Muay Thai starter kit

Key facts:

• First class basket: RDX Aura Plus T-17 gloves £39.99 (10 to 16oz listed) and RDX IBA-1 wraps, 4.5 m, £18.99. Total £58.98.
• Sparring-ready adds RDX Shin Instep Aura Plus T-17 £40.99 and RDX groin guard £26.99. Total £126.96.
• Thai-made standard swaps in Fairtex BGV1 £114.99 and Fairtex SP5 £89.99. Total £250.96.
• Serious list-price row swaps in Twins BGVL3 £149.99 and Twins SGL10 £144.99. Total £340.96.
• Mouthguard: no catalogue price. Do not skip it. Do not let us invent a price either.

Before the first class

Wear shorts you can kick in and a T-shirt. Bring water. Arrive early enough to fill in a waiver if the gym uses one. Ask three questions: do you lend gloves, what does the trial cost, and when do you start partner drills. The trial price is on that gym's page if we have it. No UK drop-in median is published while the price-sample method is checked by hand (fields last verified 28 Sep 2026). The trial fee is the gym's own figure, not a kit cost.

Buy nothing the night before unless the gym has already said it does not lend gloves.

Month one

Buy wraps first. They are in your bag every session, and a borrowed pair is unpleasant. Then buy gloves in an ounce you can keep using. If you already know the gym wants 16oz for sparring, buy 16oz even if your first month is mostly pads. Fairtex's chart allows 14oz as general training. Your gym's rule wins. The ounce page explains why we will not print a kilogram table.

A mouthguard is the third item, before you hold pads for someone who can hit back. No price in the catalogue of 8 Oct 2026.

When partner drills start

Add shin guards with an instep and a groin guard when partner work starts. The sparring-ready basket is the dated way to price that step: £126.96 at catalogue prices. You can buy the two new items alone. £40.99 plus £26.99 is £67.98, on top of the £58.98 you may already have spent. Same products, same arithmetic.

16oz gloves are the usual UK sparring request in our own copy from 8 Oct 2026. Headguards only if the gym asks. We are not adding a headguard price.

If you want Thai-made leather

The Thai-made standard basket keeps the same wraps and the same groin guard, and swaps the glove and the shin guard:

• Fairtex BGV1, £114.99. On fairtex.com, read 10 Oct 2026: premium genuine leather, three-layer foam, contoured tight fit, short wrist, 8 to 16oz.
• Fairtex SP5 shin guards, £89.99. We are not adding a foam description we did not open.
• Model total with wraps and groin guard: £250.96.

The serious row uses Twins Special BGVL3 at £149.99 and Twins SGL10 at £144.99, total £340.96 with the same wraps and groin guard. The Twins glove spec was not verified on Twins' own page in this pass. Do not read the higher price as a test result.

Where to buy: the RDX glove, wraps, shin guard and groin guard from RDX or a UK kit retailer; Fairtex BGV1 and Twins BGVL3 from the brand or an authorised retailer.

We do not earn from links on this page. We do not link marketplaces for Fairtex, Twins or Yokkao.

A four-week buy list

Week	Buy	Why it waits
0, the trial	Nothing	Confirm the gym lends gloves and what the trial costs.
1	Wraps, £18.99 catalogue price	You will use them every session.
2	Gloves, £39.99 catalogue price, in the gym's ounce	Own gloves beat a damp loaner once you are staying.
3	Mouthguard, price not in the catalogue	Before you hold pads for a partner.
4	Shins £40.99 and groin guard £26.99, if partner work has started	Not before.

Slip a week if you are skint. Do not reverse the order so that a new short arrives before the wraps.

What not to put in the starter kit

Ankle supports, a heavy bag, three pairs of shorts, and a second pair of gloves "for later". The ankle page explains what a sleeve does not do. The heavy-bag page explains why we will not quote a joist load. Shorts can wait; the shorts page has no dated catalogue price because the catalogue extract did not contain one.

Sources

• Basket rows and catalogue prices. Atlas catalogue, 8 Oct 2026. Totals are model sums.
• Price sample, fields last_verified 2026-09-28, sample of listings that publish a price, not the full directory. No median is published while the method is checked by hand.
• Fairtex BGV1. https://fairtex.com read 10 Oct 2026.

FAQs

What is in a Muay Thai starter kit?

For a first month: hand wraps and your own gloves, then a mouthguard before partner work. Shin guards and a groin guard when the gym starts knees and pads with a partner. On 8 Oct 2026 list prices, wraps and RDX gloves are £58.98 together. Adding RDX shins and a groin guard makes £126.96. Those are model sums of catalogue prices, not a boxed product.

How much should I spend before my first class?

Nothing, if the gym lends gloves. Confirm that when you book. No UK drop-in median is published while the price-sample method is checked by hand; ask the gym for the class fee. If the gym does not lend gloves, budget the £58.98 first-class pair at catalogue prices and expect shops to charge less. Do not buy a heavy bag, ankle braces and three shorts before you have been once.

Are 16oz gloves part of the starter kit?

Buy the ounce your gym will let you spar in. Atlas copy from 8 Oct 2026 says most UK gyms ask for 16oz for sparring. The RDX Aura Plus T-17 is listed from 10 to 16oz at the same £39.99, so the starter price does not change with the ounce. Fairtex's chart is the brand's own split between 14oz training and 16oz sparring. The gym wins.

Is the Thai-made basket worth it for a beginner?

Not as a first purchase. Fairtex BGV1 at £114.99 plus Fairtex SP5 shins at £89.99, with the same wraps and groin guard, totals £250.96 at 8 Oct 2026 catalogue prices. We have not wear-tested that kit against the £126.96 budget set, so we will not say it lasts longer. Buy it when you know you are staying and you want that leather glove.