Strong Hands

[XiaoJieFu]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some good exercises to do that will make my hands (fingers) strong, for eagle claw type gripping.

I was checking out a thread in the Taiji forum, where people were discussing that finger-pushups are actually bad for your hands, and can mess up your qi.:confused: I've been doing these and noticed an increase in hand/finger strength, but I don't want to continue it if it will mess me up in the future.

So what are some other exercises that will improve hand strength, particularly grip & crushing power? Exercises that won't result in chronic injuries to your fingers.:rolleyes:

[Golden Arms]

Get some mayo jars, empty them out, and fill them part way up with water. Put on the cap and then hold onto the lid with your fingertips only, you can hold them out to the side or swing your arms with them, etc. Over time increase the amount of water (weight) and then when they are full, start adding heavier material to them like sand, etc. There are people that will tell you this is just going to develop endurance or whatever, but they likely dont understand exactly how and eagle claw stylist uses their hands, this will turn your fingers into hooks over time, with strong tendons as well.

For strength, try pinch gripping weight plates, as well as wadding up a towel with your fingers, or ringing out a wet towel with your hands until its dry, over and over. Do a little every day, or every other day and over time your hands will develop.

[XiaoJieFu]

Thanks.

I do stance training with bricks in my hands (just held by my fingers, not my palm) these days, so I figure that's kinda similar. But I will try out the jar thing.

Any other exercises?

Also... More of an interest question... What's the difference between eagle claw and tiger claw, particularly the way are trained?

[bodhitree]

crush grippers, roll-ups (wood with a rope and weight), wrist curls,

This is one from my tma days:
In horse stance, make these changes fast but keep the accuracy
with arms streight out make
regular fist, then spear fist, then tiger claw, crane, leapord
repeat a bunch of times, your forearms/hands will get quite a workout.
(keep your arms/forearms straight ahead and only move your hands)

[dougadam]

I use the the knife hand and punch into a bucket of beans. And also finger tip push ups work great. But like many things, you must start small.

[brucereiter]

all good tips ...

one thing i do is i have a 3' stick with 8lb weight attached to one end. it does not seem like much weight but after a few minutes of holding it straight out and rotating with it so the heavy end stays in the same spot while i move through different stances.

this exercise was given to me to help with my sword forms.
good luck ...

i think finger tip push ups are great too and have never heard of them "blocking" your chi.

maybe the person who said that just cant do them so he discounts them :-)

[franco1688]

As bodhitree said, crush grippers are great. Also, another exercise I use (I do eagle claw and tiger claw training) is to stand in a cat stance with a brick in each hand, simply release the the brick, bring the hand to shoulder height and then catch the brick. When you do this you should do it with enough speed that the brick remains in the same spot in the air as it was in your hand. Your goal is to build up to 100 repititions for each arm then you switch to cat stance on the other side and repeat (100 reps each arm). When you finish doing this, you hold the bricks out to arms length (to the front) at shoulder height while assuming a horse stance. After this, you switch to a bow stance (forward stance) this time your arms are out to your sides (do both sides). Next, you switch to cat stance and you hold your arms back (they are down to your sides and back, again do both sides). Afterwards, you switch to a crossover stance (dragon stance) and one arm is to the front, palm facing to the front (hand pulled back, while still gripping the brick). The back arm is pulled back (fingers down, hand pulled back tight). Finish, just as you started, with the horse stance. Try to hold each of these postures for about 1-3 mins. There is more to this training (moving exercises) but this should be a good start. It's great for grip strength, training your stances, and shoulder/ forearm endurance. I hope this helps you out.

As far as the difference between tiger calw and eagle claw goes, in my system the actual tiger claw techniques emphasize more striking and clawing (just as a tiger would fight in the wild) and the eagle claw is used more for catching and grabbing (just as an eagle would use his claws to hunt prey). Of course, not all systems are the same and some people would probably argue with me about this. But eitherway, both tiger claw and eagle claw trainings are great for grip strength as well as strengthening other areas of your body. Finally, I'd reccomend that you not take to heart what other people say about training methods that you are doing. If it works for you, you find merit in it and you enjoy doing it keep doing it. My great grandpa did fingertip push ups and clapping push ups well into his nineties. He was a barber until he retired. If he could do them and still have enough finger dexterity to cut hair with tiny shears I'm sure you'll be o.k.