Dit da jow

[rubber legs]

How long should I wait before I can wash my hands when using dit da jow after iron palm practice?

[dunbarj01]

About 1 hour. Best to wait as long as possible. :)

[JE]

Rubber Legs,

There are a couple of factors to be considered when talking about the use of die da jiu in iron palm training.

The first there is the physical aspect. The liniment is there to support the strengthening of the hands and clear any bruising that comes from the training. In this sense if you only apply a small amount of liniment and wash your hands right away you may wash off the liniment before it can affect the local tissues enough.

Second is the energetic aspect. In TCM the physical and energetic (blood and qi) are unseperable. Die Da Jiu brings more qi to the area and also facilitates the flow of qi in the area. The reason we must wait to wash our hands, go outside in the cold, etc. is to allow the body to close what is open and not be affected by external evil pathogens.

As I was taught to do iron palm there must also be an internal aspect to your training - not just applying the liniment and hitting the bag. If you perform qi gong at the end of your training and close off then you can wash your hands right away.

When I used to train iron palm regularly my typical schedule would be 10-15 minutes of qi gong, 30 minutes of hitting, followed by another 10-15 mintues of qi gong. I would apply die da jiu before and after training but not after the second round of qi gong.

Hope the information helps.

Justin