how to get ur fist straight

[mortious]

how do u get ur fingers straight when punching?? my fingers always seem 2 b sloped liket diagonally when i clench my fist so i have 2 punch with my wrist going down and i always hurt it. what excercises can i do to change this??

[Jay]

your clenching your fist too tight try relaxing it. There should be almost a straight line from your knuckles all the way down your forearm

[Eric_]

Do you mean that your second knuckles stick out past your third knuckles a bit, so that when you punch, your fingers hit an instant before your knuckles? If so, then I used to have thesame problem. Just play around with subtle differences in the way your fingers curl until you find something that works, and just work on it until you make that same fist every time.

[mortious]

Do you mean that your second knuckles stick out past your third knuckles a bit, so that when you punch, your fingers hit an instant before your knuckles? If so, then I used to have thesame problem. Just play around with subtle differences in the way your fingers curl until you find something that works, and just work on it until you make that same fist every time.

yea thats what i meant lol. is there any excercises u can do to improve ur flexibility?? cus my fingers arn't very flexible and i cant push them back that far

[Eric_]

Hmm, the only thing i can think of is the "waterfall" stretch. you basically turn your palm up, and push down on your fingers, to stretch all of yourforearm. Mostly, though, just pay attention to how your fingers are curled, and make sure your wrist isn't bent back slightly.

[Justfulwardog]

I read an article once, that told me not to rotate my fist all the way around so that my palm was facing down. It said it should be facing the ground at a 45% angle, because when you rotate it all the way the two bones in your forearm limit the muscles ability to contract and expand. So your wrist buckles easier. It helped my wrist not to buckle, my fingers not to hit first, and the solidity of my fist on impact. Might just work for you. Experiment with it, rotate your fist beyond practical means and make your hardest fist, then try it a a 45% angle.

[tdiedwards]

how do u get ur fingers straight when punching?? my fingers always seem 2 b sloped liket diagonally when i clench my fist so i have 2 punch with my wrist going down and i always hurt it. what excercises can i do to change this??

mate, some of this advice might be right but.....it might also just be genetic. both my brother and i have that kind of fist. maybe that it can be compensated for with flexibility training. not sure though - neither of us has been able to conquer it after years of karate. the solution really might be to punch "carefully" and kick a lot

- good to know there are other weird-fist chaps out there! thought maybe only my family was weird. hehe

[joesteph]

mate, some of this advice might be right but.....it might also just be genetic.

Maybe it's within nature's normal range for everyday life, but it manifests itself as a problem when punching.

. . . neither of us has been able to conquer it after years of karate. the solution really might be to punch "carefully" . . .

Did you notice that if you stand or sit straight, and reach straight out with a grasping hand, no matter straight ahead, to the side, or in-between, that your hand is not horizontal? The index and middle fingers are higher, your ring and little fingers are not only lower but their knuckles are, too, and, of course, the thumb lies low.

If you make a fist this way, the first two knuckles are dead on target, and you're not at horizontal, but slipping back more to the 45 degree angle mentioned in an earlier post.

Although the average person's body can do a horizontal fist, that doesn't necessarily mean it's what one ought to do. The vertical fist, for example, is faster for me to do rapid punching than with the horizontal fist, and if I go for the 45 degree angle, it means that, on the way to the target, my fist was vertical for most of the way, but turned at the point of impact, then continued through the target.

Many weight-trainers cannot do barbell curls with a straight bar for their biceps, because the forced horizontal actually causes pain. They use an EZ curl bar or dumbbells. Maybe it's the same with making a fist; forcing it to be according to a certain position that may not be as natural as one might imagine can be less effective an even cause problems for certain martial artists.

[Tiger1962]

...may I add: whenever you DO make a fist when sparring, do not leave your thumbs sticking out because you become more suseptible to breaking it or scratching your classmate's eyeball.

[tdiedwards]

tdiedwards wrote:

mate, some of this advice might be right but.....it might also just be genetic.

Maybe it's within nature's normal range for everyday life, but it manifests itself as a problem when punching.

----absolutely. it is a problem when punching - and it is fairly normal. my point is that it *might* not be possible to onvercome it with flexibility training, so don't push things too hard. sometimes you have to accept that your body shape will determine fighting style to a degree. don't damage your hands in an attempt to make a "normal" fist.