A Sinister fist tutorial:

Sinister

Sinister

Doctor of Doom
Staff member
Senior Moderator
Joined
Feb 22, 2005
Messages
55,153
Reaction score
36,871
You guys asked for it, so finally here it is. My preferred method of fist formation for punching and why:

 
Bump. Myself and Lyte Burly (52 blocks, learned to box from Wilson Pitts, who spent a lot of time around Georgie Benton) going over the fist:

 
Awesome. The "backside of the knuckle" thing makes much more sense now. Looks just like Louis' hooks. Thanks for the vid.
 
Sinister said:
Bump. Myself and Lyte Burly (52 blocks, learned to box from Wilson Pitts, who spent a lot of time around Georgie Benton) going over the fist:

Click to expand...


Cool. I'm curious what you liked and did not like about Lyte's style of boxing?
 
Wow thanks, never heard of tilting the hand to align the knuckles, my hands have been hurting a lot lately cuz I hit with my pinky knuckle a lot due to me squaring when making a fist, I wish we had trainers with this kinda knowhow in sweden.

My brittle hands will thank u a lot!
 
Sinister said:
Bump. Myself and Lyte Burly (52 blocks, learned to box from Wilson Pitts, who spent a lot of time around Georgie Benton) going over the fist:

Click to expand...



That was really awesome, thanks for posting that. I'm going to watch that a few more times. Very entertaining and full of goodies

I also like that guy because he is cerebral and open minded. Usually when you get someone who is very open minded about concepts, and different fighting styles and approaches, they often get swept away into non-reality, but Lyte is still focused on what is realistic (what works and how/why) within the frameworks of actual fighting.

It's very difficult for most people/fighters/trainers to balance both open mindedness AND realism for some reason- like with magnets, you feel a strong pull towards either one of the other most of the time (most people choose close-minded, even towards other variations of styles within their field), it's too difficult for most people to stay in a happy medium zone (or just practical area) between two opposing mindsets, flawed in their extremity
 
Fire of Youth said:
Cool. I'm curious what you liked and did not like about Lyte's style of boxing?
Click to expand...

I don't really like to analyze other trainers I like in that manner. He has an in-tact lineage. Nothing he does is without purpose.
 
huh. Interesting. I always rolled my fist the other way. Thanks Sinister. As a check, if we tighten our wrists/fists, if we can isolate between tightening the index/middle finger knuckles and the last three knuckles, its not rolled properly?

Or since you teach those two knuckles as the impact point, it should always be focused on the inside of the arm?
 
Sinister said:
Bump. Myself and Lyte Burly (52 blocks, learned to box from Wilson Pitts, who spent a lot of time around Georgie Benton) going over the fist:

Click to expand...


That was cool as hell. Love watching these little jam sessions. Reminds me of the one with Rashad and Hopkins.
 
Thank you for the video! Pretty much everything in the video is how I learned it. Just out of curiosity, what is your thought about the risk of boxer's knuckle (damage to the soft tissue over the knuckles which is much more common when you hit with the pointer and middle knuckle as opposed to the whole hand or the last three knuckles)?
 
Sinister, how do ur fighters put on gloves with the bent wrist? Whenever I align my fist 2 knuckles with my wrist, my wrist is bent so that the cuff on my Velcro boxing glove cannot be secured tightly.
 
Gloves have to be broken in. There's a few videos around where you can see them use gloves and still aim with the knuckles. Secure the glove, bend the wrist as much as you can, the glove will conform eventually.
 
aligning the knuckles with the rest of the arm is the way I learned how to punch in karate.
 
sinister: what do you think of throwing a straight rear (cross i guess) with a vertical fist. Wing Chun style, during boxing or thai sparing with boxingglovez on?
 
Zephyros said:
huh. Interesting. I always rolled my fist the other way. Thanks Sinister. As a check, if we tighten our wrists/fists, if we can isolate between tightening the index/middle finger knuckles and the last three knuckles, its not rolled properly?

Or since you teach those two knuckles as the impact point, it should always be focused on the inside of the arm?
Click to expand...

Zephyros, I swear I adore your posting but I always have to think harder than I anticipate to answer them properly. But yes, the pinkie finger should be the tightest into the palm. Middle and ring finger knuckles just kind of follow-suit. Forefinger knuckle clenches further out.

And yes, impact knuckles are typically on the inside of the arm.

Bennosuke said:
Thank you for the video! Pretty much everything in the video is how I learned it. Just out of curiosity, what is your thought about the risk of boxer's knuckle (damage to the soft tissue over the knuckles which is much more common when you hit with the pointer and middle knuckle as opposed to the whole hand or the last three knuckles)?
Click to expand...

My thought about the boxer's fracture (which is typically centered in the pinkie and ring knuckles, medically speaking) is that it's a common occurrence when a punch is landed off-target. Of course we can't control much in fighting, you may still punch a guy's head just right, or elbow, etc. What we do here is minimize the chances of it happening. I had a forefinger fracture for a little while, but when it went away, the knuckle is solid know. No pain since. And that's back when I used the more block-fisted approach.
 
Typically I don't like it, because it doesn't enable movements after the cross as well as when you turn over and follow-through. It leaves a habit of remaining square.
 
Not bad. Who's that little guy in the video you had talking? :wink:
 
Fair point. bot my two most recent såarring partners are one russian boxer and one russion kickboxer.

and both are very open to these kind of punching.

maybe this will just give me a bad habit that i will pay for when i finaly get my ass back into the ring to have a actual fight?
 
Perhaps, it's all in the execution. Which is why I said "typically"...it can be done well, it's just not something I see often. But if anyone was going to do it well, mechanically, it'd be Russians.
 
LOL. I was joking man. I was joking.
 
Sinister said:
Gloves have to be broken in. There's a few videos around where you can see them use gloves and still aim with the knuckles. Secure the glove, bend the wrist as much as you can, the glove will conform eventually.
Click to expand...

I respect what you're saying and this topic interests me highly but like you mentioned the gloves have to be broken in and broken in a lot. How would you tell someone to apply this in competition? When they can't use their own gloves? Because when your hands are wrapped, gloves on and taped you're not bending or "aligning" your wrist like you're saying by any means. Do you have any footage or fights where a guy uses this principle effectively?

Again not disagreeing, I like it. I just don't see how guys could benefit from this that actively fight boxing. This seems soemthing that's very useful for street fighting and even MMA because of the smaller gloves and more hand movement.
 
I just didn't get it. You calling me the little guy?
 
Two things:

1) Competition gloves for Amateur fights are almost NEVER brand new. Not only are they used, but they're re-used during events. By the time you get a pair they're liable to be soft, warm, and slightly sweaty already. And when I wrap their hands, I do so in a way that facilitates the curvature.

2) Professional gloves are 8oz. They're monumentally easier to break in. Not to mention that there are ways us trainers can speed that process up, without removing padding (which is illegal, as in against the actual law).

Then there's also that some gloves have softer wrist areas. The "pro" Everlasts are pretty flexible in that way, as are Reyes.

So, I really haven't needed to tell anyone anything.
 
"It feels like you're getting shanked." Lol! very good tutorial now keep making them. :) Uppercut tutorial is brilliant aswell.
 
Sinister said:
Two things:

1) Competition gloves for Amateur fights are almost NEVER brand new. Not only are they used, but they're re-used during events. By the time you get a pair they're liable to be soft, warm, and slightly sweaty already. And when I wrap their hands, I do so in a way that facilitates the curvature.

2) Professional gloves are 8oz. They're monumentally easier to break in. Not to mention that there are ways us trainers can speed that process up, without removing padding (which is illegal, as in against the actual law).

Then there's also that some gloves have softer wrist areas. The "pro" Everlasts are pretty flexible in that way, as are Reyes.

So, I really haven't needed to tell anyone anything.
Click to expand...

Boxers should just hire an old Japanese guy to do it for them like MLB players do.

[YT]9lZWU_Tp1uM[/YT]
 
Sinister said:
I just didn't get it. You calling me the little guy?
Click to expand...

Nevermind. I hate when jokes go...not funny. Joke fail.

Non-joke: Thanks for making the vid. Always a pleasure when you share information.
 
Last edited:
Sweet! thanks a lot man.
I have been eagerly awaiting this video because I always tend to catch my thumb, roll my wrist and accidentally hit with my fingers.
I'll be experimenting with this today in training.
 
do you not wear gloves, or only for the demo.

I refuse to wear them.
 
Payak said:
do you not wear gloves, or only for the demo.

I refuse to wear them.
Click to expand...

I'm more inclined to not wear them than wear them, but I wear them because boxing requires it. And boxers aren't as accustomed to training without them than in muay thai.
 
This is going to be hard to adjust to but I am going to try this next time I am in the gym.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,280,708
Messages
58,312,789
Members
175,997
Latest member
Fitboy485

Share this page

Back
Top