Boxing is one of the most dangerous sports in the world. As such, wearing protecting gear at all times is crucial for maintaining a healthy relationship with this martial art. That said, many boxers don’t bother wearing protection equipment, such as hand wraps.
Boxers wrap their hands to tighten their fist to ensure the safety of their wrists, fingers, and knuckles. Likewise, it cushions the impact from the many punches you’ll be throwing toward a punching bag or another boxer. Hand and wrist injuries are the most common amongst boxers, so protecting them—should be your priority.
There’s no real reason not to wear hand wraps, other than the fact that they take time to wear. If you want to ensure the safety of your hands, they’re necessary.
People, who wore hand wraps once, can’t go back to punching bare-fisted. They understand the importance and the value such protection equipment provides. As such, they can’t go back to not wearing them, since they understand how important they are.
I’ve been fortunate enough to heal from a wrist injury, which was caused by punching incorrectly. As a result, I know how vital it is. If you don’t want to be unable to punch for the next year or so, you must wear hand wraps or boxing gloves, to ensure your fist will remain in the same spot.
Before we dive in, if you want to know why boxing is one of the most dangerous sports out there, follow the link to an article where I explain more about the topic.
Are hand wraps necessary in boxing?
Wearing protection equipment—is crucial in dangerous sports. Can you imagine an individual parachuting without, well, a parachute? I guess not. The same applies to martial arts, such as boxing.
Wearing hand wraps, both with or without boxing gloves, is necessary to ensure you don’t injure your wrist, hand, knuckles, or fingers. Such injuries are the most common ones amongst boxers. Thus, protecting them—should be your top-priority, as you’re most likely to experience them.
Of course, boxing gloves are also an equipment you should wear. If you don’t, you’re much more likely to experience hand or wrist injuries in both the short and long-term.
Even if you don’t currently feel pain in these spots, you might begin to develop long-term wrist injuries, which your body will have a difficult time to heal. As such, you may never throw another punch again. Do you now understand how critical gloves and hand protection gear are?
If you want to buy the best hand wraps for your money, and thus ensure the safety of your hands, wrists, and fingers while maintaining an affordable price, follow the link!
Are hand wraps mandatory in boxing competitions?
When competing in boxing, there’s a list of equipment you must have or wear during the fight. If you don’t, you may end up disqualified, as they’re part of the rules. Let’s examine some must-wear equipment in competitions.
Hand wraps are mandatory to have in boxing competitions because it’s in the rules. According to AIBA, you must wear boxing gloves, hand wraps, head guards (if you don’t own a professional license), and glove tape. Without these, you’ll be unable to compete in the competition itself.
Usually, the tournament’s organizer will provide the boxers with all said equipment. As such, you don’t have to actually own or bring your equipment to the competition. But, be sure to check that beforehand.
In all AIBA-owned and AIBA-sanctioned Competitions, gloves, headguards, and bandages manufactured by one of the AIBA Official Equipment Licensees shall be provided by AIBA via the Local Organising Committee and shall be verified by the Technical Delegate.
AIBA, Technical and Competition Rules
As you can see, hand wraps are mandatory in AIBA-owned competitions. Nevertheless, some organizations may not mention the mandatory use of hand wraps and boxing gloves. So, you won’t have to use them.
Take this competition for example:
Should I wear boxing hand wraps?
Wearing protection gear is crucial in dangerous activities. While you may want to experience the sport as it is, you ought to protect yourself at all costs. No injuries are worth it in any type of sport, especially if they’re permanent
You should wear boxing hand wraps because they ensure you don’t injure your wrists, hands, knuckles, or fingers. Such injuries may take more time to heal, and as a result, not worth the risk. As such, I encourage you to wear protection gear if you box, such as hand wraps, gloves, and headguards.
Likewise, it’ll be best if you also wear gloves above your hand wraps. In competitions, such an act is required, or else you will be disqualified. Nonetheless, you should still be doing it, even if there’s no real danger in the training itself.
All it takes is one misplaced punch, where you accidentally open your hands and loosen your fist—to cause severe damage to your hand. Why risk in experiencing such long-term consequences if you can avoid it by wearing cheap protective gear.
Here are the hand wraps I recommend buying the most, if you want to ensure the long-term safety of your hands, wrists, knuckles, and fingers.
How to wrap your hands in boxing
This is going to be a shorter section than the rest, just because I believe that visually seeing it—will help you more. However, for those who want to see a written step-by-step guide, here it is.
To wrap your hands in boxing, begin by moving your thumb into the starting place. Then, starting wrapping your wrist for at least 3 times.
- Move your thumb into the starting spot
- Insert your thumb inside the starting position
- Wrap your wrists for at least 3 times.
- Wrap closer to the palm
- Then, wrap your knuckles for at least 3 times
- Wrap between the fingers
- Strengthen weak spots with the leftovers
Should I wrap my hands under my boxing gloves?
Wrapping your hands under your boxing gloves—will provide you with more hand & wrist protection. Such protection can be the difference between getting or not getting injured. As a result, always ensure to wear your boxing gloves above your hand wraps, if you desire to minimize the odds of getting injured.
In boxing competitions, wearing both hand wraps and gloves—is mandatory. That’s because the organizations want to ensure its boxers avoid stupid injuries, such as hand or wrist ones.
Surprisingly enough, hand injuries are the most common in the sport of boxing, so wearing both layers of protection—is vital.
Which is better, hand wraps or boxing gloves?
Comparing hand wraps and boxing gloves is like comparing a bun with a patty. They both need each other to ensure the best experience. So, we can’t really say which is better, as we require both to ensure maximum protection.
Hand wraps and boxing gloves are both crucial pieces of equipment to ensure maximum protection. If you want to minimize your odds of getting injured, you must wear both practically whenever you throw punches; let it be in training or competitions.
Do yourself a favor and wear both whenever you throw punches. The most common injury, also ironically named boxer’s injury, is in the wrist. All it takes is a single punch with improper form to cause permanent damage.
Do you want to take this risk?
Final words
Boxing is one of the most dangerous sports. I’ve seen plenty of boxer injure themselves and thus not throw a punch for longer than you think. It can be years until you’ll feel safe throwing yourself out there in the ring.
So, do yourself a favor and stop putting your hands at risk. You don’t want to experience such injuries, as you’ll miss out on plenty of future fun. In the present moment, protect your hands and wrists by wearing hand wraps all the time.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you’ll also enjoy reading about the best boxers from all around the world. Truly, you can learn so much just from watching the elite of the elite go. So, give it a read.