When do I need shin guards?

When you start kicking a partner instead of a bag. Not before.

Pads and bags take a kick fine with a bare shin, and that is where you will spend your first months while the kick gets built from the floor up. The moment two people start trading kicks, both of you want shin guards, because a shin on a shin is two bones meeting with nothing in between. That is where the stories come from.

Cloth shin guards are enough for drilling. If you are heading for a point Muay Thai card or you want me in your corner, the event will tell you exactly what it wants and I will check your bag before we go.

One thing while we are here: guards stop the bruise, not the conditioning. Your shins toughen from use, over months, and nothing you strap on speeds that up.