Hand wraps?

[Serpent]

Do you use them with your bag gloves when working on bags?

Pros? Cons?

Cheers.

[yenhoi]

I change what Im hitting with all the time. Sometimes day to day, or for weeks at a time.

I have 3 different pairs of gloves, all different, wraps, and of course bare.

Pros: Keeps your wrist and other bones from breaking if they are not strong enough for what your doing. Keeps your knuckles and fingers etc from being ripped up by what ever kind of bag your using, again if your hands are not properly conditioned.

Cons: Can give you a false sense of strength when it comes to using your hands without wraps. Decreases the mobility of your fingers (thai method less IMO.)

[FatherDog]

If you are training for the ring, where you will be wearing hand wraps, wear hand wraps.

If you are training for the street, where you will not be wearing hand wraps, don't wear hand wraps.

[Wilson]

When working on bags - yes. They are basic protection to keep you from hurting yourself while training. I agree with the overconfidence they can give you, but wearing gloves does the same thing.

[Serpent]

Hmmm. Maybe I'll just stick with the bag gloves I've always used then.

Thanks guys.

[SevenStar]

I always go bare handed.

[rubthebuddha]

not touching that one, sevenstar.

(but you, captain barehand, apparently already have).

the guys are right though -- train like you will use. if you're working for the street, then train similarly. if you're working for the right, then, by gosh, tape those wrists up.

[SevenStar]

I said bare handed, not right handed. :D

[omarthefish]

I heard TKD guys don't even use their hands. . .:rolleyes:

Wasn't this thread originally about hand wraps?

I am a hand-wrap convert. I used to go without protection but . . let me rephrase that - forget it. My point is that I found with hand wraps I can deffinately hit harder. Then later I found out it was partly psychological. If I don't have wraps, I fond it hard to not hold back a little to protect my hand.

Since I've started Baji and gotten more serious about my internal training (not related to Baji) I've found that even with wraps, sometimes my knuckles will get injured. It takes time. It takes hitting the hard part of the bag towards the bottom, but I am stubborn and eventually it woll happen. Now if I don't use wraps combined with bag gloves, I am forced either cut my bag work short or revert to my old boxing style punching and forget about the internal training.

[yenhoi]

Besides the protection, hand-wraps just make you feel like a badd-asss.

[SevenStar]

heck yeah!

[Cheese Dog]

The only time I wear bag gloves is when I have an injury. Like right now, I have a sprained finger on my right hand. Years ago, when I did some amateur kickboxing (very amateur) I always used wristwraps and bag gloves on the heavy bag. I think I did it more just because everyone did.

[PLCrane]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=6525750&dopt=Abstract

Can J Appl Sport Sci 1984 Dec;9(4):181-7 Related Articles, Links

[Influence of bandages on the strength of impact of punches in boxing]

[Article in French]

Roy B, Bernier-Cardou M, Cardou A, Plamondon A.

In boxing, a punch can be directed to the head or the torso of the opponent; however, because of the gravity of the ensuing injuries, the limit of tolerance of the head and face to repeated impacts (Gurjian, 1955, 1962; Patrick, 1955; Hodgson and Nakamura, 1968) is particularly important to keep in mind. The objective of this research was to compare the impact forces which could be attained barehand versus those obtained with different types of bandages made up of gauze and diachylon. For the purpose of this study, 22 boxers were selected. The impact force was measured with a Kistler force plate, covered with a synthetic mattress. A system of photoelectric cells was used to measure the velocity of the punch. Each boxer had to impact the target with 10 punches while his hand was covered with one of four types of bandages as well as barehand. This study has shown that the bandaged hand increases significantly the impact force of the punch. The force increases in relation to the thickness of the bandage. The use of additional pieces of diachylon has a greater influence than gauzes. Therefore, it can be concluded that the bandaging increases the rigidity of the hand and facilitates the transfer of the force in comparison to a similar punch without a bandage or with a thinner one.

PMID: 6525750 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[Cheese Dog]

PLCrane: very interesting article! It makes sense that the more rigid your hand is the greater force transmitted to your target.
Two ideas for discussion:

1. Would ironhand training give you (eventually) the same force as handwraps?
2. How about the internal martial arts idea of being relaxed when striking?


In the martial art I study (ryukyu kempo) we are taught to be as relaxed as possible until the moment of contact, then tense, then immediately relax again to get that "whip-like" strike. As I understand it this is a "hard-soft" method of power generation and the "soft" arts are not tense even at the moment of contact (correct me if I'm wrong).
On the other hand, maybe the boxers are using different mechanics for their punches than a martial artist would. I remember reading some time ago that a 140 lb. karateka's punch had more force than a heavyweight boxer's, according to a study. Too bad I can't remember where I read it, so I could be talking out of my a s s.

[SevenStar]

it's not possible to not tense at all during impact and have any punching power, I believe.

[Cheese Dog]

Sevenstar, I was thinking the same thing. I don't see how you could transfer force without tensing, even if it's just for a fraction of a second. But on the other hand, some internal stylists claim to not tense their fist even at the moment of impact, but rather just retract their fist slightly at the moment of contact. I'm new to the internal arts so I may be misunderstanding this.