How to Wrap Your Hands for Muay Thai

Wrapping your hands in preparation for a Muay Thai fight or workout is important for several reasons that include, the protection of your hands and wrists, along with higher accuracy and increased power. The first step in wrapping your hands is knowing your body, its structure and the innate reasons why hand wrapping is conducted and how to ensure that your hand wrap is secure and safe.

The main reason for hand wrapping throughout the practice of Muay Thai and during any exclusive or in-exclusive Muay Thai fights is to protect your hands, knuckles and most importantly your wrists from any damage. These body parts are predominately used throughout a range of Muay Thai techniques, making them one of the most important parts of you to protect, hence why Muay Thai fighters and practitioners use a hand wrap and favour them during Muay Thai workouts and fights.

If you create a fist and look at it from a side view perspective, you will see that your knuckles are much shorter than your fingers, giving your fist a disproportioned state unsuitable for the techniques used in Muay Thai fighting. One of the purposes of hand wrapping is to thicken your knuckles with the wrapping material for more accurate punching and protection during those punching techniques.

The first step in creating a secure and safe hand wrap that is suitable for Muay Thai training and fighting is to ensure that the hand wrap you are using is designed specifically for Muay Thai. There are a range of Muay Thai hand wraps available made from a variety of materials including cotton, zinc oxide and elasticated materials depending on which style of hand wrap suits you, so choose a hand wrap that is comfortable but secure for the safest Muay Thai fighting experience.

When you first begin to wrap your hands, ensure that your fingers are the same width as your knuckles and wind the wrap around your fingers, securing the loose end with your thumb, three to four times. Once finished, slide the coiled, padded wrap around your fingers, back off, keeping it secure and measure it against your knuckles for size. This section of coiled up wrap will then become the protection and padding for your knuckles during your Muay Thai fight or workout.

Next you will place the section of coiled up wrap onto your knuckles, so that when you make a fist, the padded section of the wrap is directly on your knuckles for protection, and wrap this to secure it, three to four times. You will then continue to wrap around the rest of your hand, leaving your thumb exposed, and move up to the wrist, wrapping two to three times and then back over the top of your hand, moving through the area between your smallest and ring finger, before wrapping back up to the wrist and repeating the process throughout all four fingers and thumb. Repeat this process until the wrap is complete before securing the wrap safely using the velcro attached to any Muay Thai hand wrap.

When you’re wrapping your hands in preparation for a Muay Thai workout or fight, it is important not to wrap too tightly and to ensure that your knuckles and your fingers are the same length when you make a fist, when your wrap is finished. The Muay Thai hand wrap ensures maximum protection for your wrists and maximum power in your punching technique during any workout or fight, making it an essential part of training and learning, at any level of Muay Thai.