two types of head gear, the ringside with face guard and the macho caged. Which is better for sparring? It seems that the caged headgear is used more for drills while the ringside headgear is used more for sparring. Any thoughts.

Gerry Barone

[Rich Beaupit]

Hi Gerry,

We use the Macho helmets exclusively at my school. We have used them for drills, as well as fullout freestyle fighting.
They work very well. Minor problem with the helmet moving slightly if the guys are using alot of headlocks, but not much else to complain about.
When we want to isolate maybe just boxing or kickboxing we just take the cages off and the helmet works fine.
Saves you from having to have two types of helmets around so it is cost effective.

Take care,

Rich

[Jim McRae]

Hi Gerry,

I agree with Rich 100%. Burton has us use only the Macho headgear with the facecage here in Honolulu. They offer the greatest degree of protection of any headgear that I have used. They even work well for stick and knife sparring, though thrusts to the face will occasionally make it through the cage. You should be able to get one through JKDU for about $99. If you choose to get it somewhere else (like macho.com, which is cheaper), make sure to get the MVP model (the one that fastens closed in the back of the helmet with full padding around the jaw) and not the Warrior model (the one that fastens under the chin with no jaw protection). The latter is less expensive, but it offers far less protection and has a greater tendency to come off during even light sparring. One of our guys accidentally ordered the Warrior and he really hates it. Hope this was helpful.

Take care,
Jim McRae

[Gerry]

Thanks for the advice guys. I really appreciate it.

Gerry Barone