TKD, cracked knuckles and 3 hour exams...

**CNagy** · Posted On: 11/24/2007 6:32am

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Boards do hit back?

After being killed and chopped up to provide breaking material for decades, the trees are fighting back by studying Iron Board style.

**Uri Shatil** · Posted On: 11/24/2007 5:08pm

Alright, I don't do striking, so I'm really just repeating what I've heard from boxers, but I really feel that it's necessary that someone bring it up...

It's never safe to punch a bag bare-fisted. If you are, and you haven't broken your hand, then you're not punching hard enough.

Again, this might not apply to hand conditioning, and I wouldn't really know, but from what I've gathered it's not safe to punch a bag bare-fisted.

Edit: I forgot to mention, pertaining to what people were saying earlier... http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=62587

**Arctic_Fox** · Posted On: 11/25/2007 10:57am

Originally Posted by MaverickZ

You went there with the intention of being a dick. Congratulations, you succeeded.

My post was written so as to be facetious:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=facetious

A know you are all training to be special-forces eat-rocks-****-gunpowder type guys, but try crack a smile in the dojo on occasion.

As for the bar brawls...well...I've never started one, but it tends to happen when you live in a society that is based on frustration, violence and alcohol (read as: third world countries).

**MaverickZ** · Posted On: 11/25/2007 11:37am

Originally Posted by Arctic_Fox

My post was written so as to be facetious:
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=facetious

A know you are all training to be special-forces eat-rocks-****-gunpowder type guys, but try crack a smile in the dojo on occasion.

As for the bar brawls...well...I've never started one, but it tends to happen when you live in a society that is based on frustration, violence and alcohol (read as: third world countries).

I don't crack smiles, I crack faces.

**melk** · Posted On: 11/25/2007 11:56am

Originally Posted by Uri Shatil

Alright, I don't do striking, so I'm really just repeating what I've heard from boxers, but I really feel that it's necessary that someone bring it up...

It's never safe to punch a bag bare-fisted. If you are, and you haven't broken your hand, then you're not punching hard enough.

Again, this might not apply to hand conditioning, and I wouldn't really know, but from what I've gathered it's not safe to punch a bag bare-fisted.

Edit: I forgot to mention, pertaining to what people were saying earlier... http://www.bullshido.net/forums/showthread.php?t=62587

I have done a lot of barefisted bag work, full out and have never broken my hand. Frankly that just does not make sense. It would take a lot of pressure to break one's hand, more than could be applied to a moving heavy bag. Possibly if you had someone behind the bag holding it, it could be a problem, but I don't think so. The only real problem that I could see is losing skin on the bag, for that use wraps.

Also I would suggest knuckle push ups. Most people that I know, mostly Russians, that really talk about bare fist conditioning say it is the best. Also they say that they work wonders the wrists. Pavel Tastouline for instance says that knuckle pushups will condition the wrists like none other.

**kwoww** · Posted On: 11/25/2007 12:35pm

Originally Posted by CNagy

I go through the problem of explaining this because, unless you happen to be a really small guy, 4 average pine 12x12x1 boards (the standard as far as I've ever seen) is not supposed to give that kind of trouble. If there was a different material involved, that could also factor in.

4 inches of wood not a problem? Do you wear gauntlets when you break boards?

It could be a result of the width/length of the board. The ones I've always seen are more like 12x6 or whatever, so they probably don't bend as well.

**Fuzzy** · Posted On: 11/25/2007 12:42pm

The club in question use two kinds as far as I'm aware (I don't train with them, but we use the same dojo): Wooden boards like the ones described and plastic rebreakables. I once picked up one of the wooden boards and tapped it with my fist, it broke into four pieces, apparently it had been glued back together, badly.

**CNagy** · Posted On: 11/25/2007 6:59pm

Originally Posted by kwoww

4 inches of wood not a problem? Do you wear gauntlets when you break boards?

It could be a result of the width/length of the board. The ones I've always seen are more like 12x6 or whatever, so they probably don't bend as well.

Four inches of pine is not a problem, no. The problem arises when you have a holder who doesn't know how to hold a deep front stance, lock out their arms, and keep a straight line from their shoulders to the back of their rear leg.

I wouldn't punch it with my knuckles, though, because I don't make a habit of doing board or brick breaks with knuckles. All of the 12x6 boards that I've seen in use usually have the grain running vertically through the shorter dimension, which would probably have little effect on the difficulty. If they were cut with the grain running through the longer dimension, that would be a more difficult stack of boards to hold correctly.

**tsname** · Posted On: 11/26/2007 12:34am

Originally Posted by MaverickZ

I don't crack smiles, I crack faces.

Hiyo!!!

**Kaoz** · Posted On: 11/30/2007 8:02am

I have spent the past 7 years conditioning my hands.

I use a version of a makiwara: A regular pine board wrapped in a really thin rope horizontally for one layer, then vertically, then horizontal once more, and another layer vertically to get your four (4) total layers of rope.

Take your rope-wrapped board and SCREW (NOT NAIL) it into a wall/tree/post.

It is important that you dont just wail your knuckles or hand against the wood, start with relaxed strikes that still focus at the point of impact. DO NOT BOUNCE YOUR HAND OFF THE BOARD!! This can suck the impact back into your hand with poor timing and just plain hurts and does nothing for building and strengthening your knuckles; INSTEAD make sure your striking and holding it for a moment then pull away.

Eventually you can work up to full force strikes but the point is that going slowly and getting incremental gain is much smarter than pushing yourself too hard too fast and breaking your hand. One good break of the wrong bones between your knuckles and your wrist can make your fist useless forever, barring reconstructive surgery.

I can post video if needed.