Bare knuckles on punchbag?

Question

Is it okay to punch your punchbag just with your bare knuckles?
I mean will it damage your hands or anything?

Answer 1

Wow I am amazed at some of the nonsense I have read from alot of people here. I going to guess that you have access to a punching bag and youre goofing around. Judging by the nature of your question. As a few have stated it is very important that you wrap your hands. The best way to answer your own question is to take a look at those who earn a living at fighting. I mean if you want to build a house would you use a rock to hammer nails. Probably not, Your smart enough to know that guys doing construction use a hammer.
Here is the problem with not wrapping up. First of all you aren’t hitting a stable object and it is not a flat surface. And when punching your wrist is in a locked position so the energy is transferred to your opponent or bag etc. After a while you will start throwing a bit harder and increase the likelihood of your wrist giving way. It happened to me and now my wrist is permanently damaged. I was just goofing round one night showing a friend how to hit the bag. And I simply averted my attention for one moment and that was it. I hit the bag with my knuckles and my wrist gave. (A severely sprained wrist.) And like an ankle, each time you sprain it the more likely it is to happen again.

Second, each time you hit the bag your hand will conform to the bag and spread out. Slowly deforming your hand. And the what’s going on is that your stretching and tweaking all the muscles, tendons and ligaments that give your hand/fist its rigidity. Over time your hand will be more likely to be injury prone and brittle. And last but not least well on you way to arthritis. And if your hands hurt after a session of hitting the bag. That is a sign of your hands deteriorating. To put it simply, the hand is not designed to punch, its designed to grasp.

Lastly, I recommend gloves. Wraps are imperative but as I mentioned your hands conform to the shape of the bag with each punch. Gloves will absorb some of the force and do the conforming instead of your hands. Some on here implied it toughens up your knuckles. That’s all well and fine but unless you plan on breaking boards there realyl isn’t any reason to worry about that. And if that is what you want to accompolish there are plenty of techniques you can implement to achieve that. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I recommend you spend a few bucks now on wraps and or gloves now than spend a small fortune on medication and doctors bills when you get older and have limited use of your hands later in life. Don’t let machismo over rule common sense, and standard practice!

Answer 2

I would avoid punching a lot on a canvas bag bare knuckled. This will tear up your skin. We for insurance reasons make wraps a requirement for heavy bag drills for any extended period of time because as you tier and punches get sloppy you can cause wrist damage leading to carpal tunnel syndrome.
I personally like to go bear knuckles a little to keep my hands tough. I try not to overdo it. Wrist need to last a lifetime.

Answer 3

It does but not right away per say. The damage is cumulative so in the beginning you won't notice it. Several years down the road after hitting a heavy bag hard several rounds three or four days a week will take its toll on your hand, wrist, fingers, and joints. A pair of hand wraps is only eight to ten bucks and they last for a few years. A good set of bag gloves are sixty to seventy bucks and those with wraps will save a lot of wear and tear on your hands.

Answer 4

I don't think so. I've used a punchbag with bare knuckles before now and it has caused no problems for me.

Answer 5

John McCain from Die Hard. Jason Bourne is a well-trained assasin, so he could kill me with a flick of his wrist and a rubber band. John McCain is an overinflated stunt man. But in reality, I'd have to question the series of choices that brought me to this sorry state and try to work a way out of the situation so that I'm not a dancing dog doing tricks for some flunky villain. I think both John McCain and Jason Bourne would concur.

Answer 6

It is generally best to invest in a quality pair of bag-gloves. My bag-gloves are quality leather with a small metal bar in the palm.

But generally you should work your way up to bare knuckles on a canvas or leather heavy bag over a course of years.

In the 1960s in Karate we started out punching buckets of rice, then over a few years buckets of sand, then gravel, then on the makiwara (spring punching board), until you have a slab of callous over your knuckles. This takes a few years of gradual build-up until you can bend a heavy bag in two with a reverse punch.

Answer 7

It can lead to the skin on the knuckles being broken which isn't cool because you need to let it heal before using them on the bag again.
On the plus side, if you train correctly it will increase the hardness of your knuckles. For best results use a makiwara board.

Answer 8

if you do the punches correctly it will make damage min. this helps in building calluses on the knuckles. So it is safe but if you don't want to tear the top skin get wraps or gloves try AWMA.com.

Answer 9

No, it will damage your hand eventually.

The hands have lots of tiny bones that can get damaged.

Boxers are the hardest punchers, and they always use gloves when they hit the heavy bag, why? because they know better, always wrap your hands, and use gloves to hit the heavy bag.

The only exception would be if the bag you are hitting is soft.

I hope this information helps.

good luck!

Answer 10

depending on your age ,if your under 16[,not recommended] i have trained on and still do,never hurt me ,but if not used to this kind of treatment it could damage the dermis . if in doubt go to your local chinese herbalist and buy some treatments to help offset potential damage. serious damaghe should be avoided if possible.listen to your body and use common sense