Just A Thought I Had...

As everyone already knows their are differences between a sparring match and a street fight. (Hoping to God this doesn't deviant into another MA vs Street arguement..)

So I got thinking...in most of your life, your not wearing hand protection, no gloves, wraps, nadda. So does anyone has suggestions, ideas on how to toughen up the skin on the knuckles so you don't accidently bust open your hand when you throw a punch?

I've heard about the "ointments" and whatnot that you use to build callous, but I'm not thrilled with the idea of buying some old dude's "mystery mix' (don't make me explain that) blended with tap water.

 

It's the broken bones that you need to worry about.

 

drink lots of milk and do lots of plyometric knuckle push ups.

i used to punch brick walls over and over as hard as i could without busting my knuckles open but yet hard enough to adequately condition my knuckles. this works well but you have to be careful cause i got sloppy once and punched it a little too hard and fractured my finger.

 

How does milk help? I'm not sure if punching a brick wall is a good Idea, unless it's at a seriously reduced rate of force and speed. I'd like to have tough hands, but not arthritis when I'm 30.

 

milk has calcium which does a bones good

 

Wear MMA gloves everywhere.

 

Yeah, that's true, but I meant about toughening up the skin so it doesn't get torn in a fight. Bones aren't the main issue.

 

I was gonna wear Sock'em Boppers....but that works too.

 

i honestly wouldn't worry about it, because ripped skin does not reduce the functionality of your hands. You can still use your hand to access a weapon, open a door, and grab your girlfriend's wrist to run...

If you break a bone it could make your hand useless

 

What he said

 

Yeah, but it's a pain, because depending on the severity of the damage, you might have to lay off using that hand for hitting anything.

Plus, it doesn't look very pleasent to many to have bleeding hands, and skin hangnig, now does it? It would be nice to have it so you could get into a fight, and when it's over, (assuming you won) that your hands aren't all mangled.

 

If you get into a 'street fight' then how yr hands look afterwards is the least of yr worries...

 

what he said

 

Oh yeah. Without a doubt. Just wondering if there are ways to build callouses on the knuckles quickly. (At work, the type of cleaner we use tends to soften my hands...which leaves the skin on my knuckles a bit prone to damage.)


If I got in a street fight, then I fail my job of being stealthy anyway.

 

To toughen them up soak them in a brine/salt water solution and use a makiwara board over and over and over. You could also use the bowl of sand method.

My best advice would be to not hit people with a closed fist. Only use palm strikes, shuto, cupped hand, hammerfist.

 

Learn elbow strikes...

 

Very good advice, and that's what most self-defense instructors suggest.

My father is a truck driver, and has gotten into a lot of brawls (as they do). He has big callouses on his knuckles, but that didn't prevent teeth from getting imbedded into his fists--and yeah, of course he bled.

Taking time to specifically build callouses on your knuckles for the purpose of preventing damage for some unforseen future fight seems a bit silly to me. Just to echo a few people, callouses will not prevent you hands from breaking without wraps/ gloves.

You know... you don't necessarily need to exchange blows with someone just becuase they're punching (if you're really concerned about your hands).

 

Yeah, that works too. Or I could hit'em with a brick.

 

Or I could not punch in the face, aim for the soft, more damage prone areas, like his throat, solar plexus...


Or simply kick that guy. I prefer kicks anyway.

 

do knuckle push ups on concrete. it'll make your hand skin like leather.