Toughening the shins and forearms

Some of the benefits of martial arts training remain hidden until that moment when something unexpected happens and you find yourself handling it much better than how you used to in the distant past.

One such benefit revealed itself to me when my shin bumped against a chair in the dark one night and the chair said "ow!". Okay! Okay! :D The chair did not say anything. It just moved a bit, but I was fine. This- however- did not come cheap and there is no shortcut to it, I am afraid. If you are considering starting with this type of training when you are 40 I'd say you will find yourself disappointed.

The conditioning of my shins was an investment I have started making back in my early 20's and the actual toughness, which amongst others include the ability to kick a broomstick in two, only showed up during my mid 30's.

That's not all, though. Who's ever blocked a mae geri (front kick) with gedan barai (lower parry) during Karate class and had your training partner hopping around on one leg?

By now you probably know that Kung Fu and Karate are just about my favourite martial arts in existence, although I have a huge love for grappling arts like Aikido, Taijiquan (you knew it is mainly grappling, right?) and Jujutsu.

In striking arts like Karate, though, the first thing many of us realise when we start sparring is that our bodies weren't made for the abuse dealt by fighting.   Sure- that is what we get reminded of in the dojo on a regular basis. Some of you who just learn moves off the internet and avoid contact situations until you are in an actual fight learn this kind of thing first hand when you actually have to fight.

We as humans tend to shield ourselves with our forearms when we know blows are coming. Us trained humans use these limbs to deflect or redirect blows directed at us. Still- these limbs can get injured and even worse- fractured...

Chinese masters will tell you the importance of including lots of fish in your diet for strong bones. You can take that to heart. I am glad not to be lactose intolerant and make sure to get in enough milk as well, because let's face it- the exercises that I am about to discuss here don't strengthen your bones, they actually damage them. The strengthening comes from the time you use to let these bones rest and recover. Your body then replaces the broken bone tissue with stronger tissue that will be able to take the strain. Still- it needs materials, like calcium and phosphorus with which to make that tissue, so your diet is really important.

Apart from the diet, your Sifu would most likely prescribe something like this as well.



Liniments like these are by no means a magic potion that knits bones together faster, but rather a blend of herbs that help blood circulation in injured areas and ease pain. I will admit, however, that it does help making the discoloration disappear faster.

Many people don't even bother to use these liniments, though, and I am sure in most cases people don't even know about them or- even IF they know, they are not able to find them.

Now- the first exercise for toughening forearms so that they can block a fair amount of punches to keep you in the game is simple.

It is something we call ...

                                                              ...SPARRING...

I am not kidding here. Thing is- in martial arts like Karate you find that the senior students have really tough forearms. Well... what do you expect to happen with years of blocking people's blows, having your blows blocked and let's not mention those ippon kumite sessions in the senior classes...

Still- if you want to focus on that particular body part and rather do an exercise that does just that-

here you go...

 

Chinese Kungfu students know this as 3 Star Blocking. The concept is as simple as it is effective. Partners pair up and hit their forearms against one another using the blocks Karate people are used to doing in their katas.

Teachers advise that the point of impact should be that bony part of the forearm right at the point where the muscle starts. I have often seen and heard people saying that you have to block with the muscular part of the forearm. I say- sure- it probably hurts you the least that way, but I can tell you somebody is less eager to hit you again when his arm got a decent knock from a piece of hardened bone...

This exercise is really worth it. 

But okay- some of us train alone.

No problem...



I love this exercise. The pole, stick or iron bar could be one of a number of things we find in the yard or at the gym. Those bar bells at the gym? Remove the weights and you got something to use. Okay- some of the toughest among us can keep the weights on, but you have to be able to shoot it up into the air...

This exercise- which I really have no name for- is done by laying the bar across both forearms and then using a slight bend of the arms and a twitch to launch the bar into the air. You then catch it with the forearms and let it roll back to the elbows where it can get shot back up again to repeat the sequence. Not only does it help develop strong bones in the forearms, but it also helps develop that fast twitch action which we use in our punches.

  


If you are fortunate enough to have a wooden dummy like this you have absolutely no problem working those wrists...

Now- let's talk about the shins...



I guess that Jean Claude Van Damme has made sure that many of us will never forget this kind of thing...

If you want to kick trees, though- you do it at your own risk.

If you have not noticed yet- your shin has a fleshy side and a bony side. You will need to toughen both, but I'd say the bony side needs it more, because that is the part that hurts the most when it gets hit.

I have taken the approach of killing two birds with one stone by using my knife hand to hit the fleshy part while hitting the bony part with my knuckles. That is me, though...

If you want to use something other than your bare hands you can use this...



No, Bam Bam! You don't whack your legs with the rolling pins! You roll the pin over your shins. Glass soda bottles also work really well.


Also- if the bodybuilding guys at your gym are not busy with it- you can borrow this again...




I can't really say how long it will take you to see results, but in my case it took about a decade. The thing is- people have different strengths, weaknesses, talents and body types.

Still- martial arts training is never a waste of time!

Join me next week when I talk about body conditioning with a most expected and essential mention of the famed Iron Shirt technique of Shaolin Kung Fu!