How should a Boxer conditioning their hands for bare handed punching?
Punch a tree? A heavy bag???
I dont have the hardest hands in the world, I’ve broken 2 knuckles on different skulls, but that’s pretty much expected.
My hands are much better than average though.
Basically hit hard stuff softly for a long time.
A hard heavy bag would be better than a brick wall. Or a skull.
Yeah trees are O.K. by me. I prefer paperbark over Ironbark.
I’ve always wanted to make some kind of little sand filled cloth punch bag, I reckon that’d go alright. Maybe some of the kung-fu guys have some tips, unless that’s just movie stuff.
A lot of the London Prize Ring era books recommend all manner of concoctions for this. I believe DdlR and Kirk Lawson have some first-hand experience with the pickled-food materials. I used mentholated-spirits for a couple months along with bag work. Generally when doing bag work I’d do about 15 minutes without gloves on and then the rest of the session with MMA gloves on. When you’re done your hands will probably be a bit pink but they shouldn’t be gaping wounds or terribly bloody, and then you rub the spirits onto your knuckles until the spirits dry up. Don’t punch trees.
Yeah don’t hurt innocent trees, they have feelings too you know! The metho is just for skin conditioning, yeah?
Light punching with proper form on a heavy bag, progress from there.
I prefer to wrap my hands first though, it’s more forgiving if you mis-hit.
[QUOTE=jdempsey;2658651]The metho is just for skin conditioning, yeah?[/QUOTE]Mostly yeah. However, there is ample evidence that stressors such as impact and strength-training can (and will) increase bone density over the long term.
I don’t know about the long term effects on joints, however.
I have a list squirreled away somewhere of the various hand conditioning methods I’ve been able to document in Classic Pugilism. I’ll see if I can dig it up.
Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
Just do lots of heavy bag training and use thin bag gloves. Like the little gloves you get for free with a speed bag. They basically only keep your knuckles from busting open. They are good for conditioning.
There is really no reason to do much more than that. You could go to a Makiwara, but the think is, you have to hit the Makiwara softer any way. So you may as well just punch full strength on a bag. At least then you will be building good mechanics at the same time.
[QUOTE=lklawson;2658725]I have a list squirreled away somewhere of the various hand conditioning methods I’ve been able to document in Classic Pugilism. I’ll see if I can dig it up.[/QUOTE]
Here’s what I’ve personally documented.
- Dempsey - Camphor Ice
- “Pickling” hands in “Tom Sayer’s Turps”
- Fitzsimmons - recipe includes laudanum & alcohol from “Boxing and how to Train.”
- O’Brien - “Tincture of Benzion,” rubbing alcohol, sea-salt solution
- Strong tea - supposedly an old boxing trick
- Heenan - Walnut pickling solution
- Billy Edwards - Tannic Acid, Rosin, Pickle Brine from salt-pork barrel
Note that the Tea and Walnut extract both have Tannic Acid in them which is an ingredient of Edward’s recipe.
I’ve also heard of the use of urine from various sources such as sheep. This has Uric Acid. However, I have been unable to document the use and it might just be a popular rumor.
Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
[QUOTE=lklawson;2658728]Fitzsimmons - recipe includes laudanum & alcohol from “Boxing and how to Train.”[/QUOTE]
breakfast of champions!
[QUOTE=Diesel_tke;2658726]Just do lots of heavy bag training and use thin bag gloves. Like the little gloves you get for free with a speed bag. They basically only keep your knuckles from busting open. They are good for conditioning.
There is really no reason to do much more than that. You could go to a Makiwara, but the think is, you have to hit the Makiwara softer any way. So you may as well just punch full strength on a bag. At least then you will be building good mechanics at the same time.[/QUOTE]Because you mention the Makiwara…
Bart J. Doran in his “Doran’s Science of Self-Defense” (1889) references a Makiwara/Wallbag-like contraption he calls a “Wall Pad.”
“Take a pad and place it upon the wall about five feet three inches from the floor, stand where you can hit it with your closed fist when your arm is fully extended, the opposite shoulder thrown well back and your side facing it.”
I repubbed the manual, you can find it free dl at http://stores.lulu.com/lawson in pdf.
Peace favor your sword,
Kirk
No one said knuckle pushups?
Knuckle pushups and bag work with light gloves is the correct answer.
No one has asked why the OP needs to punch bare handed.
Is this about academic curiosity about the past, or about what’s the best way to condition the fists for impact?
[QUOTE=Odacon;2658788]No one has asked why the OP needs to punch bare handed.[/QUOTE]
Scenario 1: he’s a rbsd nerd who wants to LARP GI Joe harder.
Scenario 2: it’s question regarding historical bareknuckle.
[QUOTE=Bruiser;2658791]Scenario 1: he’s a rbsd nerd who wants to LARP GI Joe harder.
Scenario 2: it’s question regarding historical bareknuckle.[/QUOTE]
So you’re saying wanting harder fists for actual use is nerdier than researching history?
[QUOTE=Bruiser;2658791]Scenario 1: he’s a rbsd nerd who wants to LARP GI Joe harder.
Scenario 2: it’s question regarding historical bareknuckle.[/QUOTE]
So you’re saying wanting harder fists for actual use is nerdier than researching history?
[QUOTE=jdempsey;2658804]So you’re saying wanting harder fists for actual use is nerdier than researching history?[/QUOTE]
What I’m saying is either scenario is irrelevant.
[QUOTE=Bruiser;2658807]What I’m saying is either scenario is irrelevant.[/QUOTE]
Please explain?
[QUOTE=jdempsey;2658818]Please explain?[/QUOTE]
If he wants to play fantasy GI or I it’s historical research it doesn’t matter. He asked a question regarding a specific topic and that all I’m interested in dealing with.
Suppose he really a a dedlee RBSD guy. Why should I care?
If its for historical research then it’s better just to answer him.
Maybe its somewhere in between. Applied anthropology, or personal experiment.