Anybody do Iron Palm Training?

[alptraum]

Just wondering if anybody did Iron Palm training so there hands would hit like a brick wall. I believe it's from Kung Fu (correct me if I'm wrong) but with all the knife hands and other strikes in ninjitsu I could see it being very useful. I've thought about it from time to time but wondered if it caused arthritis or heart problems which the Chinese believed. If so, what did you use?

 

[SleepingFist]

If it is any help, there are many systems of iron palm training, most of them use varying dit da jow (external chinese medicine required to aid the process) and all of them have value. The heart problem you speak of are the result of incorrect technique in the execution of a bag slap (most but not all involve the striking of something or other), if tension is kept in the arm, the vibration of the impact of the bag goes up the arm, like recoil from a friearm and enters the chest. You vibrate your chest often enough and you will have heart problems in most cases so relaxation is important if not vital in iron palm conditioning, in poarticular if you are performing the 100 day iron palm method (you can get books on that one). The other thing is blood pressure, again this is the result of not approaching the conditioning properly. Whacking somehting in such a fashion that you overstress yourself, crease up your hace, scream and shout at the pad (gravel bag, sand bad, whatever) etc is stressfull, like always arguing with your boss and it will effect your blood pressure (if you want more information on this you shoudl look into psychoimunology and associated texts) so once again no matter how painful you have made the training for yourself, you should stay as calm in mind and body as possible.
So the iron palm training is perfectly safe if you approach with care, patience and good form/technique.
You sjould also not dimiss things such as red sand palm training which I have found excellent and quite complementary to other systems, this involves 'washing' your hands in sand (there are special sands but I've used builders fine sand and have had impressive results), when combined with good chi gung (although it does work without) a very heavy hand is created.
The most important things about iron palm are:
1) consitency and patience, perform your early practice every day, it is only later that your maintenace need be less often
2) Good dit da jow....I think it is safe to say you'l only get half the benefit without it, probably less, but then i've never conditioned without it.
3) Good technique, for your health and safety, and for the right results.
4) Don't go testing it till you know you have something.....a broken hand realy does screw up you training.

Lastly, and I am sorry if I go on....find a good teacher or advisor in this skill. If you get a book or video make sure the auther is known to know what he/she is talking about. And don't approach with all enthusiasm and no thought, you must be prepared to monitor not just your technique but also your emotions, tensions and breathing and be prepared to do your conditioning every day until you have evolved a first stage iron palm.
I wish you luck, however, I am unsure of just how Taijutsu will be effected by this traiining.....

 

[Master Brian Gray]

For the most complete, scholarly and accurate information on the art of the Chinese Iron Palm Skills, you might want to read the new four-book series by Iron Palm Grandmaster Brian Gray. He just released them - Iron Palm Fundamentals, Advanced Iron Palm, Applied Iron Palm and Grandmaster Brian Gray's Iron Palm Form. You can see these at www.ultimateironpalm.com and you can check out his credentials at www.briangray.com .