Evolutionary Aspects of Combat

Humans have evolved to fight differently to most other animals e.g., we don’t have strong jaws that can rip flesh, or claws that can easily rake, causing serious damage and injury etc. This might explain why, unlike other animals, we didn’t develop “rituals” and “displays” designed to avoid conflict, such as the acts of posturing and submission used by wolves and other social canines to try and settle conflicts i.e., these animals have the physical ability to kill each other easily/quickly, in ways that humans are inherently lacking – by and large we need to use tools to accomplish serious and permanent damage to each other in a quick contest etc. However, as we will see we still share some commonalities, which aren’t always obvious – and that can be used to “reconnect” us with some ideas that can benefit us, concerning how we generate power. In this article, I want to look at some of the different ways we have evolved, such as standing/walking on two feet, the shortening of our fingers etc., and how these things may affect the way that we fight.   

Humans are not the only animals that fight standing up (from a bipedal posture). It is a relatively common phenomenon for many mammals that normally walk/move on all fours, including bears, anteaters, and big cats etc. to raise themselves up on their hind legs when engaged in combat. This allows them to use their extremely mobile forelimbs to attack and defend with, whilst utilizing their more powerful back legs to push, drive and generate power. From such a heightened position, they are also in a position where they can take advantage of gravity and use their weight more effectively against their aggressor. There is a strong evolutionary argument to be made that aggression and violence played a significant part in leading to humans walking upright on two – our “back” – legs. Whilst all of this may be interesting from a theoretical perspective, it also has practical applications, illustrating how we too should engage our legs, and utilize gravity, to add power to our punches. Our feet have also evolved to be able to engage in both plantigrade (supporting weight on the heels of the feet) and digitigrade actions (supporting weight on the toes and balls of the feet). Although this probably occurred to allow us to walk more efficiently and effectively (we are one of the few animals that expend significantly less energy covering the same distance by walking as by running), it also gives us the ability to both drive off of the ball of the foot, and toes when striking/punching, as well as allowing us to sink our weight into the heels when we need to stabilize ourselves and base.

We differ from other primates – Gorillas, Chimpanzees and Bonobos etc. – in several regards, one of these being the length of our fingers; we have much shorter fingers than our primate cousins. The most likely evolutionary reason for this is that it allows us a greater degree of dexterity, which allows us to make more intricate tools etc. This also allows us to tighten our hand into a fist, to create a “weapon” that can be used to strike/punch with – whether evolution intended this to be the case or not is still open to debate, and it seems most likely that the ability to create a fist for punching is a spandrel/exaptation i.e., a secondary tag-along trait, rather than something which drove that development. There are also other aspects of our evolution, which would suggest that being able to make a fist to punch with wasn’t a primary reason for the shortening of our fingers. However, the use of the fist in fighting may have led to other evolutions, such as protective buttressing of the face. This saw the thickening of certain facial bones around the eyes and jaws, as these became the primary targets for punching.

If we err on the side of caution, we should view our ability to make a fist as something that our hand is not naturally designed for, and so consider what we need to do to ensure that we don’t injure our hand when punching. When we consider that the human skeleton is made up of 206 bones, with each hand and wrist comprising of 27 bones i.e., 54 total; 26% of all skeletal bones, we can see that the hand is one of our more intricate and delicate appendages and one that can be easily damaged. There is a reason that boxers wrap their hands inside their gloves. A good way to find the position the fist and wrist should be in when striking is to extend your arm, in the position it would be at the end of a punch and place your fist flat against a wall. In this position, you should start to maneuver your fist, so that only the largest two knuckles are making contact with the wall – this should result in your largest knuckle, now being in front of your wrist rather than off to the side.  

It is important for us to understand what we do “naturally” and have evolved to do, and what may be secondary traits, such as the ability to make a fist e.g., if we assume that we naturally make a correct fist, then we may not see the worth of practicing how to form a fist correctly i.e., one that doesn’t damage our hands when we punch. As a side note to this, I would suggest that when you practice developing power, you wear gloves to protect your hands, as there is little point in punching bare-knuckle, and damaging your hand whilst you are trying to develop this specific attribute i.e., power punching. Develop your ability to correctly position and orientate your fist/knuckles, separately to other attributes. However, when you are practicing power punching, try to engage your legs and reconnect yourself with your feet, so that – like other animals – these are active in generating forward momentum etc.