Strengthening the fist

[ashley]

I'd love to hear any ideas people have on strengthening the fists?

I've heard about juggling and that it can help, but don't believe it!

What about punching sand?

Any ideas appreciated, thanks guys.

[wing chun]

Ash ,

We use the wall bag to strengthen the Punches,Elbows etc in wing chun its very affective .

Its usally filled with sand .

[blacksamb]

i use different kinds of push ups, finger tip pushups (1 to 5 fingers from each hand on the ground), wrist pushups (directly on the wrist) and knuckle pushups. (top two knuckles).

along with bag work!

[empty cup]

I use push ups and strike different surfaces ( with different parts of the hand), including a telephone book and a corded pole. I also use a weight roller for strengthening my wrists, added to this I also have a set of exercises for my wrists which strengthen them and retains flexibility and range of motion. I also practice punches (different types) daily.

[empty cup]

if anyone is using sand to punch......make sure it has been heated properly to remove the moisture. And don't forget the Dit Dar

[blacksamb]

I use push ups and strike different surfaces ( with different parts of the hand), including a telephone book and a corded pole. I also use a weight roller for strengthening my wrists, added to this I also have a set of exercises for my wrists which strengthen them and retains flexibility and range of motion. I also practice punches (different types) daily.

ooo telephone books, good idea! i also use a weight roller!

[ashley]

if anyone is using sand to punch......make sure it has been heated properly to remove the moisture. And don't forget the Dit Dar

Good advice about the moisture. By the way, what is Dit Dar?

[clouddragon]

I use a Makiwara which has nothing to do with Tai Chi Chuan. I think you should be able to land a couple of good punches without the hand swelling up. We also do handstands on the knuckles. However the idea of Tai Chi is to avoid what is hard and attack what is weak. I think a couple of good punches and then use open palm strikes if needed so a lot of this conditioning is not needed for Internal arts. I have a Wing Chun wall bag full of sand which I use outdoors. I also use hand weights full of lead for what we call running thunder hand, this strengthens hand and grip and a lot more besides.

[empty cup]

Good advice about the moisture. By the way, what is Dit Dar?

It is a chinese herbal linament.....Dit dar Jow. It comes in an oil or alcohol form (although there are other types), you can get special formulas for hard conditioning. There are a lot of claims (and counter claims) for its efficacy. If you are training your hands or other body parts it is useful, but the important rule is small incremental steps.

[Mikeitup]

It is a chinese herbal linament.....Dit dar Jow. It comes in an oil or alcohol form (although there are other types), you can get special formulas for hard conditioning. There are a lot of claims (and counter claims) for its efficacy. If you are training your hands or other body parts it is useful, but the important rule is small incremental steps.

Dit Dar = Fall & Hit
Jow = wine

Dit dar jow = Fall hit wine.

There is an oil version = dit dar yau
Plus other dit dar medicines such as Gau Sun poultices and the chaat hearn and sap hearn pills. The Tui na massage is also part of the system.

I used to be skeptical when I first started using the jow but I have tried using jow, arnica gel and nothing at all and it is my opinion that the jow does help speed up the healing process.
I stink of jow all the time.


I use fingertip pushups, knuckle pushups, phoenix eye fist pushups. I use a single section bag filled with sand, a 3 section wallbag filled with sand. I use 2 logs that i use for training the "nar loong jau" (hard dragon claws) to stengthen the grip/fingers and i also use the 200lb heavy grips. aiming for 250lb in january.

Oh, and i use loads of jow.

Newcomers to the classes I attend must think we are all piss-heads as our sifu is always asking if we have enough wine. LOL