Constructed of soft vinyl over shock reducing closed-cell foam. Plastic face-covering cage limits access to the face and helps absorb blows during light sparring. Velcro closure on back plus an elastic band on top, help assure a snug fit.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: After years of experience, a great product for the right customer! Comment: I've done over 8 years of kickboxing, taught mixed martial arts for 3.5 years, doing 1000s of hours of sparring in that time. This headgear is absolutely fantastic upper-mid-level contact sparring, protecting the face from punches and kicks.
The trick is to order the helmet a size too small. This keeps the helmet from moving around when you get hit and you still get adequate protection. You want this thing tight. If you tuck your chin like a good boxer you're able to look over the bar and will quickly get used to the fact that you have a cage in front of your face and will re-enforce the chin down habit.
It's not perfect for weapon sparring as there's no throat protection and sticks and practice blades can still get through the cage. Real weapons sparring you should probably be using a fencing mask, or something comparable.
At higher levels of contact it's not really strong enough if you want to bang hard with a strong partner. Don't get me wrong, I used to train at 205lbs and would hit pretty hard with these things and they held up well. But no protective gear will protect you from the worst blows (I did break someone's nose through this as his face was going down and my knee was coming up). I've also eaten thumbs and accidental pokes to the eyes, but you don't have the compromises found in other larger headgear.
From a MMA (ground and pound!), boxing, or kickboxing perspective this headgear is great at allowing contact training and protecting the face from injuries (especially the type frowned upon in a professional environment). Customer Rating: Summary: Spend the extra money for a better one. Comment: Years ago, I was sparring a female black belt while wearing an open-faced head guard. I was doing OK, so I got cocky and charged with my hands lowered. I ended up getting my nose broken by a spinning heel kick. In another session against a different opponent, I had three of my bottom front teeth chipped by a punch. These events prompted me to buy the ProForce to protect my mouth, nose, and eyes. It shielded me from some hard blows to the face, including a kick that sent me flying. I also like the bar or cage design better than the clear plastic face guards. On the one I tried for awhile, the plastic fogged up and obscured my peripheral and downward vision. It also trapped heat, and was like breathing in a sauna.
So I stuck with the ProForce. But over time I noticed some issues with it. First, sweat caused the helmet to slip so that the horizontal bar slid in front of my eyes. That forced me to look down through the opening, leaving me vulnerable to overhead attacks (such as from a hammer fist). The second problem is the plastic ridge that secures the face protector to the head guard. There's not a lot of padding between the ridge and one's head. During a (no-contact) tournament match, I took a ridge hand to the temple. The blow snapped the plastic hard enough to stun me and leave a mark. After that I bought the Century Macho Deluxe head guard with metal face cage, and so far I'm happy with it.
The ProForce is adequate for no-contact dojo sparring. But the issues listed above may become frustrating. If you invest a lot of time in the martial arts, then I recommend spending the extra money for a better head guard - especially if you compete in tournament matches. And while you're at it, remember to keep your hands up.
