Forearm conditioning...

[Killingthetiger]

Does anyone know the best way to get the bruises out as quickly as possible and also... I'm kinda ticked... Ive been doing forearm conditioning for about 3 years now and i still get bruised up. Is that normal? How can do i know if i am progressing?

[Serpent]

Massage and good quality dit da jow. How do you know if you're progressing? Can you strike things harder with your forearms without pain? Can you cause damage with blocks?

What sort of conditioning have you been doing?

[WinterPalm]

You should build up progressively and don't go all out at first. A quality dit da jow and massage is imperative. If you feel a goose egg or bump, immediately press a finger into the center, with some dit da jow, and force it down slowly and then repeat till it goes down. You should be using dit da jow from the get go and continue in this fashion. This is the advice my Sifu gives me and it works fine.

[IronMonkey]

Well like these guys said, you mostly need Dit Da Jow to help you. Hmm.. I need to start condition my arms too, heh.

[FngSaiYuk]

I'll add in, focus your mind on your forearm. Basically energy meditation/chikung/whatever, you want to focus on the part of the body you're working. Do it while conditioning the body part, do it while massaging the dit da jow into it. Your focus will aid the healing process.

The comment on checking whether or not you're progressing is also important. The conditioning process should be gradual, otherwise you're just continually breaking down your body before it gets to heal completely.

[IronFist]

To the best of my knowledge, even if you're conditioned you will still bruise, it just won't hurt as much.

Also, to the best of my knowedge, you shouldn't lose sensitivity. In other words, you should still be able to feel the gentlest touch on your forearms and at the same time not be hurt by a hard blow.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong on either of those points.

[Serpent]

Iron, that's mostly correct. The only slight error is that, for most people, bruising will reduce considerably as you get more conditioned. It takes a really serious blow to bruise my forearms nowadays. Some people are peaches, however, and will continue to bruise. I'm not too sure why that is though...

[blooming lotus]

I have had a few breaks and bruises lately myself ( probably being predominantly vegetarian and discovering sand bags / china style ) and often haven't had a dit dar. A friend of mine gave me a camphor / arnica blend ( available readily at most pharmacies throughout the world) and while it didn't work as well as a jow, it brought the brusing up quickly and with stretches and massage, I healed much quicker.

Previously the boys've suggested weights to increase bone density and absorbtion, at this stage it's probably great advice. You might also want to have a look at your Iron intake. The folks here work their gongfu hard core as it comes, and I think you get to a stage where you just don't bruise anymore. I think it's in density.

good luck with it.


did we catch what you were doing for forearm conditioning?? www.matialartsmart are selling "shoalin rings' fairly cheaply and besides wrist curls with dumbells, heavy pole / stick work, It's not a bad choice.


cheers again

BL

[Serpent]

Increased density is a part of conditioning and is also a by-product of lifting, so it's all relevant, however, wrist curls (as you call them) are an isolation exercise and that time would be pretty wasted from a conditioning point of view.

I'm thinking the poster is referring to conditioning in the form of wooden dummy, sarm sing, etc.

Arnica blends would certainly be better than nothing if no dit da jow was available.

[blooming lotus]

so dynamic weighted wrists then ????

and what if you can get your wrist curls to perform like stick / pole movement??

does anyone do that??

[FngSaiYuk]

Originally posted by Serpent
Some people are peaches, however, and will continue to bruise. I'm not too sure why that is though...

Vitamin C is excellent against bruising. Make sure you get a lot more than the basic recommended 100% amount per day.

Sometimes it's just straight genetics, some people will ALWAYS bruise.

[Samurai Jack]

I do wrist-curls in order to strengthen my forearms and wrists for iaido. Used to be a full power cut with my iai-to would kill my wrists, now it's no problem. Of course doing anything over and over for awhile is going to improve your technique, but I'm convinced that wrist curls help with weapons work.

[Serpent]

Absolutely, but that's wrist/forearm strength, not forearm conditioning (i.e. iron arm skills). Both are essential, of course.

Also, on the vit. C thing - there's no point in taking too much as you'll just pee it out, but if your vit. C is low, then increasing it could help with bruising. Good call.

[Samurai Jack]

Originally posted by Serpent
Absolutely, but that's wrist/forearm strength, not forearm conditioning (i.e. iron arm skills). Both are essential, of course.

Ah stand corrected.

[IronMonkey]

Originally posted by FngSaiYuk
Vitamin C is excellent against bruising. Make sure you get a lot more than the basic recommended 100% amount per day.

Sometimes it's just straight genetics, some people will ALWAYS bruise.

Wow, thats something I didnt know, and now that I do, its something I never have to worry about, cause I get a minimum of 100% per day, hehe I also try to get a lot of calcium as I can, heh.