Should you use elbow & ankle guards in sparring – or not? Elbow & ankle guards are useful in a good many combat sports like MMA, kick boxing and Muay Thai. They are actually quite important, not only to prevent injury to yourself, but to protect your partner from injury. Choose pads that won’t cause injury Elbow pads are usually not needed at the level of most beginners, because most schools will not trust a beginner to use elbow attacks, as these attacks can do immense damage, and beginners simply do not have the control necessary to use such attacks safely.   As a matter of fact, no level of padding, however heavy, can really stop some level of injury if the elbows are used deliberately for attack. The elbow guards merely prevent injury in case of a mistake. Elbow & ankle guards are best used in combination. This is because ankle protection is also quite important if you want to avoid regular injury. First of all, ankle guards provide support to the small bones of the foot. This make injury less likely, and is also more comfortable. The guard provides considerable warmth to the joint – this adds to levels of comfort, and also can improve performance. This also reduces chances of tendinitis.   However, bear in mind that most ankle guards will not provide very effective protection in kicking a heavy bag – this isn’t a problem, since you’ll be kicking bags for conditioning anyway, but you shouldn’t think of the guard as providing protection in heavy kicking with the instep. Heavy armor for bag work If you really want such protection from your elbow and ankle guards, there are brands that put out heavy protection for these areas, but then you need to understand that you can’t possibly use such guards in sparring or in training with a partner, as they will seriously injure your partner.   Heavy elbow and ankle protection is solely to prevent trauma to yourself. In contact sports, this usually means that such protection is used against a heavy bag or a makiwara board.   Even in training against a heavy bag, the heavier elbow and ankle protectors should only be used by beginners, and slowly replaced by light protection, as this will allow your elbows and ankles to condition over time – if you wear too much protection while working out against a bag, you might find that this prevents the strike areas of your body from conditioning properly.   All in all, I’d say that light guards for the elbows and ankles are best – they provide reasonable protection in a host of situation while not being dangerous to a sparring partner. Bear in mind that most guards for the hands and legs are best worn in conjunction with wraps or supports that further protect the joints.