Does anyone know a safe way to condition my fist?

Question

I do knuckle pushups and I already know how to punch.
I just need ways to condition my fist without causing permanent damage.

Answer 1

sensirob is right..

a makarawa board is a good way to toughen up your hands..

i'd also recommend a burlap bag filled with sand as well..

get a burlap bag, or even a potato sack, something with strong threading.. fill it up with sand, lay it flat on a stool or low table. cover it with a piece of cloth so that you won't get sand flying up into your face, and begin punching downward into the bag..

just remember when conditioning or hardening is the case that there's always a price you will eventually have to pay, you have to decide if it's worth it to you..

when a lot of martial artists who've done body conditioning get older, you begin to suffer from things like calcium deposits in your knuckles and arthritis etc. not always but in a lot of cases it does happen.. just keep that in mind when you're making the decision.. it's your body and you best know the facts..

~*good luck*~

Answer 2

Makiwara is always good.
A heavy bag is also very good. I notice a lot of people wrap their hands when using the heavy bag. I do not, I like to let the skin toughen up. I know the people that do wrap are saving their knuckles because they get into the ring very often.

I feel that conditioning your hands is a good idea as long as it is done in a healthy way. Once the skin breaks, stop hitting, clean and dress the wound. Until that grows back over you are done training that area of your body. If you are stubborn and keep hitting with an open wound you are ruining your hand. Conditioning is a slow process. There is no quick way to condition your body.

Answer 3

Plenty of people are answering this and some are touching on certain aspects.

First off something to consider is what will happen later in life. I spent a lot of time conditioning bones and while it was awesome when I was younger, it is pretty sucky now. I have fingers that I can't bend more than half way, I have arthritis, there are times when my hands just ache. And I am not that old.

You can condition your fist, build callouses and all the like, but keep in mind you will pay for it later.

Most people can't just go straight to a makiwara, and I don't reccomend punching a heavy bag with no wraps, first off you can compact the bones and screw up your wrists, second off you can't punch it nearly as hard as being wrapped, therefore you are building some callouses, be it weak, and not conditioning your bones.

Wrap up, smack a heavy bag around. You can try all the rice and sand stuff, but honestly it takes alot of discipline to do it day in a day out with little reward.

Hit a heavy bag, and start by punching a lightly padded board, when I was younger I used to nail a boat cushion to a tree and would strike that. You begin to kill the nerves in your striking areas allowing you to hit harder as you brain won't subconsiously hold you back.

Eventually you will kill a good bit of nerves in your fists, you can use lighter padding and strike harder. There is no need to go around punching boards, or hitting bare trees, hitting a hard padded object will do just the same without injuring you. You gain no real reward in punching something with no give.

Keep in mind, what you are doing is creating microfractures in your bones, that begin to fill in those spaces as heal themselves becoming stronger.

If you can do the heavy bag, and the lightly cushioned board things you should get what you want, hardened fists, larger knuckles, with callouses. Mind you no girl will find that attractive, and at some point in your life you may develop problems because of it.

So go with the heavy bag, and the padded surfaces, don't go hitting your hands with boards or shoving your fingers into rice or sand, or a board with rope around it. These things are all traditional, and all way more brutal on your joints and your hands than you need to be.

Bone conditioned striking areas allow you to strike harder, you will have a greater chance of cutting someone when you hit them. However, even with bone conditioning you can still easily break your hand on someone's skull, and possibly break your hand by getting over zealous in training.

Trust me when I say this, any damage to your hand injury wise will stay with you for the rest of your life. The fun bone conditioning that I did when I was younger seemed cool at the time, but chicks don't like callouses, and it didn't make me any better of a fighter.

Hope that is somewhat informative and gives you what you need.

Just my two cents.

Answer 4

Why do you need to condition your fist? You're being stupid. You will end up cause permanent damage. What's the point in this? Do you live in place where there's a hands to hands combat 24/7? Most men fight only three or four time in their entire life. I think you're trying to find a way to impress people. So don't try anything because you will end up ruin your hands.

Answer 5

there are two ways that i have learned that build up your knuckles and your hand power. find a big pot fill it with rice and take turns with your hands driving them in the rice firmly not like a killer. find a soft wood and lightly tap the wood with a fist. the two should be done for 20 to 30 mins a day thay realy work great

Answer 6

What I do is fill a bag (preferably a strong money bag) with sand.
Use this as your punching bag until it gets soft.
When this happens replace sand with rice, then from rice to small ballbearings, then from small ballbearings to large ballbearings.
Dont rush the process, this will only damage your wrists and knuckles.

Answer 7

Fill a heavy bag 90#er with rice, it has give, and gives great resistence. Hit100 times a day for a year. A sun punch from the chest sraight out. , but use Jik dat Jar after so you will heal.

Answer 8

Piano finger exercise.spread fingers use opposite hand to push between digits as you flex hand,you can double hand straight in a month

Answer 9

Use a heavy bag or makiwara with bag gloves.

Answer 10

Train on a makiwara.
Here are directions on how to build and use your own.

http://ctr.usf.edu/shotokan/makiwara.html

http://www.karatetips.com/articles/howtomakeamakiwara.asp

P.S. Don't pee on your hands.