How to toughen up or condition wrists and forearms?

[SapphireStar]

I'm new to martial arts, having only started about 2 months ago. I am studying Tai-Chi, but also Southern Mantis boxing. I love both! :ultracool

Yesterday I went to another facility to try out a women's self-defense course. I ended up unusually sore in the wrists from being grabbed and held more than usual. That's never a problem in TC or SMB.

I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas to toughen up or condition my wrists and forearms?

I love SMB and am not giving it up. I don't want to be a delicate little violet, but I do have to be a bit careful with my hands because of my job. Can't really use any kind of hand guards or wraps in practice because I need to feel the pressure of the opponent's wrists.

Teacher has a wonderful dit da jow that I've used and I also have an herbal arnica gel that works well when applied before and after class. Ice after practice if needed.

This is a great site and I'm amazed at how much there is to learn here. I love reading the whole board and thank everyone for their contributions.

 

[Drac]

Have you asked your teacher if he has any suggestions? Alas I do not have any suggestions on how to toughen..As you train more your body becomes accustomed to it and you wont be as sore..If ya need strenght exercises for the wrist and forarms, those I got..

 

[SensibleManiac]

Try push ups on your knuckles, that and Kettlebell exercises like the clean and jerk, among others.

 

[SapphireStar]

Drac - I have not checked with teacher yet, I will do so this coming week.

SensibleManiac - That is a wonderful idea! I had to look it up to see how they are done, and discovered I can do these against a wall to start. Doesn't cause any pain at all.

The problem is that I have degenerative arthritis in the CMC joints; one is completely bone on bone and the other will be there eventually. So anything where I'm bent wrist and pressure on that joint is difficult to tolerate; push-ups, plank or downward dog in yoga.

I've only been at this 2 months, so I will be doing more practice for strengthening and use tincture of time to get stronger. Thanks, guys!

 

[K-man]

Gripping exercises will help as well. Sets of 40 with the arms in different positions, up front and side, palms up, down, front etc, no breaks in between changes of position and continue until the forearms are burning. Make sure the hands fully open and fully clench. Really develops the forearms and helps the strength of your holds.

 

[mook jong man]

I don't know anything about Southern Mantis Boxing but I assume being a Southern style like Wing Chun there would probably be some sort of two man drills performed to cultivate sensitivity and forearm conditioning.

Because you have only been doing it for 2 months maybe these will be taught to you in the future.

 

[Drac]

This old school weight lifter at my gym taught me this great wrist and forearm exercise, he called it The 13..You will need access to lightweight dumbells..To start you need a sets of 3lbs, 4lbs and 5lbs..I was taught to to this sitting on the floor with my arms draped over a bench so ya cant cheat.

1. Do 13 wrist curls
2. Do 13 reverse wrist curls
3. Do 13 verticle wrist curls ( think of the wrist action for milking a cow)
4. Do 13 Alternating wrist curls.One dumbell is held in the a regular wrist curl position( fingers down) and the other in the reverse wrist curl position ( finger up)..You simple flip rotate your wrist 13 time..

As soon as you are done with the first set with the lightweights you pick up the next set and do it all over again, no resting between sets..Don't let the lightweight fool you, you will get a good forearm burn..

 

[SapphireStar]

MookJongMan - We already do contact work and it's going well. Thank you.

K-man - The gripping exercises will be tried tonite. Sounds like a good idea. Maybe even a few sets of it before work in the mornings. Thanks much.

Very good, Drac, thank you. I'm writing all of these down and going to make them into a regular routine.

 

[TheLegend731]

When I was doing kung fu, we used to strengthen our wrists by holding long and slightly heavy rods by the end and slowly rotating them in different directions and bringing them up toward the start position. Our arms would stay still and the only movement would be done by the wrist. Doing it slowly and keeping your arm tensed will strengthen what you want, but you will feel like your arm is burning hahaha.

 

[dosk3n]

A powerball has helped me strengthen my forarms and I, like MJM train WC and we do a punching drill up centre line where you and a partner punch towards each other and intercept with a punch. Basically your just chain punching somoene elses chain punch and that constant hitting of the arms conditioned my forarms.

Hope you understand what I described. Maybe MJM can describe it better lol.

 

[Brandon Fisher]

There is a tool used in the Okinawan arts that is called Chiishi. It works very well for the wrists and forearms however finding them can be difficult. So we started making them in my dojo if you are interested in them contact me.

 

[dosk3n]

http://www.powerballs.com/

 

[punisher73]

There is a tool used in the Okinawan arts that is called Chiishi. It works very well for the wrists and forearms however finding them can be difficult. So we started making them in my dojo if you are interested in them contact me.

Or for those that don't like making things, you can buy a pair of 4 lb hammers or a sledghammer and trim the handle to your size.

 

[Brandon Fisher]

We are actually going to start selling them here soon.

 

[Rion]

Everyone has given you such great advice their is nothing more to say really apart from go slow,i have just started MA and i over did it on the forearm training and my foremans ballooned to double the size due to being sore.

 

[Mark Jordan]

I was thinking of doing something else like sports or exercising. Rock climbing and water skiing will help you develop a strong grip because these sports require strong wrists and forearms. You can also perform exercises to strengthen the wrists and forearms like using a lightweight dumbell to do wrist curls and/or reverse wrist curls.Work up slowly as you can injure yourself if you use too much wieght. One set of 15 reps for each arm.

 

[Spartigus]

You could try plyo pushups and depth pushups (look them up on youtube). They put a lot of impact on your palms, hands and forearms , as well as developing explosive power .

 

[nitflegal]

Try bo furi (spinning) with a heavy oak bo or 6' piece of 1.25" pipe from home depot. I was having a lot of difficulty with my right wrist folding up after a bad forearm/wrist break (Note: have someone hold the ladder when you're coming down from roofing. . .). My sensei recommended it and it has helped tremendously and when I've occasionally done forearm or reverse curls at the YMCA my weights have gone up significantly (more than doubled, actually) over the past year and a half and my right hand very rarely folds on a punch anymore. It also has the added advantage that doing 20 minutes of forearm/wrist exercises at the weight stack makes them stronger while the same amount of time spinning an iron pipe makes them AND my taijutsu stronger! God knows my rokushaku bojutsu can use the extra practice. . . Matt

 

[Blade96]

squeeze a stress ball. I was told by a doc to do that after i sprained my hand a little. It strengthens your hand and maybe wrist too, I dunno.