My Philosophical Perspective on "Knuckle Pushups"

An exercise sometimes used in karate dojo as a part of karada-kitae or body conditioning. I remember that on occassion I would visit an Isshinryu dojo where they did pushups on the knuckles. They also had a makiwara, traditional piece. I have done pushups on my knuckles but not because I wanted to for karada-kitae but because doing normal pushups on my palms causes some considerable discomfort to one of my wrists. One reason why I love the pushup bars available that not only remove wrist issues but actually allow a deeper pushup to stretch and develop those chest, shoulder, back, arm, etc. muscles, tendons, cartilage and so on. Matter of fact, pushups are one of the best exercises anyone can use.

Back to the subject, knuckle pushups. I am not a medical professional and not a physical medical professional either standard or sport oriented. My view on this is personal and based only on my personal use of this type of pushups. 

Let me begin by reiterating that I do them with knuckles for a reason and only at certain times when I don’t have pushup bars to use. I like and hate pushups and have been mediocre in doing them for some reason that may simply be psychological since I have detested them from the moment I was in pushup position during PT (Physical Training) at Parris Island, South Carolina. 

I don’t recommend doing knuckle pushups and if you do them then I recommend highly you do them with some sort of cushioning material because knuckles to hard ground or cement is not good for them, period. Even makiwara have a padded surface with give when striking. Makiwara are another subject but in a nutshell using one does not mean hitting it as hard as humanly possible. After all that device is best utilized as a tool to teach you how to hit properly rather than simply as hard as you can. It also provides a means to train other aspects of martial arts.

Knuckle pushups on a hard surface put way to much pressure on that knuckle and its associated parts. When you strike a makiwara properly you have complete control on the pressures, etc. When you do pushups there is a constant and consistent weight and pressure placed on the knuckles, i.e. depending on how you do them such as just the two fore-knuckles vs. the entire face of the fist.  In the dojo’s where I trained and/or taught most insisted doing them on the two fore-knuckles and I have to admit during those days I blithely and blindly dropped down and did them without questions. I was young so much like many such things I just ignored any discomforts.

Now, I don’t have any medical issues because I did them or do them on occasion but then again except in rare cases I don’t ever do them straight on cement or hardwood, etc. because that tends to cause discomfort that could possibly result in some type of medical issue. As I enter my winter years, sixty years or older, I tend to consider things like that a lot more. 

Actually, with all the various and variety of ways we can get exercise to strengthen our bodies it seems not necessary to abuse our hands, by the way the hands and the skeletal system of the hand are pretty darn complex yet subject to being a bit more subject to injury and long term issues, in this manner to achieve some level of hardened hands for martial arts.

Another aspect to consider is, why do we need them especially since we must know and understand the concept of hard-to-soft/soft-to-hard applications. Add to that a hardened or conditioned hand DOES NOT MEAN they will not break in the fight. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard from karate-ka who train makiwara who have sprained or broken bones in the hands because of the target and application or technique applied in sparring or sport competitions. One of the guys, a professional, whose blog I read wrote an article on his training where dependent on an application to a target either suffered no adverse issues or with the same under slightly different conditions actually broke their hand. 

I have utilized the makiwara my entire martial art life and I learned early on that although I like how it trains me in regards to certain principles, etc. that it does not preclude me from injury. Consider this, in a SD situation you have to deal with chaos and getting into that type of situation is about chaos and in chaos anything can happen and usually does. Not considering such things in training before you encounter violence, such as five types of impact and how to apply them along with principles of martial system applications, does not mean you are immune to injuring hands or feet regardless of whether you conditioned them or not, it is chaotic and unpredictable so training and practice should encompass those possibilities to “Minimize” injuries. 

Another aspect of knuckle pushups, especially on cement or hardwood, exposed those knuckles to stresses that might, no one has ever tested or proven this, lead to an arthritic hand and/or fingers. Or, just pain and discomfort from the built up calcium deposits that often come with karada-kitae.

Now, this is not to say that I don’t do karada-kitae, it means I still do so with an emphasis toward moderation to achieve results that do not include building up massive and somewhat ugly knuckles that symbolize karate under a somewhat questionable symbolic meaning. Even the leaders of Okinawa karate will have issues with karada-kitae as to its application in training more than its functionality in self-defense.

So, in a nutshell, although I practice karada-kitae, I don’t recommend it as something required for SD, Karate or as a traditional means of training but I do have certain recommendations to students who are hell-bent on doing it. In my days teaching I would have a makiwara and would expose students to it for educational purposes but always with reservations both mine and for students. 

In the end whether you use a makiwara or knuckle pushups, it is a personal decision and if nothing else my goal is to provide enough information for a more informed decision making process by all practitioners. The Information Age, ain’t it great?

Note: In an effort to find snapshots of knuckle pushups most were on the flat of the fist vs. on the two fore-knuckles. 

Note II: Understand, the practice of karada-kitae, especially of the hands, does not mean you perform the process till the point of abusive as shown in the last snapshot below. You can condition and learn and teach all the benefits without the adverse results by the way you practice, that is important.