Knuckle Care

Training
1

I recently started attending classes 3 days a week at a gym owned and operated by a current professional boxer (#27 Super Middleweight in America) and its really pretty brutal. Great people working there, obviously very knowledgeable, but I keep skinning the crap out of my right knuckle when we throw a LOT of hooks in a day regardless of how I wrap.

It’s kind of funny really, the skin dented in and came off in a big piece like I’d just blown it off with the impact.

I’ve been supergluing the scabbed up area after cleaning to protect it and speed up the healing, which is having positive results, but is there anything else you guys are aware of that can help my hand get back to 100% faster? I worry about it costing me intensity, or aggravating it enough that I can’t come in.

2

I have never, ever understood how guys tear skin off their knuckles. Aren’t you wearing gloves? What size are you wearing? How long are your wraps?

This has never happened to me unless I was punching barefisted.

3

Perhaps your tissue there is more acclimated than mine.

I was wearing wraps (really long ass wraps) but I probably had a little too much play in them when I did them the first time and got some friction. Gloves are always at least 12oz, sometimes 16 depending on which gloves I grab. I’m new to this also so I probably wasn’t getting great hits in. I’ve been careful with the area and haven’t started it bleeding or anything it in the 2 classes I’ve gone to since, but I’m being ginger so I can keep attending.

4

You should be landing with the knuckles of your middle and ring finger.
Landing flush, clean shots will prevent you from grazing your knuckles.

Don’t hit anything without gloves.
If the problem persists a small sponge over the knuckles are used by many professional fighters to prevent bruising

5

[quote]donnydarkoirl wrote:
You should be landing with the knuckles of your middle and ring finger.
[/quote]

Ah the old Dempsey style.

This is why we get along so well ;).

Hate the guys who say land with the two big knuckles!

6

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:

[quote]donnydarkoirl wrote:
You should be landing with the knuckles of your middle and ring finger.
[/quote]

Ah the old Dempsey style.

This is why we get along so well ;).

Hate the guys who say land with the two big knuckles![/quote]

Mind elaborating on this?

7

Well if you’re wearing Boxing gloves it almost doesnt matter which knuckles you’re hitting with. In MMA gloves, the smaller knuckles are more likely to break if you land punches with them. If you’re bare handed in a fight, you’re very likely going to break bones in your hand/wriest if you punch someone in the face/head. So you must choose … but choose wisely!

8

[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:

[quote]donnydarkoirl wrote:
You should be landing with the knuckles of your middle and ring finger.
[/quote]

Ah the old Dempsey style.

This is why we get along so well ;).

Hate the guys who say land with the two big knuckles![/quote]

Mind elaborating on this?[/quote]

Sure. Long story short, there’s two different schools of thought on how to land a punch. One school says aim to land on the first two knuckles (forefinger and middle), and the other says land on the last three (middle/ring/pinky).

A lot of karate styles and more traditional arts will tell you to land a shot on the first two, because they’re the biggest and hardest and most prominent. Lot of times they condition those knuckles, and you’ll see dudes with bigass calluses covering them as a result.

Then there’s the Dempsey style, which he enunciates in his old book which you can scrounge a copy of off the internet. He said that one should aim with the knuckle of the ring finger, because if you’re aiming with that, when you connect, there’s a high likelihood that you’ll connect with the flat front of the last three knuckles.

These might not be as large as the others, but the structure of the forearm and hand lines those three (and their corresponding support bones) up, meaning that there’s a direct line of power flowing when you land with them. If you attempt to land with the big two, you actually have to cock your wrist a little bit because the knuckle of the forefinger actually points a little bit out to the side.

He shows this by telling the reader to stand facing the wall, and extend their fist as if punching it. When your fist is placed against the wall, the only way it lines up correctly (where you’re not bending your wrist) is if you land with the last three knuckles. And this doesn’t matter what way you’re holding your hands - vertical or horizontal fist, it’s all the same.

Another thing he mentions that I’ve experienced personally is that if you actively try to land with the first two knuckles, more often than not, you land solely with your middle knuckle because that’s the most prominent. He said - and I can vouch for it - that the middle knuckle isn’t equipped structurally to handle the full impact of a punch, and that this can cause problems.

I had that exact issue, and I’ve since switched the manner I punch accordingly.

9

Also, I tend to believe Dempsey because he was a pretty avid streetfighter and bar brawler who did not always fight with gloves. Plus, he was a spectacularly hard puncher.

10

Makes sense! Thanks.

11

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:

[quote]donnydarkoirl wrote:
You should be landing with the knuckles of your middle and ring finger.
[/quote]

Ah the old Dempsey style.

This is why we get along so well ;).

Hate the guys who say land with the two big knuckles![/quote]

If we are talking about a vertical fist hook, then anyone telling you to hit with the first two knuckles doesn’t know what the heck they are talking about. If it’s a horizontal hook then you can land with the first two safely, although the middle two or bottom 3 will create a more sturdy/stable wrist structure upon impact.

Generally I land my jab with the first two as I’m not the tallest guy and the extra little bit of reach is helpful, but I will throw power shots with the bottom three to reduce the risk of hurting my wrists.

Also, Donny’s advice about hitting flush is very important for both minimizing friction on the knuckles and thus minimizing skinning them. You should not be skimming off the bag/pads with your hooks, but instead trying to bisect the target directly through it’s center mass (just from an angle or in a circular path). There is also a piston style hook and a swing hook. Most people find the swing hook more natural, but graze with it while hitting the bag and thus wind up skinning their knuckles.

12

[quote]Sentoguy wrote:

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:

[quote]donnydarkoirl wrote:
You should be landing with the knuckles of your middle and ring finger.
[/quote]

Ah the old Dempsey style.

This is why we get along so well ;).

Hate the guys who say land with the two big knuckles![/quote]

If we are talking about a vertical fist hook, then anyone telling you to hit with the first two knuckles doesn’t know what the heck they are talking about. If it’s a horizontal hook then you can land with the first two safely, although the middle two or bottom 3 will create a more sturdy/stable wrist structure upon impact.

Generally I land my jab with the first two as I’m not the tallest guy and the extra little bit of reach is helpful, but I will throw power shots with the bottom three to reduce the risk of hurting my wrists.

Also, Donny’s advice about hitting flush is very important for both minimizing friction on the knuckles and thus minimizing skinning them. You should not be skimming off the bag/pads with your hooks, but instead trying to bisect the target directly through it’s center mass (just from an angle or in a circular path). There is also a piston style hook and a swing hook. Most people find the swing hook more natural, but graze with it while hitting the bag and thus wind up skinning their knuckles.
[/quote]
Firstly; great post by FightinIrish.
Dempseys principles are still relevant because he drew his conclusions from real combat in and out of the ring.

Great analysis here by sentoguy also- I agree entirely.

Funny story. The man attributed with revolutionising boxing was James J. Corbett. He was seen as a groundbreaker with his footwork and extensive use of the left jab & hook.
The hook - it is stated - was invented by Corbett as he broke two knuckles against Joe Choynski.
However; the hook Corbett invented was not the precisely placed weapon dissected by Sentoguy.
It is wrongly stated that he broke his left thumb and started to “hook” his punches. Records suggest this was untrue- he broke the thumb of his RIGHT hand in their first, unfinished bout.
A week later they resumed hostilities and Corbett broke two more knuckles on his LEFT hand and he was required to arc his punches to win via. a 27th (?) round knockout.

Corbett broke the knuckles of his “ring” and little finger. (3/4)
When attacking with his left, he swung his hook; aiming to land with the knuckles of his middle and first finger.

So although attributed with this marvellous advance in striking science…
It wasn’t all that science-y at first.
Lying Irish bastards, eh?

13

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
I have never, ever understood how guys tear skin off their knuckles. Aren’t you wearing gloves? What size are you wearing? How long are your wraps?

This has never happened to me unless I was punching barefisted.[/quote]

I don’t always “THIS”, but when I do… THIS.

I will wager too, that OP is landing his punches knuckles horizontal instead of vertical. That form causes the first two knuckles to land first and puts a great deal of sideways force on them, instead of the face of the fist landing almost simultaneously and distributing that force more directly down the length of the phalanges. It will also cause friction as the flesh suffers the same unnecessary sideways friction under the wraps. Scienc-y enough? Poorly wrapped hands and shitty gloves don’t help either.

My two ‘sense’.

14

[quote]Pigeonkak wrote:

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
I have never, ever understood how guys tear skin off their knuckles. Aren’t you wearing gloves? What size are you wearing? How long are your wraps?

This has never happened to me unless I was punching barefisted.[/quote]

I don’t always “THIS”, but when I do… THIS.

I will wager too, that OP is landing his punches knuckles horizontal instead of vertical. That form causes the first two knuckles to land first and puts a great deal of sideways force on them, instead of the face of the fist landing almost simultaneously and distributing that force more directly down the length of the phalanges. It will also cause friction as the flesh suffers the same unnecessary sideways friction under the wraps. Scienc-y enough? Poorly wrapped hands and shitty gloves don’t help either.

My two ‘sense’.
[/quote]

Depends on how you throw the hook. If you are throwing it circular style then I agree. If you are throwing it like a short/tight angled straight punch, then you can throw it horizontal, land with the first two knuckles, and never skin them. I still prefer the bottom 3/middle 2, purely from a wrist stability perspective, but both can be thrown effectively.

15

Seriously, I can throw a hook with my fist upside down standing on one leg balancing on a chair and I won’t skin my knuckles.

HOW CAN YOU SKIN YOUR KNUCKLES!??? You’re wearing wraps and gloves!

I just can’t comprehend it.

16

Like Donny said, with gloves and wraps the only realistic way that is going to happen is poorly wrapped hands, crappy gloves, and incorrect technique. If you are punching the bag bare fisted, or even with MMA gloves on though it becomes a real possibility if you don’t learn how to hit squarely/“stick” your punches.