Hand conditioning/strenghtening

[jsbelljr83]

My Arnis instructor, Master Apolo Ladra started me on some hand conditioning and strengthening excercises today that were very good. He had me lay both my sticks flat, and place the first joints of both hands across the sticks and do push ups on them. Now it did hurt, but he said this was to get my hands immune to the pain of being struck, so I would not drop my stick in a match or fight. He also had me hold my sticks verticle and grip them about 12" up from the floor and do a modified push up that way, again difficult but beneficial. I am wondering if anyone else out there has done these excercises before?

 

[pknox]

That's one I haven't seen, but I was taught a wrist strengthening exercise for the ligaments and muscles. Take a dumbbell (the longer the better) and place weight on only one side (the side you are not gripping). Move the weight in all directions, both straight and in circles. Use a small amount of weight at first, and it's very important to go really slow, or you may hurt yourself. This is also good for helping increase your range of motion, which will help with any type of twist.

Interestingly enough, before I was ever taught this in Arnis, I had a goju instructor show me essentially the same exercise - except the end had a stone weight instead of weight plates. While the exercise doesn't "condition" the hand against impact, it is reported to strengthen the tendons, ligaments, and muscles in the hand as well as the wrist.

There are lots of reasons to condition the hands, but the part about not dropping your stick in a fight isn't something I've heard before. If a really talented escrimador hits your knuckles with full force he will break them, even if they are conditioned. I can't imagine you would be able to hold onto the stick in that case.

 

[jsbelljr83]

Do you move the dumbbell in circles with your wrist? I also figured that if you get hit hard enough that you will drop you stick no matter what. If your knuckles are broken, you are FUBAR and will lose that hand. I will ask him more this Fri when I train again.

 

[pknox]

Originally posted by jsbelljr83
Do you move the dumbbell in circles with your wrist? I also figured that if you get hit hard enough that you will drop you stick no matter what. If your knuckles are broken, you are FUBAR and will lose that hand. I will ask him more this Fri when I train again.

In circles, but also straight, going 12 to 6 (on a clock), and 3 to 9. I think the best way to avoid having your knuckles bashed is to keep the hand away in the first place. Kinda like the old Mr. Miyagi thing of "best block is not be there."

 

[jsbelljr83]

We do a similiar drill with our sticks and do a sort of windmill. Really builds the grip up. Just like the arm rotations pictured on pages 14+15 of Prof Presas book Modern Arnis.