The most effective martial artists Ive ever met dont do any specific conditioning at all--that includes Thai-style shin conditioning. They just get whatever conditioning comes from actually training in an organic, pressurized environment.

Most people I know who do iron palm (including *most* of my iron palm students) cant apply it in the above setting because once theyre put under pressure, the body mechanics disappear. And its the same reason they cant apply 99% of the "techniques" they learn in forms and such (to clarify, I dont teach forms. Im referring to other martial artists who do formwork).

Iron palm does provide some interesting attribute development and I personally enjoy doing it--anyone whos done it diligently for some time can notice it. And anyone whos taken a few months off from it after years of doing it can feel the hands start to get less robust, adapt back to normal. But this attribute development is worthless unless you have trained it under pressure and can successfully pull it off at will at progressively increasing levels of pressure. For most people who train iron palm, its nothing more than a circus act...the ability to break a block is a totally different activity than trying to apply the strike to someones head while theyre trying to do the same to you. If you want skill in your martial art, you train diligently with partners who will put your timing, composure, and reaction to the test...Conditioning is done when you dont have someone around to help you get better...