Long term effects of conditioning?

[MichiganTKD]

Exactly. It doesn't matter what rank or style you. Improper conditioning will be paid for in the long run. Why pay the price down the road for hitting walls and oak trees now?

Incidentally, in other threads I mentioned hitting trees to condition your hands. We never hit trees to break them, we hit trees just enough to penetrate a little. We are primarily practicing penetrating stopping force, accuracy, and good form.
We also primarily used the soft parts of the hand-knife hand, palmheel etc.

 

[TigerWoman]

I didn't know the Korean term "Kwon Go" either. Heard it called makiwara though. We call it the hard paddle-multiple layers of hard rubber and harder exterior. Feels like two boards on the instep. We also have a hitting post foam covered with canvas for hand technique. Not my cup of tea. I don't need any further arthritis. I have a little in my hands and alot in my knees. Be kind to your joints everyone. TW

 

[Miles]

Miles,

Actually, in interviews, Tak Kubota stated that he regretted conditioning his hands the way he did. Apparently he suffered some sort of damage or pain due to the years of hard core hand conditioning. Keep in mind, the conditioning he put his hands through was not for mere mortals.

Thanks MichiganTKD, had not heard/read those interviews. Yes, the whole sledgehammer thing was pretty extreme.

Miles

 

[MichiganTKD]

I've seen photos of Tak Kubota breaking stacks of bricks, patio blocks, etc. But you have to wonder what he did to his hands to get them to that point. It was pretty brutal stuff. And you definitely pay for it later on.

Keep in mind, the human body is really not that hard to injure. It doesn't take much to break ribs, crack a skull, dislocate a jaw etc. So the whole idea of training to break 5 bricks or 20 patio blocks, other than being able to say you can do it, makes little sense. Tae Kwon Do is supposed to build you up, make you stronger inside, and give you good health. If you develop arthritis and joint pain from hard core conditioning, this is antithetical to one of the main reasons for practicing. You would be an infirm old man unable to move well because of what you did to yourself earlier on. Not a great model of the benefits of Tae Kwon Do.