So what's this all about?

I turn forty at the end of the year. Before I get there I want to have another amateur MMA fight. This blog is a record of how, and if, I manage to achieve this.

Friday, October 26, 2012

4q2 Fightwear Fight Socks - A Review



When I made the decision at the beginning of the year to start training in earnest again, I knew that I'd have to get some sort of foot covering due to a problem with my left heel (long story).  I have wrestling boots but on checking with Rob at Leicester Shootfighters I was told that they're not permitted on the mats due to the damage they cause.  The hunt was on for something that would cover my foot and be allowed on the mat.

I often wear ankle supports for kicking bag/pad work but the problem with these is that they don't cover the heel.  I looked at the 'foot grips' that Hayabusa and Combat Sports International make but although they cover more of the foot than regular anklets they don't cover the heel.


Digging a bit deeper (well, surfing the web) I came across 'Grappling/MMA Socks'.  The easiest to find were/are the Badboy grappling socks.
Pretty much everyone at the gym who has asked me about my socks has mentioned these and has said that price put them off trying them - me too!  The problem is that grappling socks are still pretty uncommon (I'm the only one at Leicester MMA Academy with them as far as I know) and few people are likely to take a punt costing £25 - £30 on something that they haven't seen in action and is, after all, a bit of a luxury.  So, liking the idea of grappling socks the hunt was on for something cheaper.

Checking out Ebay (of course!) I came across the 4q2 (F**k You Too?) socks.  Even with shipping they came in at a much more reasonable £16-ish, so the money was Paypal'ed through and I awaited my new footwear.







 
Though they shipped from The States the socks came pretty quickly and were ready for me to start back on the mat.  I had contacted 4q2 prior to purchase with regard to sizing and opted for the XL (I'm UK size 11) which fit well.  I was suprised how roomy they were as I thought they'd be a little tighter but this is probably because the XL goes from 11 to 12.5.

The socks are made from a lycra-type material with a neoprene toe, sole and heel section that extends up the Achilles to a flat inch-wide lycra cuff around the ankle.  The sole of the socks feature 4q2's 'heel-to-toe power traction dot designed bottoms' a little like the soles of Hayabusa's foot grips.  I bought the socks in January this year and have worn them pretty much every week to train for between 1 and 3 hours on jigsaw style mats and grappling, boxing, conditioning, MMA have all been trained.

So what do I think?  Well, the socks do a pretty good job of protecting the feet, my dodgy heel has been fine and the grip is excellent.  The materials used in the sock wash and dry well, very quick to dry in fact, and hasn't seemed to affect the longevity of the construction - they've stayed together pretty well with no adverse effects on the stitching from either use or washing.  The socks are great for grappling, both stand-up and ground work, they're so light you don't really know they're on, much lighter even than wrestling boots.

What about striking training?  This is where the socks fall down a little bit.  They provide a lot of grip but unlike the soles of your feet you can't really control how much you 'stick' to the mat.  This becomes a problem when twisting for round kicks and even punches.  All the twisting in boxing and striking training soon pulled the grip off the soles of the socks leaving little black dots all over the mats.  It created quite a mystery for Rob at the gym who wondered what all the dots were when cleaning the mats after practice!  Boxing training has been particularly tough on the big toe of the left foot wearing a hole through the bottom layer of fabric.

Wear on the soles of 4q2's Fightsocks.

Losing the dots isn't such a big deal for me - it's bound to happen through virtue of them providing grip and having a 240lb man twisting them repeatedly for hours on end.  The neoprene sole provides plenty of grip in itself and makes twisting for kicks a little easier.  Though the fit of the socks is good, they can become twisted and out of place during drills or sparring that necessitate a lot of movement.  Also, talking to one of the fighters at the gym recently, he was saying that he'd tried Hayabusa foot grips and found that even at £35+ they lost their grip dots pretty quickly and he was pretty interested in the fightsocks at half the price.

Summing Up

I like 'em.  The fit is ok given that they need to fit 11 - 12.5 sized feet with one size sock.  They've so far lasted about 100 hours of training and still have plenty of life left in them.  I like the fact that I don't have to worry about how fresh or otherwise my feet are after a day at work(!) or become self-conscious about it when grappling with a training partner, the same goes for forgetting to cut toe nails(!!).  They protect my feet without a hard sole that could be uncomfortable for training partners or tear up softer mats, and they provide a benefit with regard to hygiene - who knows what lurgy lies in wait out there....

Rating

Construction         3.5/5 (But I don't know how this can be solved)
Fit                           4/5
Value                     4/5
Style/aesthetics   3.5/5 (It's really not important though..)


Buy Again?   Yes.

Get them HERE

1 comment:

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