{"id":4618,"date":"2016-07-13T19:38:18","date_gmt":"2016-07-13T23:38:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tambulimedia.com\/?p=4618"},"modified":"2023-07-24T14:58:43","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T18:58:43","slug":"art-kung-fu-iron-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tambulimedia.com\/art-kung-fu-iron-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Kung-fu Iron Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iron Skills were developed for a harsh reality, when one\u2019s body was\u00a0one\u2019s weapon. However, this day and age is not as harsh as when\u00a0the elders devised these unique methods to forge the human body\u00a0into iron.\u00a0<\/span>In essence, the concept of Iron Skill and its training methodologies\u00a0were designed to strengthen and preserve your anatomical weapons,\u00a0which in this case are the hands, the torso, forearms, and shins.\u00a0Such training must be performed correctly, so as not to\u00a0damage them to the point they become little more than useless\u00a0nerve-damaged appendages.<\/span><\/p>\n

The breaking of pine boards, cinder blocks, or even coconuts or\u00a0a bat on one\u2019s shin is not the apex for training in Iron Skills; nor\u00a0should this be considered anything but a simple pressure gauge\u00a0within one\u2019s own Iron Skills training path.\u00a0<\/span>The essence of kung-fu Iron Skill training is twofold:<\/span><\/p>\n

1) To condition the body without getting hurt; be it for striking\u00a0or absorbing a hit.<\/span><\/strong>
\n2) To develop penetrating ability when striking an opponent\u2019s\u00a0soft body tissue or pressure points<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The art of Iron Skills has been shrouded in secrecy\u2014and worse, in\u00a0ignorance\u2014for so long that it has led to countless myths and apocryphal\u00a0legends. However, in the chapters that follow we examine\u00a0the methodologies that grant us the ability of Iron Skills without\u00a0all the pseudoscience and ambiguity that foreshadow it for so long.<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though Iron Skills grant a pugilist a sound method to condition\u00a0the body\u2014be it for sport as a competitive fighter or for the\u00a0harsh reality of that the streets may offer\u2014its true benefit is actually\u00a0health; not violence as some may believe. It goes beyond\u00a0the obvious, which is a physicality, into something deeper, which\u00a0benefits our health tremendously. Who would believe breaking a\u00a0coconut would do that?<\/span><\/p>\n

In time and with proper training I found this to be a valuable training asset. And after decades of study in kung-fu and Chinese medicine I brought all my knowledge together into a comprehensive book, Fundamental Iron Skills<\/a><\/strong>. The video below shows one of the training drills featured in my book.<\/span><\/p>\n