Iron Fist Training from Shaolin Kung Fu

When I was a kid I was heavily involved in the martial arts. I went from American Kenpo to Chinese Kenpo to Kung Fu to Judo then boxing. Not long before winning the Florida State Championship for Fighting in the F.B.B.A., a Discovery Channel ( I think)documentary on Iron Fist training caught my attention. Scroll down to see a picture of PAN below. There was this small (5'4ish"), petite, very friendly-looking Asian fellow named Pan (The Iron Fist) beating pots with his knuckles and rubbing his arms and shins with steel pipes. Then they cut to a shot of his knuckles which were protruding through his skin. You could actually see the bone due to the calcium build-up from all the self-imposed abuse.

The reason for this madness was simple. The harder one could make the body - the less risk of injury to the body during attack. Brilliant! So the first thing I did as soon as I got home was ask my mother for her very best cooking pots.

So there I was BANG! BANG! BANGIN' on me pots every chance I could. And I had lots of chances. To my amazement, the thing worked! It took about 2 weeks but my first two knuckles (punching knuckles) were getting considerably larger than my left. I stopped when they started getting gross. But if you want to pack one hell of punch without much effort then you want to try this! There are many different variations so feel free to improvise with what you've got.

Iron Fist Training (Variation 1)

1. Find some steel pots from the kitchen.

2. With a fist, bang the bottom of the pot with your knuckles till you tire or experience severe pain. I would do this for 2 min./rest 2 min./repeat till Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was over. (Remember I was a kid.)

3. Feel free to KIA! (shout from your gut) with every strike. This will encourage proper breathing relieving pain and premature fatigue.

4. You can do this as long as you like till the desired effect is earned.

Iron Fist Training* (Variation 2)

1. Start by making or obtaining a bag filled with mung beans. Such a bag should be made from strong material, such as denim, and should be sewn together with strong thread. When filled to maximum capacity with dried mung beans, it should resemble a square cushion.

2. Place the bag on a hard surface. If this is a wall, ensure it is firmly fastened to it.

3. Train all manner of closed hand strikes on the bag. You can train the
following:

1. Punching. Clench the fist properly, with the thumb outside, and strike with the first two knuckles. Ensure the wrist is kept straight and using as much force as you can stand, shout with every strike. Variants of punches can be used, such as the Leopard Punch or Phoenix Eye, but be careful with these because if improperly done, can lead to damage or injury.

2. Hammer-fist. Using the clenched fist, strike with the edge. Using as much force as you can stand, shout with every strike.

3. Back-fist. With the back of the fist, contact the bag with the first two knuckles. Again, use the most force that you can stand, and shout with every strike.

4. Once you can strike the bag with maximum force, you can replace the mung beans with gravel and repeat the training.

5. Once this is done, you can replace the gravel with iron or steel ball-bearings, and repeat the training again.

6. The training is finally complete once you can perform the closed hand strikes on the bag with full force without injury and with minimum pain to yourself.

Make sure you breathe and stop if you experience any severe pain. Remember that you will dramatically distort the appearance of your knuckles with prolonged training, sort of like this: 

Good Daniel-San,

Anthony.

Sources

- * Hwang KW, Jack H. WikiHow. How to Train Iron Fist Kung Fu. http://www.wikihow.com/Train-Iron-Fist-Kung-Fu.
 - Picture of Pan - travelpod.com/1121263260/tpod.html