Originally Posted by
PlumDragon
Hi Ginosifu,
I didnt mean to imply that "practices like iron palm dont work in real combat situations." Theres nothing about iron palm itself that makes it unusable. Let me try to elaborate a bit:
Conditioning is done outside of a pressurized situation. There is no threat. That is true for Thai kicks and limb-knocking and all that stuff. Therefore, those skills are only available in that non-pressurized setting. For iron palm or whatever to work under pressure, it has to be trained under pressure. Im not talking about "pressure testing". Its not about testing it under pressure, its about actually installing it under pressure, with a threat, real-time. Thats why I say, the best fighters Ive ever met dispense with conditioning entirely--they understand that time spent in the mix is where the skill is built--not in front of a bag, or a banana tree, or whatever. And subsequently, when I work with my students, even though I encourage them to conditioning in their spare time, I feel there are more important things to work on while they are in a class or similar setting...
You say you use it in san da and sparring. But do you think you are issuing the same amount of power? Maybe as you attack, you are thinking, "Hey Im using my iron palm!", and maybe even the motion is similar...But how do you know your body mechanics are intact as they are when youre slapping your bag? These are rhetorical questions, Im not attempting to disregard or repute your statements above. Just food for thought...
Empty cup: Theres a lot more to "iron bone" than strengthening the bone and sinew. Its body mechanics. You just slap a bag and get hard hands, you still dont have the power generation...