Critique my fist-hardening methods

[BankyTheHack]

OK I've come up with two techniques to harden my fists, I haven't done them yet and am just seeking opinions on them. I already bare knuckle my heavy canvas bag so I need something a bit tougher

 

1. Using two small metal pans packed with sand, and doing knuckle pushups onto them.

 

2. using spray adhesive to attach sand particles to a portion of my heavy bag.

[joerfe]

Well, u could use a makiwara. But be careful. I've heard instructors advising students to take it slow with the hardening thing. You may risk to get some pretty ugly hands for the rest of your life.

[crash]

why do this?, I meen whats the honest purpose for possibly injuring yourself or doing unrepairable damage to your hands?.

[delta1]

2. using spray adhesive to attach sand particles to a portion of my heavy bag.

 

Better yet, just use sand paper or an angle grinder to remove the skin from your knuckles.

 

Seriously, you are only human. Toughening is one thing, but I doubt you'd ever be able to get them to where they stand up to that kind of abrasion.

[granmasterchen]

i wouldn't spray the heavy bag with sand either.

 

i am a big guru on the hand training thing but i do it for myself and dont require any of my students to do it.

 

knuckle push ups are good, doing punches into the sand is also very effective, one of the first things that i started to do was get a burlap sack and fill it with sand and use it as a punching bag, eventually i just started punching everything. Concrete slabs are good once you get used to it along with trees, the rougher the bark the higher level of conditioning you need first, metal poles and so on. But the key is to start with a simple thing to do your punches against.

 

beginning: knuckle push ups, do punches into a bowl or rice, then move up to small metal ball bearings, then sand, then small stones like gravel, and so on, you get the idea.

[Viontro]

I saw in some documentary that you can hang a newspaper on a wall and punch on the newspaper in 2 hours or so ... now your fist should be harden (I don´t think that this method is recommended )

[Rich_2k3]

The Shaolin monks fill a galleon barrel with dried seeds (u could use pea's or somthing) and then punch into it. They do this continueously every day for 2 hours, the pain will slowy get more intense as u punch it until eventually u have to stop. Thats how they can do the things they do.

[Rich67]

If you are "hardening your fists" purely for discipline-related reasons, go for it. Otherwise WHY? Have you ever actually hit anyone in a real fight with bare knuckles? Your knuckles and hands will get cut open, regardless of how you "condition" them. Bone against bone or bone against teeth contact has a tendency to cause flesh to split and tear. I have scars on my fists from some of the fights i've been in; and I did knuckle pushups for 10 years, and broke many boards. I have chipped bones in my hand before, and that puts a damper on training. Best policy is, avoid the fight when you can. If you can't avoid it, then learn to grapple. It's easier on your hands, and it also helps you avoid getting arrested once the fight is over! Trust me, you'll make your hands ugly, prone to arthritis, and you could do worse damage in the long run. I really messed up my hands, and trust me, it's not worth it.

[granmasterchen]

I have been in fights too, many over the years, and I have never hurt my hands. This is due to the training that i put them through, I can punch concrete and steel and not hurt them. But i have conditioned them for many years and i break concrete and such all the time. Before i conditioned my hands and before i was seriously into the martial arts, i too hurt my hands and got them cut open in fights, but not any more.

[mikS]

Why would you want to PUNCH TREES. I have a friend that used to do this. He's 17 years old as am I, and he has lost a noticeable amount of fine motor function in his hands. Do you want that?