When you start doing a bit of sparring for the first time it can be the most exciting and scary part of your training in any martial art, including taekwondo, but it is important that you have all of the right equipment and if you want to make sure that you don't pick up an injur in your training then it is also worthwhile buying good quality products. This page is a guide to the different items that you will need along with links to some god quality products that you can buy now from Amazon for a decent price.

I guess it makes sense to start at one end of the body and work down, so here we go:

 This is one of the important ones, as there are some powerful kicks in taekwondo and it is often these big powerful moves which are the hardest to 'pull' in a semi-contact fight, so you really need a decent quality head guard which will prevent everything from puffed up colliflower ears to k.o.'s and the incremental brain injury associated with full contact sports such as boxing which don't use head guards. If you're going to go for quality on one item and value for the rest, then it should be this one that you spend a little extra on.

 Mouth guards, also sometimes called gum shields, are another absolutely vital piece of kit. s you proby noticed the head guard does have a completely open face (you can get face shields as well, but you don't need to, especially for casual semi-contact sparring within a club) so you do need some extra protection for the mouth just in case you takeard hit - you don't want to end up getting your teeth knocked out!

There are actually a wide variety of different types of chest guards out there for use in different martial arts, but for Taekwondo you should be looking for a WTF (World Taekwondo Federation) chest guard which you can be sure will meet all of your requirements. Most of them are unisex, but larger women may need a specifically made for women product to ensure a good fit.

Sparig and competition gloves in Taekwondo are actually different from the gloves that are used in other combat sports and martial arts, from boxing to mixed martial arts. They are light weight and have padded knuckles but an open palm to allow he hands to breath.

I'm sure I don't need to explain the importance of this one, especially to the men out there!

Obviously this is one piece of kit that is different for men and women, so make sure you get the right one.

And don't make the mistake of thinking that a regular sports cup is all that you need because you really should have something with soft edges and a bit of padding as well as a hard center.

 Last but not least you do need to get yourself some intep / shin guards and a pair of foam shoes, or 'kicks' for the feet. Usually you do get these two items seperately, but there are some products out there the combine the two together in a set. As I've already mentioned Taekwondo is known for it's powerful kicks to protecting your legs and feet is very important both or yourself and (hopefully!) for your opponents when you land a kick on them.