When you choose this fight club at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with smith's tools and medium and heavy armor. Additionally, wearing medium and heavy armor does not prevent you from gaining the benefits of your Fisticuffs feature.
Most pugilists are armored as heavily as they are armed—which is to say, they're not. But those of certain backgrounds, or from cultures with a heavy emphasis on metalworking such as dwarves, find they brawl better encased in armor. Pugilists in this fight club blend their metallurgical skills with their innate talent for fisticuffs, a combination that grants them scorching strikes and an ironclad resilience.