Muay Thai Groin Guards

Groin strikes are illegal in most rule sets. They still happen — constantly — because in the clinch, at close range, a knee that was aimed at the body finds something else. Nobody does it on purpose. It lands anyway.

Every gym expects you to wear one for sparring, and every fighter who has trained for more than a month understands why.

Two very different options

The traditional Thai steel cup

A rigid metal cup, held on with rope or fabric ties around the waist and between the legs. It looks medieval and it takes some getting used to.

It also offers substantially more protection than anything else, which is why it is what Thai fighters wear and what you want for hard sparring and competition. The steel does not flex, so a knee that lands square is stopped dead rather than transmitted through.

The ties take practice. Get them right and it stays put through anything; get them wrong and it shifts, which is worse than not wearing one.

The jock strap and plastic cup

Lighter, more comfortable, and far quicker to put on. The cup sits in a pouch in a supportive brief, and it moves with you rather than sitting rigid against the hips.

Less protective than steel, but perfectly adequate for technical work, drilling and light sparring — and considerably more likely to actually be worn, which counts for something.

Which one?

• Hard sparring, clinch work, competition — steel. Nothing else comes close, and this is where you will get caught.
• Drilling, pad work, light technical sparring — a jock strap and cup is fine, and you will be more comfortable.
• Serious about the sport — own both. They are not expensive, and they are for different jobs.

Fit

A guard that shifts is a guard that fails, usually at the worst possible moment. Steel cups adjust on the ties, so they suit most builds — the skill is in tying them, not in sizing them. Jock straps are sized on the waist and should be snug enough that the cup does not float in the pouch.

Whichever you buy, move around in it before you spar in it. Throw a few kicks, drop into a clinch, check it stays where it should.

Looking after it

Steel cups will rust if you put them away damp — wipe the metal dry after every session and check the ties for fraying, because that is where they fail. Plastic cups should be checked for cracks after any serious impact; a cracked cup can do more damage than no cup at all.