dit da jow

“	Originally Posted By: Zipwolf Went into a chinese medicine practice day before yesterday, one of three in Ealing...	”

herbmedic..theres two in Ealing
I remember when i went in there and tried to pronouce Zheng gu shui the woman was lik . WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA wat iz it fooor. i took a step bck n pointed to the red box.. lol

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Wisdom, peace, and strength are not flowers to pick, but mountains to climb.

Plum:
You need to chill out I was expresing an opinion if you dont like it then dont say anything.

Oh Im plenty chill--like a cat in a hat.

Just because you dont like what I have to say...

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

Ahem....so anyway... I've been training pretty hard and have beat myself up a bit. Not enough time to heal naturally between classes.
So if you get a "normal" bruise from punching bags or forearm knocking etc, how is that different from the bruises you get from iron palm training? Isn't punching bags or arms or whatever trying to "build up" your body parts like iron XX? I am wondering what jow to put on my rather bruised and swollen knuckles and wrists, and why iron palm jow is different than regular jow.

Opinions welcome!

“	Originally Posted By: cellophane I've been training pretty hard and have beat myself up a bit. Not enough time to heal naturally between classes. So if you get a "normal" bruise from punching bags or forearm knocking etc, how is that different from the bruises you get from iron palm training? Isn't punching bags or arms or whatever trying to "build up" your body parts like iron XX? I am wondering what jow to put on my rather bruised and swollen knuckles and wrists, and why iron palm jow is different than regular jow.	”

Generally, iron palm liniments differ from bruise liniments for serveral reasons:
- Bruise liniments usually have more ingredients that are anodyne and anesthetic for pain relief. Sometimes these ingredients deal with pain relief as an indirect result of being an antiinflammitory.
- Iron palm liniments dont care as much about pain management, but are VERY concerned with making sure there is alot of blood circulation, that channels are not blocked and are wide open.
- Primarily due to the 2 above, bruise liniments usually have a cooler effect on the body, while iron palm liniments usually have a much warmer effect on the body. ie the herbs that are used are more energetic in iron palm liniments than bruise liniments.
- Bruise liniments have very few (if any) herbs that work directly with to heal/stregthen/tonify bone, and few herbs that work to strengthen/heal/tonify sinews. Iron palm liniments call for a significant number of herbs that work directly on bone and ligament because of the nature of the exercise.

Those are the main differences.

When you are doing iron palm exercises you shouldnt really be getting bruises on your hands, and if you are, it is more likely a bruise as a result of sinew and bone damage. Personally, Ive only bruise in very rare circumstances doing iron palm training, but it is also much more...ritualistic, with dit da jow, massage and qigong being done before, during and after the exercises. Although its worthy to note that in the past, applying bruise liniment before and after limb knocking as is done with iron palm can often have the same effect of nullifying bruising that may have shown up otherwise...

Hope that helps =)

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

Rather good explanation of the two, thank you PlumDragon.

You have to store jow in a dark room, yet you also have to shake the bottle for a period of time. So when you shake the bottle, do you have to do it in a dark room? I suppose once the jow is properly aged, you can then use it in light? Also, sunlight is supposedly really bad for jow, yet some people use trees to condition their limbs and use wooden dummies outside, so I suppose once the jow is aged for the right amount of time it can be used in sunlight? Thanks in advance.

“	Originally Posted By: fistofpeace You have to store jow in a dark room, yet you also have to shake the bottle for a period of time. So when you shake the bottle, do you have to do it in a dark room? I suppose once the jow is properly aged, you can then use it in light? Also, sunlight is supposedly really bad for jow, yet some people use trees to condition their limbs and use wooden dummies outside, so I suppose once the jow is aged for the right amount of time it can be used in sunlight? Thanks in advance.	”

You store it in a dark room to allow it to ferment and the chemicals to balance and blend, heat and direct light breaks down the important nutrients and chemicals before they are released, after the ageing process has completed you can allow jow to be used outside, short periods of light are not too harmfull, but long exposure is detrimental. As for shaking it, that is to get a blend of the herbs and release their chemicals before application, doesn't need to be used in dark room while doing this.


Just curious, what MA do you do? Have you ever used jow?

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Oh THAT'S how that works!

Its the volatile oils that are present in many of the herbs that need to be kept out of sunlight once they are extracted. You should always minimize the amount of sunlight that your jow is subjected to, new or old. The more air, sunlight, and heat that your jow gets, the more it will break it down, regardless how long its been aged.

A tiny bit of light isnt really a big deal as long as it is kept minimal; obviously you cant apply it and shake it pitch black--just use common sense. Keep it out of the light but you dont need to go overboard with this, being silly and applying it only in complete darkness, etc.

The use of tinted bottles can keep almost all of the light out of the bottle and keep your jow safe for carrying around, etc.

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

ive often heard people say that red tiger balm is an equivalent to jow, which i do not believe is true. Anyone know what i should otheriwse say to these people?

Tiger Balm is just a bunch of camphor and menthol, and maybe a small amount of a couple essential oils. While I suppose it works ok for basic muscle aches/soreness, its nothing near as complex or synergistic as dit da jow, nothing near the therapeutic value.

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

should Jow always be kept in a dark glass bottle? or is an opaque plastic bottle okay? I was thinking the plastic might break down and contaminate the jow, but maybe I'm being overly cautious...

It really should be kept in dark tinted glass.

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

I studied Chinese medicine for a while and was taught to keep it in the dark. I have mine in a large jar that I can get my hands into. It is not tinted--as I couldn't find one like that. I store it in a dark cupboard when not used.

I have some jows that melt the plastic bottle after a while, the best is a dark bottle in a dark place.

However plum is the DL jow guy and can give you good advise.