Preparing for UFC 107, Johny Hendricks Toughened Up His Hands

by Kid Nate on Dec 12, 2009 9:50 AM EST in MMA News

After breaking his hand in a winning effort against Amir Sadollah at UFC 101, Johny Hendricks has been working with striking coach Ken Hahn on an interesting program of hand toughening, per MMA Junkie:

"I don't use hand wraps anymore. I just spar with my 16-ounce gloves. It's a huge difference. That way, my hands aren't going to be a factor in this fight. I don't have to worry about that, which is great. If I hit him, it's not going to hurt me; it's going to hurt him."

But sparring without wraps is just one part of the program.

"You do knuckle push-ups," Hendricks said. "I do it on concrete right now, cement, tiles. You just have to sit there and do push-ups constantly. Then I start hopping around (on my hands) on tile at my house, getting that impact. My knuckles are getting stronger and stiffer - tougher.

"[The program I use] is out there, but not a lot of people want to do it."

We'll see how it works out for Hendricks tonight when he fights undefeated Brazilian Ricardo Funch.

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Interesting

I haven’t heard of the knuckle pushups for hand toughening, but I guess it makes sense. I would think a makiwara would work better.

by TDITZ on Dec 12, 2009 9:15 AM EST reply actions

what's a MAKIWARA?

I might want to start implementing some of this stuff into my workouts…

by No-one on Dec 12, 2009 10:18 AM EST up reply actions

nevermind, I found out what it was...

by No-one on Dec 12, 2009 10:26 AM EST up reply actions

The knuckle pushups are mostly of benefit to the wrists, much the same with the wraps. The concrete surface will help though with the knuckles but not greatly unless you are doing as he says and hopping around on them for impact. Seems like he’s doing more for his wrists then hands.

Surely just working punches on a solid heavy bag would be more beneficial then dropping the wraps. They get to wrap for fights anyway!

by Gentleman on Dec 12, 2009 11:15 AM EST up reply actions

Wollf’s Law: “…bone in a healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads it is placed under. If loading on a particular bone increases, the bone will remodel itself over time to become stronger to resist that sort of loading. The internal architecture of the trabeculae undergoes adaptive changes, followed by secondary changes to the external cortical portion of the bone,1 perhaps becoming thicker as a result. The converse is true as well: if the loading on a bone decreases, the bone will become weaker due to turnover, it is less metabolically costly to maintain and there is no stimulus for continued remodeling that is required to maintain bone mass.”

by dancingChicken on Dec 12, 2009 11:22 AM EST up reply actions

How long does that take?

Usually we see effects like that in terms of years of training, like muay thai fighters training from childhood. This seems like a short time scale, and I’m not sure how smart it is, seeing that the first thing that happens is you break down the bone. Also, the denser the bone is, the longer it takes to heal… this whole thing sounds weird to me.

by Shaun32887 on Dec 12, 2009 1:39 PM EST up reply actions

It’s pretty individual, but in regards to hands I expect to see some effects after few months. It’s not necessarily the same as conditioning shin bones, I mean the science behind of it is the same, but you generate a lot more power with your kicks, the energy diverges perpendicularly to your bone and when you hit your opponent’s shin or knee, things could get ugly, hence conditioning shins must take time. In Thailand there’s an emphasis on kicking so these guys often kick like mules, but you don’t have to train since childchood to do a power kick.

When you hit someone with a punch you should do it with your first two knuckles, that’s when energy acts in parallel to bone and it’s hard to break. But if you punch from some weird angle, like with overhand, the energy might be redirected and snap the bone. (+ due to poor punching technique mostly bones of the last two knuckles break). I think hardening “hands” has more to do with making bones less susceptible to breaks than to ability to hit harder and withstand the energy (which is the case with kicking).
But then again, I’m no expert, I might be wrong here and there.

Also if I had to chose between denser, harder to break but longer healing bone and one that breaks easily but heals faster, I would choose the first one, so I don’t know if it’s that weird…

by dancingChicken on Dec 12, 2009 5:50 PM EST up reply actions

We did knuckle conditioning in karate class when I was a kid. It left my knuckles bloody many times.

by cmsove on Dec 12, 2009 9:22 AM EST reply actions

Somebody teach Fedor hand push ups immediately

"Frank Mir had a horseshoe up his ass. I told him a year ago. I pulled it out of him and I beat him over the head with it." Brock Lesnar

by pitbull187 on Dec 12, 2009 9:25 AM EST reply actions

Knuckle

"Frank Mir had a horseshoe up his ass. I told him a year ago. I pulled it out of him and I beat him over the head with it." Brock Lesnar

by pitbull187 on Dec 12, 2009 9:25 AM EST up reply actions

Thumb?

by HappyLittleTreez on Dec 12, 2009 9:33 AM EST up reply actions

Fedor always has had issues a part of his hand breaks every fight it seems. It was just his thumb this time

"Frank Mir had a horseshoe up his ass. I told him a year ago. I pulled it out of him and I beat him over the head with it." Brock Lesnar

by pitbull187 on Dec 12, 2009 9:43 AM EST up reply actions

True.

It’s really all just a conspiracy though. He’s really in the shop getting some repairs done. That ground and pound from Rodgers knocked some of his circuits loose.

by HappyLittleTreez on Dec 12, 2009 9:53 AM EST up reply actions

Fedor throws his punches

in a weird way that maximizes power but at the cost of risking injury.

Follow me on Twitter @KidNate

by Kid Nate on Dec 12, 2009 10:06 AM EST up reply actions

Here's a good reference fight for that

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Gary Goodridge

Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade

by Damon O. on Dec 12, 2009 11:09 AM EST up reply actions

I can’t wait to see Johny fight again. He is probably in my top 5 favorite fighters. In no particular order Jon Jones, Lyoto, Anderson, Johny, and Dan Henderson.

by andrewsj7 on Dec 12, 2009 10:09 AM EST reply actions

Top five ever or top five UFC fighters of 2009?

by Simco on Dec 12, 2009 11:48 AM EST up reply actions

Kick boxers

will whack their shins with little clubs (think mini baseball bats they give out) to toughen them up. A lot of them have huge calcium deposits up and down their legs essentially turning it into a sharp edge. Toughing up your hands makes sense, and Im sure it can be felt through the little gloves.

by ryanwk628 on Dec 12, 2009 11:25 AM EST reply actions

MT fighters traditionally kick banana trees.

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett

by Scott C. Broussard on Dec 12, 2009 3:05 PM EST up reply actions

Buakaw has some hard kicks, most Thai fighters have. If a guy like Yodsaenklai kicks you, even when you block it you’re fucked.

by dancingChicken on Dec 12, 2009 5:58 PM EST up reply actions

He could do like the Shoalin Monks, and hit a huge vat of steaming rice over and over?

for all intents and purposes, just consider all my posts as works of satire.

by Bandaka on Dec 12, 2009 11:47 AM EST reply actions

I did this for some time, which made my fist look weird, but it goes away if you stop, so he has to do this all the time.

"You talk too much, too much, too much..."

by spectaa on Dec 12, 2009 11:55 AM EST reply actions

hitting a stack of paper

There’s a traditional martial arts training method of tacking a stack of paper on a brick wall and punching it into oblivion. Seems interesting, I’ve never tried it though.

by IpullguardIRL on Dec 12, 2009 5:56 PM EST reply actions