Warrior's hands

[evergrey]

OSU!

The long-time members of my dojo, and of course all the instructors, have what I call "warrior's hands." The first two knuckles of their hands are all tough and calloused and scarred up. I'm slowly working on that, and those knuckles are getting nice and rough and scarred, between knuckle push-ups and punching people, bags, and makiwara.

So, do you have warrior's hands? How long did it take for you to stop bleeding and getting raw on those knuckles?

OSU

[Nevinyrral]

I tried punching difrent things/materials and I also train a lot on punching bag but my hands are really smooth, they are like I never did any physical work. It might be that I have that type of anatomy or something

[Wastelander]

I don't really develop callous very easily, so between that and the dryness of Arizona my knuckles still tear open. I would say that they are tougher than your average office-worker's hands, but they aren't warrior's hands.

[Soheir]

I also train a lot on punching bag

I doubt punching bag helps, unless you punch real hard...

[DWx]

I used to condition my hands and started to build up my right hand knuckles... then I saw a picture of myself on a night out and decided that it does not look good for a female to have massive knuckles... it doesn't really go with the manicure Instead I work on stuff for knifehands and palms. So I don't think I have warriors hands and I don't want them either!

[Wastelander]

I used to condition my hands and started to build up my right hand knuckles... then I saw a picture of myself on a night out and decided that it does not look good for a female to have massive knuckles... it doesn't really go with the manicure Instead I work on stuff for knifehands and palms. So I don't think I have warriors hands and I don't want them either!

I'm of the opinion that fists are for soft targets so you don't need them to be super-conditioned, anyway--just enough to keep them safe if you miss. Knife hands and palm strikes are much better for striking hard targets.

[rmurray]

I have what you describe as warriors hands. I think I got a headstart because my knuckles are naturally large and well defined. A decade of hard boozing and smashing them into all kinds of things enhanced them even more and scarred them up. Those days have passed, but now I do pushups on them and they get plenty beat up doing farm work. I'm pretty fond of my hands. They look like dangerous weapons. I wouldn't want to see a lady with hands like mine though.

[brickshooter]

I don't suffer from bleeding and scarred knuckes. In fact, I'm careful to use plenty of hand lotion after makiwara training. That's after carefully washing my knuckes and checking for cuts of course.

[sensei8]

Here's a look at the hands of Morio Higaonna Sensei, 10th Dan Goju-ryu...

http://paulobartolo.com.br/galeria/index/13/okinawa__sensei_higaonna

[Click on the far right photo to see an enlarged photo of his hands]

[sojobo]

I'm of the opinion that fists are for soft targets so you don't need them to be super-conditioned, anyway--just enough to keep them safe if you miss. Knife hands and palm strikes are much better for striking hard targets.

Me too, it's the hard bits to hit soft areas and the soft bits to hit hard areas.

Callused knuckles are often a misunderstanding (or at least a mis-belief) in terms of why there are traditional striking exercises like Makiwari etc.

Of course - they were not to develop calluses; they were to engender correctly conditioned form.

Calluses were maybe a byproduct however - which is maybe where the myth has stemmed from.

Sojobo