How dangerous is it to use a bag without gloves

I've heard that using a heavy punching bag is very dangerous if you do not wear bag mits. On the other hand, I want to condition my hands and wrists(But not break them). Should I wear mits?

Dude it is not very dangerous. If your wrist are buckling it is going to do that with or without gloves. This means you have to strengthen your wrists. start punching bag light (great imte to start with no gloves) and do reverse curls, hammer curls and wrist curls.

With punching the bag with no gloves you just start in about 2 min bursts or more importantly until your knuckles are raw. Then when they heal and the scab is gone do it again ( you can wear gloves in the mean time while you are waiting for it to heal. Keep doing that and eventually they will not peal at all. although your knuckles will have gross calesis on them. I wearmy caesis with pride tho because not many people can do it!! when im at the gym treating the heavy bag like my bitch people look at me like a freak for not wearing gloves and they try to tell me i should be wearing gloves or i will hurt myself (they are generally do gooders with not much knowledge that read a magazine about it once) but ive been doing martial arts since i was in grade 5 and with all of my injuries (pulled hammie, broken toe and broken nose) not one has ever had anything even close to do with not wearing gloves.... unless you call grazed knuckles an injury. Although mind you the reason I stumbled across this site is because i am trying to research if I keep going will i eventually get arthritis in my knuckles. I am 32 years old, started martial arts in grade 5, didn't start punching the bag until about grad 9 (well so long ago that i can not really remember). I punch the heavy bag 3 times a week with no probs what so ever.... except for grazed knuckles at the start.

My tips would be start light if your wrist buckle and do additional resistance exercises as described above (google them if you do not know what they are).
if you are seasoned then go hard until your knuckles become raw then wear gloves until the scabs are gone then repeat.
Understand the difference between pushing past basic pain like grazed knuckles but
 
DO NOT push past the pain of injury. be hard on yourself but know the difference in the types of pain. Pushing past basic pain is good because you k=need to season yourself to it. If a bunch of turds try harming your women in the street and you need to fight for your life you need to be able to push past more pain then that so as much as you can handle up to a sensible level is a good thing.

Anyway, peace. I wish you all the best... Dont give up and go get em'
 
hitting the heavy bag with any reasonable intenisty without gloves is stupid...unless you want to walk around bleeding after and scabs that take 2 weeks to heal
 
About 95% of my Bagwork is done wearing Gloves. The remaining 5% is training specifically for Self-Protection. In this training I practice Pre-Emptive Striking(Sucker Punch)Verbal Triggers, Line Ups etc. To make this training as realistic as possible, I'll strike the Bag barehanded.

During this type of training, I'm trying to condition my mental/emotional responses rather than my knuckles.
so you practice "come at me, bro" scenarios with your heavy bag. interesting...
 
1. Bareknuckle sparring is a terrible idea. And you a doofus for having engaged in it.

2. It's been implemented for hundreds of years. That doesn't make it effecient, effective, or relevant. In the past hundred years we've seen great strides in science, medicine, physiology, biology, sports science, and sports equipment and protective gear. Act like it.
Thus, train and practice in ways that are: SAFE; EFFICIENT; EFFECTIVE.

Ye but 3/4 of society today are weak as fuck and falling back to the easiest, weakest and softest solution is what got us there. Good on you for wanting to be better then the rest and not wearing gloves. Go for it for sure. Unless you want to be some pin dick 21 year old that still lives at mummies house bitching because you have no clean clothes, no job and prefers to complain about things instead of getting up off your fat fucking ass and fixing them.

Common folk will ridicule you if you are not photo copies like them but remember... the people that push and do more then what everyone else is willing to do are the ones that actually make it. The winners.. not the im gonnas or the i nearly did but "excuse" got in the way.
 
so you practice "come at me, bro" scenarios with your heavy bag. interesting...
No i work the bag. Chase it, then block it as if someone was punching me on the swing back. then i 45 degree it and fully change its direction. then i duck an weave it, repeat. Hit high, hit low, kicks. or punch hard to work on power. punch it soft and work on breathing, form, accuracy, etc. there are so any things to do. MANY!!!

that come at me bro is uneducated meat head shit!!! I fight tactfully attack and DEFENCE
 
Ive been training for 40 + years. I have rarely ever used hand wraps. I have never had a wrist injury and have only had a few broken digits from bare knuckle sparring. My secret: 1. Learn to make a proper fist. By that I mean a "karate" fist that is intended to actually strike an object without injuring the striker. and 2. learn proper technigue. Spend months striking "air" before transitioning to striking objects. Progress to a striking a makiwara post gently with excellent form, and progress slowly over the course of the next few years. Suppliment the makiwara striking with less than full power strikes to a VARIETY of bags and mits. DONT do all of your striking full power on a heavy bag.
This system is tried and true and has been implemented for hundreds of years. It works.

Not the karate post!!!! I still avoid that thing like the plague when visiting my parents. It sits outside, looking rough as always. Hauting me. Thanks alot bro.

Like anything, wrap it up dude. Better safe than sorry. Old karate guys like this one. Like to make you suffer! It works tho.
 
What an interesting thread...
 
I've heard that using a heavy punching bag is very dangerous if you do not wear bag mits. On the other hand, I want to condition my hands and wrists(But not break them). Should I wear mits?
Dangerous is too loose of a word. Lets just say it's easier and less painful with hand-wraps AND gloves.
 
I usually go bareknuckle on bags, have done for years without injury. Started when I made the genius move of trying my hand at some loosely organized barnyard bareknuckle boxing (which is quite an ugly sport, but young men don't think these things through). I put in years before that with wraps and gloves though. My boxing coach has actually recommended people to occasionally work bare knuckle in order to ensure they are using perfect proper technique.
 
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hitting the heavy bag with any reasonable intenisty without gloves is stupid...unless you want to walk around bleeding after and scabs that take 2 weeks to heal

Lol yeah right.
 
I always wanted to know how others thought about this. Being someone who was never trained by a pro, just self taught, I could agree with the very few people who actually posted the right answer... like ewth.

I am 34 yrs old and been boxing for fun since I was 16 yrs old. Its refreshing and fun that's why I di it and its something to do during my workout. I have never punched a bag with boxing gloves. I made gloves from toilet paper and duck tape and started punching brick walls softly until I could throw a few hard blows. When I was stationed on an air craft carrier I benched 315 and regularly punched steel walls my ship. I miss doing that it shocked the hell out if my friends. The bag is more dangerous because it moves and is round and soft so at all times be aware your wrist are solid because any weakness you will bend your wrist on impact. Everyone will experience this I am sure so be sure to realize how hard a fast you could punch. I could punch a bag for extremely hard for about an hour with small breaks and be ok I hsve never used gloves probably because I don't see the point now. There was one time i best up my friend with boxing gloves and he us golden glove. Its dangerous without gloves but so is kicking down a banana tree. You must develop the skills necessary to achieve perfect impact. I was never trained so I just use combos and rhythm. If I was trained I would probably be well known because I think punching steel walls is fun. Don't underestimate what your body can accomplishe.
 
Your hands are precise instruments. No need to convert them to numb clubs. Wraps and bag gloves so you can punch your hardest.
 
I always wanted to know how others thought about this. Being someone who was never trained by a pro, just self taught, I could agree with the very few people who actually posted the right answer... like ewth.

I am 34 yrs old and been boxing for fun since I was 16 yrs old. Its refreshing and fun that's why I di it and its something to do during my workout. I have never punched a bag with boxing gloves. I made gloves from toilet paper and duck tape and started punching brick walls softly until I could throw a few hard blows. When I was stationed on an air craft carrier I benched 315 and regularly punched steel walls my ship. I miss doing that it shocked the hell out if my friends. The bag is more dangerous because it moves and is round and soft so at all times be aware your wrist are solid because any weakness you will bend your wrist on impact. Everyone will experience this I am sure so be sure to realize how hard a fast you could punch. I could punch a bag for extremely hard for about an hour with small breaks and be ok I hsve never used gloves probably because I don't see the point now. There was one time i best up my friend with boxing gloves and he us golden glove. Its dangerous without gloves but so is kicking down a banana tree. You must develop the skills necessary to achieve perfect impact. I was never trained so I just use combos and rhythm. If I was trained I would probably be well known because I think punching steel walls is fun. Don't underestimate what your body can accomplishe.

This is like a looking glass into a simpler, more naive time in the history of the Internet.
 
There is something to be said about using proper form and being able to punch without hurting yourself. But in terms of conditioning your hands, your hands will be plenty conditioning using wraps and gloves if you punch hard enough and often enough. Even with wraps and gloves, my knuckles have gotten cut and ripped and now they are callused after years of training.
 
There is something to be said about using proper form and being able to punch without hurting yourself. But in terms of conditioning your hands, your hands will be plenty conditioning using wraps and gloves if you punch hard enough and often enough. Even with wraps and gloves, my knuckles have gotten cut and ripped and now they are callused after years of training.
Yeah just practicing on the bag over and over, it happens. Shit, I wrap properly and have padding on knuckles w/h 16s and my knuckles still get cut up and bruised
 
in my style of karate I practice (shinkyokushin) we don't wear gloves for any pad work unless we 'need to'. ofcourse at the start, you get peeling skin etc. but after a while conditioning takes over. If you're hurting your wrist, your technique is wrong anyways lol.. it shouldn't hurt.
Ιf you know how to throw a punch, the risk of serious hand/wrist injuries is higher; so using gloves and proper bandaging is even more important.


Also, what is a ""karate" fist" and how is that any different than a ""boxing" fist"?

if talking about full contact karate, we fight bare knuckles so we must ensure that our punch techniques are utilised in a matter to withhold the impact whilst obviously doing damage as well. just a different technique. very very focusedd on the main front two knuckles.
in boxing however for instance, I can get away with a semi open hand or punching in an angle I would never use in kyokushin. if I did that in a bare knuckle tournament, I'd probably sprain my wrist but because I have wrist and hand protection, I can get away with it in boxing.

imo perfect way to condition is the good old, two knuckle pushups on tile or on wood/hard surface.
 
I've heard that using a heavy punching bag is very dangerous if you do not wear bag mits. On the other hand, I want to condition my hands and wrists(But not break them). Should I wear mits?

I dunno about you but the impact of my raw fists hitting the bag unleashes concussive forces on anybody in a 30 foot radius.

For the sake of humanity and my inner peace, I wear 16s.
 
Just wrap your hands. I have in my minor OA in my hands and I only practiced for roughly 15 years.
 
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