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Hey friends, it's Lizzie! Everyone asks about my Hayabusa gloves, and fair enough, they're what I've trained in for years. But real talk: most of the Hayabusa I own isn't gloves. It's clothes, and I have a lot of it. Two pieces get worn so often that they deserve their own post: their women's fight shorts in orange, and a black-and-gray hoodie with iridescent lettering that I genuinely love.
âš¡ Short on time? My most-worn Hayabusa pieces are apparel, and they live in the same store as the gloves. Shop Hayabusa → Code LILO takes 10% off full-price gear, one code per order.
The drawer test: the only review I trust for training clothes
Here's how I judge anything I train in. Not the product page, not the photos, not how it looks in the mirror on day one. I look at my drawer on a weeknight when I'm packing my bag, and I notice which pieces I actually grab. Training clothes that ride up, bunch, itch or make me think about them mid-round quietly stop getting worn. The ones that survive are the ones I can forget about for an hour while I hit things.
By that test, the orange Hayabusa fight shorts win my drawer. I wear them a lot. That is the whole review, honestly, because ten years of kickboxing has taught me that the pieces you reach for without thinking are the only ones that were ever worth buying.
That's my orange pair in the photos on this post, mid-kick and mid-knee on the heavy bag, which is about as honest a product shot as I can give you.
What I need fight shorts to do
My list is short, and it's the same list whatever brand is on the waistband:
- Kick head height without a fight. Side slits or a cut that lets my leg go where it needs to. If I feel fabric pull on a high kick, the shorts are out.
- Stay put. A waistband I can tie and forget. Tugging at shorts between combinations is a tax on my attention, and attention is the whole sport.
- Breathe in Florida. Light fabric that dries fast, because a Space Coast gym in October is still a sauna.
- Make me want to wear them. I'm not going to pretend that doesn't matter. I train better when I feel like myself, and a bright pair helps.
Women's cuts matter here more than people think. Shorts built on a men's pattern tend to sit wrong at the hip and gape at the leg on a smaller frame, and I'm petite. It's the same lesson I learned with gloves that actually fit smaller hands, which I wrote about in why women's fight gear fits better: gear cut for you is the difference between thinking about your gear and forgetting it.
Why orange, honestly
Because black is what everyone wears, and I already own plenty of it. A bright pair is a small mood lift on a night I didn't want to go to class, and so much of training is just getting yourself through the door. A color I like is one more reason to pack the bag. It also makes me easy to spot when I'm filming my own rounds, which matters more than it should when the camera is a phone on a tripod in the corner.
How they fit alongside my Athena shorts
I also own two pairs of Athena Fightwear Muay Thai shorts, a black-and-gold pair and a red-and-white pair, and people ask how they compare. They're different tools. The Athena pairs are classic Muay Thai shorts with built-in safety shorts underneath, which I love for kick-heavy nights in a room full of mirrors. The Hayabusa pair is the one I end up wearing for a lot of my everyday training. I don't think of it as one or the other. I think of it as a rotation, the same way I rotate my gloves so every pair gets a rest. The full Muay Thai shorts rundown is in Muay Thai shorts vs gym shorts.
The hoodie I love
Now the piece I'd grab in a fire: their black-and-gray hoodie with the iridescent lettering. I love it. The lettering catches the light the same way the iridescent trim on my T3s does, so it ends up matching my gloves without my trying, which is the kind of coincidence I am fully willing to take credit for.
Living on the Space Coast, a hoodie isn't something anyone needs most of the year, which is exactly how I know I love this one. A hoodie in Florida has to earn its spot in the closet, and this one did. Freezing air-conditioned gyms and the occasional cold front do the rest.
One honest note: Hayabusa's apparel rotates, and I can't promise my exact hoodie is still on their site. If it isn't, look at what's current before you fall for a photo of mine.
The rest of the drawer
I said I have a lot of it, and I meant it. There are Hayabusa sports bras and leggings in my drawer too, the ones with the white Hayabusa lettering on the band. The shorts and the hoodie are the two I'd buy again first, which is why they get the post, but if you see me in black with white lettering, it's usually Hayabusa.
What's in Hayabusa's women's line right now
My orange pair is the Women's Apex Vantage Fight Shorts in Sunset Coral, $79.99, and I get a small. My hoodie may not be the current version, so here's what their women's fight shorts look like on the site as I write this in October 2026. The Nova is the menu, not my review, because I haven't trained in it. I do own the layered pair, which is a different style from my orange fight shorts:
- Women's Apex Vantage Fight Shorts, $79.99. A light polyester-spandex blend, laser-cut ventilation, a drawstring waistband and side slits. Colors include Carbon Black, Deep Violet, Dusk Blue and Sunset Coral, which is my orange.
- Women's Apex Nova Lightweight Fight Shorts, $79.99, in teal, red, white and pink.
- Women's Mid Rise Layered Shorts, $74.99. I own a pair of these too, so this post stays about the fight shorts.
On sizing: check their size chart against a pair of shorts you already love rather than guessing from the letter. I'm petite, and the right size on paper isn't always the right size on a high kick.
My must-have Hayabusa cart
If you asked what I would always put in my cart, it is these three. Prices as of October 7, 2026:
- T3 Boxing Gloves, White/Iridescent, 14 oz: $169.00
- Women's Apex Vantage Fight Shorts, Sunset Coral: $79.99
- Perfect Stretch Hand Wraps, Black, 180 in: $19.99
That is $268.98 before the code. With LILO in that cart, checkout took $26.89 off, so $242.09 before shipping. It is one code per order, so if a sitewide sale bigger than 10% is running, take the sale instead. Shop Hayabusa →
Put apparel and gear in one order
This is the part that saves real money. LILO comes off the whole cart of full-price gear, so shorts, a hoodie, wraps and gloves all get the 10% together in one checkout. One code per order means you only get to use it once, so use it on the big cart, not the small one. When I checked in October, orders over $85 shipped free, which a pair of shorts and a set of wraps clears on their own.
The honest caveat, always: my code is one discount per order. If Hayabusa is running a bigger sitewide sale, take the sale and skip my code. I'd rather you save more than use my code for the sake of it.
What I'd buy first if I were starting over
Gloves first, because gloves are the gear your hands depend on, and my glove story is in my T3 review. Then a pair of fight shorts, because they change how kicking feels faster than anything else you can buy. Then the hoodie, because by then you'll have earned it. Everything else, the sports bras, the leggings, the second pair, comes later once you know what you actually reach for. My whole kit is laid out in what's in my gym bag, and it's shorter than you'd think.
🥊 Shorts, hoodie and gloves in one cart: Hayabusa
Code LILO takes 10% off the whole cart of full-price gear, one code per order; if a bigger sitewide sale is running, take the sale.
Your Questions, Answered
Are Hayabusa women's fight shorts good for kickboxing? For me, yes: their women's fight shorts in orange are a pair I wear a lot. What matters in any fight shorts is a cut that lets you kick, a waistband that stays put and light fabric, so check the current models for those.
Does the Hayabusa code LILO work on apparel? Yes. LILO takes 10% off full-price Hayabusa gear at the US store, including apparel, one code per order. It doesn't combine with a sitewide sale, so if the sale is bigger, take the sale.
Do Hayabusa women's fight shorts have side slits? The current Women's Apex Vantage Fight Shorts do, along with a drawstring waistband and laser-cut ventilation. Cuts differ between their lines, so check each model's page.
