A Sinister fist tutorial:

Thanks for the tutorial, I'm kind of confused how I will be able to do my handwraps and have this position of my pointer and middle knuckles slightly forward though.

When I wrap my hands, the focus is on wrist stability, not big knuckle padding. I prefer less knuckle padding and more wrist stability, so the arc is preserved, and the knuckles are pointed in the right direction.

Why have you disabled the Like and Dislike button. Lets promote this shit.

Eh, I don't really care who likes it or not, or how high up on youtube's rankings it is. It's not about that, this is for the board. You want to promote it? Share it around from that page (but not like some people do, download it and then post it on their own youtube pages like they're the ones who made it).
 
Amen to this. Teaching people to align their fist so they strike with the two large knuckles is key! Learned this in karate!
 
Awesome video Sinister, now I have a voice to read out your posts in my head lol


How exaggerated should the two knuckles protruding from your fist be? As in should you have to make an active effort to keep that positioning when starting or should it be relatively comfortable when starting?
 
Also, is it wrong to be hitting with my pinky and ring finger knuckle on my right hook? My index is jacked and hurts a lot when I hit anything with it even with lots of wrapping
 
If your forefinger knuckle is injured, then yes going to the 3-knuckle landing makes sense. That's how and why I ended up learning it myself. But you make the make sure the wrist-alignment is correct to avoid rolling of the wrists.

And I just go for comfort, if you squeeze that pinkie finger (the ring finger will squeeze with it), the portrustion will be inherent, it'll happen as much as it needs to on its own.
 
Wow, I can't thank you enough for this! This literally cleared up a lot of the problems I was having trying to learn basic stand up. Hitting those two knuckles perfectly it seems like, hardly any rolling of the wrist, no locking the elbows anymore, and the connection for hooks and uppercuts on the bag make sense and 'feel' right now.

Also, last but not least what Bruce Lee and some boxing trainers around have said about 'folding' your arms rather then drawing em back in without overly taxing the arm and shoulder muscles now seems regularly achievable with proper wrist alignment, noticed the difference in snap and power to. The jab definitively draws right back now without me having to think about it.

Thank you again! Its going to take some work and a gym for sure but I do believe I have some progress and success in stand up training on my own now without injuries.
 
This is very cool insight, I stumbled upon punching with this wrist angle but moved away from it thinking i was making my wrist crooked. Good to know I was sort of on to something!

Could you comment on body punching placement because I tried doing it a in way I normally don't per my trainer's instruction, and severely hurt my wrist.Trying to articulate this in words, it was more of an uppercut sort of motion to the body and my smaller knuckles just naturally came up to meet the hard bottom of the bag. Do you also curl the wrist a bit going to the body as well?
 
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.


Hah. Not very many people can explain it in detail and provide the reasoning, and thought behind it. The devil is in the details, as they say. Thanks for putting up with the unceasing questions though.


This thread on properly balling the fist really is excellent. Even being totally injured, there's now something to practice and refine. What about during the up-jab though? The slight leaning back helps the angle in not hitting the first (Middle?) knuckles, but the margin of error seems to be smaller. What do you think about a rotation of about halfway between horizontal and vertical fist, like 45 degrees?


Similarly, for uppercuts, where are we aiming on the human head? (Chin, closer to the throat, etc) It seems like accidentally smashing the thumb into the chin would really ruin one's day.
 
Very interesting video,thanks for that, I'm just finishing a 3 DVD set and one of them is on lining up the arm and the knuckles kinetically,I call it the kinetic punch it lines up the arm very similar to you showing two knuckle line up,but the point of impact is the same for every punch uppercut, hook, cross and the forearm is supported behind.it puts about 30% increase of power in the punch compared to a normal boxers punch,personally I don't think you cant throw two knuckle punches in modern fixed thumb gloves,I think the thumbs further forward and they encourage hitting with the weaker outside of the knuckles. theres more info here

http://powerpunchers.blogspot.co.uk/

as for the fist I hold it very relaxed and loose, I find any tensing or holding tight of the fist also encourages tensing in other parts and slows down the punch.

just my thoughts


Do they provide links to the "University Study" in the DVDs?
 
Im suprised how many people seem to be practitioners of striking arts and are just barely learning how to punch properly by this vid..
 
It's called bad instructors and not all striking arts focus so much in proper fists as karate Crusha.
 
based on your posts i've always imagined you as kosta tszyu-esque (post-fight) in appearance and manner.

Nice surprise actually seeing you on video. You look like a nice fella. Good video.

EDIT: then again maybe it has to do with the "SBC underworld czar" title
 
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Great video.

I'd learned the 2 knuckles and wrist alignment before but I hadn't learned about the wrist adjustment for uppercuts (or "shanking people" as I will now refer to it) or the proper knuckle target for horizontal hooks (although it makes sense since it's the same knuckle for open handed strikes that follow the same arc).

Have you ever heard of a fist formation where you don't completely curl the pointer finger under but rest the tip on the fleshy part of the palm? Everything else about the fist being the same?
 
You guys asked for it, so finally here it is. My preferred method of fist formation for punching and why:



Wow, thank you for this tutorial. I actually tried this method at the gym last night after watching this video yesterday and it made a HUGE difference, both on the heavy bag and while hitting the mitts. I was connecting with much more snap and power. Did not roll my wrist at all. I wasn't able to get the hang of this method on my hooks or uppercuts, like you explained in the video, just yet. I'll continue to practice though. Straight punching with my jab and right hand though, were both landing so much more efficiently.

I'm sure you're a busy guy, but I hope you get around to making more tutorials like this one. This is good stuff. Your lead uppercut video as well.
 
Just logging in to say how much I appreciate your video and explanation. I do feel like I'm digging into the bag more when I throw this way but I have yet to effectively do it in sparring.
 
Great video.

I'd learned the 2 knuckles and wrist alignment before but I hadn't learned about the wrist adjustment for uppercuts (or "shanking people" as I will now refer to it) or the proper knuckle target for horizontal hooks (although it makes sense since it's the same knuckle for open handed strikes that follow the same arc).

Have you ever heard of a fist formation where you don't completely curl the pointer finger under but rest the tip on the fleshy part of the palm? Everything else about the fist being the same?

I don't believe I have heard of that version. But I know there's tons of renditions out there with small variances.

Hah. Not very many people can explain it in detail and provide the reasoning, and thought behind it. The devil is in the details, as they say. Thanks for putting up with the unceasing questions though.

This thread on properly balling the fist really is excellent. Even being totally injured, there's now something to practice and refine. What about during the up-jab though? The slight leaning back helps the angle in not hitting the first (Middle?) knuckles, but the margin of error seems to be smaller. What do you think about a rotation of about halfway between horizontal and vertical fist, like 45 degrees?

Similarly, for uppercuts, where are we aiming on the human head? (Chin, closer to the throat, etc) It seems like accidentally smashing the thumb into the chin would really ruin one's day.

You're delving into a slightly advanced area of punching when asking about the up-jab. This is something I didn't REALLY get to see full explanations of until Dadi was here in person. But it's about in what direction you extend the punch for something like the up-jab. If you look when I do the "pointing" motion, from another angle it would kind of look like I'm punching slightly off to the side of that hand. So for me, slightly further to my right, as opposed to straight forward. But this would align everything with my shoulder better (because your shoulder and face are hardly ever lined-up), and give you better vision as you don't punch in front of your own eyes so much. However, it really requires having someone to tweak the movements so it's done right. It's a difficult thing to get down. But when it is done correctly, it assures those first two knuckles are going to hit, and no others. The posture is similar to how I throw my left in the video. Notice how much my trunk rotates. That's a key.

We're always aiming for the chin. Until you get really really good at sniping smaller targets with a smaller weapon. Then you can hit anywhere. For instance, when a guy uses his shoulder to guard I like to put that hammer-like horizontal hook right into that shoulder meat. Or similarly, the chest near where the tendons are connected. A couple of those well-placed and everything starts to ache. The guy I was working with from Philly for a few days (he's the one who took the video) did that shit to me two days ago on my right shoulder, with 16oz gloves on, and it's STILL tender today.
 
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