Brass knuckles

Brass knuckles, also sometimes called knuckles, knucks or knuckle dusters (more common in British English), are weapons used in hand-to-hand combat. Brass knuckles are pieces of metal, usually steel despite their name, shaped to fit around the knuckles. Designed to deliver the force of punches through a smaller and harder contact area, they result in greater tissue disruption and increased likelihood of fracturing the victim's bones on impact. Also, the wielder of such a weapon may punch harder than normal, exacerbating damage even further, due to reduced subconscious anxiety about harming their own hands when striking.

Origins

Early forms of brass knuckles were used in ancient Rome, India, South America and Japan.

The Roman caestus was a type of glove or hand guard made from leather and metal used during boxing matches in gladiatorial events. Although modern day boxing gloves are used to keep the hands safe, thereby allowing the fighter to punch harder, the caestus was used solely to intensify the damage caused by a punch.

Vajra Mushti (Diamond Fist or Thunderbolt Fist) was the name of both a knuckle duster weapon and an ancient Indian martial art identified with that weapon that incorporates striking and grappling aspects, and a study of vital points.

A similar weapon, the tekko, is one of the traditional weapons of kobudo, a martial art from Okinawa, Japan.

Legality and distribution

In most countries, the possession, let alone use, of brass knuckles is illegal. Recently, brass knuckles are being sold on the Internet and in regular shops as novelties, although whether or not they are used as novelties is open to debate.

Brass knuckles can normally be purchased at flea markets, swap meets, and some sword and weapon shops. Due to a shady reputation they are often sold as paperweights or affixed with a detachable screw allowing them to be sold as a "belt buckle".

A new type of brass knuckle which is often called "Clear Knuckles" is made out of bulletproof glass that is, so far, legal in the United States. In difference, "Clear Knuckles" are designed to tear flesh and inflict topical pain, instead of brass knuckles that are designed to break bone. They are much lighter but still can be very dangerous.

Use

'Pairs' of knuckles can be custom made to fit individual hands; a common home-remedy is to fix or tape up the grip with electrical tape or gauze tape to ensure a better fit. Due to the generic factory shape and design, knuckles rarely fit the user perfectly. This can result in breaking the user's fingers if a punch is thrown straight forward.

Typology

Often made in factories in Pakistan [1] or China, brass variety but are much lighter and less likely to be detected.

Common varieties are spiked knuckles, "fat boys", "wedding rings", brass knuckles donned with a longhorn steer on the knuckles, brass knuckles with lions or skulls on the knuckles, and even "knuckle-knives."

Spiked knuckles are seen to be of the most vicious variety of brass knuckles as they not only can shatter bone into fragments but will shred tissue. The length of the spikes varies from as small as a quarter of an inch to up to 6 inches. Shorter spikes emphasise the impact of the brass knuckle on bone, while longer blades are used solely to inflict soft-tissue damage.

Certain brass knuckles are available with knives (especially flick knives) built in. These are very dangerous as a hand-to-hand fight can lead to a more serious situation where great injury or even death may be the outcome. These knife dusters are available in many countries across the world and should be handled with care.

Zinc oxide plaster wrapped around the knuckles protects the hands and makes the knuckles a better fit, so there is less chance of dropping them during a mêlée. The fact that the plaster is flesh colored makes them less noticeable.

Notable uses

Brass knuckles have appeared in various movies and TV shows as well. Some recent appearances include a normal pair of brass knuckles wielded on D-Day in Band of Brothers. Brass knuckles are also used by Flashman in a fight against Tom Brown in the 2005 BBC rendition of Tom Brown's School Days. After several minutes of fighting, without the brass knuckles, Flashman secretly puts them on and Brown is knocked to the ground in one punch and then is knocked out entirely with one more, sustaining a large cut across his forehead.

During World War I, trench knives, blades with enlarged guards to be used as knuckle dusters, were used in hand-to-hand combat in trench raiding operations. Another notorious usage in real life was the incorporation of brass knuckles in the so-called Apache Pistols.

WWE Superstar William Regal uses the Brass Knuckles as his finishing move called Power of the Punch.

On an episode of WWE RAW, Eric Bischoff handed Chris Jericho brass knuckles during Jericho's "You're Fired" match with John Cena. John Cena also occasionally used brass knuckles; his were engraved with "WORD LIFE". On the December 11, 2006 edition, Armando Alejandro Estrada attempted to hit Cena with a pair of brass knuckles.

The main character in Three O'Clock High wins a fight against a bully by using brass knuckles.

In the film Constantine, the main character, John Constantine, uses a pair of brass knuckles with crosses etched into them in his fight with Balthazar.

The protagonist from the videogames Doom and Doom II can use brass knuckles when out of ammunition.

Allied (US) soldiers in the Valve video game Day of Defeat: Source are equipped with a knife with brass knuckles for melee combat.

In several Grand Theft Auto videogames, the protagonist can equip brass knuckles to inflict more damage than a normal melee punch.

Brass knuckles can be used by the main character in Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven.

The British gangster Dave Courtney is also famous for using Brass Knuckles when debt collecting.

In the book The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the character Assef used brass knuckles each time he fought someone throughout the novel. Most notable at the end where Assef and main character fight and Assef breaks the narrators face bones, and ribs.

Spiked weapons resembling brass knuckles (though perhaps more similar to Bagh-nakh or Bakh Nagh) have appeared in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance as "Knuckles"", Final Fantasy VIII as "Spiked Gloves", RuneScape as "Claws" and World of Warcraft as "fist-weapons." A jonin from the Naruto series named Asuma Sarutobi also uses them as his main weapon in combination with taijutsu, able to stretch their bladed-end with his chakra. There has also been considerable use of "knuckle duster" type weaponry in the Castlevania series such as Circle of the Moon and Dawn of Sorrow. The character obtains more powerful and specialized weapons of this class throughout the game.

In the 2006 TV adaption of Robin Hood, Marian uses her wedding ring as a knuckle duster to knock out her husband-to-be Guy of Gisborne at the altar.

Body modification fans have been known to have a silicone implant shaped like a set of brass knuckles placed under the skin on the upper part of the chest.

Hurt really bad when you get hit by one.