If you want to learn how to punch properly, learn how to punch bareknuckle first. That is the whole point of this video lesson. Gloves hide a lot of mistakes. Take them off and your structure has to be right, or your hand will tell you about it very quickly.

This lesson is for anyone who punches: boxers, martial artists, self-defence students and coaches who want their people to hit hard without getting hurt.

Why Gloves Hide Bad Habits

A boxing glove spreads the impact and holds the wrist together. That is good for sparring and bag work, but it means a beginner can throw a badly aligned punch for months and never notice. The bent wrist, the knuckles landing at the wrong angle, the elbow flaring out. The glove soaks it all up.

Bareknuckle work strips that away. You start to feel exactly what is lining up and what is not.

The Chain That Has To Line Up

A proper punch is a chain of structure, and each link has to sit behind the one in front of it:

  • The metacarpals: the bones of the hand, which need to land in line with the forearm
  • The wrist: straight and firm, not bent up, down or sideways
  • The radius and ulna: the two forearm bones, which carry the force back from the fist
  • The elbow: behind the fist, not flapping out to the side
  • The shoulder: connected, so the body weight goes through the arm instead of stopping at it

Then the rest of the body has to align behind all of that. Feet, hips and torso deliver the power. The arm just transfers it. If any link is out, the force leaks away, or worse, it goes into your own joints.

How To Practise It

Do not start by smashing a heavy bag with bare hands. Build it up:

  • Start slowly against focus mitts or a soft target and check your alignment on every rep
  • Hold the fist on the target at the end of the punch and look at it: is the wrist straight, is the elbow behind it?
  • Add speed only when the structure stays the same
  • Then put the gloves on and keep exactly the same alignment

Once you understand the correct structure bareknuckle, you are ready to punch with boxing gloves on. You will hit harder, and your hands will last a lot longer.

Take It Further

If you want a structured way to build your punching from the ground up, my Learn To Box Online Course takes you through it step by step. For more on generating real striking power once your structure is sound, take a look at Power Black.