Why do punchers tape their hands?

[RebelFury]

i never tape my wrists - it gives you a reliance on the support provided by the tape, you tend not to strengthen your wrists. This is why many boxers etc damage their wrists when not taped. Much like the reason many of them damage their fist bones when they have no gloves on.

When would you be doing extensive punching without tape or gloves? Street fights don't last more than like 30 seconds usually, so it's not like you'll be doing any long punching sprawls there.. and I certainly hope you don't go into competitions without taping your wrists..

The fact is, there's no real effective way of "conditioning" your wrists. They're actually quite fragile. Conditioning your shins involves strengthing the bone by kicking a pad, slowly building up impact power. It also works to deaden nerves, so you won't feel it. Now, doing this to your wrists would be very difficult seeing as how there's no real bone to condition, but rather, about 20 little tiny bones and a whole lot of ligaments.. and ligaments can not be conditioned.

Bottom line: Don't try and be Mr. Tough Guy, just tape your wrists and wear gloves when working out.. it'll work out better for you.