As a martial arts enthusiast and gear reviewer, I’m excited to share my thoughts on the
Hayabusa has introduced a game-changer with the T3D model, touted as the world’s first 3D-printed boxing glove, it piqued my curiosity. Hayabusa has always been a brand I trust for quality and performance, especially with their T3 line setting high wrist stability and comfort standards.
So, let’s dive into this Hayabusa T3D boxing gloves review and find out and whether it lives up to the hype in the demanding world of combat sports.
Table of Contents
Key takeaways
- This 3D-printed cushioning significantly improves impact absorption in my testing, barely feeling knuckle pressure with most punches.
- Easy to feel very confident using this glove for long and heavy sessions on the bag or in sparring as the padding barely wares down at all.
- It feels incredibly lightweight, like an extension of your arm, rather than holding up a couple of weights like some gloves due to wrist-weighted balance.
- The wrist is stable and supported even for smaller wrists like mine, dual-strapping makes it easy to get a reliable fit.
- Hands continue to feel relatively cool even when the sessions get heavy and sweaty.
- Versatile for most striking martial arts, like boxing, kickboxing/Muay Thai, or MMA stand-up.
- A strong upgrade on the already-great T3 with even better fitting—though overly snug for some people—and shock absorption.
- Probably isn’t an ideal choice for sparring since the external design choice—that attempts to highlight the inner-lattice tech—could easily snag the skin of your opponent.
- It’s best suited for intermediate/advanced fighters-in-training considering the high price point, but you’re getting next-level support.
Hayabusa T3D review
In this review, I’ll delve deep into the features, comfort, and performance of the Hayabusa T3D gloves, examining how they stack up for regular use.
My first impressions
When I first got my hands on the T3D gloves, I filmed a first impressions video that you can watch here on YouTube:
Glove specs
First, let’s cover the ‘tech specs’ of the T3D gloves from the manufacturer, Hayabusa:
- 3D-Printed Lattice Cushioning: Utilizes cutting-edge resin printing technology for advanced impact absorption.
- Elastomeric Resin Material: Offers longevity far surpassing traditional layered foams.
- Zonal Cushioning: Precisely tuned for optimal comfort, softening impacts effectively.
- Dual-X Interlocking Wrist Straps: Ensures a snug, precise fit, enhancing wrist support.
- Splinted Wrist Support: The patented design aligns the wrist perfectly, reducing the risk of injury.
- Temperature-Regulating Lining: Keeps hands cool and comfortable during intense training.
- Vylar Engineered Leather: Provides a virtually indestructible exterior, ensuring resilience and durability.
- Ergonomic Design: Features an ergonomic thumb position and attached thumb for safety.
- Additional Features: Includes a perforated palm and grip bar for better ventilation and grip.
- Size and Use Recommendations: Available in weights from 10-18oz, 10-12oz ideal for bag and pad work, and 14-18oz recommended for partner drills and sparring.
Look and style
The first thing that catches your eye about the
I got my hands on the Cobalt Blue variant in a 12 oz size, and it is gorgeous.
The deep, rich blue is elegant and unique enough from a traditional glove design, with black strips covering the thumb and detailing that gives a ‘cyberpunk‘ feeling to the style.
Hayabusa has always had a flair for style, but with the T3D, they’ve taken it to a new level as they’ve added design features like the mesh window that reveals the 3D-printed lattice inner construction.
Initially, this gave me some doubts as to whether this glove was created as a statement piece rather than to advance fight gear tech in a better direction. But I was surprised by the level of functionality, more on that later.
There is a big concern for these gloves in sparring because of the mesh window feature on the backhand, as the extra rubber could easily catch the skin of a sparring opponent.
I’ve mostly used my gloves for mitts or the bag, and I’d be careful about using them in sparring because of this flaw.
There are four colorways to choose from, including the cobalt blue I chose, an all-black, red, and off-white along with size variants from 10 oz to 18 oz.
Each one has a clean and sharp look that offers something suitable for men or women of almost any size.
Glove features
The
First and foremost, the material of the T3D gloves is one of the specialties as they use a Vylar-engineered leather that is insanely durable even as a synthetic material, and strikes me that the glove is a smart choice for regular heavy bag sessions.
The next and primary feature of this particular glove is the 3D-printed lattice cushioning, which essentially is how the glove is manufactured using 3D printing in replacement of the usual foam padding.
It’s probably the most significant impact absorption in a glove I’ve ever used, but more on that later.
You’ll also find the Dual-X interlocking wrist strapping which is a unique feature of Hayabusa gloves, present in both the T3 and T3D models.
Adding to that is the fusion splinting that essentially creates extra spines to stabilize the wrist into the back of the hand—significantly reducing injuries.
Underneath the palm is a grip bar that is easy to feel and tighten to get a near-perfectly flush-tightened fist.
The ergonomic thumb pocket also helps there to be able to tighten the fist naturally.
There’s also comfortable lining and padding for the hand compartment, with enough air holes to help keep your hands cool for most sessions.
Fit and comfort
The moment I slipped my hands into my 12 oz Cobalt Blue gloves, the feeling of comfort was noticeable.
The gloves snugly encase the hands, providing a secure feeling without being overly tight, speaking as someone with fairly smaller hands and wrists.
I’m used to fresh boxing gloves feeling too spacious inside and needing hand wraps immediately to feel right, but these are cuddling up to my skin before I add anything extra.
The Dual-X wrist straps are very useful for getting the exact fit you want and are going to be suitable for most hand/wrist sizes.
But I say that with a warning that as they felt snug for my small hands and wrists, I’d be concerned they wouldn’t be a good choice for bigger fighters.
Luckily, though, you can get them up to an 18 oz size where it’s likely for the materials to be adapted to cover a larger hand and wrist.
The grip bar and thumb compartment are positioned well so that it feels easy to make a tight fist which makes it far easier to have an optimized punch both in form and safety concerns.
My hands always felt cool during training. Add to that the weight being unnoticeable allowed me to feel comfortable wearing these gloves for long sessions.
Padding and support
The padding and support of the
It’s become clear to me that the 3D-printed lattice inside is more than a gimmick to sell gloves, but an actual considerable advancement of shock-absorbing tech.
When hitting the mitts or a heavy bag, the gloves absorb and dissipate the impact remarkably well. So much so, you rarely feel it on your knuckles.
Every punch feels like there is an active force distribution, which may be down to how the cells work inside the lattice.
At the point of contact, the force from the punch passes through the first cells and any extra force is then passed onto the next, and the next, and so on.
Each time it moves from one layer to the next, the force is reduced by some considerable amount, ending up in a feeling of completely dissipated force.
Instead of the shock moving through to the wrist and forearm for it to get absorbed, the glove takes care of most of it and you never feel the impact.
This is going to have a massive downstream effect of fewer injuries, which I think makes the gloves worth their weight in gold.
If you’ve had hand or wrist injuries before then you’ll know how hard it can be to get the right support