Conditioning dilemma

[Spartacus Maximus]

The makiwara used is not the typical one found in most places. It is a much simpler and cheaper design made of a regular piece of pine board of the same type used for breaking. That board is stuck or placed on an equal sized slice of foam puzzle mat as used on floors. When punching it, the knuckles are meant to strike straight without twisting into the target.

When doing this on a nearly daily basis, I had gradually worked up to hitting 100 times for each hand. Following the correct methods and examples, hitting with just enough force to feel a sting. Callouses, bruises and the like are not the goal, but just a "side-effect"

[singularity6]

I think a lot of modern hand conditioning happens on leather heavy bags. I suspect your bones are fairly well conditioned by now, so hitting a heavy without wraps/gloves is probably fairly safe. You'll get some toughness in your skin, but not nearly what you'd get from makiwara.