[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
The point sento brings up about boxers without gloves interests me. I’m actually slightly concerned that as I get more and more experienced in boxing, one day I’ll be in a barfight and I’ll sock the guy in the jaw, but in doing so, I’ll break my hand.
My brother who does Krotty is always giving me shit about how “you boxers don’t condition you knuckles, so while you hit hard, you break your hand when you dont have it taped and gloved up” I always pass it off as bullshit putdowns on his part, but I’ll admit it does have me concerned a bit. Maybe it’s time to introduce some Krotty Makiwara boards? :P[/quote]
Well, from the standpoint of a guy who’s done karate for years, then switched to boxing in the last couple, there are certainly differences in the way they teach you to hit.
In Karate, your power comes from rotation of the hips. The feet are often pegged to the ground, and as a consequence, you’re not getting the full power that comes with the shifting of all your weight. [/quote]
Rotating the hips is a good, quick, way to get power out of punches but it isn’t the only one. I practice and use boxing punches as well as the ones I learned in karate. I’ve found that different types punches are going to work better against one area of the body than another and the power delivery is going to be different.
ie A hook punch properly delivered will snap the head around which is the direction of acceleration most likely to cause a knock out. You need the follow through for that to be most effective because you want to move the head.
A reverse punch like we throw in the style of karate I study is good against the body because you drive it into the body cavity, then snap it back out causing cavitation. For this punch you don’t need to throw your whole body behind it. Also in karate we have it in mind that trapping and grappling are fair so we don’t want to be over committed.
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While this makes for a weaker punch, it’s probably safer for your hands. In boxing, when you commit to a hook or straight right, you’re putting all your weight behind it, and bringing far more force to bear than your hand can handle. Hence the “wrapping” and “gloves.”
On top of that, when you’re boxing, your hands are loose. Most guys don’t even clench down hard until they’re about to make contact, and the more you get used to wearing gloves, the more I could see someone hitting with a loose fist and breaking it.
Your hands are loose when shadowboxing, they’re loose when hitting the speed bag, etc… hell, the only time you really ball your fist (as much as you’re allowed to with gloves on) is hitting the heavy bag and sparring. [/quote]
Another observation I have made is when people train with safety gear they often come to rely upon it and derive a sense of safety from it which makes them careless in their delivery.
ie give karate people safety kicks on their feet and they will just unload with multiple roundhouse kicks until they hit pay dirt. If you try doing that with a bare foot and kick the point of someones elbow with the top of your foot even one time you will be limping for a while.
This why boxers often break their hands in street fights. Because they are used to being able to swing for the fences with the gloves and wraps protecting their hands. Without that protection ou have to be dareful with what ou hit.
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Odds are, when you first started, your trainer even said something to the effect of “Don’t fight with clenched fists,” meaning don’t waste energy. So this is kind of ingrained in the boxer’s psyche. For this reason, I try to hit the heavy bag a little with no gloves and no wraps.
Not alot, and not timed - just a couple strong combinations that shake the bag and make me force myself to really keep my hands tight, and make sure my wrist is properly aligned. It took me a while to get to the point where I wasn’t rolling my wrist… but even then, a couple times I’ve felt pain in the bones leading to my knuckles, where the so-called boxer’s fracture happens. You gotta be careful. [/quote]
I can hit a heavy bag full power starting the punch with an unclinched hand and I form a fist on the way. You need to be able to do that to be able to fully incorporate grappling with striking. Not a lot of people train for this. That is why you see a lot of MMA people are either in striking mode or grappling mode when they fight. They don’t mix these disciplines smoothly.
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Honestly, unless you’re one of the guys that truly takes Karate deadly seriously and trains hard every day for years while conditioning your knuckles, you’re not going to have the bricks on your hands that the karate guys will talk about. It’s possible, of course, but takes a level of dedication that not everyone has.
So really, “conditioning” your knuckles doesn’t count for much. Hell, I’ve done pushups on my knuckles on cement every day for years. I got callouses on them, but when I punched a wall, my knuckle broke. Go figure. [/quote]
It’s not just the knuckles you have to condition. You also have to stress the bones in the hasnd so they strengthen.
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here’s a reason that open hand strikes were invented- so you don’t bust your hand. Learn some of them… they’re easy as hell to learn and could do well to save your ass.
A good rule of thumb is to hit a hard target (skull) with a soft blow (palm heel) and a soft target (stomach) with a hard blow (punch with your fist). This will keep you from shattering your hand, as has happened to many boxers in streetfights in the past. [/quote]
Also with an open hand the hand is available to immediately grapple. Those open hand techniques can be used in conjunction with or to set up a grappling technique.
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Also, make sure that you practice once in a while like you’re in a streetfight. Punch hard with a solidly closed fist, hit the bag with a closed fist, and see how it feels. Get used to it, so that if some shit goes down, you won’t end up with your hand in a cast. [/quote]
And did you know that Anderson Silva is an Interpol agent? He fights but also is on a tactical weapons team for the international police. F’ing crazy.