[olly]

Lately I've been punching my heavy bag without gloves on, just hitting it bare knuckled. Will doing this strengthen my knuckles or will it just damage them?

[SOUL_FIGHTER]

If you're hitting HARD, you can hurt your hands.
Otherwise you just damage the skin

I don't mind light punching on the bag. Like a light fast low impact jab and a hard low kick.

[JollyRoger]

Oh geez.

People. Heavy bags aren't meant to be hit bare fisted. I don't know why everyone is obsessed with turning their hands into gnarled clubs.

Fuck, every time I see a "I hert mai hand" thread it's always because some kid thought it was a good idea to hit the heavy bag bare fisted. The risk of FUCKING BUSTING YOUR STUPID ASS HAND FOR MONTHS outweighs the superficial benefit of having a damn wood knob instead of a hand.

Seriously. Having hard knuckles is not as important as everyone thinks it is.


How about learning how to properly box? Learn good technique first.
Gloves and wraps allow you to hit the bag harder, longer, and provides better protection and weight for a more effective work out.

Plus there are better ways to harden your fist. Hitting a bag bare knuckled is just dumb and will increase wear on your bag.

Please people. Stop asking about this and stop hitting bags bare knuckled. Plus it looks douchy. Wear gloves.

[olly]

Originally Posted by JollyRoger

Oh geez.

People. Heavy bags aren't meant to be hit bare fisted. I don't know why everyone is obsessed with turning their hands into gnarled clubs.

Fuck, every time I see a "I hert mai hand" thread it's always because some kid thought it was a good idea to hit the heavy bag bare fisted. The risk of FUCKING BUSTING YOUR STUPID ASS HAND FOR MONTHS outweighs the superficial benefit of having a damn wood knob instead of a hand.

Seriously. Having hard knuckles is not as important as everyone thinks it is.


How about learning how to properly box? Learn good technique first.
Gloves and wraps allow you to hit the bag harder, longer, and provides better protection and weight for a more effective work out.

Plus there are better ways to harden your fist. Hitting a bag bare knuckled is just dumb and will increase wear on your bag.

Please people. Stop asking about this and stop hitting bags bare knuckled. Plus it looks douchy. Wear gloves.

Alright I wasn't actually doing it purely just to strengthen my knuckles. I have other ways of knuckle strengthening. It was just a question asking if it would assist with the strengthening of the knuckles or if it would just damage them. I do wear gloves majority of the time.

[Gorilla]

i do it and the first few cuts and sores went after a few months and now i can hit a heavy bag hard without gloves all the time.

[Srevihc]

I'd say its better to just use gloves and hit the bag harder and for longer...

[hazzius]

it will definately strenghten your hands and wrists but be careful because your knuckles will get madly cut up if you hit them too much

[Kaust]

It really depends on why you're hitting the bag. Are you just in martial art to scare off bullies and impress girls and are only hitting the bag because it's what real fighters do? Wrap and glove that shit, or your hands might get rough, and that's so working class. If you're training to fight, and intend to use your art to defend yourself; if you're hitting the bag to forge your body into a sexy weapon of war? Fuck gloves. Work your grip, hone your technique, and focus on what you're doing, and you won't seriously injure yourself. Hard hands let you hit harder. Soft hands break. If you really want to toughen up, look into karate, kung fu, and Muay Thai hardening techniques. Strike trees and rocks, drag yourself on your knuckles, that sort of thing. Look into dit da jow, too. It's an old Chinese infusion used to help the body heal after hardening exercises. And don't worry about destroying your bag. When the day comes that you ruin even a cheap heavy bag with your bare hands, celebrate your awesome fists, and buy a stronger bag.

[SOUL_FIGHTER]

Bud, hitting anything harder than your bones is bound to break them!
Im all for using lighter gloves on the bag to toughen your knuckles, but when I use my 14s, I still feel it.

But at the same time, I dont intend to fight bareknuckle anytime soon. And if I did, I'd totally do Karate-style makiwara with the rope-bound wood.

[Incessanity]

Personally I wouldnt because the risks e.g (breaking of hands, breaking of knuckles) etc outweigh the cons (more callicious knuckles - harder)