Excursions in Iron Palm Book, 1st Edition

This is NOT a "how-to" iron palm book: "Excursions in Iron Palm" is the first of its kind, covering a myriad of topics that concern both the iron palm student and teacher. It is a very important work which belongs on the bookshelf of any individual who takes their training seriously. Below is a snippet from the introduction of the book:

When you use this book, consider that many martial artists have a great interest in iron palm and other conditioning but have less then a passing knowledge of the herbs and their associated compounds, or the applications or situations under which iron palm becomes effective. Understanding what each of the herbs does and why it is important in iron palm as well as for injury (from iron palm or not) is quite important. There may be gaps in understanding the pathologies that may arise from training the hands, breaking methodology, or working past plateaus. Most martial artists dont have acupuncture programs for their training, or good internal adjuncts, nor have they ever been taught about the physical properties of various conditioning materials. All this and more is here.

Consider a professional guitarist. While this individual cares most about writing and playing music, he should also have at least a rudimentary understanding of the characteristics of different woods and woodworking skills, an understanding of the properties of the metals that guitar strings are made from and the process which creates them, and perhaps even a general history and evolution of the guitar. Just as this will help round out a well-studied guitarist, the iron palmist should understand, at least to some degree, what properties of iron palm jows and injury jows are important, why certain materials are chosen to condition with over others, or what pathologies to look for that may lead to bodily damage, identifying them and taking action to stop the damage.

And so enters this book. Use this book to become the metaphorical “well-studied guitarist” of iron palm world…Use it to increase your awareness of important topics that concern the iron palmist; use it as a reference for you and your students. Keep it handy and get good use out of it; let it show its use by allowing its pages to become tarnished with the aroma and resins of your jow-stained hands!


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword

Disclaimer

What This book is and How to Use It

Fundamental Paradigms of Iron Palm
• Concept and Purpose of Conditioning, and Iron Palm
• Physical Conditioning Processes
• Basic striking methodologies
• Basic Iron Palm Striking
• Fundamental Herbal Components for Iron Palm

The Pathology of Iron Palm
• Short-term physiological response to iron palm training
• Long-Term physiological response to Iron palm training
• 5-Element perspective of organ Disharmony

Counteracting The Pathology of Iron Palm
• Diet and Lifestyle
• Clearing Vs Tonifying
• Internal formulas for iron palm-type conditioning
• Meridian Discussion
• The Importance of Aroma
• External formula: Early-Stage Iron Palm Jow
• External Formula: Ku Yu Cheong Iron Palm Jow
• Acupuncture for Iron Palm
• Qigong for iron palm

Training To Break
• Using Paper to Break
• Setting up a Break

Dealing with Injuries From Conditioning
• Training through Injuries
• Arsenal Against Injury
• Internal injury Dit Da Wan Base
• Injury Dit Da Jow Base
• Plasters and Poultices

Applying the Iron Palm
• Vertically Sweeping Strike
• Horizontally Sweeping Strike

Supplemental Material: Getting the Most From Iron Palm
• Improvements Vs Maintenance
• Varying Time
• Varying Intensity
• Varying Frequency
• Breakdown Training
• Varying Mode/Method
• Internal Vs External
• Vibrating Palm Training

Closing Remarks

APPENDIX I -- Cross-reference of Herbal Names/Actions in This Book

APPENDIX II – Other Notable Sources of Information

Biography