Punching with the first two knuckles?

[shincheckin]

@Hotora86

so i tried to focus on hitting with the big knuckle tonight on the bag. I guess its something I was already doing but just wasnt aware of paying attention to it for the most part. I did feel a bit more power when I really focused on it.

 

[JohnPJones]

Yeah, theoretically sounds great, but try to land first with you knuckles. Just try it. If you fo to the chin, it is ok, but if there is something below your knuckles it is goong to meet your hand first.

tried it and done it quite successfully.
Obviously not every punch is perfect, but nothing is ever perfect all the time

 

[Adnan Adil]

tried it and done it quite successfully.
Obviously not every punch is perfect, but nothing is ever perfect all the time

Aren't your fingers connecting first?

 

[Borass]

For punching, i have never heard of another technique than using the first 2 knuckles...

 

[StopDucking]

If you punch with horizontal punches, there is quite good chance to land with your fingers first and after this with you knuckles.

if you know how to punch and aim the chance of hitting with your fingers first isn't that good...it's pretty low...

Some people have hands that allow them to naturally connect with the first knuckles. For most of us, when we make a fist, it looks like this:

If we bend our wrist so that our second knuckles don't hit the target first, it will look like this:

This is why I keep my fists vertical when throwing straight punches on the bag bare-fisted.

 

[ThaiClinch]

I agree that you cant really control which knuckles you hit with, I mean... always when I see good knowledgeable people with different opinions I think "well, probably both are right".

I think hitting with the bottom 3 knuckles can be the best if you are talking about crosses, hooks. With jabs and straights, I dont think it matters.

 

[panamaican]

Some people have hands that allow them to naturally connect with the first knuckles. For most of us, when we make a fist, it looks like this:

If we bend our wrist so that our second knuckles don't hit the target first, it will look like this:

This is why I keep my fists vertical when throwing straight punches on the bag bare-fisted.

That's why wrist alignment is so important when discussing the proper way to form a fist. In the first picture, the wrist should tilted down so that there's no upward angle. Additionally, if you looked down on the arm from above, the wrist should be very slightly angled out so that the 1st 2 knuckles are in a straight line from the elbow. If you were looking at the fist from a side angle (palms towards you), it might look like the fist is slightly tilted down towards the ground.

It's not enough to just make a fist with your hand. There has to be a focus on the alignment from the elbow through the wrist to the knuckles as well.

 

[panamaican]

Aren't your fingers connecting first?

Not with proper wrist alignment and punch technique.

 

[panamaican]

Also, a while back @Sinister posted a really great explanation about wrist and fist position for the uppercut and really getting it to land properly and dig in.

 

[Adnan Adil]

Some people have hands that allow them to naturally connect with the first knuckles. For most of us, when we make a fist, it looks like this:

If we bend our wrist so that our second knuckles don't hit the target first, it will look like this:

This is why I keep my fists vertical when throwing straight punches on the bag bare-fisted.

Exactly, this is what I mean!

 

[shincheckin]

I agree that you cant really control which knuckles you hit with, I mean... always when I see good knowledgeable people with different opinions I think "well, probably both are right".

I think hitting with the bottom 3 knuckles can be the best if you are talking about crosses, hooks. With jabs and straights, I dont think it matters.

yes i never got what the big fuss was about which knuckle to hit. its like saying what toe do i kick you with or something lol.

an interesting concept i was shown a very long time ago. if you do knuckle push ups, you do them on your last 2/3 knuckles. so would a straight punch not be the same?


as long as were talking about hitting with the big knuckle, i prefer to use the biggest knuckle on the body, the knee

 

[panamaican]

yes i never got what the big fuss was about which knuckle to hit. its like saying what toe do i kick you with or something lol.

an interesting concept i was shown a very long time ago. if you do knuckle push ups, you do them on your last 2/3 knuckles. so would a straight punch not be the same?


as long as were talking about hitting with the big knuckle, i prefer to use the biggest knuckle on the body, the knee

In bareknuckle, the issue is hand durability and, absent handwraps, it's also an issue of wrist stability. I'll try and find solid links but it's basically that the bones behind the 1st and 2nd knuckle are more stable than those behind the 3rd and 4th. The middle finger is the most stable of the 4. Which is probably why some people say the bottom 3 are fine - presuming that the middle knuckle is really taking the brunt of the damage.

And you can dictate which knuckle you with, although it does require altering the path of some strikes. Something like the casting punch or wider overhands take a path that make the inner 2 knuckles the primary landing spot. Turning the shoulder and hand over in a straight punch does something similar.

 

[ThaiClinch]

Elbows are way better than punches in bareknuckle brawls I guess.

 

[JohnPJones]

Aren't your fingers connecting first?

No, you cant you hand for the purpose of alignment, you can tilt your wrist slightly without messing up your alignment, though as mentioned by someone else said every body’s body is a bit different.

 

[JohnPJones]

yes i never got what the big fuss was about which knuckle to hit. its like saying what toe do i kick you with or something lol.

an interesting concept i was shown a very long time ago. if you do knuckle push ups, you do them on your last 2/3 knuckles. so would a straight punch not be the same?


as long as were talking about hitting with the big knuckle, i prefer to use the biggest knuckle on the body, the knee

never did knuckle push ups before starting karate and they taught me to do them on my first and second knuckles.
I thought that’s how everyone did it lol.

 

[panamaican]

Elbows are way better than punches in bareknuckle brawls I guess.

Pretty much everything is better than knuckles. Base of the hand (like in a hammer fist), forearm, elbows. None of them break as easily if you miss your target, lol.

 

[ThaiClinch]

Pretty much everything is better than knuckles. Base of the hand (like in a hammer fist), forearm, elbows. None of them break as easily if you miss your target, lol.

If you jab someone on the nose, I find that it would be hard to hurt your hand.
A big right hand to the head, sure, not great.

A few jabs to the nose and you would be fine.

 

[JohnPJones]

If you jab someone on the nose, I find that it would be hard to hurt your hand.
A big right hand to the head, sure, not great.

A few jabs to the nose and you would be fine.

unfortunately an opponent is rarely so kind as to stand still and just take a punch to the nose.
They may pivot or try changing levels which could result in you striking the cheek, or forehead or, they could completely drop their head causing you to strike the top of the dome, or they could turn completely away causing you to hit the hard back of the skull.
Just because you aim for a soft spot doesn’t mean the opponent will be kind enough to oblige you with the target you wanted.

 

[Shuque]

Three knuckle landing for me. No sense me trying to explain it since Dempsey broke this down pretty well in his book.

For me this works bedt.

 

[panamaican]

If you jab someone on the nose, I find that it would be hard to hurt your hand.
A big right hand to the head, sure, not great.

A few jabs to the nose and you would be fine.

Sure, there's a target for everything. Punches work well to the body also. But an elbow to the nose or the palm to the nose cause just as much damage with less risk of hand damage but there are obvious tradeoffs. But everything's got a tradeoff, so stick with what you're comfortable with.