Stone Warrior hand and arm conditioning is a necessary foundation for all martial arts training and conditioning programs. We’ve all heard the story, or seen the Kung Fu movie of the Iron Palm Master who with one palm strike could inflict internal damage or even death on their unsuspecting victims.
While this may be true or just legend, it does not change the fact that iron fist and iron palm training is valid and a necessary but often overlooked preparation for all martial arts styles and even combat sports. It is a fact that multiple professional boxers and MMA fighters have broken their wrapped and gloved hands while fighting in mixed martial arts events. Recently Urijah Faber from World Extreme Cage fighting (WEC) broke both his hands while fighting. He did extremely well by using his elbows and kicks, but was unable to punch or grapple without the use of his hands. There has also been at least two or more reported cases where professional boxers have broken their hands while street fighting.
Developing fast and powerful punches through strength conditioning, plyometric training, technique training and speed drills are another foundational training protocol that all martial artists with any type of real skill practice. The more muscle, power and speed that we develop in our bodies the more bone density, joint & tendon strength, skin elasticity and resistance to impact we need. The harder you hit the more damage you can do to yourself. But also the harder you can hit with a rock hard fist, palm or forearm the more damage you can inflict on your attacker.
Doing Damage
In a reality based situation it is not only easy but highly probable that you will hit something hard whether that be the other persons skull, elbow, teeth, the wall or the even the ground. This is why open hand striking techniques are preferred by the military in combative situations. If you break your hand by punching then you will not be able to deploy a weapon if the need arises or grab and hold something if necessary. A police officer once told me that three officers broke their hands with fist punching in altercations just in one week alone.
There are four main reasons why this happens:
- Most cops, civilians and many martial arts styles do not know how to punch properly by using a vertical flat fist and punching in a straight line.
- They don’t know where to punch (proper target acquisition).
- They don’t know how to use open handed striking and how to generate power using proper body mechanics.
- Finally, according to this article, most people do not do proper hand conditioning.
What are best methods and most effective ways to condition the hands, arms and limbs?
Specialized training equipment, tools and training partners are the best way to accomplish this. The least expensive way is the single section or three section canvas striking 
bag. Also known as the Makiwara bag or wall mounted iron palm bag. These heavy duty canvas bags were designed to hold a varity of filling materials such as sand, steel bb’s, smooth rocks or corn. By using a special Chinese herbal liniment (Dit Da Jow) your practice and conditioning can be progressive and safe. These bags will help you to learn how to punch using the proper fist & punching angles, will strengthen your wrists, help develop short range punching power, combination punching, forearm and elbow striking & impact conditioning.
You can also use a Makiwara board that is made with firm foam and wrapped in canvas. This board is good for hand conditioning and short range power.
Heavy bag training is a standard method for most people for hand and elbow conditioning. Four or five foot bags are great for boxing and high kicking but for shin, foot conditioning and low kicking practice the Muay Thai bag is the best choice. We recommend that most people should use bag gloves with wrist wraps and training shoes while learning proper techniques or when using maximum power during training, but periodic sessions of using no gear can be beneficial. Caution must be taken because a sprained wrist or broken toe will put a delay in your training progress. Muay Thai fighters don’t wear gloves and shoes but they also start conditioning at a very young age while the body is still developing and their careers usually end in their 20’s for that very reason.
Wooden Dummy Training
Wing Chun/JKD wooden training dummies are my personal favorite training 
tool. Immortal Martial Arts was started because of the training dummies. The versatility and real life application makes the wooden training dummy second only to a training partner. In one way it is much better, because you can’t hit a partner with full power or with sticks and hard training knives, but with the dummy you can. The dummy will not only give you hands of stone and forearms of steel but will give you the ability to stick to your opponent and use highly effective footwork.
Focus Mitt Training
By hitting focus mitts with no gloves you will not only toughen your fists, palms and elbows but you will learn target accuracy and footwork. Mitt training will also teach you how to evade and defend against offensive attacks. You can also use mitts for kicking practice which will develop flexibility and balance.
Dit Da Jow (bruise liniment) – No proper hand or limb conditioning should be done without using a quality herbal liniment. Here are a few benefits for using Jow.
- Makes skin more elastic
- Decreases swelling
- Protects against tissue and bone bruising
- Increases circulation
- Speeds recovery time so you can train more often
- Protects against blood clots
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Bruce Pahl is the owner of Immortal Martial Arts & and Delaware Combat University. He is a certified Full instructor in Jeet Kune Do & Filipino martial arts under Paul Vunak of (PFS). Has a second degree black belt in Shorite Ryu Tai Jutsu under Dr. Christian Harfouche. He has a basic instructor cert. in Combat Ju-Jitsu under GM Michael DePasquale Jr. He earned his Black belt in 1997 in Chinese Kenpo Karate and was inducted into the Action Martial Arts Hall of Fame for excellence in teaching in 2007. He is a certified Battling Ropes® coach under founder John Brookfield, was certified in Circular Strength Training (Clubbells®) under Scott Sonnon, and is a certified instructor in FlexBands & Ultimate SandBag L.I.F.T,2010.
