iron body training

If done properly I don't belive it is harmful for bones, or why would it still be done if it was.

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Don't look for trouble, you might find it.

Bad to the bone, as in awesome...

If you knew that and were just being sly, then please ignore my correction...its hard to tell in text format...

Lol, I think he was serious... So... Review: Use a bar on your legs for Iron Leg (Whatever the real name for that is), use the same thing for your forarms, plus striking hard surfaces. Strike hard things for Iron Palm, hit your head against a cement block for Iron Head. Now... What do you do for Iron Shirt/vest?

Why...

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One hit, see blood.

It's not enough to just not get hit

Why what? Why do I want to know about IRon Shirt? To practice it...

um, yes. Plan on blocking attacks with you body any time soon?
or is this another practice based on the, just in case you do get hit theory?

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One hit, see blood.

It's not enough to just not get hit

Let's just say I know a few people who wouldn't mind giving me a punch or two.

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I do not fear the 10,000 kicks you have practiced once, I fear the one kick you have practiced 10,000 times. -- Shaolin Wisdom

“	Originally Posted By: GuiLongUmar um, yes. Plan on blocking attacks with you body any time soon? or is this another practice based on the, just in case you do get hit theory?	”

Just in case you face more than one person and can't block all the strikes thrown at you, just in case you want to scare the person trying to fight you by showing them that what ever they hit you with doesn't even faze you a single bit, because there is a practical use to the traditional training methods that have existed for many centuries/millenium and some of us don't want the old ways to die out.
Because there is always the chance that you'll face someone better than you and you can't always stop what they throw, so you better have a good backup plan for taking the pain/punishment they try to give you, in either a real fight or a tournament/match fight.

For Iron Vest/Body, fists beat against your body, trees, canvas tubes filled with sand/pebbles/steel shot beat against your body.

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Oh THAT'S how that works!

Basically, I think if you're gonna do any "Iron" training, might as well get the WHOLE thing...you don't want an achilles heel. Like Mei Hua says, there is ALWAYS a what if situation. Growing up, there were a few times when I was outnumbered...and I wished that I had Iron Body training back then, let me tell you. 4 pair of pointy cowboy boots kicking your ribs and back has a way of sticking in your memory. Remember folks: Don't Drink and Talk Jive!

there's another 'iron' technique - I believe it is called 'Iron egg'

I'll let you guess which body parts it involves...

Ouch....

Iron Egg/Groin is not so bad, but requires a slow process of development, really comes in useful if you should ever need it.

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Oh THAT'S how that works!

Hmmm,

Well I certainly wouldnt recommend beating any of your body parts against metal bars or concrete slabs unless youre under the supervision of a competent teacher who you trust a great deal, its a very good way to get injured, arthritic body parts instead of iron ones. Above all this type of training needs to be done gradually and carefully otherwise you can seriously injure yourself.

There are quite a few types of iron shirt training other than the ones mentioned. In the Hakka systems (Southern Mantis, Pak Mei, Lung Ying etc) Iron shirt training tends to be developed along with the fundamentals of the system. For example in Pak Mei one of the most fundamental exercises we do to develop the correct breathing, bodyshape & footwork also happens to be the foundation of our iron shirt training (focussing on the ribs, no striking to the ribs is involved in this exercise).

For developing 'iron' forearms, legs, hips, ankles, shoulders we hit each other(as opposed to hard objects) in a set routine this, Im told developes 'alive power' as well as conditioning (Im sure theres more to it at a higher level, as my sifu does feel as if he's entirely made of metal! but I dont know what it is). Additionally the Hakka styles tend to have hard qigong within the forms which helps the process along.

I've also been told (but never experienced) that the internal styles have a kind of iron shirt which involves hardly any or no 'external' conditioning at all, but is purely based upon qigong and which, when completed has a quite different feel than Shaolin type iron shirt.

As for why people would want to do iron shirt, cmon who hasnt fantasized about taking the school/office bully/obnoxious drunk's best shot and laughing back in their face and saying "call that a punch!"

All the best

i used to do loads of conditioning training, but not in the chinese martial arts - i was into karate when i was in my teens - our teacher had done a good stint in japan and was pretty hardcore - he practised goju ryu (from okinawa) among other styles - tho we focussed on shotokan (from japan) a lot of our attitudes and training styles were more traditional - standing opposite a partner, smashing forearm into forearm, hitting things & each other, stabbing fingers into pebbles - the makiwara (various styles of hard things to hit for conditioning) was a feature of my teen years - made several homemade ones - i attached a trainer sole to a ten foot plank and buried about four feet of the plank, leaving the sole about face height - a mate i used to train with a lot had a traditional makiwara, basically a lump of wood with a few bits removed for a slight spring and one face covered with leather - which we attached to his dad's barn wall to hit - used to have great fun making up ways to train

i'm not sure how this compares with iron shirt/palm/head/etc training - is this a particular style or just a general approach to conditioning?

i wonder if anyone has ever practised iron face training? lol

i used to practise muay thai boxing, and every class i used to kick the shin bag for a while - a low hung bag, six inches off the ground, filled with what felt like small pebbles - started off gently, worked up to being able to properly whack it - a couple years doing this and the classic muay thai shin kicks/ shin blocks were very effective - it was most satisfying to see someone crumble just cos you'd blocked their butter like unconditioned shin with your iron shin - lol

i practise wu's tai chi now, and haven't done any hard conditioning for years - i think it's true that once conditioned you'll never go back to being totally unconditioned

Well i never knew about iron shirt.
When i was in college i just read an article about on how to meditate to improve your immune system. So in that to cut a long article short. I had to meditate and relax my whole body and then concentrate on the centre of my bones(i.e. the bone marrow) till i get a tingling sensations.
I used to do that religiously and never fell sick. I used to do martial arts excercise like horse stance and used to practice punching on walls. Break bricks on my head and bang my knees into walls and i could kick solid iron beams very hard with my shins.(when i was 11 i had gone to a karate class for six months and there we were supposed to pair up and kick the partner forearms with our shins totally bone to bone i think that really strengthened by shins) Then all inspiration only through movies and looking at the training in those old chinese movies before jetli and jacki chan. I was so strong that i could break into old compound walls by just kicking it and running into it with my shoulder. I actually did that as a bet three of my friends who were just normal guys couldnt break it together. But i was never aware of the iron shirt and thought of it as nuting great.
I stopped excercises after college and two years later i was smoking a lot. I lost all my muscle but still never lost my strenght i was faster quicker and had more stamina that any non-smoker. I realised i had the iron shirt much after this incident.
I met with an accident. I was crossing over in a scooter from an inlane. I did something really stupid. but lets cut the story short. I was in a position and saw another scoooter coming straing at me at almost 60kms an hours. I couldnt do anything so i just braced my self and when it hit me i dont know what happened i just did not feel a thing.I just braced myself and like you tighten your body but i really did not tighten my body that much. The scooter smased into me at atleast 60kms an hour and i did not even budge. I had a good grip on the ground as i was actually trying to pull my scooter backward out of the way as i couldnt go in the front(i told i was in a really stupid situation) The other rider was a girl who was just zipping as soon as she so me she let go the handle in panic and that even raised the accelerator more.
AFter the impact i just remained in that "braced" position of mine for a few seconds. Then i saw i was standing straight the scooter was still in my hands but the front part was smashed completely. I just looked to see the girl and she was lying around 8-10 metres away at around 5 oclock position from me. She just woke and fainted again. Her mouth was bleeding very badly and the front of her scooter was smashed. They had to call an ambulance i did a lot of acting just so that the people dont bang me up because i was at fault actually(even though she coudl have braked instead of panicking).
I just got a little scratch on my arms and my shoulder hurt for a few days. I check with a doctor as my collegue who came to pick me up could not believe that i was ok after seeing the state of the two scooters. Some people told him that it made a very big sound but i do not remeber hearing such a huge sound.
The girl i saw her after a week on the road she had her neck those braces or whatever her mouth was totally smashes and she had her arms in a sling and she was limping.
My collegue still doesnt believe that i just got a scratch.
Later on when i leant about the iron shirt or body as you call i realised that i maybe i had unknowignly increased my chi.
I am totally out of shape heavy smoking(60 cigs a days) and sedenatary lifestyle for 7 years now. I totally believe the iron shirt
I have stopped smoking now and am going to get back into training. I learnt about the iron body from sites like these.
I am not sure but i think i had what do you guys say, do you think it was because of my chi i was unhurt in that accident.
I atleast believe it exist and the power of it is unbelievable.