Can (or Should) an Anthro with Claws be Able to Throw a Punch?

[DRY1994]

Personally, I don't think that an anthro with claws can punch (not without hurting themselves anyway). To see why I say that, form a fist with one of your hands. Now imagine you had claws. Those claws are pointed into the palm of your hand. Now take your other hand and press it against the part of the fist your other hand is making that will generally take the point of impact. The hard, sharp claws are now being pushed into the palm of your hand. This is why I don't think a clawed anthro should throw a punch. Even if they had "retractable" claws, once the distal phalanx (the bone at the end of your finger and where the claw is attached) is bent down, the claw is out.

I've seen people refer to cats "punching" when it really looks like a clawless slap or half-swipe. If a clawed anthro had to rely on fighting with their hands, they would have to fight with open or arched hands, not fists. Slaps, swipes, and hooks would work well with their claws, especially hooked claws. These however may leave them open to being countered because of the wide swing generally needed to make them most effective with hooked claws. Depending on the shape of their claws some anthros may be able to pull off spear-like jabs by thrusting an open hand forward if their claws are relatively straight. If an anthro wanted to throw some punches, They should first clip their claws.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Trevorbluesquirrel]

They would slash like Wolverine!

Or sink their claws into the flesh!

Or bitch slap!

Most likely!

 

[Marius Merganser]

Putting aside the idea that anthros are not anatomically correct and their realism varies by character...

Cats have retractable claws, so assuming the anthro does too, I would think the anthro could punch. But if we also assume the anthro is of reasonably expected strength, I would expect a claw attack would be more effective.

A bear anthro would be relatively strong and I would expect an arm attack to be more like using a club than either a punch or slash.

And a cartoon-y handed duck, such as myself, is far more likely to use a large wooden mallet.

 

[Z-ro]

If they can retract them, sure
If not, ya hand's fucked

 

[Jackpot Raccuki]

Smug protogen will P u n c h .

My main fursona, the Grizzly can just smack people with his giant paws and slap them back to the stone age.

 

[reptile logic]

Though I will not bother to locate video footage for you, falcons have been known to close their talons tightly and use their 'fists' to bean other birds in the head. They're most likely to do this against earth-bound prey, during a fly-by attack. They have claws, they make use of a punching style of attack. There's one real-world example for you.

 

[quoting_mungo]

As someone with long nails, I can say that if I intended to punch something, I'd not be curling my fingers inside my palm, anyway, but either go thumb-inside-fingers or press the ends of my fingers to the heel of my hand (and probably end up stabbing what/whoever I was punching with my thumb). That's not saying this is at all the proper way to make a fist, and in a fistfight I'd probably break something more than my nails, just that if you don't have them trimmed short your nails can be enough to get in the way of forming a fist in a way appropriate for punching.

If anything, bluntish dog-style claws might actually be more comfortable to punch with than human nails, provided they're trimmed reasonably short. Claws don't flex, and flexing nails can hurt like a bitch.

 

[Kit H. Ruppell]

If they just have sharp nails on otherwise humanlike hands, throwing a punch shouldn't be a problem. They might have to adjust their aim and grip a little to keep from digging into their palms.

 

[TheCynicalViet]

Assuming an anthro has the same hand anatomy as a human, then they wouldn't necessarily have to curve their claws inward into their hands. They could just only bend the joint nearest to the knuckles and lay the finger tips flat on the palm and still form a fist. It's not good form but it's the only thing I can think of.

EDIT: I found a pic.

EDIT: Turns out there's a real life style of kung fu that's perfuct for anthros. Leopard style kunf fu. It's perfect.

 

[BubbaDuckChanchi]

What are your thoughts?[/QUOTE]
I think that it would be a double edged sword because while the furry punches, the person being punched will be hurt.And depending on the claw length
the claws would dig into the fur-baby's flesh and that would hurt too even if the claws were dull .