Always punch with the first two knuckles to avoid borking your hand.
by Ryan Gregory, February 17th, 2012One of the first things new karate students learn is how to make a fist and how to punch. Specifically, one must learn how to punch using the proper fist form and with the right part of the fist so as to avoid damaging one’s hand. Thumb on the outside, and strike with only the first two knuckles. Every new student learns this — either quickly, or the hard way.
For those of you who doubt the importance of punching with the proper technique, I present Exhibit A:
Ok, I don’t actually have confirmation that this injury resulted from an improper punch. But I do know, first-hand (sorry, bad pun), how incorrect punching technique can have painful consequences. When I was in high school (before I started training in karate, I should point out), I once got upset and punched a heavy wooden garage door. The garage door won that particular fight: it sustained no significant damage, whereas I ended up with a broken fifth metacarpal neck — better known as a boxer’s fracture.
If you are unfamiliar with skeletal anatomy, the metacarpals are the bones in the main part of the hand, each of which is connected to the bones that extend into the fingers (phalanges).
A broken metacarpal neck means that the rounded ball-like end of the bone breaks off. The net result is a painful injury and a cast and regret.
Striking with the wrong knuckles can lead to a broken bone. A star may not actually appear.
Not my actual x-ray, but the same injury.
It’s important to practice punching with proper technique to avoid such injuries. It is also more effective to focus a strike on a smaller area (i.e., two knuckles rather than all four), and the first two knuckles are more robust than the other two. Some traditional karate practitioners go to extremes to strengthen these knuckles, including striking a makiwara, a kind of punching board developed in Okinawa. Because traditional makiwara were wrapped in rope, the knuckles would also become very tough through long-term use.
Most western karate students do not make use of the makiwara. I never did, although I am planning to start — not to condition the knuckles but to develop greater striking power. One reason people avoid makiwara training these days is that the results can be quite visible and unappealing. Consider, for example, the photos below, taken from Eiichi Miyazato’s book Okinawa Den Gojuryu Karate-do. This is not a look I would personally like to have, though I have no doubt that such highly conditioned knuckles would be very effective.
You don’t need to turn your knuckles into sandpaper, but do be sure that you don’t bork your hand by punching with the wrong ones.
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Karate uses the first 2 knuckles but many styles of Kung Fu use the bottom 3 including the late Bruce Lee. The 1 inch punch is done with the bottom 3 knuckles as well. Its the torque from the “wrist snap” at the last second gives it the extra power, along with using the rest of the body. It’s not about which knuckles you punch with, it’s the position of the fist, the arm and the body. My father has trained in Okinawan karate since before I was born ( I am 30 ) and has the same giant knuckles as the pictures above, yet he still has broken bones in his hands every once in a while. I was told the same thing about punching with the top 2 knuckles, but I’ve been training with a Wing Chun technique with no gloves using the bottom 3 knuckles and have been able to get more power and have not broken any bones or tweaked the wrist. They get sore but I can hit the wall bag or punching bag as hard as I can and never hurt the bottom knuckles. But when I practice with a traditional Karate punch and hit the bag with anything other then the first 2 knuckles I definitely have problems. Both styles of punches are effective but the statement about always punching with the top 2 knuckles it simply not true. If you don’t believe me then go to a Wing Chun or Jeet Kune Do school and ask them. Have them hit you in the chest through a phone book, it’s very surprising. I’m not bashing any styles just throwing out some info for everybody.
Thank you
Thanks — yes, I should have been clearer. What I meant was that, when doing basic karate punches, one should be careful to always punch with the first two knuckles. Interesting notes about the vertical Kung Fu punches, though!
when you punch your wrist is supposed to be lined as if your are half pouring a jug of water out, thus your top knuckles are straight with your forearm.
move your wrist to the thumb side, it hardly moves, move it to the bottom knuckle side you have motion. punching with the bottom knuckles gives you the buffer if you punch wrong you wont bust your wrist. they are also loose knuckles so absorbs more impact and work like suspension. i feel it to be more natural.it lines the outside of your body. ive never broken my bottom 3 knuckles. they obviously get calus the more you punch and become more protected. i feel more confident to go all out in a punch using these, as i know the chances of spraining my wrist is heavily reduced if the punch goes wrong., but ye your supposed to use your top 2, but your liable to really really hurting your wrist if you get it wrong.on the flip side with the botton two you will never hurt your wrist if you get it wrong, but you may fracture the bottom knuckles if they are not conditioned. it like when you hit a ball with bat, if the balls hits the middle of the bat its powerful but if the ball hits near the tip of the bat, u feel it less and it does go further.
for ref i did wu shu kwan and was near enough black belt at 11 yrs old, then boxed at uni. so i know a little about punching.