Iam a muppet

[mzee101]

hello chaps it has been awhile since i lasted posted i just thought i would share my stupidty with you i am currently doing my exams so i havent been doing much training so me and my buddys decide to go mess around a bit roll and stuff being the idiot that i am i went on the heavy bag refusing the gloves( don't ask me why didn't have wraps either ) i left the session with swollen knuckles similar to the kind you get from a brawlers fracture(having it checked out 2morrow) truly stupid i did karate for a while seeing your pinky knuckles swollen is so demoralizing. to add to my humiliation not only do I have trouble gripping a pen properly (i am screwed for my last exam), but on Friday my housemate has organized a BBQ for our jujitsu club it is going to be embarrassing telling him i cant train because i may have messed up my knuckles like an idiot it doesn't help that he is a bit of a Bantersaurus Rex and my attendance of late has been next to nothing i'm truly screwed #

[cejames]

Hi, mzee101 and Other Readers:

When it comes to striking arts there is one maxim I know of and it is that one must spend 1 hour for every 3 hours of training hitting something. It might be a heavy bag or it could be makiwara. If you plan on practicing self defense that incorporates punching and striking with hands, etc. then it is imperative you hit something in this manner.

If your punching/striking the heavy bag properly then you shouldn't experience more than a tiny bit of redness due to the surface and this is why I won't do bags that are not canvas. The other material is just not conducive to striking without gloves of some sort.

Also, there are gloves that are used on speed bags by boxers that work well with striking a moving bag or makiwara, etc. This would help until you get conditioned to the bag or makiwara.

Even when using gloves in a sport oriented competition your need to control and strike with the proper part of the fist is also critical. Using gloves like this tends to make folks a bit sloppy and it shows when the gloves come off ergo self-defense usually means broken hands.

In addition, remember the "hard-to-soft/soft-to-hard" maxim (coined this way by Marc MacYoung in a post on Animal list) as it makes a difference in a fight, defense or protection scenario.

Just my two cents,

Charles J.