Ways to improve grip

[lowsweep]

I am looking to improve my grip.In the past I have squeezed a hard foam ball and eventually moved to gripaster. I noticed on Martial Arts Mart they have something called an eagle catcher (here it is: Eagle Catcher (http://store.yahoo.com/martialartsmart/20-71.html) ) Has anyone tried one of these? It looks like it might work a lot better than what I've been doing, I like the idea of it working each finger seperately, but then again I have never tried one so I don't know. Does it provide enough resistance to be really effective (I have seen many gripmaster-type things that are too easy to squeeze) Thanks,
Adam

Take the pebble
from my hand

"You ain't the only one
who knows some sh*t"

[Shaolin]

I have one of thoughs eagle catchers and in my opinion I don't much care for it. The springs are real tense and it kind of hurts the fingers when you start out on it. I got an idea from a book and t worked pretty well, I got two cracker barrel jars ( any jar where the mouth is palm size will do ) filled them with water, griped them then held arms straight out. You can also move arms to the side, up or down to work the shoulders in too. Another tool was I got two 12lbs. shot puts, slowly go through all your forms, make sure you punch slow don't want to hyperextend your joints.

Attack me and I'll kill you.

[wufupaul]

I agree with shaolin; the eaglecatcher doesn't work very well, save your money. Some more suggestions; get some bags filled with bb's or beans, throw them up in the air, and catch them with your fingers. I have a grip tool called the gripmaster, it's a grip tool that you can use on each finger, it works quite well. If you don't have the book, definitely get Shaolin Chin Na by Yang Jwing Ming, it has lots of good info. on supplemental exercises to build your grip.

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about
life. IT GOES ON.

[Mr. Nemo]

Here's one dinosaur method I'm particularly proud of because I discovered it myself - honestly.

Get an empty 20oz plastic bottle of coke or something, empty it, put the cap on tight so air can't escape, and squeeze that. It's not the best, but I thought it worked pretty well.

Those eagle catcher things hurt your fingers. Maybe I'm just a wimp, but I didn't like'em.

There's also the "softball gripper." Take a softball and hammer a long nail through it, so that the end of the nail extends a couple inches past out of the softball on the other side. Bend the nail into a hook shape with a pair of pliers, and then hang some sort of weight on it. Your goal is to hold the softball in place a certain amount of time with a certain amount of weight, "palming" it like you would a basketball from the top.

There are also some grip strengthening devices string instrumentalists use. You can find'em in a music store usually, they're kind of hard to describe but you should recognize them when you see them. I'm not sure if they'll have the kind of resistance you're looking for, though.

[prana]

Hard Method

get some dead weights, maybe start off with 2kgs and move up slowly. Buy a half-meter sling, and tie it around the weight.

Put one finger (the one you want to train) in the loop of the sling, and "curl" your fingers, lifting the weights.

WHen advanced, you can "drop" the weight onto the finger and use your finger to "stop" the drop (ply0- dangerous)

Soft Method

Move your palms backward *your extensors* all the way so that your palm is perpendicular. Open fully and streatch your fingers in this way, keeping the extensors pulled back, and then clench your fingers into the panther grip, again arms palms remaining perpendicular.

http://dharmatours.com/hbmc/Prwhbl1.gif

[WongFeHung]

hang from the chin-up bar, do deadlifts with no straps, pinch grip a weight plate,go to a surgical supply and buy putty used for physical therapy-it's like silly putty but color coded for diferent strengths-there is one on the market sold at sports places called power putty-same stuff. One last one-this is great-go to one of those rock climbing walls once or twice a week. I went and my forearms were cramping up for 20 minutes after, what a workout.

[Dragon Warrior]

pull ups, dead lifts, rows, lat pulldowns, etc. Any pulling motion will definetely improve your grip. Never use a strap. My grip has improved so much since i started lifting, i definetely recommend lifting over any other grip strengthing method.

If it's finger strength you want, i recommend finger pushups.

For years, religion did nothing but divide. (killa priest)

Religion is like a prison for the seekers of wisdom. (killa priest)

[shaolinboxer]

Two suggestions:

1) Give your lover a massage every day.

2) Work with weapons.

Of the two, the massage is the more important.

"She ain't got no muscles in her teeth."
- Cat

[Jaguar Wong]

Lyle, great suggestions. Especially #1. Foot massages are probably the biggest grip builder in my household. The little lady's feet can take more pressure than her shoulders and arms. :)

The weapons one is a great tip too, especially swords. Try doing your broadsword sets with a heavy sword, or a baseball bat. Plus when doing anything with the straight sword, really emphasise the twisting/flicking motions with your wrist. There are a lot of good flicking type attacks aimed at the wrists, and other tendons of your opponent (I think they're refered to as "tapping") that really work the forearms.

DragonWarrior,
That's how my brother built his grip strength. He hasn't lifted in quite a while, and he still has insane grip, and wrist strength. no straps is the key, make your grip keep up with the rest of your body :)

TenTigers
I hear you. We did that once just goofing around at the gym (It was our Spider-Man™ contest), and I had a hard time holding glasses to drink out of for about an hour. That's a killer workout. All the rock climbers I know (although they're all tiny) have insane forearm strength. If you can get to the point of doing fingertip pullups on a door frame, I think you're doing pretty good :), although they all tell me that's easy compared to the grip they're used to :eek:

I'm probably going to try a couple of other methods here to see how they work, but I have two coffee cans that I'm going to hold in my "Tiger Claws" while practicing some stuff to see how that goes (It was my Sifu's suggestion)

Oh Yeah, Prana,
my brother developed a lot of his grip strength in a similar way as the soft method. He didn't flex his fingers, he just had to keep his hands flexed back while maintaining a tiger claw when he learned the Tiger set from the Southern Five Animals (I learned the Crane set, so I've still got dainty wrists).

Jaguar Wong

[prana]

Jaguar,

Becareful of the dead hangs, it builds isometric power. But if you so choose, my friend, be prepared to stretch for I have torn every tendon in the flexors of the ol forearm.

[Slayer]

I have tryed many things to improve my grip, the Eagle Catcher is useful, If your grip and pull all those springs, you have a ******* good grip. I like putting my hands in sand, the gripping the sand in my hands untill all of it runs out.

[Jaguar Wong]

Prana,
I was going to stay away from that one anyway :). I was looking at the softball one, as well as the shotputs (the softballs are easier to find, and adjust, but you can't do forms as easily, though). I also liked the soft method that you posted, because I saw some good results with a similar method.

I was probably going to get some of the power putty, but I haven't gone out to get some yet. I'm just too lazy :). I really want good forearm, grip, and wrist strength for my Chin Na. I know there are specific Chin Na strength building methods, but the ones posted here are similar enough. I'll also be doing a lot of stretching (for the whole body, not just the forearms).

Great stuff here, guys.

Jaguar Wong

[lowsweep]

Against some people's advice, I have ordered an eagle catcher from Martal Arts Mart. I think it will help, if it doesn't work I will just try some of the other grip strengthening methods here. As someone already said, rock climbing works EXTREMELY well for strengthening grip. I do this every once in a while but the closest place is about two hours away so I don't go up there too much. In a few months the gym near me will have a rock wall, I can't wait! Thanks for the great replies, I will definately be trying some of the methods you have posted.
thanks,
lowsweep

Take the pebble
from my hand

"You ain't the only one
who knows some sh*t"

[prana]

we used to travel 6-7 hrs a day to get to a crag, to freeze our ass off on a few climbs.... ahhh all worth it now :)

[soy]

Find ground. Hold body up on fingers.