One of the first thing a new student should learn is how to make a proper fist. Without making a proper fist, punching something or someone will hurt themselves more than it would hurt anyone else.

Watch the full video on this or read the details below.

Basic Fist

The first step of teaching a proper fist is to bend all the fingers, then roll the tips into the palm. The thumb should wrap over the first two fingers below the second knuckle. Squeeze the first and middle finger tight and the ring and little fingers enough to hold them in place. Over squeezing the little fingers too tightly will warp the fist and upset the fist’s ability to transfer power.

Advanced Fist

In the Shuri-te system, one of the oldest Okinawan martial arts, a different type of fist is used. Instead of curling the first finger over in to the palm, the first knuckle remains straight. As a result, the finger lays on the thumb pad. This requires thumb to overlap the first finger. The position prevents the joint at the knuckles from compression. This generally strengthens the fist and is very important in the use of the hammer fist. It may feel awkward at first but by opening and closing the the fist a few time during the day will make it easier to form this type of fist.

Fist Position

Surprisingly, the actual formation of the fist  is not the the most important part of proper fist development. The remaining parts are positional. The fist must strike a target in the proper position or you can damage the hand. This means proper positioning the first two knuckles.

• Begin by positioning your knuckles properly. When holding your right arm parallel to the ground, tilt your fist slightly to the right. This aligns your first knuckles of your index and middle finger with your arm.  By doing this you move the smaller fingers out of the way. If you hit your target with the two smaller knuckles of your ring and pinky fingers, you risk fracture in the two bones in the back of the hand. This fracture is common and is called a “boxer’s fracture.”

• Second, the hand must angle slightly down. The downward angle lines up the knuckles with the arm and prevents the fingers from making first contact. Failing to do so causes the second row of finger knuckles hit first. This drives the fist up and back risking a break of the wrist.

• Most important is rotating the fist slightly at 22.5 degrees. Position your right fist parallel to the ground, then turn the fist clockwise slightly (15 to 22.5 degrees) so that if you placed a marble on your fist it would roll off and to your right side. This small tilt lines up the knuckles, the metatarsal bones and the wrist bones with the radial bone of the arm. By doing so, it completes a direct bone-to-bone connection from the knuckles to the radial bone. The first figure shows the open wrist bones of the relaxed wrist. The second shows the wrist turned slightly out resulting in a powerful line up of the bones.

Open wrist bones

Closed wrist bones

Fist Rotation

Finally, as a punch leaves the chambered position at your side, it must rotate. The fist should start with the curled fingers facing up. As it is thrown, it goes out in a straight line rotating so the curled fingers are downward facing at the completion of the punch.

To review: At the point of contact, the back of the hand should end up slanted 22.5 degrees (half of 45 degrees) down towards the little finger. This is the strongest point for the fist. Any further rotation and the fist can be blocked and rotated to the thumb side. This is because the muscles in the lower arm are past the maximum point of resistance to rotation.

As a result of these adjustments, the fist at the point of contact will be at maximum strength and able to transfer the full power of the punch with limited to no injury to the wrist, knuckles, thumb, joints or fingers.

Training the new student using this information allows the application of these principles to become second nature. Continue practicing and correcting the positioning until it does.