Advice for hard punching with minimal padding, and still avoid ripping knuckle skin?

[isshinryuronin]

I know when I use boxing gloves, I have to use extra effort to maintain a correct fist structure when using boxing gloves without wraps.

I was going to mention this but forgot to add it in my post. Glad you brought it up. You can't clench your fist as completely in a glove as you can barehanded, thus weakening the hand structure as you say and requiring wrapping. Another example of the differences between arts, calling for different methods.

In fact, it may be that a boxer who finds himself in a fight barehanded has a greater chance of hurting his hand than a karate guy who has trained without relying on wraps for support.

great example of talking down to posters here with a long winded analysis.

Although by nature I'm a very casual and informal guy, my writing tends to be formal, perhaps a product of being educated in the 1960's. I try to be succinct yet take the time to logically support my statements rather than just saying this or that is true. Asking "why?" something is done a certain way and working thru an analysis of where the answers lead brings new realizations and understanding for me, sometimes even while I'm typing a post. As seen in this thread, for example, there are many reasons why not all striking arts regularly use wraps that seems quite logical if we take some time to look deeper into the issue without blinders on. As a "ronin" for many years this method has helped in my self-study of the art.

 

[JowGaWolf]

In fact, it may be that a boxer who finds himself in a fight barehanded has a greater chance of hurting his hand than a karate guy who has trained without relying on wraps for support.

I think this is true for a variety of reasons. For starters, punching without gloves makes it really easy to understand what not to punch. So, from an earlier start, martial artists are going to be very specific with their punch placements. And if the martial artist is going to hit something hard then they will use a different part of the fist to do so. We are also less likely to strike with more power than our fist can withstand. By training without gloves, we already know the limits.

Those who punch with gloves on aren't as in-tuned with the limits. I see this in the gym often. I punch the heavy bag hard, then someone who has the gloves on tries the same thing and they end up getting hurt. It's always the thing. People who swipe their punches have similar problems.

I know things like the Makiwara board doesn't won't make sense until they hit things like bodies and heavy bags.

CoPilot:

Benefits of Makiwara Training​

• Improves striking precision by providing instant feedback.
• Strengthens hand and wrist structure, reducing injury risk.
• Develops impact resistance, making punches more effective in combat.
• Enhances focus and targeting, ensuring strikes land with maximum efficiency.

My experience
Improves striking precision by providing instant feedback. Hit it the wrong way with the wrong structure and you'll know right away that you did it wrong. It's no different than the heavy bag, or a burlap heavy bag. Mistakes or pointed out instantly.

Strengthens hand and wrist structures. Reducing injury risk. People don't see this until they see other people hit heavy bags and get questions of amazement from other people like "How do you hit that heavy bag so hard without gloves?" Watch enough people collapse their wrist on the heavy bag and this reality becomes easier to understand.

Develop impact resistance - I'm always talking about this. Conditioning the skin and the bone is one thing but we must also condition through the impact. The impact is how the body deals with the force of the impact.

Enhances focus and targeting - Because we can't just hit as hard as we want, we have to strive to make the punch as efficient and as product as possible within our limits. Boxer's with gloves on can simply just hit harder. We can't, so if we can't just hit harder then we have to find ways to maximize punching power.

Loose focus on a burlap heavy bag and I'll pay a price. People with gloves won't have to pay that same price for losing a little focus. But the benefit becomes very clear when I spar. I'm very targeted and I've always said that I care more about landing a technique than about winning. I'm aways puzzled when someone says, "I might break my hand when hitting the head." My punching now is just more fine tuned than it would be if I have comfort of not worrying about injuring my hand because I had gloves on to protect me from my bad striking habits.

 

[JowGaWolf]

When hitting the heavy bag, wrapping hands and wearing gloves helps prevent injury to anyone’s hands. Two karate guys…

No one disagrees with this statement. It is already understood that the helps prevent injury to anyone's hands. But even in the video they acknowledge that they sometimes hit the heavy bag without gloves. Even Wonder boy states that he does it for the same reasons that everyone here who does it says in the video that you posted at 1:30

He also talks about training without gloves in this video. By the way his dad is a martial artist too.

Benefits of traditional hand conditioning. Different part of the same video. I know you are a big fan of time steps so both are timed stamp. just click on the video.

 

[isshinryuronin]

martial artists are going to be very specific with their punch placements

In my early years competing, pads of any kind were not allowed - just cup and mouthpiece. Even in the dojo, having an arm or shin pad was ridiculed unless it was to protect an existing injury. Once hand pads became mandatory at tournaments, I noticed two things: Technique became sloppier and hits to the head increased. Precision and control were early casualties of this innovation. Also, strikes were easier to block as one's hands (both the attacker's and defender's) were now significantly larger making it more difficult to slip a punch in. Power became more important than finesse.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Hopefully this helps the OP.

Much of what has been posted already by many is also stated in the videos that I posted.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Once hand pads became mandatory at tournaments, I noticed two things: Technique became sloppier and hits to the head increased. Precision and control were early casualties of this innovation. Also, strikes were easier to block as one's hands (both the attacker's and defender's) were now significantly larger making it more difficult to slip a punch in. Power became more important than finesse.

We can probably see this pattern through out history and we can probably just compare bare knuckle boxing with MMA boxing, with boxing to see the degree of "laziness" in punching technique.

I came across this. It looks like this happened inside of the glove. Which reminded me of something that happens with traditional fist hardening. The skin doesn't separate like the first few seconds on this video. His injury basically looks like he had a loose fitting callus and it ripped on the outer edges of that callus taking the callus with it. I'm only saying this because that's such a large area.

So I asked CoPilot about what you stated. and got this. #2 is our observation. #3 Pain and Hand Damage


My Question:
Is punch accuracy higher in bare knuckle fighting than in gloved fighting?

CoPilot's response:
Yes, punch accuracy tends to be higher in bare-knuckle fighting compared to gloved fighting. Here’s why:

Factors That Improve Accuracy in Bare-Knuckle Fighting​

1. Smaller Hand Surface Area – Without gloves, fighters have a clearer view of their target, allowing for more precise strikes.
2. More Caution in Punching – Fighters are less likely to throw wild punches because bare-knuckle strikes can easily cause hand injuries.
3. Better Hand-Eye Coordination – The natural feel of bare fists allows fighters to adjust their strikes more effectively.
4. Less Padding Interference – Gloves increase the surface area of a punch, sometimes leading to less precise targeting.

Challenges to Accuracy in Bare-Knuckle Fighting​

• Pain & Hand Damage – Fighters may hesitate to throw full-power punches, affecting accuracy.
• Defensive Adjustments – Opponents move differently in bare-knuckle fights, making it harder to land clean shots.
• Less Follow-Through – Fighters often pull back punches to avoid excessive damage to their own hands.

Comparing Punch Accuracy in Different Combat Sports​

• Boxing (Gloved) – Fighters throw higher-volume combinations, but gloves can reduce precision.
• MMA (Small Gloves) – Accuracy is higher than boxing, but gloves still slightly affect targeting.
• Bare-Knuckle Fighting – Fighters aim more carefully, leading to higher accuracy per punch.

This made me look up the difference between how power is delivered without a glove. Which looks like it touches on to what I was saying about being more effective with power within our limitations. The gloves allow the person to hit their hardest, but it doesn't translate into the more powerful punch.

I'm not sure why national geographic shows someone getting punched in the mouth. If I throw a punch a straight punch to the face, then I'm aiming for that spot under the eye on the cheek bone. It's a really nice striking surface and there are no teeth. The best thing about that area is that it's still available even if the person tilts their head into the punch.