Focus Mitts

The key to perfecting their use is a good training partner who understands how to ‘feed’ you the striking area of the gloves.

Accuracy and distance training

Having a partner hold focus mitts for you to strike (punch, kick, elbow, knee) forces you to be accurate.  You also learn how to judge the distance of the target so you can generate the most amount of power.

Students who only practice their strikes into the air will never be able to perfect the accuracy and timing of their strikes. This is a common problem seen in many traditional martial arts schools.

Another advantage of using focus gloves in your training is that your training partner can move around, forcing you to move with them. This allows you to practice your footwork as well.

Choosing the right glove

Focus mitts are usually made of either leather or vinyl. Look for ones that have good, thick stitching to ensure durability.

If you are thinking of purchasing a pair of focus gloves be sure to try them on to make sure that they are comfortable. 

Personally, I prefer to use focus gloves that have a slight curve in them. They mold to the shape of your hand better and are more comfortable when you are absorbing the impact of strikes.

Try to avoid gloves that tend to stretch your fingers out too far from each other. This is a very unnatural hand position. You risk hurting your hand when you start to absorb strikes with the glove.

Some focus mitts have a wrist strap that helps to secure them onto your hand. These are a good idea as sometimes an awkward strike can send them flying off your hand.

Holding the focus mitts

When holding the gloves for your training partner, try to replicate the angles of the surfaces to be hit. For example, if you are holding focus gloves for a training partner to train jabs and hooks to the head, hold the two gloves close to each other  (at right angles to one another). 

Many students hold the focus gloves too far apart for head strikes which makes the training unrealistic.

Training Tips

Here are a few more tips to improve your martial arts training using focus gloves.

• Have your training partner (the person holding the focus mitts) strike you every once in a while to help you keep your guard up.
• Practice different set combinations. You can number the combinations and have your training partner call them out in random order for an extra challenge.
• Move around. Have your trainer move around while feeding you the focus gloves. This will help sharpen your footwork.
• Time your rounds to give you an objective measure of your training time. Three minute rounds are a good idea.

Some ideas to spice up your training

• Use different weapons of your body – your fists, feet, knees, elbows. Be careful with the ‘stronger’ weapons of your body such as feet and knees as you may hurt your trainer’s hands and wrists. Save the really ‘heavy’ hitting for a heavy punching bag.
• Although very difficult, it is possible to train ‘trapping’ techniques such as Pak Sao and Lop Sao with focus mitts. Once again the key is the ability of the trainer to correctly ‘feed’ the gloves.
• Use the focus gloves to practice strikes while on the ground. You can practice strikes from the top or bottom position.