Hand Wrapping

Hand wrapping for Muay Thai serves multiple functions.
1- lends support to your wrist and hand bones (metatarsals) to prevent injury
2- absorbs your sweat so that your equipment will last longer and not smell like old sweat socks.
By wrapping your hands, you are trying to give support to your wrist and the back of your hand, especially by your ring and pinky fingers.
Most handwraps have a loop, and are labeled with a sign "This side down", and a velcro fastener on the other end.
Hook the loop over your thumb, and begin by wrapping around your wrist by going across the back of your hand.
Make sure the side of the wraps that say "this side down" is the side against your wrist. Try not to "twist the wraps".
As you begin to wrap, do not pull them too tight. They should be snug, but not tight. You want to make sure that your wrist, hand, and fingers get proper blood circulation.
After wrapping around your wrist a couple of times, bring the wrap up across the back of your hand. Make sure to cover the knuckles. Allow the wraps to extend about an inch down onto your fingers.
As you begin to wrap across the back of your hand, spread your fingers wide as though you are about to palm a basketball. This will make sure that you do not wrap too tightly and cut off your circulation.
Keep alternating between wrapping the back of your hand and your wrist. When you approach the end of your wrap, finish wrapping the excess around your wrist and fasten them there.
Many people will also include wrapping around the thumb knuckle when they handwrap, to support the thumb against potential breaks. This is a personal choice. I prefer not to wrap the thumb because it tends to make my thumb stick out more and is harder to tuck into my fist. I then end up catching my thumb on something while boxing and injuring it. You may choose to wrap it if it works ok for you.