# hi guys what about shin conditioning ?



## KEY IN

This is about mantaining a healthy shin cond.
its look simple but it isnt  ,its quite stuff

what you think about people using small sticks and beating gradually on the shin?
does it a good way for conditioning ?


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## Andrew Green

Don't beat your shin with sticks.  Just hit the bag and pads.

Unless you plan on going pro don't worry about it in the slightest, it's not worth it for 99% of people training.  You want to train to make your body stronger and healthier, not intentionally damage it.  If you are planning on going pro you'll have a Kru that will tell you how to condition safely (hopefully)


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## hoshin1600

Andrew Green said:


> Don't beat your shin with sticks.  Just hit the bag and pads.
> 
> Unless you plan on going pro don't worry about it in the slightest, it's not worth it for 99% of people training.  You want to train to make your body stronger and healthier, not intentionally damage it.  If you are planning on going pro you'll have a Kru that will tell you how to condition safely (hopefully)


Sorry Andrew I disagree. Shin conditioning when done right is not damaging.  And for many styles it is necessary for the type of training they do.


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## Andrew Green

hoshin1600 said:


> Sorry Andrew I disagree. Shin conditioning when done right is not damaging.  And for many styles it is necessary for the type of training they do.



When done right yes... if you are hitting your shins with sticks you are not doing it right.


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## hoshin1600

I would start by rolling a wood dowel over the shin. You can then wrap a piece of wood with soft rope, to begin impact training.


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## hoshin1600

Andrew Green said:


> When done right yes... if you are hitting your shins with sticks you are not doing it right.


I would take a guess you have never tried it, or trained in a system where it is a common practice.


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## Andrew Green

hoshin1600 said:


> I would take a guess you have never tried it, or trained in a system where it is a common practice.



definitely have.  And did a lot of things under the name conditioning I now consider stupid.


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## Danny T

Tapping the shins with a stick will help temper the skin and front of the tibia. Conditioning of the shins is more than tempering. 
Proper conditioning and tempering causes the Tibia to become denser through time and recovery. It is from the stress on the bone from frequent impact causing the bone to build up, become denser, and stronger.
Kick the heavy bag - a lot
Kick kicking pads - a lot
Diet is also a key factor in helping you build strong bones throughout your body, including your shins. Getting plenty of vitamin D and calcium is important to building bone. Calcium helps support strong bones and vitamin D helps your body better absorb the calcium.


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## Buka

I have no problem with people beating their shins with sticks. Or having someone else beating their shins with sticks. I also have no problem with people putting Alka-Seltzer up their butts. But I'm not going to do it, let my students do it, or anyone I care about do it.
I've done stupider things, though, so I understand.

I teach people not to get hit with sticks. Or with bats. Or fists, or whatever. 
_Ya, but what if something really painful hits your shin while your defending yourself?_ 
I imagine you would growl, take the stick away and go fishing for that Alka-Seltzer.


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## hoshin1600

Danny T said:


> Tapping the shins with a stick will help temper the skin and front of the tibia. Conditioning of the shins is more than tempering.
> Proper conditioning and tempering causes the Tibia to become denser through time and recovery. It is from the stress on the bone from frequent impact causing the bone to build up, become denser, and stronger.
> Kick the heavy bag - a lot
> Kick kicking pads - a lot
> Diet is also a key factor in helping you build strong bones throughout your body, including your shins. Getting plenty of vitamin D and calcium is important to building bone. Calcium helps support strong bones and vitamin D helps your body better absorb the calcium.


Danny is correct but there is more to it.  there is also the flex and contraction of the muscles that pull and put strain on the bone.  so the use of a stick can also help by hitting the surrounding muscle groups and flexing the muscle on impact.  you dont always need to hit wood to bone.
the benefit from using a small "stick" like a rattan escrima stick feels more like a sting and in not very useful for conditioning the shin.  although you could use it to "roll" the shin like i stated before. what is more beneficial is a an object with more mass.  i want to feel a thump not a sting.  the aim is to create a shock wave that effects the bone.  i actually like a dead blow hammer.  (its a plastic hammer filled with shot, auto machanics use them a lot to prevent putting dents in stuff)  but the key factor again is for the muscles to flex and tense on impact.  this causes stresses on the bone, and the bone in response will increase the density on the bone.  also beneficial but less desired is a thick layer of calcium build up that will coat and cover the bone.  the body will compensate for the stresses we put on it. its not that different than lifting weights and the body compensating by increasing muscle. 
the one thing that is still a mystery and has not been totally explained to me medically is how your body also compensates by reducing the sensation of pain.  best guess is in the electrical jump between receptors there is kind of a gage that tells the brain the intensity of the pain. the brain and receptors may not fire as hard because you have experienced this "pain" so often. pain is also connected to emotions and and its possible emotionally you know this sensation is no big deal and there fore the receptors dont activate.


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## hoshin1600

Andrew Green said:


> definitely have.  And did a lot of things under the name conditioning I now consider stupid.


while i disagree, i respect your position but i will ask for you to elaborate.  why do you think its "stupid" and what ill effects have you experienced ?
i have spent a lot of time actually doing conditioning and know a lot of people who have gone way beyond my level and not one person i know has had any ill effects from conditioning even into old age.   so i am curious as to why you think its harmfull.


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## KEY IN

in Thailand i saw Thai fighter using chinese wood sticks (what they use for eating) 5/6 piece togheter and tapping in all the shin 
do you know something about?


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## Buka

I smacked my shin so hard today on a metal bar, damn near dropped me. Within a minute, I thought about this thread and thought "I sure wish I had been toughening my shins."


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## hoshin1600

Buka said:


> I smacked my shin so hard today on a metal bar, damn near dropped me. Within a minute, I thought about this thread and thought "I sure wish I had been toughening my shins."


Usually it's the toes, I used to kick the heavy bag up and down the dojo floor using toe kicks. Then when you walk into the dresser at 2am, you think to yourself.....ppfftt not so bad.


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## drop bear

hoshin1600 said:


> while i disagree, i respect your position but i will ask for you to elaborate.  why do you think its "stupid" and what ill effects have you experienced ?
> i have spent a lot of time actually doing conditioning and know a lot of people who have gone way beyond my level and not one person i know has had any ill effects from conditioning even into old age.   so i am curious as to why you think its harmfull.



If you actually break something. It screws up your conditioning process. 

You need to condition your shins and protect them.  So it is complicated.


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## hoshin1600

drop bear said:


> If you actually break something. It screws up your conditioning process.
> 
> You need to condition your shins and protect them.  So it is complicated.


If I'm not mistaken we are talking about tapping your shins with a stick (they also make wooden mallets for this)  while I agree with not wanting to break anything I find it hard to believe someone would break their Tibia bone doing it.


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## drop bear

hoshin1600 said:


> If I'm not mistaken we are talking about tapping your shins with a stick (they also make wooden mallets for this)  while I agree with not wanting to break anything I find it hard to believe someone would break their Tibia bone doing it.



Not the whole tibia. You can damage the nerve or the muscle. Or even break a sleve that runs down the shin somewhere.

Think along the lines of shin splints.


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## KEY IN

drop bear said:


> Not the whole tibia. You can damage the nerve or the muscle. Or even break a sleve that runs down the shin somewhere.
> 
> Think along the lines of shin splints.



tapping the shin is the  fastest easy way.
pad and bag kicks are necessary after

tapping correct way must be with high frequency in all the shin around too

dipends all, how intense power you put on tapping ..


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## Jujutsuka

KEY IN said:


> This is about mantaining a healthy shin cond.
> its look simple but it isnt  ,its quite stuff
> 
> what you think about people using small sticks and beating gradually on the shin?
> does it a good way for conditioning ?



I think it depends on the person's tolerance for pain and their own training abilities. If it works for you, then I would say go for it. Sometimes you've just gotta do whatever it takes to become stronger.


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## Deleted member 34973

Oh the glories of shin conditioning..

I remember those days. The process that I learned was a simple one. We used a glass pop or beer bottle and rubbed it up and down the shin bone, with toes pointed forward on the down slide, then flexed the foot up to expose the muscle while returning the bottle towards the knee.

The next step was a hard wooden Dow or any smooth stick. After a few months of this, then a split piece of bamboo was used in the same manner and after that, we would do a bounce the bamboo up and down, using the same contraction of the muscle.

Of course as we did this, we would practice lightly with another person.

Eventually, we used a hard wood short stick and continued the process increasing the force with a partner.

It seemed to work for us and even in my older age, it helps when I am stumbling in the dark and run into a piece of furniture.

I don't believe that my shins are conditioned as much now. But, it seems that the conditioning never really goes away.

Thankful I spent the time and effort as my greatest enemy now is furniture hiding in dark places.


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## Kung Fu Wang

KEY IN said:


> what you think about people using small sticks and beating gradually on the shin?


To "roll" top and down on your shin is better.


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