Regular 5 Elements members will be aware that I am making sure everyone wraps their hands properly before we hit pads in the MMA fitness training classes. This is not just to protect your hands from cuts and abrasions within your boxing gloves. Hand wraps also help prevent injury and pain by supporting the many muscles and bones of the wrist and the hands. If you bind your hand up properly you protect all the small bones of your hand and the wrist by holding everything together in one solid unit.
Here is a video of one method (my own preferred one but their are several) of wrapping your hands.
In fact it has been argued by Joe Rogan (UFC commentator with a detailed knowledge of martial arts/combat sports) that preventing fighters from using hand wraps would be an effective way to reduce the trauma caused by repeated blows to the head. Or in other words, guys can’t tee off on someone’s head without bandages as they are more likely to break their hand or wrist without the support that hand wraps provide.
For most of us ‘5 Elementer’s’ though, wrapping our hands before training reduces the chance of injury from repeatedly hitting thai pads/belly pads as well as preventing cuts and abrasions. These kind of injuries tend to be cumulative, once you have a small cut on your knuckles it gets worse and worse if you keep training, the same is true for sprains and of course broken bones! You all hit harder than you think!
Grab some wraps and keep your hands protected at 5 Elements. We have traditional Mexican style (slightly stretchy) hand wraps and gel injected pre-wrapped hand protectors (not as perfect a fit as rolled bandages but still good).
If you are borrowing 5 Elements Gloves in training you need to have something on your hand even if its just a pair of these ! so I can keep my Gloves sanitary) but if you use your own gloves its up to you.
Wrap your hands, hit the pads really hard repeatedly, go home, feel amazing!