Make shins hard??

[jules]

tai-gip,
Come on man. Kicking metal poles? That's out there. Most if not all MT instructors are against kicking anything metal.

[tai-gip]

lol no arguing i certainly keep myself amused by looking back at the things ive done but i certainly enabled me to shin check without the same pain and to have my kicks checked without the same pain not advising it as the best option just an option

[sslinky]

Originally posted by tai-gip
s.anucha all your realy doing when you "toughen" your shins is kill the nerves or reduce there sensativaty or just raise your pain barrier there realy isnt anyway to actualy strenghten the shin bone agreed.... without some medical operation i havnt heard of anyway

Bone structure does actually respond to activities such as high impact exercise by increasing in density and strength - in a similar way to how muscles respond to high load exercise such as weight training, by increasing in size.

(Personally, I wouldn't start kicking metal poles, bottles etc etc. Stick purely to re-enforced concrete)

[William Eriepa]

Thats right. Damaged tissue or swelling near the bone can easily calcify and add to bone mass. I know personally from back in my rugby days. When I broke my finger it swelled up pretty bad and a year later that middle joint of the index finger is still heaps bigger than the other. And I still have a small lump from a broken nose.

[Khun Kao]

S.Anucha has clinched and delivered a devastating knee strike to the correct!

A number of the rest of you have also posted some correct points. The main thing is that the only PROPER way to condition your shins is through impact training. You kick the bag, you kick the pads, you kick your partners. You kick and kick and kick.

To clear a few things up....

1. Rolling hard objects up and down your shins serves no real purpose. All it will do is DESENSITIZE the nerves in your shins. This is BAD! Pain is the body's way of telling you that something is wrong, and that it is time to take a break. You need to be in tune with your body. Desensitizing portions of your body prevent you from knowing whether or not you're "crossing the line" in your training from merely pushing yourself harder, or actually beginning to hurt yourself and potentially doing lasting (if not permanent) damage.

2. YOU CAN STRENGTHEN YOUR BONES BY KICKING! Impact training sends signals to the body that a certain body structure is under stress. Your body responds by increasing the density of the skeletal structure in these areas. It is a known fact that gymnasts have some of the densest bone structures of all athletes! Boxing and Thai Boxing has the same affect on the body's skeletal structure. A boxers bones begin growing more densely to withstand the impact of kicks, punches, knees, and elbows. That is why heavy bag work is so critical to developing a fighter! If you look at older Thai fighters, check out their knuckles, their shins, and their elbows. They are DAMN HUGE! Trust me, they weren't BORN that way. It comes from impact training. The body's bone structure changes.

3. Before anyone suggests it, I have not seen or heard of any convincing evidence that this type of impact training causes any permanent "damage" to the body, nor have I ever heard of any documented cases of this type of training causing Thai boxers problems in their older age. I have heard these MYTHS tossed around on the internet for years now. "Thai boxers shin conditioning makes it hard for them to walk later in life". "Shin conditioning causes bone cancer". "Blood clots from the shins cause heart attacks and anyeurisms (sp?)". I have had the opportunity to meet and train with a number of older Thai boxers. My instructor, Master K, is 65. My current coach, Master Danny, is in his mid-50's. Through these two, I have met a number of other Thai fighters, older then the both of them. They aren't cripples. They aren't walking with canes. They aren't limping. They are as healthy as anyone in the advanced stages of life.

Brooks (Khun Kao)

[sslinky]

It's probably worth pointing out that constant high pressure impact on the joints can cause problems such as arthritis later in life. Many ex-professional footballers suffer from various knee problems etc. But then again, lack of high impact exercise causes bone density depletion, and then osteoporosis - so you can't win!
However, it's probably worth ensuring your wrap your hands and use gloves etc to minise damage.

[TerryCage]

Thanks

Ive always asked people (fighters or trainers of martial arts) how to strengthen your shins and kill your nerves, alot of people say to hit your shins lightly everyday for about 10 mins and through that roll a bottle or rollin pin down but from readin this i agree that kickin the bag over and over again will be the way. Ive done a few classes of this and that but when i did thai boxin shin kickin really hurt so how long will it take to feel no pain and be able to kick like a crazy man because im training to be a cage fighter soon and dont wanna check a shin and be in pain. I tried kickin a tree the other day but 20 light kicks later and i had to give up. The only thing thats worried me is seein this leg break on youtube where an mma fighter took one kick at a guys leg and and it snaped(the kicker) same with a thai fight on youtube i saw. Why can some legs break like that, im guessin if you roll stuff up and down your shins then it kills nerves but doesnt strengthen right??

Anyway all this has been very helpful, im off now to kick the heavy bag at my gym, waitin for reply

[Khun Kao]

I had this discussion on another forum, and I'd like to relate my experience....

I have been training in MuayThai for 17 years now. Since I began my training, I have watched thousands of fights... In all this time, I can only recall seeing this injury occur three times (4 if you count Dennis Alexio vs. Stan Longinitus, but that wasn't quite the same). Two of the matches were MMA matches, and the other was a K1 Kickboxing match.

In all 3 instances, the sequence of the leg break began exactly the same way. A fighter stepped in with a full power kick WITHOUT SETTING IT UP FIRST!

THIS IS CRUCIAL!

I don't care how much you build up your shins, if you just try to blast a full powered roundhouse kick at your opponent with no setup, you deserve to have your leg broken! The knee beats the shin.... EVERY. SINGLE. TIME!

While the circumstances in each leg break are different, and there are likely a variety of things that came into play at that exact moment, I believe that in the case of the MMA fighters that improper leg conditioning was partly to blame. If we were to take a close examination of current MMA fighters, I'd bet we'd find that an inordinately high percentage of them come from a wrestling background, and that they only recenly began adding striking to their repertoire. They simply have not put in the proper amount of time or dedication to learning how to kickbox to properly condition their bodies.

Referring back to my comments about setting the strike up first.... One of the first things you'll learn as a MT fighters is the futility of charging in and blasting away with full power roundhouse kicks to your opponents. As I already mentioned, the knee beats the shin... always! You have to set it up first. Use it in combination or feint. Most experienced fighters don't often kick full power.... they wait until they have hurt their opponent and have them reeling before going for the kill. However, we often see inexperienced fighters attempting to go for the kill in the opening minutes of a fight, then they end up gassing....

[Thaifighter28]

I am currently trying a new way. Take a rag ,soak it in water, ring it out, roll into ball and bang on shins approx. 500 times on each leg!! Just started it but seems like it help will keep you posted on whether it works

[fire cobra]

I am currently trying a new way. Take a rag ,soak it in water, ring it out, roll into ball and bang on shins approx. 500 times on each leg!! Just started it but seems like it help will keep you posted on whether it works

Bro just kick the bag 500 times.