James McNeil's Iron Palm training

[kal]

I've just read an excellent article in the April 2004 Inside Kung Fu magazine. It's by James McNeil and covers what appears to be an extremely comprehensive program for Iron Palm. It mentions not only bag training, but also thrusting into bucket of soybeans as well as training by holding jars filled with water.

I note that he offers a full Iron Palm training kit by mail (DVD, book, herbs, bag etc.) and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with using it? Can you recommend it?

One thing did strike me as a bit strange in the article and that is that dit da jow liniment does not appear to be used. Is this right or am I mistaken?

The article talked about soaking or "cooking" the hands for 20 minutes in a special mixture of herbs and white vinegar before and after training. However, it did not seem to mention dit da jow at all.

Does anyone know whether dit da jow is actually used?

The article also seems to say that the bag is filled with beans only. Isn't iron or steel shot more commonly used?

The article is here: http://www.littlenineheaven.com/gallery/magazine%20articles%202004/index.html

It's one of the best-written articles I have seen in Inside Kung Fu in a long long time. Sadly the quality of the magazine has been going downhill for a long time.

[Samurai Jack]

Mung beans are traditionally used in certain types of iron palm training because they are proported to have medicinal properties. The herbs used in cooking methods of iron palm are a kind of dit da jow. McNiel's students have demonstrated impressive breaks in the past, but as with most things in kung fu, it is always prefferable to have some personal instruction. If you can get a hold of McNiel through his website, he should be able to answer any specific questions you have. He is highly regarded within the CMA community.