Leopard Kung Fu

[Oily Dragon]

Speaking of Xing Yi. Around 6:20 he mentions using the elements with his Yi. Hahe you heard of this skill? I can't say I've quit heard of it in how he seems to apply it. For me the training was more mind set based

That arm conditioning exercise is called Da Saam Sing, 3 stars hitting. It's a legit conditioning exercise, actually found in other old Asian arts like Muay Boran, very similar to what MT fighters do to condition their legs.

Yi just means intent. It sounds like he's talking about how he intentionally relaxes etc, which is an important part of the Stars training..you're not trying to smash arms but to use gravity to let the stars on each arm connect with your partner.

Very important to train this properly using liniments, slowly over time. This is a type of Iron Shirt training that definitely creates very strong forearms.

 

[Oily Dragon]

Change the hardness of the bone is a load of crap, unless him saying that was to change the mindset of the person he's doing against that. Anyone who does that forearm conditioning exercise knows that the pain gradually gets worse. I would have been more impressed if he started with it hurting to then moving to where it doesn't hurt. The other thing about that is the angle at which the strike occurs will determine if it lands on the soft part of the arm or the on the bone.

Well it does harden bone over time, that happens with any sort of exercise like this.

But you're right there's also a pain tolerance factor, and you know the people who train this a lot develop really dense forearms. He may just be explaining things a weird way but "yi" does generally determine how something plays out...two people doing Da Saam Sing properly can do it for a long time without hurting themselves or crying uncle, just like two goofballs trying to outdo each other end up done after a minute.

The jow or even OTC rubs like tiger balm are critical for this sort of stuff though. Not to be undertaken lightly.

 

[JowGaWolf]

The jow or even OTC rubs like tiger balm are critical for this sort of stuff though. Not to be undertaken lightly.

We were taught to stop once we began to feel the bruising creeping in. Once it got to that point, it becomes an injury. It's easy to forget that continue to train on damaged tissue. I think that is what happened to Alan and his Iron Palm training, especially if he wast doing that type of training daily, which seems to be the case with his other training that he does. For example he kept training even when his back was hurt.

It's not the same as pain from muscle soreness. It can't be worked out. We can't just "rub dirt on it" and keep pushing through. It's the total opposite. When you feel the pain stop training. Heal first, then return to training.

 

[Oily Dragon]

We were taught to stop once we began to feel the bruising creeping in. Once it got to that point, it becomes an injury. It's easy to forget that continue to train on damaged tissue. I think that is what happened to Alan and his Iron Palm training, especially if he wast doing that type of training daily, which seems to be the case with his other training that he does. For example he kept training even when his back was hurt.

It's not the same as pain from muscle soreness. It can't be worked out. We can't just "rub dirt on it" and keep pushing through. It's the total opposite. When you feel the pain stop training. Heal first, then return to training.

Yeah I've seen a few people do this totally wrong and too often like most iron palm/fist training. Doing it right produces results without any issue, but it's got to be low and slow. A little bruising is normal, and then you apply the kung fu cologne. Any good teacher is going to stress what you said, taking your time and properly balancing conditioning with recovery.

Same goes for the heavy bag. Lots of people don't listen to their bodies and just rage out on the bag and ruin their wrists, fingers over time. People who have been doing these things a long time know better, injury avoidance is #1.

 

[isshinryuronin]

Yeah I've seen a few people do this totally wrong and too often like most iron palm/fist training. Doing it right produces results without any issue, but it's got to be low and slow. A little bruising is normal, and then you apply the kung fu cologne. Any good teacher is going to stress what you said, taking your time and properly balancing conditioning with recovery.

Same goes for the heavy bag. Lots of people don't listen to their bodies and just rage out on the bag and ruin their wrists, fingers over time. People who have been doing these things a long time know better, injury avoidance is #1.

These kinds of conditioning techniques take years to obtain significant results - and thus patience, something commonly lacking in younger martial artists and MA wanna-bees. Those who watch YouTube and try to copy this type of training to become an "Iron Man" in a few months kind of get what they deserve. Listening to your body seems like common sense, but seems a skill lost to many these days for some reason. Like other things in TMA, there is no such thing as a shortcut. But IMO, here is the real secret:

Proper instruction. Perseverance. Patience. Passion. Self-Discipline. Well, not so much a secret - it's more that very few people have this whole package. Those that do usually reach a high level in their chosen field.

 

[CMyers0323]

Change the hardness of the bone is a load of crap, unless him saying that was to change the mindset of the person he's doing against that. Anyone who does that forearm conditioning exercise knows that the pain gradually gets worse. I would have been more impressed if he started with it hurting to then moving to where it doesn't hurt. The other thing about that is the angle at which the strike occurs will determine if it lands on the soft part of the arm or the on the bone.

Based on his youtube channel it looks like he's more into fitness than into Martial Arts.

Oh I don't think it was meant directly. When I asked my instructor about it he said it had to do with relaxing muscles and such so the more tense you throw a punch vs relaxed. I'm not sure how it all relates to whats being taught there. But I do agree with the mindset I'm sure there's some training with that also. Yeah rewatching it I agree with you there. It's obviously not completely shown off I'm sure it's more of a secret to Xing Yi or his style but I'm trying to figure it out haha.

Oh I think that's just his students channel. The blonde guy atleast I think the story is he went to Taiwan to do research on martial arts (he's some sort of fitness youtuber) must have found this guy and then he became a student. I don't follow either of them to well but I remember there being a video with the masters background in fighting/martial arts and such

 

[CMyers0323]

Yeach o

That arm conditioning exercise is called Da Saam Sing, 3 stars hitting. It's a legit conditioning exercise, actually found in other old Asian arts like Muay Boran, very similar to what MT fighters do to condition their legs.

Yi just means intent. It sounds like he's talking about how he intentionally relaxes etc, which is an important part of the Stars training..you're not trying to smash arms but to use gravity to let the stars on each arm connect with your partner.

Very important to train this properly using liniments, slowly over time. This is a type of Iron Shirt training that definitely creates very strong forearms.

Yeah I've seen a few small variations to this I personally started adopting his pattern as it had a few more moves. I agree there I've seen it in quite a few arts so it must be like a "horse stance" type of staple training in body conditioning.

Yeah I've been studying the Yi and more of a direct way to train it according to well martial arts and the internal. That's what I was thinking I mentioned above I was told that by my instructor as well as the mindset behind the strike going with each element. So I'm sure there's a bit of both. I just wasn't sure if this was some sort of secret in Xing Yi.

Oh definitely I know that guy in the video is definitely not trained but you can tell he's taking a beating haha.

 

[CMyers0323]

Well it does harden bone over time, that happens with any sort of exercise like this.

But you're right there's also a pain tolerance factor, and you know the people who train this a lot develop really dense forearms. He may just be explaining things a weird way but "yi" does generally determine how something plays out...two people doing Da Saam Sing properly can do it for a long time without hurting themselves or crying uncle, just like two goofballs trying to outdo each other end up done after a minute.

The jow or even OTC rubs like tiger balm are critical for this sort of stuff though. Not to be undertaken lightly.

I gotta agree there I've been doing Iron palm and as well as using bamboo escrime on my arms to then a pipe and going back to the bamboo it definitely feels way easier on me haha. If I remember right I was also taught the iron body/palm does harden the bone. Definitely not exactly how this guy was talking but I'm still a bit surprised Iron palm isn't a more common thing as it seems to be pretty effective

 

[CMyers0323]

Yeah I've seen a few people do this totally wrong and too often like most iron palm/fist training. Doing it right produces results without any issue, but it's got to be low and slow. A little bruising is normal, and then you apply the kung fu cologne. Any good teacher is going to stress what you said, taking your time and properly balancing conditioning with recovery.

Same goes for the heavy bag. Lots of people don't listen to their bodies and just rage out on the bag and ruin their wrists, fingers over time. People who have been doing these things a long time know better, injury avoidance is #1.

"Kung Fu Cologne" love that lol. I think that's a big issue is most don't do it right. People are in awe with the skills they attain with Iron palm but then doing it end up getting hurt. I was told its like building muscle slow and steady you don't go in the gym the first time trying to lift crazy weight.

 

[Oily Dragon]

"Kung Fu Cologne" love that lol. I think that's a big issue is most don't do it right. People are in awe with the skills they attain with Iron palm but then doing it end up getting hurt. I was told its like building muscle slow and steady you don't go in the gym the first time trying to lift crazy weight.

There are also Leopard iron palm conditioning techniques. It's a pretty easy thing to practice on a hanging bag, or traditional iron palm setup.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Th

I see so it's essentially just a Leopards paw but both hands hooking to the temple. Not necessarily a different hand shape?

That sounds really cool now I just gotta find the other 9 ahaha. Are the 10 killing hands all leopard?

Wong Fei Hung 10 hands are not all leopard. You can find it online. I’m sure @Oily Dragon will post a sweet illustration any minute.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

Great I'll give it a look!

That's cool. I have learned an "ram" technique it wad called rams head. If I remember right it was more or less a Downward horizontal fist strike. Not sure if it's any way similar to what you call a ram based technique

We have that also, different punch but still a spiraling punch. Other ramming techniques use the whole body to strike like Baji Quan. Ram like battering ram.

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I gotta agree there I've been doing Iron palm and as well as using bamboo escrime on my arms to then a pipe and going back to the bamboo it definitely feels way easier on me haha. If I remember right I was also taught the iron body/palm does harden the bone. Definitely not exactly how this guy was talking but I'm still a bit surprised Iron palm isn't a more common thing as it seems to be pretty effective

Iron palm training is bad for your love life. No woman wants to be touched by that.

 

[CMyers0323]

There are also Leopard iron palm conditioning techniques. It's a pretty easy thing to practice on a hanging bag, or traditional iron palm setup.

That's cool. Would you mind sharing them? The only ones I knew were the obvious striking the iron palm bag with a few variations of the leopard palm, doing some sort of push up with the leopard palm, and I think one other but I forget what it was

 

[CMyers0323]

Th

Wong Fei Hung 10 hands are not all leopard. You can find it online. I’m sure @Oily Dragon will post a sweet illustration any minute.

I think i found a forum where they talk about them but yeah if we can have a post about it that would be better since I'm not sure if what I saw was accurate.

We have that also, different punch but still a spiraling punch. Other ramming techniques use the whole body to strike like Baji Quan. Ram like battering ram.

That's cool! I haven't thought of googling much around that since my main focus was around the primary animals but there always great techniques.

Iron palm training is bad for your love life. No woman wants to be touched by that.

Haha yeah I've heard that. I hadn't noticed to much change of my hands. I think I remember hearing they use to only train one hand for that reason.

 

[Oily Dragon]

Iron palm training is bad for your love life. No woman wants to be touched by that.

Hand cream or baby powder.

 

[Oily Dragon]

That's cool. Would you mind sharing them? The only ones I knew were the obvious striking the iron palm bag with a few variations of the leopard palm, doing some sort of push up with the leopard palm, and I think one other but I forget what it was

Depending on how you currently do iron palm (like with a traditional table) it's just a matter of adding the two fists (knuckle ridge and heart/cup) in baoquan form to your set. Use caution on the first.

Any sort of makiwara type board is probably a bad idea (don't know, don't have one).

You can also just throw cup choys onto the sides of a standing heavy bag (I recommend wrapping for this), kind of like boxing overhands, same basic concept. You can try doing the piercing strikes on the bag but again, caution there until your baoquan is actually strong (takes a while, I didn't start leopard style iron palm until years into learning the animal).

But my personal choice for this kind of conditioning (esp for piercing strikes) is the good old Shaolin sand bucket. People wonder why I spend all my time on the beach with my hands in the sand, they have no idea I'm training up my power level.

 

[Oily Dragon]

Oh and baoquan is also perfectly suited for a standard speed bag, it's actually a lot of fun to do speed bag work with leopard style fists, because speed and precision is critical to the techniques. Also provides a bit of conditioning as well with a relatively soft target.

 

[Oily Dragon]

Wong Fei Hung 10 hands are not all leopard. You can find it online. I’m sure @Oily Dragon will post a sweet illustration any minute.

My Kung fu cousins over in Czech republic researched this topic a while back and put together a great article.

Hung Kyun’s „Ten Lethal Bare Hand Techniques“ (Sap Duk Sau) - Practical Hung Kyun

Grand Master Wong Fei Hung, founder of „Modern Hung Kyun“, was one of the most famous Masters of Southern Chinese boxing. Among his special skills belonged long pole fighting, Fei Tou (weight attached to the rope) and so called „Ten Lethal Bare Hand Techniques“ (Sap Duk Sau), ten unique and...

practicalhungkyun.com

Another cousin wrote this on the KFM forums a while back, for another pov.

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www.kungfumagazine.com

 

[Wing Woo Gar]

I think i found a forum where they talk about them but yeah if we can have a post about it that would be better since I'm not sure if what I saw was accurate.

That's cool! I haven't thought of googling much around that since my main focus was around the primary animals but there always great techniques.


Haha yeah I've heard that. I hadn't noticed to much change of my hands. I think I remember hearing they use to only train one hand for that reason.

I like both hands on the wheel when it comes to my love life… you do you player.