Would something like the Hayabusa Tokushu/Ikusa and the many other similar hybrid/sparring gloves style work for MT? The open hand design would allow for better clinch work wouldn't it?
Check out John Wayne Parr's Caged Muay Thai, pretty cool stuff! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDpHRHxXzHrvQIlyzE2tDig
First of all, just curious why are you calling Tokushu/Ikusa hybrid gloves? Secondly, of course you can use those on muay thai, there is no reason they don't work on muay thai, you can even go bare hand, mma gloves, bag gloves etc to work on your muay thai(Not that I recommend). Not to mention Tokushu/Ikusa are completely decent gloves that definitely cater the need of combat sport. Then it comes down to everyone's preference on gloves. Or why aren't they popular among muay thai fighters. I can list a hand full of reason right off my head easily. 1. Price. Most Thai brand: Windy, Fairtex, Twins, Top Kings are all within or below the price tag of either Tokushu/Ikusa. 2. Build. Most Thai Brand are hand made with genuine leather. So why would anyone normally choose Hayabusa's synthetic gloves over Thai brand except personal preference. 3. Design. Many Thai Brand make gloves that are pillow-y, that is due to the tendency of muay thai has a lot of kicks needed to be blocked and lesser amount of punches being thrown, so that more padding at the back of the hands are beneficial to muay thai practice. Further more, in particular to Tokushu/Ikusa, they both have that little elastic pieces being stitched on the outside of the gloves and that could scrape someone's face during clinching. 4. Location. Obviously the most popular country for muay thai is Thailand, so there are already countless premium products at their finger tips, why would they choose brands from oversea without particular reason. Then when all the great pro fighters who are pioneer of the sport are using mostly or all thai brand, it also kinda becomes part of the culture. You train muay thai, you see everyone using thai brands, you get recommanded thai brands, they are also proven to be great/better for muay thai as well. Following up a little more of the above reasons, thailand is a hot country, training in synthetic gloves from hayabusa might be really uncomfortable as well. -------------------------------------------------- Overall, this is kinda the same reason is why people wear muay thai shorts to train. Can you train in adidas running shorts or mma shorts? Of course you can. Is it better than muay thai shorts though? Probably not, but it could come down to personal preference.
