I have one in my leaving room and i hit it but all i wrap around my hands is a pair of socks around my knucles so the skin doesn't come off. I know that boxers use some kind of bandage to wrap around their hands but i think i'm just lazy - what do you all use when hitting the heavy bag?
If im conditioning them, i use nothing, if im just working out i use a pair of bag mits that you can get at any sports store.
i used to hav light gloves or sometimes jsut straps with anything.. i hav a bag which is made of some MAT so i cannot use it for conditioning, even if i want to i don't use it... my hands hav decent conditioning.. -TkdWarrior-
Well I teach an all bag class for an hour wherein I am hitting the bag for 45 minutes solid ... this is when I use wraps for wrist support and bag gloves. Depends on what type of bag you're hitting too .... canvas is rough on the knuckles!
Depends on what type of bag you have, how hard you're hitting and how much you are hitting it. For a "standard" bag and a good workout you should have wraps and gloves (heavierr the better). It's not just the skin you need to worry about, you need to protect the joint as well as the wrist. Both can sustain damage, even if you don't feel any pain, from repetitive stress. And that sort of injury doesn't heal up as nicely as missing skin.
I just use weight gloves (padded palm - kinda and a second layer of leather over the knuckles with minimal padding) I've never really had a problem with punching the bags and don't always wear my gloves. I never do straight punghing though - if it's a long session I will be doing a kata-ish thing with multiple bags - I'm always moving but not always punching but there is still a fair amount of punching involved.
When punching heavy bags i don't use hand protection - i don't like bag gloves or wraps. With bag gloves i find it hard to tell how good the fist tech' or impact is. I liked someone elses idea(can't remember who)posted a little while ago, with something tied around it and using it to jump and turn into for throwing tech's - YODA's got a few good idea's with the heavy bag check out his websites.
I'm with Morphus on this one. I don't like to use anything on my hands. I just hit the bag. I think I've mentioned this before in a previous thread. I don't find it problematic because I always aim to direct my force through the (vertical) centreline of the bag. That way maximum power is transmitted to the bag and you really minimise any scuffing to the knuckles. Am I genius (which I doubt) or is there something I'm missing by not using blows that to some degree glance off the bag? As for damage to the wrist, I'm convinced that if your wrist is aligned properly there should be no damage. The wrist can cope with linear compression (as long as we're not talking about ridiculous amounts of force that most of us wouldn't be able to generate anyway). What damages it is when there is a shearing force applied, ie. the knuckles impact on something at an angle forcing the wrist to bend. Wraps on my wrist might mediate such shearing forces to a degree (and wearing gloves will all but remove such problems altogether) but I prefer to make sure my wrist is properly aligned so that it can be used safely and effectively in actual combat (as opposed to sport where I might be wearing gloves anyway). Intrigued, Mike
I prefer to mix it up by wearing bag gloves, 16oz'ers and no gloves at all. I do this as it is possible to hit the bag harder with gloves on and you learn how to align you arms better with no gloves on. I also feel the heavier the gloves the more your arms are working therefore building up better endurance. There advantages to both gloves on gloves off arguments thats why i believe that a balance between the two is the way to go. one drill I use is free punching using any technique as follows 3xmin heavy gloves 30sec rest (to change gloves) 3xmin bag mitts 30sec rest (to change gloves) 3xmin no gloves 30sec rest (to change gloves) 3xmin bag mitts 30sec rest (to change gloves) 3xmin heavy gloves or vice versa
Mike - you hit the nail on the head with your statement. as for practicing on a bag with 16oz gloves, personaly i don't see the benefit the 16oz gloves are to protect the opponant, but the opponant in this case is a heavy bag and can take as much as you give so give it your all and if your technique is correct as mike stated(wrist alignment - hitting the centre of the bag) you shouldn't have scuffing of the knuckles or pain to the wrist(no shot should glance off the bag accepting for bad timing). Getting it right on the bag is a god sign you'll get it right in combat!
Seeing johndoc's reply makes me realise we definitely have discussed this before. But I still don't get it. What are the advantages of hitting with gloves on? Someone please enlighten me Mike
Am with Mike and Morphy here I use a bag n practise with it barehanded till date, never found any problem with it..... anyway some think it's not rite 'cause if you miss hitting the center then the knuckles will scratch against the sides resulting in some of the skin coming out |Cain|
Heavy gloves give your arms more to weight to carry therefore giving u more endurance in your punching ability. If you dont think 16oz is a lot try going 6 rounds all out just using a backfist alternating rounds with 16 oz gloves and no gloves. You should feel the difference. Also you can hit heavier with gloves on therefore it gives you a level to aim at when you are punching without gloves on. Just a few ideas
Gloves protect the hands as much as the opponent, possibly more so. They do help reduce cuts and cosmetic damage though. But because they let you hit harder without worrying about your hand they can do more internal damage.
I put absolutely everything into every single technique hitting the heavy bag barehanded, or kicking it with shoes on. So that I can put everything into each strike, I only hit the bag for 3 sets of 12 with each technique, then move onto the next technique.... e.g. 12 right jab 12 left cross 12 right jab 12 left cross 12 right jab 12 left cross 12 right hook 12 left uppercut 12 right hook etc etc, you get the idea. I figure if I can do more than 12 or so, then I'm not putting enough effort into each strike - I put more energy into the strike until I either feel fatigued or my hands start to hurt after only 12....
I agree wholeheartedely. I use the heavy bag to simulate "real hitting": no gloves, nothing held back. This way I know that my body should respond as I expect it to if I (god forbid) have to lay into a real person fully.
Hi John I can see the logic in both ideas thanks, although I'm still not yet convinced that the benefits outweigh any bad habits that might be developed. Although I can also see that because you do some bagwork without the gloves the chance of bad habits developing is a lot less. I'll still keep doing it naked though. My hands that is. Of course. Thanks, Mike
I have had problems with my wrists, but most emphatically not as a result of bagwork. My wrist problems come from hyperextending them during shiatsu treatments, that is absolutely certain. Hand wraps would not prevent the compressive forces that my wrists are subjected to on the bag, they can only possibly provide protection against shearing forces. As I don't hit the bag with a shearing force then I don't see how it can be an issue. Either way I don't exclusively use my fist on the bag, I intersperse it with lots of other body surfaces too. Mike
"I use the heavy bag to simulate "real hitting": no gloves, nothing held back. This way I know that my body should respond as I expect it to if I(god forbid) have to lay into a real person fully." -iolair I agree with that but i prefer to use thin gloves not to protect my wrists or hand bones. I use them to protect the skin and ligaments(tendons?). After intensley hitting the bag alot my fist will become raw and get cut by the bag. Not always but usually. Also i heard that hitting without any protection can loosen the muscles around your knuckles(a bad thing, so i heard). So with the gloves(thin bag gloves, not sparring /boxing/wraps) i can still tell if my punch is correct but i can protect them. Wraps are for boxers, by the way, so they can hit harder w/o hurting the wrist, not for MA.