When most people think of iron palm, the image that comes to mind is a kung fu practitioner breaking a large stack of bricks with a seemingly light strike of his palm.
It's an awesome display of external power; after all, if a martial artist can break a stack of bricks with a strike, he could surely break bones with the same strike.
There is good reason that that is the image most people have; iron palm is most commonly taught as an external art with great destructive power, but that is just one type of palm.
Indeed, there are a few other types that are much less commonly seen.
External - the kind most people think of.
Hitting bags in training, breaking bricks, and breaking bones.
This type of training is typically practiced by hitting a bag at waist height filled with mung beans and then later moving on to gravel and possible steel shot.
After training, qigong (internal energy and breath work) exercises are performed and dit da jow (medicinal liniment made from Chinese herbs) is rubbed into the hands to facilitate healing.
Even though this is referred to as "external iron palm," it still has an internal component with the qigong exercises involved.
Internal - The internal version is not commonly seen.
Its practice is almost entirely based in qigong with exercises designed to generate and move the qi around the body and into the palms of the hand.
There is not much bag striking in the practice of this iron palm, owing to its internal nature.
It is said that a master of the internal style palm can place his hand on an opponent and strike without moving his hand back at all and cause great damage.
An internal palm breaking demonstration may involve the practitioner placing his hand on top of a stack of bricks and then breaking them with what appears to be only a small shake of his body, but his hand never comes off the bricks.
Internal iron palm will involve the use of dit da jow after, and possibly before practice as well.
Cotton - Cotton iron palm, sometimes called "cotton palm," is very rare.
It involves hitting a bag filled with cotton or some other soft material.
Where as the external style involves significant conditioning of the hands, cotton palm does not develop external conditioning in the same way seeing as how a hard surface is never struck.
Cotton iron palm involves the use of qigong exercises and dit da jow as well, and an advanced practitioner is said to be able to strike an opponent in the stomach, damage their internal organs, and leave a palm print on their back.
Part of the reason external iron palm is so common compared to the other two styles is that, by comparison, its training is easier.
It doesn't require as much time to become proficient, and doesn't have such strict rules about practice because it doesn't have as large of an internal qigong component.
It's an awesome display of external power; after all, if a martial artist can break a stack of bricks with a strike, he could surely break bones with the same strike.
There is good reason that that is the image most people have; iron palm is most commonly taught as an external art with great destructive power, but that is just one type of palm.
Indeed, there are a few other types that are much less commonly seen.
External - the kind most people think of.
Hitting bags in training, breaking bricks, and breaking bones.
This type of training is typically practiced by hitting a bag at waist height filled with mung beans and then later moving on to gravel and possible steel shot.
After training, qigong (internal energy and breath work) exercises are performed and dit da jow (medicinal liniment made from Chinese herbs) is rubbed into the hands to facilitate healing.
Even though this is referred to as "external iron palm," it still has an internal component with the qigong exercises involved.
Internal - The internal version is not commonly seen.
Its practice is almost entirely based in qigong with exercises designed to generate and move the qi around the body and into the palms of the hand.
There is not much bag striking in the practice of this iron palm, owing to its internal nature.
It is said that a master of the internal style palm can place his hand on an opponent and strike without moving his hand back at all and cause great damage.
An internal palm breaking demonstration may involve the practitioner placing his hand on top of a stack of bricks and then breaking them with what appears to be only a small shake of his body, but his hand never comes off the bricks.
Internal iron palm will involve the use of dit da jow after, and possibly before practice as well.
Cotton - Cotton iron palm, sometimes called "cotton palm," is very rare.
It involves hitting a bag filled with cotton or some other soft material.
Where as the external style involves significant conditioning of the hands, cotton palm does not develop external conditioning in the same way seeing as how a hard surface is never struck.
Cotton iron palm involves the use of qigong exercises and dit da jow as well, and an advanced practitioner is said to be able to strike an opponent in the stomach, damage their internal organs, and leave a palm print on their back.
Part of the reason external iron palm is so common compared to the other two styles is that, by comparison, its training is easier.
It doesn't require as much time to become proficient, and doesn't have such strict rules about practice because it doesn't have as large of an internal qigong component.
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