poor man's conditioning

[yinyangcross]

I have been studying kung fu now for 3 months. I do not have a lot of money, so I was interested in the opinions of others about conditioning my hands, fore arms and legs by a series of controlled and progressive system of strikes on bricks, brick walls and trees..since these items are all free to me. Also, what is an economical way to work on speed?

Thank you

[BoulderDawg]

I would be careful. Since you've only been in MA for three months I think your most important exercises are your conditioning ones, Push ups, set ups, leg lifts, etc.

Practice these along with your horse stance, kicks, strikes, etc.

I would not worry too much rightnow about iron bone training. However if you're hell bent on this I would get some training before I started frailing away on a tree!:D

[Adventure427]

Well i wont comment on the conditioning because from what i've read you have to be careful with that stuff. Need good jow (from what i understand)

But speed...i can talk about speed. Speed comes from proper technique and repetition. Here's some tips...perform the move SUPER SLOW....like, matrix slow. Over and over and over.....(this will ensure that your form is perfect, maximizing your power).....and train just like that, then go just regular-slow (not matrix slow)....then medium speed....fast, ect. Do this kinda stuff all the time...mix it up. I used to be so fast i literally couldn't see my own hands and neither could others.....but now looking back i didn't have the best form so now im working on getting "Ghost Hands" with good form too. =)


Oh...ps: Try to save money and get a bag or join a school. If your too young to work, get a paper route. Get a jar to save up all your change and use it exclusively for a bag...throwing punches in the air may get you fast, but you need to condition your wrists to handle the impact of the blows.....plus it will teach you how to generate power (if you've never trained on a bag seriously till you were exhausted, you'll see what i mean im sure)

[RonH]

If it's physical conditioning you want, start with light things that are used over an increasing period of time. It's like with lifting weights. You want both strength increase plus stamina.

[RD'S Alias - 1A]

You can do everything an MA needs in your local forest preserve if it's got a creek. Even the iron hand cn be done by sifting out the tiny creek rocks, and putting them in asmall canvas bag. You can make one by cutting the pant leg off an old pair of jeans and sewing the ends shut.

You can tie a fallen tree branch between 2 trees and make a pullup bar. You can do push ups, every imaginalbe type for sit up/crunch, you can do gymnastic style polymetric jumping exercises.

You can use falen tree limbs and old tree trunks to do all sortsof Old School strong man exercises.

Here are some great exercises forthose with little, to no budget. Most of it is conditioning for men's Bars in Gymnastics, but they also put thier own twist on things as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b641jiO8bS4&mode=related&search=

[Black Jack II]

First be carefull,

Second, if you don't have the money right now to get a gym membership or some solo training equipment, work on your calisthenics and cardio. You can't get any more free than that.

Also, forest perserves are good, but go to a local park which has a playground, you can often find tons of iron bars there which can serve as dips and pullups without any hassle.

If you need a cheap striking bag, get a gym bag and fill it with sand or if you have a spare tree in the backyard, make a war post, wrap it in some foam, then some canvas bags filled with sand, tape the cr@p out of it and away you go.

[dougadam]

Finger tip push ups will strengthen your hands.

[monkeyking168]

well i would take the advise of the other & say work on your basics as they are the core to the system you are learning in addition to doing some simple exercises as others have suggested.

if you feel you need to condition further, i would suggest doing it slowly to reduce the risk of injury which will limit your ability to continue training. :)

there are things that you can do to condition you hands, forearms, shins & legs. here are a few options that i had used in the past.

1. you can do 3 star with a partner to condition your forearms & shins.
2. if a partner is not available you can do 3 star on a tree (small - small/medium diameter) or wooden pole, wrap some soft cotton rope around the striking area. perform this with care & be sure to use jow afterwards. you can additionally, practice punches on the tree as well. use with caution & start off soft, otherwise you will hurt yourself as the tree is not forgiving. :eek:
3. go to your local army surplus store & buy a duffle bag, they are pretty cheap. fill it with sand & hang it. use it to practice your punches or kicks. make sure you use either hand wraps or gloves at 1st as it will shread your hands.
4. you can use the duffle bag technique for take downs to a certain degree as well as other leg building exercises.
5. while you are watching tv, tape a piece of white paper onto part of the screen or the whole screen, once you see movement you punch, which would work on your reflexes, timing & speed. make sure you have enough distance from you & the tv so you do not strike it.

you may also want to check out if there is a local ymca in your area, the membership from my understanding is pretty cheap.

do a search on the forum as i have seen other techniques discussed in the past regard the same subject.

cheers,
mk

[charp choi]

I have been studying kung fu now for 3 months. I do not have a lot of money, so I was interested in the opinions of others about conditioning my hands, fore arms and legs by a series of controlled and progressive system of strikes on bricks, brick walls and trees..since these items are all free to me. Also, what is an economical way to work on speed?

Thank you

I agree with alot of the stuff posted.
Don't go round punching brick walls, though.

Use a log wrapped in rope ( hang it on something) for conditioning your forearms, side of the hand, backs of hand etc. don't do it too hard and make sure you use some good jow (plumdragon jow is good stuff).
also Da Saam sing with a partner.
Use soccer shin pads and kick trees to condition your shins. again use jow.
Take it easy to start with.

I would recommend push, sit ups, squats etc.
If you get board you can do mantis push ups.

practice stances too. much overlooked by alot of peeps but you need a strong root.

good luck

[SanHeChuan]

If your doing any kind of Iron body training you want to use an object that gives.

Hits something hard enough something is going to give. If it's you vs. the tree, guess who wins.

Make a hanging bag.

If you are going to do any Iron body conditioning you really need proper instruction. There are all kind of rules for this stuff to avoid looking like this, Pang Qing Fu (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/images/mzine/2000-2story1.jpg). He started his Iron hand training as a kid without instruction. Now his **** is all deformed.

[Beginner]

Hi Yingyangcross

My sifu used to tell me this

" An iron fist can only be useful if it connects" & "Attempts at Iron fist is useless after a certain age".

[monji112000]

Do you have a training partner? then you have the perfect conditioning tool. Flesh is really the best training tool. What about a punching bag? its only $100 at most.
stick to the basics and put some blood and sweat into it.

[bodhitree]

www.rosstraining.com

www.rossboxing.com


check out the book Never Gymless


edit: the sites have lots of free info also!

[IronFist]

"Attempts at Iron fist is useless after a certain age".

What age?

1234567980

[Beginner]

What age?

1234567980

Normally by 25yrs old. However, one can still do some bone conditioning to toughen oneself. Just got to be careful of irreparable damage,

Hi as your name suggest, who do you practise iron fist from?

[Royal Dragon]

Normally by 25yrs old. However, one can still do some bone conditioning to toughen oneself. Just got to be careful of irreparable damage,

Reply]
That is rediculos! You can do Iron Body/Hand at any age and still develop. It's not different than any other exercise. The body just takes a bit longer to wam up, and respond when you are older, that is all. You can still do it and make forward progress.

[SevenStar]

iron palm, yeah, you could. things like golden bell and possibly iron palm vest you probably don't wanna do when you're older, but 25 as too old? that's crazy.

[Royal Dragon]

Why wouldn't you want to do them when you are older?

[SevenStar]

I have heard that golden bell puts a lot of psychological stress on a person. I would assume that at an advanced age, that couldn't be good.

[Royal Dragon]

We would have to ask someone who does it. I am only familiar with the impact type of Iron Body training.

[SevenStar]

ask monkey slap. he has seen it.

[Water Dragon]

Why would you want to train Golden Bell at any age? Too big a chance of you could have some type of breakdown.

[Beginner]

Normally by 25yrs old. However, one can still do some bone conditioning to toughen oneself. Just got to be careful of irreparable damage,

Reply]
That is rediculos! You can do Iron Body/Hand at any age and still develop. It's not different than any other exercise. The body just takes a bit longer to wam up, and respond when you are older, that is all. You can still do it and make forward progress.

If one has done iron fist before 25 yrs old. Then continuing past one's prime is fine, but have to take extra caution. I didn't say one cannot train the iron fist after 25 yrs old, If u read the above post by me, training the iron fist is still ok but the progress would not be totally ideal. I am speaking from my sifu's experience & my own personal experience plus some people I have tried to teach. Not from something hypothetical.

Training of Iron Body's principle is the same. Attempts to force one's beyond could have repercussion in older age. One's age of 25 differs from individuals, some can go up to 27 or 30 yrs old.

I have personally taught a few iron fist to ppl over 30 yrs old & they are progressing but the progress was not what I envisage.

Cheers

[Royal Dragon]

I think it depends on the person maybe. I'm 39, and just started playing with the basic Iron Palm, and it feels the smae now as it did when I was young. It just takes me longer to warm up, that is all.

[Beginner]

I think it depends on the person maybe. I'm 39, and just started playing with the basic Iron Palm, and it feels the smae now as it did when I was young. It just takes me longer to warm up, that is all.

Having a strong will helps, but sometimes physical just refuse to cooperate with mental. no point having an absolute iron fist but seriously damaging our body beyond cure. If you are still just starting the training, not really a problem but as you advance, I would advocate you take extra cautious & better still get someone who have gone through this training & still in much good health. Welcome to the late 30+ club, I am also 38 this year, it also took me longer to warmup like I did to my old car.:D

[IronFist]

Normally by 25yrs old. However, one can still do some bone conditioning to toughen oneself. Just got to be careful of irreparable damage,

Hi as your name suggest, who do you practise iron fist from?

I don't do iron fist, but I used to hit a bag full of beans.

I used to do Iron Body back in the day, too (when I was 17-19, so I guess I was under 25 and it was all good ;) )

I want more info about Golden Bell causing psychological stress. I'd think that would be worse for someone younger whose brain/emotions/whatever aren't mature yet.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Most Iron skills ( IP and body) are done at a very moderate pace and intensity, hence the long duration of the program (typically 2 years).
As long as you don't over due it, like any exercise, any age is fine.
Take into account the proper "jows" that go with it.

The internal versions work the same way, moderation.

[Beginner]

Most Iron skills ( IP and body) are done at a very moderate pace and intensity, hence the long duration of the program (typically 2 years).
As long as you don't over due it, like any exercise, any age is fine.
Take into account the proper "jows" that go with it.

The internal versions work the same way, moderation.


Hi Sanjuro, in our school, our iron skills takes at least 10 years, 2 years can only master a section of it based on 4 times a week training. As we progress, the intensity can be unbearable.

But I agree with you as long we dun overdo it, any age is fine. With age, ppl tend to internalise their training.




I don't do iron fist, but I used to hit a bag full of beans.

I used to do Iron Body back in the day, too (when I was 17-19, so I guess I was under 25 and it was all good ;) )

I want more info about Golden Bell causing psychological stress. I'd think that would be worse for someone younger whose brain/emotions/whatever aren't mature yet.

Golden bell or iron body does in a way cause some phycho stress when I was young, it was giving me too much testerone..:D