will you hurt your hands?

I get a lot of questions from people about how common it is to hurt your hands in a street fight, and if there’s ways to avoid it.
First of all it’s important to remember that a fight is all about minimizing damage, so if all that happens to you in a fight is a broken knuckle, you did great. Better a broken knuckle, than a broken skull.
However there are ways to minimize the damage to the hands in a real fight. The best two ways that I know of is by knowing how to punch correctly, and training on the heavy bag without gloves. Not all the time, but part of the time. Of course, training bear knuckles all the time is no good for your hands, but doing it in moderation is beneficial.
Using gloves and hand wraps all the time will cause your hand to get too pampered, and a weak wrist. Furthermore, you’ll have no habit of correct punching because you’re too used to relaying on the wraps and gloves to protect your hands, instead of correct technique.
Train a few minutes a day on the heavy bag without gloves. You don’t have to hit hard, just work your punching technique. It will be good for you.
Train smart, stay safe.
Sharir R,
ICCS Head instructor