2024-08-06

Subbing for ISKF Tempe at the Tempe Family YMCA.

I practice, and advocate, doing push-ups on the first two knuckles - the ones we use when we punch. Why?

Knuckle push-ups have nothing to do with conditioning the knuckles. They won’t get callouses from push-ups, nor will the bones get stronger. If you want those things, use a makiwara. Then why do them? Two reasons:

First, knuckle push-ups help strengthen the wrist. A chain is only a strong as its weakest link. If your wrist isn’t strong enough to support your punch, it’ll bend on impact, weakening your punch and possibly resulting in a sprained wrist. Knuckle push-ups help avoid this by strengthening the muscles that stabilize the wrist.

Second, knuckle push-ups help stretch the metacarpophalangial joints (the knuckles where your fingers meet the back of your hand). This is important because, if this angle is too large, you have to choose between two evils: striking with the wrong part of the fist or bending the wrist to accomodate the correct striking surface.