Wrapped for War!
Just as a medieval knight wraps his body in chain mail and armour before a battle, so does a boxer wrap his fists underneath his gloves. The wrapping of hands is not only a necessary part of boxing but is a mental process that signals the upcoming chaos.
First, it’s important to understand the reasoning behind wrapping your hands.
Each hand is made up of 27 individual bones loosely joined with tendons, blood vessels, and thin layers of muscle and fat. The hand is extremely susceptible to injury, and slugging away at a heavy bag or opponent without wraps is a surefire way to fracture one of them.
Wrapping your hands is all about protection. It ties together that large group of bones and ligaments into one, tight rock-hard fist that the fighter can throw without the fear of damaging his money-makers. Although there are methods in which extra padding can be applied and the professional aspect, wrapping your hands isn’t meant to cushion your knuckles. The gloves should already be enough. That being said, if it doesn’t compromise the protective structure or taught feeling, a few extra go-arounds on the knuckles can’t hurt.
The wrap also focuses on connecting the wrist to hand. I nearly broke my wrist on an uppercut due to sloppy hand wrapping, so I don’t take this lightly.
The process of this is just as symbolic as it is transparent.
Any picture or video of a fighter wrapping his hands before combat will show you a true illustration of mental manifestation.
The focus is on the preparation of both the hand wrap and the task at hand. If you’ve got to go knock someone out or need to throw a few hundred punches at the heavy bag, wrapping your hands is protecting both your hands and fight mentality.
The mental process of wrapping your hands isn’t universal. Some fighters remain loose and relaxed, cracking jokes and talking with anyone around them. Others go ice cold, stoic. Unbreakable focus, unshakeable attitude. It’s all dependent on how you fight and what benefits your performance more. Different times call for different reactions, so look at yourself honestly and choose your method.
Use your time wrapping your hands to visualize how your training session or fight is going to go. Visualization is powerful if not misunderstood tool. The partnership of visualization and physical binding of the fists about to be used in your scrap is a somewhat of a metaphysical experience. Use it, embrace it.
But don’t take too long.
Wrapping hands is a mindless piece of the process for your ultimate protection. It’s also a great opportunity to reflect and apply your mentality towards success and understand the value of preparation. With all that into consideration, check out Boxraw’s new hand-wrap collection. The greatest material and design to ensure multiple uses and ultimate protection, these wraps will turn your fists into bricks and provide the ultimate performance in your training.
