10,001 ways to strengthen the fist

[uki]

i don't personal punch things anymore, i prefer the open hand and the hammerfist... and of course the elbows, i strike my utility pole with them, not too hard though, but hard enough(alot harder than if i would use them to hit someone)... i am also a fan of the headbutt, i watched my goat when he did them... the head would sink into the slight rising of the shoulder for stability and then... WANG!! hence his name.

i agree entirely about smashing up the hands after years of hard training, that's why i stopped punching and switched to other fists.

cinder blocks are good for low push ups, just stick them on end... or you could just put your feet on the upended side and do push ups in this fashion.

push ups with your kids on your back are good... until they get bigger anyways.

[uki]

doing figure 8's with the hand and wrist while holding a running demolition saw, just after starting and running full throttle.

flipping pieces of flagstone by rotating the ends in each hand... both away and towards one center.

[Lucas]

weapons training

[uki]

weapons training

i am sure you can elaborate and name off the weapons to increase the count.

large conch shells, cow bones, donkey jawbones, transmission rods, spade shovels, concrete rakes, trowels, and bull float poles(metal staff).

[Lucas]

well every melee weapon I can think of will benefit your hand strength. especially if its not light wood or spring steel. hardwood-ironwood (excepting of bamboo and ratan of course), and actual steel.

My personal favorites.

Bamboo/ratan staff. but i also really enjoy a good waxwood

nunchaku, oak octagon.

katana, hanwei extended tsuka.

Boken, purple heartwood/oak.

dao, hanwei, also I use a machete.

dao, oak.

jian, purple heartwood. originally learned on wushu version, been looking at hanwei.

those are the weapons I like to work with. Ive been looking at a good europian blade, but am wishy washy on what I really want. Im starting to settle a bit more towards a good ol b@stard sword.

edit: not sure if ive mentioned archery in this thread, im too lazy to look, but ill include that on this list. especially if you get a chance to go often, which i dont

[uki]

thaqt only a few so calledmartial artists have the free-time to spare and lend a creatively, perhaps comical addition to ways to strengthen the fist... 10,001 may seem like a large number... but it is in fact just a couple of 1's and 0's... this can relate to the binary language of the universe... but then again, real martial artist don't have time to create.

[uki]

paddling upstream against the current in a canoe, kayak, or other man-powered watercraft.

[uki]

spinning a metal ring on a metal bar... loads of exercises, loads of fun... apparently there are not alot of imaginative folks in here... this is how the martial arts evolve... creative insight.

[Lucas]

Tug of war!!!!

[Lucas]

for that matter, climbing ropes.

[uki]

for that matter, climbing ropes.

and trees...

[Lucas]

and trees...

true that, i love climbing trees. jumping out of them is almost as fun as climbing them, and that has its training qualites as well. throw in some shoulder rolls.

but it does kinda suck when you get sap on your hands, takes a while to lick it all off.

[uki]

but it does kinda suck when you get sap on your hands, takes a while to lick it all off.

gives a whole knew meaning to sticky hands practice...

doing cartwheels.

[Lucas]

gives a whole knew meaning to sticky hands practice...

doing cartwheels.

lol sticky hands, thats a good one.

to add to cartwheels, doing no handed cartwheels with your staff.

[uki]

tossing a bowling ball in an arch over your head from one hand to the next.