Conditioning the hands & feet

[Thousand Kicks]

I think punching/kicking the heavy bag could be useful for strengten the arms,wrists,fists, shins, insteps etc,etc. We don'y need to have killer hardening sessions unless we are going to compete in power breacking contests. I don't have the time to do hardening training, however using the heavy bag or the kicking shield once a week can be usefull in feet and fists.

Manny

Agreed, and I'm sorry if my reply was taken as hardcore conditioning.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Obviously, different people are going to find different levels of conditioning acceptable depending on exactly what and how much you intend to break.

At our school, breaking is required for all promotions. All the required breaks are kicks, but Dan ranks are allowed to choose their own breaks and anything goes (I've done various hand techniques, elbows, knees, and head breaks in addition to the traditional kicks).
Required breaks are all 1" pine, but people do choose to do more. With proper technique, an injury is unlikely with a 1" pine board, even for the smaller students.

I think that although conditioning is important, it's not something to spend a lot of class time on. In class, we try to teach good technique. Practicing those techniques outside of class, on a bag or other target, provides conditioning.

What kind of conditioning do you practice and teach?

Personally, I condition by beating the crap out of BOB. The BOB is much firmer than other freestanding bags I've used (such as the Wavemaster). I used to use bag gloves, then switched to regular gloves, then hand wraps, and now bare handed. I also use a makiwara, but honestly I am not convinced that it's any more effective than the BOB. For spearhands, I use a 5 gallon bucket filled with sand.

Students are told to use bag gloves and gradually increase the power of their strikes. We don't teach spearhand conditioning.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

Personally, I condition by beating the crap out of BOB. The BOB is much firmer than other freestanding bags I've used (such as the Wavemaster).

How stiff is the head on your BOB? I see videos by kwonkicker and Aaron Gassor, and the heads on those BOBs seem to flip-flop quite easily. The head on the BOB that I have is quite stiff - not sure it simply gets softer with use. Thanks in advance.

 

[Dirty Dog]

How stiff is the head on your BOB? I see videos by kwonkicker and Aaron Gassor, and the heads on those BOBs seem to flip-flop quite easily. The head on the BOB that I have is quite stiff - not sure it simply gets softer with use. Thanks in advance.

The head on mine is quite stiff (yes, I can hear all you people making Viagra jokes in the background...).
From what I've seen, the older BOBs with the solid back tend to have floppy necks. Mine has the rear of the support pole exposed, and others that I've seen like this also have a rigid neck.

 

[Gwai Lo Dan]

I have the older style with the covered back, and the neck is stiff. Maybe it's just heavy use that weakens it.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Go use it more and let me know.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Personally, I condition by beating the crap out of BOB. The BOB is much firmer than other freestanding bags I've used (such as the Wavemaster). I used to use bag gloves, then switched to regular gloves, then hand wraps, and now bare handed. I also use a makiwara, but honestly I am not convinced that it's any more effective than the BOB. For spearhands, I use a 5 gallon bucket filled with sand.
.

Like any discussion people need to agree on how terms are used before the discussion can be meaningful. FWIW I consider strengthening different than conditioning the striking surface. You should not do this conditioning without strengthening as well. Repeated striking of soft objects will strengthen the limb and joint but will not condition the striking surface.

See below for explanation of the biology behind conditioning:

"Upon repeat damage to the microstructure of bone, cells called osteoblasts are recruited to the site of "injury" to trigger a large cascade of actions. First, osteoblasts secrete chemical signals into the blood to recruit another cell type, osteoclasts, which are related to white blood cells in lineage. They break down small parts of the cortical bone surface around where the break happened. Then, the osteoblasts act to deposited new bone onto the gap created. The result is called an osteon, which is like a cylindrical sheath of new bone. This serves as the major structural improvement of the bone, giving it reinforced strength along the general axis of the initial break."

 

[ballen0351]

I dont do any breaking but I do condition my hands. I use a makiwara and I punch and strike a cinder block wall in my garage about 3 times a week. I also use BOB as well but my BOB is old and worn out and soft now so I dont get much from that. I may get a large rock at some point but we dont have many large smooth rocks around here its mostly granite sharp and jagged