I’m the founder of WarriorMakers.com, which is a combatives school that centers its teachings around 20 Creeds. From time to time I will be writing posts about each creed, individually. For this post, I will be discussing the importance of protecting your hands.
It always makes me CRINGE when I see an instructor teaching students how to throw closed fist punches toward the head and face region for the purpose of self-defense. Let’s think about this for a moment—one of your greatest assets in a combative situation is your hands, so why would you jeopardize fracturing or breaking them by punching a hard surface? There are only 206 bones in the human body and 54 of them are in your hands (27 bones per hand). That’s right, 26% of your bones are in your hands. If you injure one or both hands in a life or death situation, you will find yourself in some serious trouble. And, if you continue to practice these closed fisted strikes in the classroom, serious trouble is what you should expect.
So why do Professional Boxers and UFC Fighters wear gloves? Is it to protect the face of their beloved opponent? Not hardly. It is so they can make it to the end of the fight without breaking their moneymakers. At Warrior Makers we only teach open handed strikes or close handed strikes that utilize the outer edge of the fist (hammer fist), making it extremely difficult to cause injury during an altercation. A good test is to try your hand strike(s) against a surface that is at least as hard as the human skull (no gloves allowed for this test). If you can hit this surface with full force at least three times without causing injury, you have a great hand strike. If not, either remove it from your defensive toolbox or get into the habit of wearing really thick gloves.
It always makes me CRINGE when I see an instructor teaching students how to throw closed fist punches toward the head and face region for the purpose of self-defense. Let’s think about this for a moment—one of your greatest assets in a combative situation is your hands, so why would you jeopardize fracturing or breaking them by punching a hard surface? There are only 206 bones in the human body and 54 of them are in your hands (27 bones per hand). That’s right, 26% of your bones are in your hands. If you injure one or both hands in a life or death situation, you will find yourself in some serious trouble. And, if you continue to practice these closed fisted strikes in the classroom, serious trouble is what you should expect.
So why do Professional Boxers and UFC Fighters wear gloves? Is it to protect the face of their beloved opponent? Not hardly. It is so they can make it to the end of the fight without breaking their moneymakers. At Warrior Makers we only teach open handed strikes or close handed strikes that utilize the outer edge of the fist (hammer fist), making it extremely difficult to cause injury during an altercation. A good test is to try your hand strike(s) against a surface that is at least as hard as the human skull (no gloves allowed for this test). If you can hit this surface with full force at least three times without causing injury, you have a great hand strike. If not, either remove it from your defensive toolbox or get into the habit of wearing really thick gloves.
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