finger jabs

[Ironwind]

On What would I practice my finger jabs on without seriously killing my hand from hitting.
my goal is to toughen my finger tips ( I know push-ups on fingers looking for something I can do without getting on the floor).
I usaully use my fore-knuckle fist (called so many different things in other places I just wanted to simplify it) but, I want more extension.
How should I go about training my hands for this without having to pound my face in the ground.

[IronFist]

What are you planning on finger jabbing that you need hard fingers for? Eyes? Throat? Armor?

[Ironwind]

:D lol.
No, I jammed a finger a while back by finger jabbing someones forehead I just don't want it to happen again. Even though it won't because I don't go around just poking eye's all day.

[Ironwind]

did I mention I missed the eyes

[fa_jing]

heh - people do finger conditioning in KF - I don't know much about it, though. Lily Lau can spear-hand a watermelon.

[Ironwind]

Originally posted by fa_jing
heh - people do finger conditioning in KF - I don't know much about it, though. Lily Lau can spear-hand a watermelon.

One of my goals is to do exactly that. I just wanna have fun.

[Gangsterfist]

Conditioning your hand for finger jabs can be useful. However, it is not really needed. If one knows how to finger jab appropriately and in the right places conditioning is not heavily needed. Practicing it will definately give you some condition.

You can do iron palm training, but be weary of how you do it. There are many miconceptions about iron plam training here in the west. There are also guidelines you must follow for it to be effective, and not counter productive. For example you are not suppose to do iron palm training with the following conditions: hungry, too full, tired, after having sex within 24hrs, under the influence of any type of drug within the last 24 hours, and so on and so forth. So, you get the picture. You are suppose to be in an optimal state when practicing iron palm. If you dedicate yourself to the training you will see benefits within a year or so of doing it. You are suppose to practice it starting off 15 minutes a day. Progressing too fast will cause injury and also be counter-productive. So you must have patience. This is what I have learned from my sifu and other martial artists over the years.

Start off with your basic iron palm sand bag. You want the little bag on top of like 8 cinderblocks or so (about waist heighth, but just slightly below). Stand in a horse stance and strike the bag with each hand in a sequence. Palm facing down first. It should be slightly cupped. Next strike with the back of the palm, then the knife edge of your hand. Last do a tiger claw type strike down on the bag. when doing the tiger claw strike make sure your fingers hit at a decent angle and not straight in. Repeat this for 15 minutes every day switching hands after completing a full set of strikes. If your legs tire while in the horse stance you can switch it over to a bow and arrow. Do this for 1 to 2 years. Then repeat the process with your level 2 bag (gravel instead of sand). Do the same training but for 20 minutes every day. After a year of that, you can move to the third level. A bag with steel pellets in it. Repeat the steps, but this time do it for 30 minutes each time.

You can use Dit Da Jow to help heal bruises on your hands and promote the conditioning of your hands. Now, do not have the misconception that this training makes your hands like iron. See this training method got its name because of what it made your hands look like, not what it made them into. When training with the steel pellets eventually they will rust from the oils of your body being worked into the bag. Once they rusted they would start to flake. The rust flakes would seap through the bag and give your hands a rusty look after training. Making them look like iron. That is where the name came from. Ofcourse nowadays we got stainless steel, so they probably won't rust as easy as they once did.

[IronFist]

Originally posted by Gangsterfist
Once they rusted they would start to flake. The rust flakes would seap through the bag and give your hands a rusty look after training. Making them look like iron. That is where the name came from. Ofcourse nowadays we got stainless steel, so they probably won't rust as easy as they once did.

I thought one of the purposes of iron palm was so that people couldn't tell you practiced it just by looking at your hands.

[Gangsterfist]

The rust will wash off, it does not permanently stain your hands. You are also correct, that kind of conditioning you really could not tell by looking at their hands. Its an internal conditioning.

Its not like striking stone and breaking bones to build up calcium around the knuckles. That makes your hands look all mangled like ginger roots.

[freehand]

Ironwind:
In Kung Fu San Soo, we assume that we will miss now and then (although precision is very desirable). When we do finger jabs, we keep the fingers slightly curved, so if they hit, say, forehead instead of eyeballs, they curl naturally without major injury.

Conditioning is good, but you will never develop fingers that will pierce jawbones or foreheads. Heh. Fists maybe:)

[Ironwind]

Thanks all for help.

Scince i've been a member here i've changed drastically.
I have become more disciplined, my equipment has been in better shape, and I train a little harder ever time I think about my past debait about beating Tyson.

Negative and positives are all thanked by me.

[scotty1]

That's good stuff. :)

[Ironwind]

By any chance would that conditioning bag be leather with the stuff on the inside. Right now I have rocks in it. Is that close to what you were talking about in the above Gangster Fist.

[Gangsterfist]

The ones I use are canvas bags which are square and about 1 foot in length on each side. You should start off with sand, move to gravel, then steel pellets. I take some cinder blocks and stack them up (alternating their directions so its more structurely sound) to just below waist heigth).

Here is a link to what it looks like. Its the second square bag down called the shaolin iron palm bag on this site. They use beans in their first level bag, which IMO would work just as good as sand.

http://www.superiormartialarts.com/catalog/uniform/kimebags.html


For the jow liniment (now I have not used this stuff, but you may want to give it a try) you can go to this website

http://www.orientalherb.com/martial_arts_products.html

Notice the kung fu has 5 levels on liniments. I am not sure how much they will help, but I have used dit da jow from this company and I can say that I am pretty happy with their dit da jow. My bruises heal very quickly with it.

Hope that answers your questions, good luck in your training.

[Ironwind]

I thought you said you haven't used this stuff?

[IronFist]

Originally posted by Ironwind
I thought you said you haven't used this stuff?

[IronFist]

Also, those iron palm bags look just like Wing Lam's.

[Gangsterfist]

Originally posted by Ironwind
I thought you said you haven't used this stuff?

Thats correct, I have not used their iron palm training liniment. However, I have used their dit da jow (which is used to help heal bruises and bumps) which I will say is a pretty good product. They have 5 levels of iron palm liniment which I have not used. I have used their dit da jow which is different. I hope that makes it more clear if you were confused.

Good luck in your training,

GF

[matt]

get a sting ray and look at how they use there tail is about the best way to learn a one finger strike you soak it in warm water and stretch the finger till you can bend it in all 4 derections and sit on the big joint back wards for wards left and right once your finger is very flexable practice thrusting with it in something that gives first to learn where the proper striking point of the finger is it is closer to the the top of the pad than the fingernail after you have reached penatration level with the speed which is about what you use for a snapping punch get pizza ever night for about a mounth and strike your finger thru the box after you can put it thru multiple times on the same box with out deforming the cardboard go to a model store and get some thin 1/8-1/4 inch balsa wood when you can stike thru balsa wood you can pretty much destroy any soft target with your finger if you want to strengthen it more lean toward a wall and do push ups on a wall till your finger only bends slightly against the weight slowly work your way down the wall over 90 days untill your doing a floor push up then turn around and slowly work up the wall with your feet till your doing a hand stand after that i guess you start trying to crack rocks or something

[Ironwind]

What the hell........
Matt you are bugging

[IronFist]

Originally posted by matt
get a sting ray and look at how they use there tail is about the best way to learn a one finger strike you soak it in warm water and stretch the finger till you can bend it in all 4 derections and sit on the big joint back wards for wards left and right once your finger is very flexable practice thrusting with it in something that gives first to learn where the proper striking point of the finger is it is closer to the the top of the pad than the fingernail after you have reached penatration level with the speed which is about what you use for a snapping punch get pizza ever night for about a mounth and strike your finger thru the box after you can put it thru multiple times on the same box with out deforming the cardboard go to a model store and get some thin 1/8-1/4 inch balsa wood when you can stike thru balsa wood you can pretty much destroy any soft target with your finger if you want to strengthen it more lean toward a wall and do push ups on a wall till your finger only bends slightly against the weight slowly work your way down the wall over 90 days untill your doing a floor push up then turn around and slowly work up the wall with your feet till your doing a hand stand after that i guess you start trying to crack rocks or something

Alright, ready? Watch:

.

^ did you see that? That's the period key. You should try using it at least once per post, or maybe even once per sentence.

[Ironwind]

Originally posted by IronFist


Alright, ready? Watch:

.

^ did you see that? That's the period key. You should try using it at least once per post, or maybe even once per sentence.
Don't worry he must be doing poetry or something.
His Katas are prbably like his stanzas


pointless.

[SevenStar]

Originally posted by IronFist


Alright, ready? Watch:

.

^ did you see that? That's the period key. You should try using it at least once per post, or maybe even once per sentence.

:D

[SevenStar]

Why don't you ask your sifu for some exercises?