Zheng gu shui is, i believe, a menthol product and this would make it something similar to tiger balm. The menthol makes you feel a bit better for a short period of time, but I do not believe it does much or anything to actually aid any healing.
I don't know what woodlock oil is.
dit da jow exists in many forms, and is very useful for brusing and contusions, and conditioning. It's not to be used for cuts and open wounds or broken bones or torn ligaments and more severe injuries of that type.
Back in the day many teachers and healers in China had their own formula for dit da jow, and it was often closely guarded and not passed on to others but for family and close and trusted students. Nowadays, it is commonly available in places like San Francisco's Chinatown. The problem is, it still is not all the same and much of the stuff easily available is mass-produced in places like Hong Kong and Beijing, for mass consumption. I believe these are cranked out daily in high-volume batches,
It's my understanding, however, that a good jow takes time to make. It needs time to brew and stew and whatnot, to become better than the average jow. Sometimes you can get a good jow that is still made by a Chinese doctor, in small batches, with the necessary time involved to make it better than most. This kind of thing is still often not available on a mass-consumption level, and I doubt you'll find it on the internet.
I know there are things on the internet that people feel are good, and maybe they are. I don't know much or anything about them, so I won't comment specifically. But if they are brewed and cranked out quickly, they are not a superior jow.
There are also different formulas that are designed for different purposes. Honestly, I don't know much about that. Supposedly some formulas are better for conditioning in iron palm type training and whatnot, while others are better for "healing" purposes. Personally, I think they are all essentially "healing" linaments, but it is possible that an Iron Palm jow will have some additional qualities that another jow may not have. Again, I'll be honest and just say that I don't really know much about that.
However, if you have a good healing jow, I think you are on the right track. I believe you could use a good healing jow for things like Iron Palm as well. It may not be quite as good as a specific Iron Palm jow, but it's definitely much much better than doing iron palm conditioning without any kind of jow.
It's my opinion that most people are probably not doing Iron Palm correctly and methodically as they ought to. Don't think that simply having an Iron Palm jow will give you Iron palms. It is a long and dilligent training process, combined with proper healing, that leads to iron palm. Jow is just one component of the process.
I wouldn't worry quite so much about specific formulas, as long as you get a good one.
I will put out an offer to folks here on Martialtalk. I have access to a better-than-average jow. I get it from my accupuncturist, and it is made in small, controlled batches by one of his medical teachers here in San Francisco. The man who makes it has been practicing Chinese medicine for many decades. He gives the jow several months to brew, it's not something that he cranks out quickly.
I don't know what his formula is, and I don't know how it compares to some others out there, but I am a believer that it is better than the average stuff that is commercially available. Basically, I and my sifu trust my accupuncturist, and he trusts the man who makes this jow, and that's good enough for me.
If people out there in Martialtalk land who don't have access to a good source of jow, let me know and I can get some and send it to you. Send me a PM and we can discuss.
