Originally Posted by Ironpalm

Glad to help but dont try it without more info. If you wanna know more by all means ask.

Originally Posted by Hardball

Yea, I heard it could be dangerous or fatal if you don't know what you are doing. I don't think I need it right now because my fist are tough from years of makawari, sand and heavy bags. Besides I know pressure points so I don't think iron palm is necessary for me.

Is there some health benefit to iron palm/iron fist or is it soley for making your strikes lethal?

Originally Posted by koto_ryu

Keep in mind too a lot of that stuff's going to play hell with your hands. Tak Kubota's starting to get arthritis and Takamatsu Toshitsugu (a late ninja grandmaster, who could tear bark off a tree with a three-finger strike and whose nails grew to 5mm thick from all the hand and foot conditioning he did) had arthritis as well.

Originally Posted by Hardball

Thanks you are very knowledgable. Millions of old people{non-martial artist} have arthritis and bursitis so I don't worry about that part. "I just want to be able to punch through Armor" LOL. Thanks for the heavy bag tip and I've been doing knuckle push ups for years. You didn't comment on the pressure points any insight/opinions on that?

Originally Posted by BaguaBoxer

I can attest to 2 things because I have trained both the Karate way the way way ironpalm has described. First of all I had begun punching trees and rocks to tuff up my hands when they broke and regrew I received the pleasantness of calcium deposits in my hands which made the stiff and hurt to touch (this may not happen for all). Now when I started what is reffered to as "Ironpalm" and I used the Dit Dow Jow I have had no problems with the deposits or arthritus in my hands. Before every winter my hands would swell and become painful, now they don't. Also my backhand and ridge hand has become much more effective. Punching progrssivly harder objects seems to not only condition your hands but also seems to teach you "how" to punch uneven surfaces like someones face without hurting your hands.

Originally Posted by Ironpalm

First of all not true. If you dont break a coconut you are said to have level 1 iron palm of 9 possible levels before moving into Sone Tan palms. Second, I didnt say I could not--I said I dont. Theres a massive difference. Most professionals wont risk breaking thier hand over silly tests, "Gee I wonder If I can break this with my hand?" Wtf does that actually have to do with martial arts? NOTHING. Its about how good you are at breaking that medium. Doubt it? Fine break a board, try some bricks, try ice, then try a coconut. Breaking one has no bearing on the next and each has a special technique to learn for that break. This is why most breakers have certain breaks they are known for. Most of them will tell you they cant do each others breaks. Breaking is like sword bending on the neck--a show. Not that its not real, just not practical use of your training time. If you're looking for self defense try to learn to hit moving targets not break stationary ones. I practice to break people so I practice the forms, study anatomy and the dimmak points. To this we add a healthy dose of adrenal stress training.

Originally Posted by 47MartialMan

then if you cant break coconuts, it should be called Wooden Palm