by Loren W. Christensen
To toughen or not to toughen the knuckles has been debated in the martial arts for years.
Consider the following Q & A.
Q: Is it absolutely necessary to build thick calluses on your knuckles to have an effective punch?
A: No.
Q: Do they make for a harder hand strike?
A: They can.
Q: Are big, callused knuckles impressive to look at?
A: Some people think so.
Q: Is building calluses potentially dangerous?
A: It can be, depending on how you do it.
Q: Is there a relatively safe way to build them?
A: Yes.
I began training in the martial arts in 1965, and during my first few decades I worked consistently on toughening my knuckles. There were times when they were thick with calluses, but whenever I slacked off training them for a few months, the calluses diminished. To maintain them, you have to keep working on them, just as you do with aerobic conditioning, weight training, and relationships.
Some People Really Like Them
During the Vietnam War, the indigenous folks were quite aware of martial arts, a result of popular kung fu movies, taekwondo taught by Korean soldiers, and Vovinam, Vietnam’s own martial arts system. Several times after I had fought violent suspects in my duties as a military policeman on Saigon’s mean streets, Vietnamese people would gather around and point at my calluses — some grabbed my hands and caressed my knuckles — and exclaim, “Kung fu, kung fu,” or “Taekwondo!”
Are Calluses Needed?
In addition to cosmetic purposes, especially hard and thickly callused knuckles can add a little extra to your punch. One Chinese master who strikes a metal plate a thousand times a day and has knuckles nearly as large as golf balls says that hitting individuals with his knuckles is like hitting them with a rock. He also says that he doesn’t feel pain in his knuckles because his method of training has deadened the nerves.
The Potential Danger
If you choose to do it, know that repetitiously striking a hard object — metal plate, bricks, makiwara board, trees — can cause irreversible damage to the nerves and bones, so much so you could spend your later years walking around with a hand frozen in the shape of a claw.
You might argue that you know people with thick, callused hands who have not suffered ill side effects from beating on hard things. Good. Nonetheless, there are other people who do have problems. One well-known Japanese master suffered greatly in his advanced years from all the pounding he did on his knuckles. Arthritis of the bones is nature’s cruel way of letting you know you did too much when you were younger.
How do you know which type of person you are? That’s just it. You don’t — until it’s too late.
A Safer Way
You can develop calluses on your knuckles by toughening the skin rather than damaging the bones. This might be a superficial way to build up the area and not as effective as enlarging and toughening the bones, but it does add a layer of protection.
Toughening the skin is how I did it and, when my knuckles were at their best, I could punch hard surfaces without feeling it, not because of nerve damage but because of the added cushion.
Here are some of the methods I used. I’m sure there are others, but these worked for me.
Knuckle Push-Ups
Do your push-ups on the large knuckles of your index and middle fingers. Of course, push-ups alone won’t toughen the skin much, so you need to twist your hand ever so slightly so your knuckles rub into the floor. The key words here are twist slightly because the weight on your knuckles is significant. Do it too much and you tear the skin or completely rip off the surface, which stings like the dickens and can set you back several weeks while it heals. Start out doing them on a wood floor and in a few weeks progress to cement.
Free tip: Don’t work your knuckles when your hands are damp — say, after you’ve been working out for a while. Damp skin is easy to tear.
Rub a Brick
Actually, you can rub your knuckles on a rock, piece of wood, chunk of cement, a stone fireplace, or anything else that has a rough surface. Place your two large knuckles on the object and twist your hand back-and-forth. Don’t get carried away and press too hard at first because you can rub off the outer layer of skin. As your skin toughens, you can twist progressively harder.
Punch a Heavy Canvas Bag
Modern-day heavy bags are made out of slick, smooth vinyl. These are excellent for building power and polishing your technique, but they don’t help to toughen the skin over your knuckles, at least not as much as a canvas-covered heavy bag. These can be hard to find (I found mine in an old boxing gym) but worth the search. You need to go easy at first and punch harder and harder as your skin toughens. When you have developed a layer of callus, try twisting your hand about a half an inch upon impact to intensify the rub against the canvas.
Other Things You Can Hit
Besides the aforementioned canvas heavy bag, you can use other relatively soft objects. I often used an old sandal, the type made with woven bamboo “straw.” I’d hold a sandal in one hand and punch it with my two large knuckles, sort of like a baseball player punching a mitt. I would do this repetitiously — 100 to 150 hits with each hand — at about medium-force power. Sometimes I would twist my knuckles upon impact to get more abrasion. I’ve also used a 6-inch piece of 2 x 4 board wrapped with rope. At one time, martial arts suppliers sold small, sand-filled canvas pads, just big enough to hold in your palm and hit. I did a quick Google while writing this and didn’t find any.
Saltwater Torture
No matter how careful you are when conditioning the skin over your knuckles, there will be times when you rip the skin or tear some off. There are herbal ointments on the market that supposedly toughen and heal your skin, but I have never used them or heard how effective they are. I used saltwater or just plain salt to help my injuries heal faster. I would pour the saltwater or sprinkle salt from a shaker directly onto the exposed meat and gently rub it in. Hurt? Ooooh yeah, sometimes all away to the bone. But I tolerated it because it accelerated the healing.
It’s your decision whether to toughen your knuckles. You may find the task to be long and painful with little reward other than to impress white belts. On the other (callused) hand, you might find that it benefits your punching to some degree. Is it worth the effort and pain? That’s up to you to discover.
Loren Christensen is the author of two dozen Paladin books and videos, including Speed Training, Fighting Power, Fighting Dirty, and Fighting in the Clinch. Loren was a military policeman in Saigon during the Vietnam War and retired from the Portland, Oregon, Police Department after more than two decades of service. He has been training in the martial arts for more than three decades. He can be contacted through his website at www.lwcbooks.com.