# Raw Knuckles vs. Gloves



## Carol (Jun 13, 2006)

"When pure knuckles meet pure flesh, that's pure Karate" - SGM Parker

Blitz rounds today.     I just love punching the daylights out of an inanimate object.  :EG:


I've done blitz rounds the way I always do them - bare knuckled.   My teacher does not approve, and has been on my to buy sparring gloves for the rounds.   I asked him why, he said the gloves keep my hands from getting hacked up.

I beg to differ.   I did five 45 second rounds and five 30 second rounds of opening a can of Whoop *** on a set of focus pads and...c'mon...my knuckles aren't even raw!  Nothing like year of training to toughen them up a bit.  

So...all ye who know more than me (which is all of you, innit? )

Why should I wear these gloves?  Is there more to it than how my knuckles look afterwards?  Would gloves protect my joints from something nasty like arthritis down the road?  That would be a big deal to me as engineers and computers are generally inseperable.

What do you all think?


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## Ceicei (Jun 13, 2006)

When hitting inanimate objects....  I don't use gloves.  That's because the objects don't hit back.  However, when I spar with another person, I usually use gloves (the instructor requires us to use the gear).  The gloves not only protect me, it also protects my partner.  Sometimes we can get rough when we ante up the contact.  Once in a while, we do spar without gloves (when we have a different instructor teaching)--that's a whole new ball game there.

- Ceicei


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## fnorfurfoot (Jun 13, 2006)

Personally, I'm in favor of bare knuckles.  The only time I would suggest gloves is if you were hitting a canvas heavy bag, but only if you prefer skin to cover you knuckles.  Otherwise, bang away.  I think that it is totally up to you.  The more you can do without covering up, the better prepared you will be in a fight.  The last thing you want is to defend yourself and have your fist split open when you hit the guy.


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## Hand Sword (Jun 13, 2006)

Hi Carol,

I come from the street fighting perspective, where, ultimately it comes down to bare knuckles. So, for that reason, if real self defense is the key, you have to have them conditioned (like the old ways did also). That being said, I also used to bang away bare, canvas bags included and never would bleed, thanks to the conditioning back in the day. So, I'll say if your good without protection, do it that way against inanimate objects.


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## evenflow1121 (Jun 13, 2006)

I kind of like students to come back to class the next day, and though I am an avid supporter of free sparring, that is being able to hit anywhere including the face, and even incorporating take downs; I would not want to have anyone in a class that I would be teaching have a cheek bone broken or take some other serious injury as a result of bare knuckle fighting.  I dont really think it is necessary.  In my opinion if you allow the use of gloves and a mouth peice, you can achieve your goals through sparring without a heavy risk of seriously injuring someone.

I have done bare knuckle fighting before, in fact I still practice it from time to time, mainly with a few Hung Gar and Kick Boxing buddies of mine, and I would not mind having a few people I know practice with me, but I would NOT incorporate it in a regular curriculum.


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## Hand Sword (Jun 13, 2006)

I would agree here. In class, sparring against others, definitely use the gloves. Condition on the side, as you have been doing.


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## Carol (Jun 13, 2006)

Hand Sword said:
			
		

> I would agree here. In class, sparring against others, definitely use the gloves. Condition on the side, as you have been doing.


 
Sorry guys, I wasn't clear.  This was punching blitz rounds on sets of rack mounted focus pads.  Inanimate objects only.

No kenpo-kas were harmed in the making of these blitz rounds


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## MJS (Jun 13, 2006)

Carol Kaur said:
			
		

> "When pure knuckles meet pure flesh, that's pure Karate" - SGM Parker
> 
> Blitz rounds today. I just love punching the daylights out of an inanimate object. :EG:
> 
> ...


 
I've hit the pads both with and without gloves.  If you're doing pad drills for a long period of time, it may be a good idea to wear some gloves, just to give that added protection.  Some gloves also have a portion that wraps around the wrist.  This is good, as it'll give some extra support.  Personally, if you're going to be required to buy gloves, I'd buy a pair of bag gloves rather than sparring gloves.

Mike


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## Lisa (Jun 13, 2006)

I like my hands.   Therefore, I prefer gloves when hitting pads.  I have gone bare knuckle and caused bruising, cuts and swelling.

Part of my job is that I have to type for a living, so...kinda need to be able to move the fingers


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## Drac (Jun 14, 2006)

fnorfurfoot said:
			
		

> Personally, I'm in favor of bare knuckles. The only time I would suggest gloves is if you were hitting a canvas heavy bag, but only if you prefer skin to cover you knuckles


 
Same here..Don't have a lot of time to glove up while on patrol so it's good to toughen your knuckles up..


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## Danjo (Jun 14, 2006)

I think that the knuckles need to be conditioned. I think that using gloves while hitting focus pads would only be neccessary if you were training for a fight that required gloves so that you could get used to the weight of them.


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## rutherford (Jun 14, 2006)

Conditioning that comes from hitting pads without gloves shouldn't hurt your hands in the long run.  You've gotta get a bit more extreme before you need to be worried about impacting your typing ability.

With a canvas bag, how you punch has a lot to do with how much skin you'll loose.  When bag work was part of my training, I'd leave off on twisting my punches with a canvas bag and try to minimize the abrassion.


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## HKphooey (Jun 14, 2006)

I prefer bare knunckles for any bag/pad work.  It conditions the knuckles and teaches you to strike correctly.  Most of the friction on the skin occurs when the bag/pag is not hit properly/squarely.


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## Brian R. VanCise (Jun 14, 2006)

Nothing wrong with bare knuckles/bare hand when hitting those focus mitts.     After all that is probably what you will have in the *moment*.

Brian R. VanCise
www.insitnctiveresponsetraining.com


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