Hi everyone, I know this isn't strictly boxing so I apologise but it could be the most appropriate area for this question. I occasionally do one of those cardio kickboxing classes. I know in terms of technique what they teach isn’t all that good, but it does make a good workout, and I mostly follow my own technique anyway. I haven’t been to a class for a good few months now because of injury but my fitness needs improvement so I am considering started it up again. But my biggest issue is doing partner work where one person is punching and the other is providing a punching target with their hands. Where in my MA class one person would be wearing gloves the other target mitts. But in this cardio kickboxing class instead of using target mitts, they just punch the other person’s gloves. This seems to be the same throughout the different classes I have been, even though they were run by different groups and people. The trouble is it does start to hurt, even with the numbies who can’t punching power leaves a lot to be desired. This is because they are basically punching into and compressing your fist while it is closed as you can’t open your hand up while wearing gloves. It really doesn’t sound like a good idea does it, and would make it worse if someone actually knew how to punch. Maybe I could still go and feign injury so no one could punch me. But is it really as harmful as it sounds?
I'm sure I've seen Bas Rutten and Ricco Rodriguez doing this in "The Smashing Machine". Kind of one for one drilling. It's not something I'd like to do as a straight padwork workout but it seems to work for one for one combo practice (with a little sting taken out and concentrating on flow and speed rather than really whacking in the shots).
How do you usually hold your hands? Palms down, or palms facing your partner? We occasionally do glove-on-glove work at our gym, and we always hold our hands palms-outward to avoid wrist compression.
Technically palms towards the other partner. But the gloves are forcing you to close your hand into a fist.
