Was working pads for someone yesterday and the subject of which way to hold your fist when hooking came up. What I mean is thumb to the ceiling or thumb towards your face?

Thumb to the ceiling same as the palm hook but with closed fist.

if you try doing dumbell flyes on a flat bench or on a pec dec or practice the hook with cable resistance you should find this the stronger structure.

Glad you said that, because that's what I always say. Thumb facing you would lend yourself to broken scaphoids imo.

My 0.2 euros - as mentioned, the thumb up (vertical) fist is stronger biomechanically (feels that way anyway) and having the fist in that configuration also gives a wider area to connect with which gives you some margin for error - especially if the opponent refuses to stand still while you hit them. Having the fist horizontal means you must be a lot more accurate while striking fast in the middle of a fight.


PS: but what about the old style of turning the hand over which effectively has the thumb down? Puts the wrist in a weaker position IMO, but anybody train this way?

PPS: there is a specific use for the horizontal fist position but more for a particular pugilism strike which is not applicable to modern boxing.

Do not people not stand still when you hit them?

Oh dear, I think that means ill have to reevalute myt training. Most of the stuff I have seen the guys don't move much:(

The rule of thumb - BWHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH (I'll be appearing here for the rest of the week) - that I use is this...

Imagine your holding a tankard of ale (for some of you that won't require much imagination at all) in front of your belly and you want to pick it up and pour it over your head.

When it's in front of your belly your thumb will be up. As it comes up near head height the thumb will be towards you and, as it goes up over your head your thumb will be down. In other words, hooking the body, thumb up, hooking the head of someone the same height, palm down, thumb towards you, and hitting someone taller, thumb down.

Go stand in front of someone a foot taller than you and try and do a slow mo hook with your thumb up....landing the big two knuckles on them is almost impossible. Now rotate the thumb down and it'll be easy.

Nick

Nick that seems similar to what Mick has said about the straight shot which would make sense:

"As a rule of thumb, if I'm hitting horizontally to head height I will have my hand 'flat' with the palm down if it's with the closed fist, or fingers vertically if it's a palm heel strike. The elbow will be up and out to provide the best ergonomics and mechanical advantage.

If I'm hitting at waist height horizontally, the fist will be 'vertical' with the palm facing inwards - generally at this elevation it will be a closed fist blow to a soft spot on the body, not a palm heel strike - and the elbow will be in close.

Take these two positions as opposite ends of a scale, and keep the elbow aligned with the hand/wrist as you strike at varying heights inbetween, by simply rotating the whole arm at the shoulder. Obviously there are a whole load of alignment factors using the shoulder and hip girdles, and spine, that provide the base for the various blows, but this covers the elbow issue you asked about." this was cut from one of Mick Coup's posts


cheers

I find it just as easy to hit the body or head with my thumb facing the ceiling at all times. Punches to the lower body my thumb is actually pointing away from me. This feels much more solid and strong to me.

It depends where their guard is. With gloves this is less of an issue so you can align the hand and arm for all out power. With bare hands injury avoidance takes priority. A broken thumb, or a broken wrist is a huge disadvantage in a life or death situation. With bare hands there is no one specific correct way to align things, it really depends on the circumstances.

Bareknuckle in the street I have never thought for a second about the possibilty of breaking my hands or injuring anyrthing. Broken both hands twice.