The fist is the first human weapon, the first of many uniquely human ways to maim and kill.

Using your closed fist as a club punching is such a basic way of attacking someone in the human world

that it might surprise you to learn we're the only animal that does it. We're the only

animal that can do it. Sure, other animals strike each other with their hands, but the technique of

rolling one's fingers up, pinning them down with the thumb, and then throwing the knuckles at an

opponent is uniquely human.

And even if you've never punched someone in your life, I promise your body has instinctively

gotten ready to in the past. Think of the last time you got angry, really angry, like freaking

out angry. I guarantee you your hands balled up into fists without you even

thinking about it. This is just how homo sapiens fight. From the schoolyard to the bar to the cage,

everybody's doing this weird thing with their hands.

And from an objective perspective, I really do mean weird.

Chimpanzees, our closest relatives,

they murder each other with significant frequency,

and unlike us, they usually do so unarmed.

And yet, they don't punch.

In fact, they can't punch. They can't even form a buttressed fist.

None of the apes, the animals with hands most similar to ours, form a buttressed fist.

And while many, many animals strike, they don't do it like this. Humans can throw their hands with so much force that we have multiple sports

where the aim is to temporarily shut down another individual's brain

through their skull by striking them with a hand. The goal is a knockout, and basically

anyone can do it with a little bit of practice. Now, punching with a closed fist may or may not

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