[Deformation of the fist due to Taekwondo training]. / Droht dieser Faust bald das Knock-out?

Over a period of 25 years a 40-year-old taekwondo world champion had conditioned his hand for so-called "breaking championships", by repeatedly striking progressively harder materials (sand, dried peas, a mixture of dried peas and small stones, and such like). An MRI investigation revealed an augmentation of tissue between the heads of the metacarpals. The biomechanical effect resulting from this "smoothing" of the striking area of the fist is to reduce the peak load acting on the prominent bony elements on impact, and thus reduce the risk of injury. The build-up of tissue represents a response of connective tissue to repetitive microtrauma.