Iron Body Safest Method?

Mider1985

Green Belt
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Messages
121
Reaction score
2
There are multiple type of iron body methods in the world from diffrent arts.

In Thailand the muay thai men would kick a banana tree till there shin bones were calsified and were like clubs the nerves would be deadened i think after kicking the tree thousands of times.

In Okinawa I saw a master have his students carry 50 pound pots to make there fingers stronger they had to do kata's with the pots, the Master himself could break an inch of wood with his thumb tucked into his hand like a palm strike, he could also break other boards in half using his finger tips. He also would strike his students on there bodies and then later he took what looked like a two by four and broke it on one of them they simply stood there as he hit them. He also punched them in the gut and they still did not move.

A Goju master took what looked like a small boulder of concrete im not sure what it was made of, but he'd punch and hit it with all his might and then do kata's with it in his arms carrying it around

In Shaolin youtube pics, you see men who are strong enough to break a coconut with eight strikes to it using there palm i think a coconut is roughly the same hardness as a human skull. But they train by punching a stack of papers against a wall for years till there fists are stronger, or hitting there heads against sandbags till there heads are stronger, same thing with necks they balance there heads ont here necks. or to make there palms and hands stronger they hit bags of beans which progress into bags of gravel and then metal, sometimes a tube like bag is used to strike the student with varying materials. You can see that kinda training under Master Wing Lam

BUT some masters like Yawn Ming say that this is very dangerous training and it obviously is. so my question is which is the safest way to learn an iron body technique? You can still learn Iron Body from Dr Ming at the YMAA but you have to learn it directly from him and only on your seventh year of training.

So has anyone in here studied iron body or studies it? Whats your perspective on its dangers, usefulness in todays world, and positive atributes as well as negative.
 

kuntawguro

Master Black Belt
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
Messages
1,465
Reaction score
7
Location
Michigan
Me< I play guitar and like my body as it is- not looking like I have been dragged behind a dune buggy for a mile. It takes years of conditioning to get the desired effect on the body where as, if you just learned not to be there ( where the attack is being delivered) you would spend less time and it would not be a detriment to your body'y health. A runaway bloodclot from the hardening routine can cause instant death. A good deflection takes half the energy- Just my take. I would not want to have mangled up hands when I am 60 trying to drink a simple cup of coffee.
 
OP
M

Mider1985

Green Belt
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Messages
121
Reaction score
2
Me< I play guitar and like my body as it is- not looking like I have been dragged behind a dune buggy for a mile. It takes years of conditioning to get the desired effect on the body where as, if you just learned not to be there ( where the attack is being delivered) you would spend less time and it would not be a detriment to your body'y health. A runaway bloodclot from the hardening routine can cause instant death. A good deflection takes half the energy- Just my take. I would not want to have mangled up hands when I am 60 trying to drink a simple cup of coffee.

The men i saw didnt seem to have mangled hands. And shaolin iron palm is very SLOWWWWW you start hitting bags of beans or just a thing of paper so its probably the safest but also the slowest way im not sure
 

DaleDugas

My door is always open.
Lifetime Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2006
Messages
223
Reaction score
31
Maybe I can help.

I train in Iron Skills and teach them as well.

What would you like to know?
 
OP
M

Mider1985

Green Belt
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Messages
121
Reaction score
2
Maybe I can help.

I train in Iron Skills and teach them as well.

What would you like to know?

Well im just wondering whats the safest way to train, as ive pointed out many nations have alot of diffrent ways to have iron body, but some are extreme to the point of having there nerves deadened. In Goju ive seen men strengthen there hands by punching buckets of sand and doing various exercises with weights, including doing kata's with pots that are 50 pounds sometimes more if they have something in them. they even hit a small boulder. The master i was talking about the one who was carrying the pots was a Ueichi Ryo Karate. And the other was a Goju master. They have similar training methods please correct me if im wrong. The Ueichi Master was able to break a bat with his wrist it was rather impressive. The Goju master was using the stone hammer, the Ueichi Master was using the pots but i know both styles use the pots.

In China they do a much slower method i think im not sure ive seen on youtube the shaolins punching a stack of papers as thick as a phone book over a wall, and they hit there heads against sand bags for hours and hours. Wing Lam seems to use the same method as the shaolin sept he uses flat bags full of diffrent materials such as beans for beginners and then gravel for intermediate and finally steel for advanced, Id like to point out i saw a Goju practicioner punching a bucket that looked like it was full of small steel balls.

The Ueichi Ryu master's hands were so strong he could break bourds with just his thumb or finger tips, the Shaolin monks who trained in iron palm were strong enough to break coconuts with 8 hits.........thats pretty good considering they were only using there palm and a coconut is the same hardness as a human skull give or take.

So what are your opinions of Iron Palm and its uses today in the modern world? Do you think people should train iron palm? Of course the people who train in iron palm or iron shirt techniques should truly be only in it for self defense or to practice the art. Some masters are very against training iron palm or iron shirt like at the YMAA ive heard that they are very perticular about who they teach this art to
 

geezer

Grandmaster
MT Mentor
Joined
Oct 20, 2007
Messages
7,364
Reaction score
3,571
Location
Phoenix, AZ
Another way is to get seriously into landscaping work. My eskrima instructor runs his own landscaping business and his body is so damn hard that if I hit or check him hard, it's my hands that get hurt!
 

Yoshi

White Belt
Joined
Feb 13, 2010
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Hi. Im by no means a master or even a professional. But ive done some research in all types of body training. I think achieving iron body with methods that you describe is dangerous to do without a proper teacher. Unless you want to go REALLLY REALLY SLOW. Heres some methods, but I do not advise or reccomend any of these since theres risk for injury so do at your own risk. And i want to emphasize on your question... All of the iron body techniques are Harmful and Dangerous if you do not know what you are doing. The key to making them non-harmful is to start out VERY VERY slow. your body needs time to condition. strike with minimal power and speed, perfecting your technique of the punch, then slowly increase the speed. The finally increase the force.

1. One quick method is punching a phonebook thats hung on the wall. Paper absorbs shock, and therefore it will decrease the impact and damage to your bones. But you ned to start VERY SLOW. Do finger pokes, knuckles, elbows, fists. Do not keep impacting until you feel pain, stop after a few punches when you still do not feel any pain. Then after a month increase the number of your punches by a few at the same power. THEN increase your power on the punches after a few months. Remember to stop BEFORE you feel any pain after striking. This will get you conditioned well with time. REMEMBER, GO SLOW! VERY SLOW.

2. Another thing you can do is get two leather bags, put one inside the other, and then fill the inner bag with beans for your initial training. Then you can move on to rice, and then sand. You can practice kicks, blows, punches, to make your body stronger. This is more of an acceptable form of hardening your body, as it produces less impact on your bones, but it is very effective form to strengthen your body overall. Let the bag hang at first and let it swing as you punch it. then when you master and get stronger, tie the bottom of the bag to the floor so that it does not be able to swing. This will produce a greater effect.

3. Another form is what i like to call pizza rolling. here you take a dough roller ( http://www.enasco.com/prod/images/products/EF/VC121090l.jpg ) and you simply roll your bones with it. This is specific to your legs and shins only since its impossible to do your arms while using the other hand to roll.

4. Another is with the use of a medicine ball. You lie down on the floor and drop the ball on your abdomen and chest. First start dropping with low height, then you can increase the height from which you drop the ball.

5. Another technique is sleeping on a wooden bed. this hardens your joints and protrusions and its suposed to align your spine. Some may be opposed to this method.

and finally...

6. Finally another technique for achieving iron body which i developed myself, I dont know if its been already established or not, but it goes like this: Take your own hands (side of your palms, side of closed fists, inside of your palms) and punch your body with them. As you progress, you may use a rubber baton like a police night stick only softer, and use that to strike your body. This will create impactions to your bones and therefore make them become stronger as they grow and become more dense with conditioning to the blows. Also it will improve circulation. The key to the hitting is to make rapid strikes, with low power. until youve practiced with it for few months, then you can increase the force with which you are hitting yourself. Dont forget that this requires HEALING time, so only hit one body are per day and let it rest for the whole week while you go on to hitting other areas that week. Also, if a week passes and you still feel weak or pain in the area that you did a week ago, delay the training and give more time for healing until pain disapears. I DO NOT ADVISE THIS TO YOU OR ANYONE, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY THERES RISK FOR DAMAGING OR FRACTURING YOUR BONES. SO DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK.
 

Latest Discussions

Top