Traditional Karate Hand Conditioning

www.chrisdenwoo... Here are some clips from the dojo that show a sample of my personal hand conditioning regime.
I aim to cover anywhere between 800 to 1000 reps and a full session takes around 40 minutes to complete. If performed on a consistent basis, this I feel is adequate.
Repetition training on hard surfaces is different to power training - you need to be conscious of both the level of force and the changing state of your hands.
It is about slow, steady and progressive development. Seeking fast results can easily result in injury and this will only hamper your overall growth.
I aim to finish every session such that I can return again in the next day or two. If injuries do occur then I wait for them to heal completely before resuming my practice.
And apologies for the lack of lighting - training was at night!
For more information, please visit www.chrisdenwoo....
The methods described or demonstrated in this video are potentially dangerous and must not be attempted by anyone unless they are under the close supervision of a suitably qualified and experienced person.
Any persons attempting any of the activities described or demonstrated on this video do so entirely at their own risk.
Copyright © Chris Denwood 2013 All Rights Reserved.
For more information about Chris and his approach to karate, please visit www.chrisdenwoo...

[@catyear75]

Don't apologize for the lighting.... it made the whole video look cooler! Awesome vid! Thanks for posting

[@chrisdenwood]

Just go outside and find a suitable rock or stone! Something fairly smooth and without any sharp angles is perfect. My ishi was literally from my garden, but a stone from the beach or a nearby river would be ideal. You could even use a house brick or paving slab - anything that provides a suitable challenge to the hands, whilst keeping the risk of injury to a minimum. Hope this helps and thanks for your comment :-)

[@chrisdenwood]

Thank you. Very few injuries actually. I try to train sensibly by taking things slow and progressive. First and foremost, martial arts is about improving health so that it may be practiced long-term. When conditioning, adequate rest is just as important as the stimulus in training needed to allow the growth and development process to occur. Hope this helps and thank again for the kind words. Best wishes, Chris.

[@crystallizationofthesoul7095]

Arm conditioning hurts less and if you strengthen the arm with calisthenics before the arm conditioning it will still leave you marks but it will hurt less! The pain will go away the next day so it will heal faster! No need of medicine no nothing! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGOXfq2CgdOJitU Try it!

[@dees.daniel7]

Great work. I have been doing this style of conditioning for twenty years and never once an injury. Slow and patient progression with proper rest. I also emphasize finger and grip strength. I have taken bits and pieces from my Pak Mei instructors, Choy Lay Fut instructors, and Kenpo instructors. Really great video, congratulations.

[@alvinstewart9412]

I like what you're doing here. There are people who don't appreciate hand conditioning.

[@chrisdenwood]

I've been conditioning for quite a few years now - you must practice with caution by gradually increasing the power over time. I consider myself still only a beginner. Yes, I removed the leather pad - I use three striking surfaces for the makiwara...leather, straw and wood. Thanks for your comment!

[@kaitsith3081]

Makiwara also teaches you to hit with the correct knuckles.

[@bigmember5908]

that is subjective

[@chrisdenwood]

Hello, Makiwara training etc is primarily performed to challenge the delivery and reaction systems of the body to issue and absorb force. A secondary benefit is of course that your hands become more conditioned to the impact. Hope this helps and thanks for the comment!

[@chrisdenwood]

Thank you for the kind comment, much appreciated :-)

[@Moodymongul]

Nice conditioning regime and at a nice controlled pace, Osu! Note: use of a good 'dit da jow' rub (or failing that simply a strong grain alcohol as a substitute) is a good idea too (rubbed into hands/whatever is being conditioned, before and after training). The alcohol helps bring blood into the hand. More blood in the hand during training the better (fyi - 30 to 60 arm spins, one arm at a time, also does this). Alcohol also helps thicken the skin (over time) and seems to alleviate minor bruises to some degree (and helps them break up quicker). For deeper impact injuries (and strains) I'd recommend (if you don't have it already) adding 'Zheng GU Shui' to your first aid cabinet. Also, submerging your hands in VERY warm water (so they turn red-indicating blood flow) and doing some finger (and wrist) mobility exercises (to loosen the hands while your hands are in the water) is so very beneficial (do this before AND after your training). Five minutes or so is all it takes (each time you bath the hands). This last water exercise (of all the methods I mentioned) would really be worth you checking out ..as it takes no expense and is quick and easy to do (and helps heal and maintain the hand+ aid flexibility during this type of training). Remember, with this training, you only start to 'feel' any damage (done in the past) in your 40's and 50's. So keep those hands supple and as flexible as possible during this training (this point gets overlooked too much imho). Anyway, good luck and continued success :)

[@chrisdenwood]

Thanks for the kind words. My foundational style is actually Wado Ryu based, but I'm also heavily influenced by older Okinawan styles.

[@justoldog]

From my Wing chun school- we hit sandbags for a long time- then bags of stones and gravel, along with wooden dummy for forearm bones-- took 25 years, but no hand deformation or lack of dexterity- and can hit hard-

[@xlro8f853]

So I decided practicing/ mastering this art is called "Tekken" this man is honing his tekken and in turn will become powerful. Of course this applies to all other body parts you are conditioning. Your welcome.

[@Worldwidewhat-wb]

Hand conditioning is a must for any fighter ignoring that is a big fail

[@asadacoehlo7964]

+wordlington Not really. A really talented fighter doesn't even need to use direct hits. But then again, real talent is rare nowadays.

[@Xzontyr]

+Asada Coehlo a friend of mine started forarm conditioning years ago. he did a defelcting rising block to my arm while we were goofing around and i honeatly would of rather been pumched on the face by him.

[@ronnyalvarez256]

A big fail? Bro you know about Okinawa Karate?

[@ctygftyyfd4209]

Rare talent nowaday and nontalent people very lazy, they not hard work, 100% martial artist, fighter i met : 98,9% they told me stop condition my hand, not hit 100% power in heavy bag, hard material and must were gloves not barekuncle, i think : bullshit!, condition and hardwork in bareknuckle strike will make you stronger, break everthing. Eg: they not have conditioned hand, when them fight other in street, the skin of fist will tear out and mabe take the blood of opponent, and unluckiest is their oppoent had HIV/AIDS --> bad ending for this guy/woman

[@louiefiend]

No he is right ...I broke my knuckle in a fight. If you generate more power than your bones and tendons can handle thats when injuries happen.

[@kestonbayraktar9013]

I stop punching the makiwara when my knuckles get sore and blisters a bit then u wait few days to heal am i conditioning my knuckles right???

[@kjsantana]

Please don't ever hit anyone like that. You might kill them! You have a lot of physical power behind your strikes.

[@mateuscampari]

u have my respect, I will never do this cause I do not know if my hands could make it some day, amazing and bizarre, great work there

[@LieutenantD0gg]

Man your fit you really look the Part of those Japanese Anime guys who come from Karate backgrounds.. like in Tekken and stuff lol

[@MaharlikaAWA]

Do you also do spear finger tips on something as well or any wrist bashing?

[@Stinkypoop100]

That's very impressive. I don't do karate, but I will try to incorporate the training to taekwondo and kickboxing. I hope one day I'll be that skilled.

[@c907al]

i think it's cool how similar some of these techniques are to muy thai conditioning, ps. the original muy thai masters use to kick banana trees for hours to develop tough kicks

[@Bearfootcriminal]

thanx Chris, excellent video. love the dojo

[@inflames2112]

i like this method over the more brutal versions i've seen and done many years back.

[@samrobin233]

Your hitting that pretty hard. How long you been doing this for? Also what did you take off the top at 2:10? A piece of leather?

[@noire2326]

I just use my wasted tyre. Its flexibilty is enough to make your hand little bit hurt thus stronger.

[@RecoveringGenius]

Chris, my friend walked into the apartment and we had your video up on the flat screen, and he says "why is that guy so pissed? He seems all 'agro' punching the wall?" I said, you idiot he's conditioning his hands for Karate.

[@xRose_007]

I do this but on the tree in my back yard. I do fist, elbows, back arm, fore arm and shin. I only get trouble with my shin now, it still hurts to condition them, but with the rest of my body i no longer feel much pain.

[@xRose_007]

Dropzone you make it sound like im lying

[@xRose_007]

Dropzone its not that.. its body conditioning, when you condition your body it becomes stronger than before. I study kyokushin and martial arts. i have no reason to lie.but yet i have nothing to prove either.

[@dropzone4321]

your no liar ,but be careful down the road

[@xRose_007]

Dropzone I will.

[@xRose_007]

Dropzone hahah i understand, its all good. No hard feelings :) best of luck to you also. have a good day/night.

[@rlhyme1]

what type of wood does one use to make a punching pad like yours I would love to have one of my own.

[@Vinko44]

Much respect for you and what you are doing.This video was helpful to me.I must find Ishi stone for myself.

[@lean3593]

not yet

[@Shenruss]

Excellent. Any tips for strengthening writ alignment during punches? Also, any videos on making proper fists, or shin and foot conditioning?

[@colonelmustang1]

Shenruss for strengthening writ alignment during punches you shold do pushups on your fists and if you start hitting things that are soft but packed like a hay stack, a banana tree or a really heavy punching bag it would do the trick.. your hand will learn

[@Shenruss]

Hoai Nguyen Trung I understand where you are coming from, Haoi, but this also has a lot to do with development of stabalizer muscle and tendon tissue, as well as wrist alingment. Fist push ups predominantly develop the central striking surface....in my style of Kyukoshin, that being the first 2 knuckles. Which surface is most developed really depends on how the pushup is done; some schools actually advocate varying it, and doing push ups on ALL the knuckles at some points to ensure the whole hand is toughened. I can't say what this does to alignment, though. Thank you for the advice; I'll keep it in mind when training. DarrenG I've been doing those in various ways for years, Brother. I agree, writs alighment does develop from this and it does help, I think. Yet still, when I throw a heavy or rapid punch during sparring and it gets deflected, I can feel my wrist bending slightly, and i'm unsure why. I should probably mention that aside from the hard karate, I also have a base in aikido; for that art, flexible and supple wrist are actually a necessity, considering its reliance on joint locks. All strikes in aikido are basicaly percaussive atemi; we don't throw traditional punches even 1/20 of the rate at which its done in Karate. If done, its usually a backfist, meant more to stagger or cause kuzushi than to inflict direct damage. Our strongest atemi are usually knife hand strikes with the heavy palm, or open palm strikes, which distribute the force more widely through the body. Again, supple wrist are a necesity for this. I guess I'm worrying that the overlapping of the arts may just be incompatable, and the fleixibilty I developed for aikido might actually be hindering thr stability needed for blows in Kyukoshin. Is there no way to sutain both?

[@hattercom]

Shenruss This may sound a little counter intuitive, but I know that it works for me and my practice. In addition to work on my conditioning through strikes, I do a great deal of strength training in the gym - weight lifting and body building. To strengthen my wrists, I'll use a bench bar, hold it about the level of my waist, arms shoulder width apart, and 'roll' the bar up and down the palm of my hand with my fingers, and 'twist/rotate' the bar in clockwise and counter clockwise motions. This helps strengthen the tendons in the wrist and aids in the development in generating grip strength - something necessary for doing heavy lifting without straps. If you wanted to give this a go, find any 'heavy' bar that you can control and see how it works. I'll do this with weights ranging between 135lbs/61,4kg - 175lbs/79,5kg, but I've worked on this type of exercise for a long while. I'd suggest something much lighter for comfort's sake and go from there. I have some other more 'traditional' Shotokan techniques I use as well if you'd like to know them. Just let me know. Another thing I can possibly toss out as a tip would be a tip that my sensei told me a number of years ago. When you punch, imagine that you have a hand full of gold dust and that it was the most precious gold in the world and you don't want to lose a single speck of that dust. The idea is that the grip is so strong and controlled that it 'forces' your wrist to strengthen in the process. I have some things I could suggest for shin and foot conditioning, too, but this may be enough of an earful for now. Good luck.

[@kylethedalek]

Hey, I was just reading through the comments and I was wondering if you guys had any advice for beginners wanting to start conditioning, would a bucket of sand be a good starting point ? And what is a good way to condition your fingers ? So they are stronger and you can't feel as much pain in them? And is there any good ways to in crease your pain tolerance? Any help is much appreciated!!

[@徐世憲-m8v]

練的不錯打石頭有沉重的擊打聲、還有腳指尖、手指尖、肘、膝蓋，小腿脛骨，肩靠，頭頂，也可擊打出沉重的聲響，再接再厲每項每次都要連續打十分鐘才能夠提升功力。

[@log7828]

徐世憲 eso muy cierto, aunque no se que putas dice

[@hokhu5747]

Sabuza Hatake xD

[@Drewpy113]

Thank you!

[@RJ-ki1ni]

Sir.... Please can you tell me what is your daily routine during this conditioning period...

[@coachnyzam2053]

Can u teach us how to create the hand conditioning training tools ?

[@josephbookerjb]

the know how exist on KZbin I made a makiwara!

[@MarioUcomics]

what style of karate do you practice? Im going to guess goju ryu

[@rkirwan5511]

Angle of fist on the majority of his strikes would indicate the probability of Isshin Ryu or Wado Ryu,

[@xlro8f853]

So yea I'm doing this and all and going to keep on keeping on but this training I feel is kinda next level stuff I mean your essentially becoming a human weapon threw long term training. It should have a name!

[@chrisdenwood]

Hi Andrew, Yes, I teach in the Whitehaven area. Our group website is eskk.co.uk

[@elmozuniga5430]

its good to know everybody who ddnt know

[@labrat963]

Is it just to make the knuckle hard or it improves the punching power?

[@theveganninjamaster6542]

good vid, I have been meaning to try and make one of these.

[@renn0x]

Hey amazing! So after this you will have a iron fist right? Can you train for the flat hand? Open Hand? Is that usefull to learn or is only the fist usefull?

[@emmicd11]

+renn0x In my personal opinion, you should train every part of your hand for maximum benefit. Also, in the video, he's doing karate iron hand training, there are different methods of training iron hand.

[@michaelmckenna705]

do you have a video for conditioning forearms and legs ? i am a taekwondo practioner but was told for conditioning like how they did it in korea in the 30s to the 40s to do karate conditioning as there is no set method for taekwondo conditioning as most just use karate methods. also how did you build your dojo ? i would like to have my own dojang (korean version of the dojo) in my garden big enough to do what i need to do

[@barrettokarate]

When you first began conditioning your hands with the makiwara and stone, how many times a week to you practice on them? How many repetitions?

[@msilnascimento]

Very nice, is this makiwara from Shureido ? Thanks.

[@skydreamer89]

If I develop my fist completely, the effects will be permanent even without keeping the 'workout, or should I always continue throughout life to maintain the result ?

[@dempseytunney]

Your a very impressive young man keep it up .

[@taekwondobro]

I love the hand conditioning, does karate have a form of this for the feet, shins, and forearms? I'm not very good with all the Japanese words since I practice taekwondo

[@Ganaremoslosbuenos]

Hello, Chris. Should I do this daily? Or I should rest one or two days?

[@optic_assassin46yes47]

Have you got a karate school near whitehaven?I think i've heard of you.

[@Worldwidewhat-wb]

My mates do wingchun no hand conditioning so when we spa they deliver fast blows but I hit a forearm and they end up in great pain

[@artsoul6086]

U r so strong.....

[@mohamedkhan5430]

whoa il have to start these

[@anonymousdude5550]

Thanks awesome; great video; Does karate also focus on Shin Conditioning like Muay Thai, I know you guys practice Iron Shirt?

[@Wonder.Tales.Pakistan]

Do I have to buy this or can I make this in home?

[@emmicd11]

Did you notice any change in the physical appearance in your hands?

[@edouardpierrebatemebande4393]

+Bulky Lee hand knuckle become whiter, huge and extremely hard after years of practise

[@emmicd11]

Edouard Pierre Bate Mebande I've seen the big white calluses but I've also seen red calluses. What's the difference?

[@ImAlphaBro]

you get calluses on your knuckles but it's not about your hands looking pretty it's about having strong hands

[@aryak.9623]

Maybe depending on the presence of scars or not. Someone says the correct form is without bleeding, but the first times i did bleed a lot, it was unavoidable with trees and makiwara. Now i've learned to hit and i don't see a single drop, but i don't have calluses, just small darker spot on the seiken. I'm a girl, and i'm very pale, maybe this mean something. Anyway i've seen skilled sensei and shihan hands, they seems just stronger. They said the importance is in the right movement and i believe it.

[@DaBaldMan]

after years of conditionning, you can have some deformity.

[@terraknight6514]

good job i like your muscle control

[@saptarshidasgupta8708]

everyone should should see this vudeo

[@Katada893]

hey just wondering where and how you make the iron bag, thx.

[@megatron3210]

Great Discipline

[@shen507]

What Style do you practice?

[@TetsumatsuKai]

fantastic!love seeing Tetsu Te

[@rafaellopez-fl2hu]

Gotta train.

[@Ryounkai]

good work

[@AlleGamez]

how to get the wood flexible and do not break ?

[@123pauliscool]

from a tree

[@shatteringairfist191]

+123pauliscool lol

[@TheOverdriver1]

just a quick question, do u use dit da jow after training?

[@thaiboxer5]

jow is chinese. I have never seen linament of any type used in japanese and okinawan styles.

[@WoodoakWilderness]

What is the black pad that you had on the stone. Is it a bag full of sand?

[@Rodrigusificacionn]

+Woodoak Wilderness I think it was a bag full iron sand or simillar. It said "iron bag" below in the left.

[@ronaldson57]

how often do you condition your hand??

[@Hitokage]

Osu!

[@AlejandroGonzalez-wo5fk]

Ossu!

[@MasterofPlay7]

will it damage your bones or tendons? Do you use special chinese dit da jow after the conditioning?

[@nishant2279]

can i do this every day

[@indonesiankarate9920]

Nice.... Thanks !

[@brandonkain9231]

what do u put on your hands after u condition them...?????

[@TaoistSwordsman]

Brandon Kain I use Dit da jow after I condition my arms/hands/legs

[@brandonkain9231]

Pugglen thank you...I figured it out the day I posted and have been training ever since with jow...thanks for your response friend...

[@josephbookerjb]

I use Vicks vapor rub! (all jokes aside it really works)

[@brandonkain9231]

Joe Booker do u use it before striking and after training or only after...give me some more details if u wouldn't mind please...does it cause the bone to strengthen without making the skin callouse...stuff like that...I'm curious to give it a try..

[@josephbookerjb]

I wait until After I bathe (after training) It keeps down bruising and keeps skin sloft

[@armitage4]

Hi, can you tell what the outcome of this training is. Does it effect your punches or do you do this to solely avoid injury? Thank you.

[@erickaraagas9103]

dude! no pain no gain.. i got 50times! i never count it i just pain and pain.. untill i know the secret

[@ogkachris78]

I'm just imagining you striking someone with those fists and palms......omg

[@azdynamictraditions]

Very different punching technique!

[@LostMill0000]

what form of karate is this ? :)

[@faiqbkc7909]

This is Goju Ryu

[@va7an09]

Good workout. Except the Bag/Stone Training on the ground. ;)

[@Villasenorbrandon]

Hes wearind shuriedo

[@AlGibouri2]

ironbag, like stone isnt enough!

[@help3303]

i like that excercise, but my Question is doesn't this excercise gonna brake my wrists.? i feel pain when i am punching with gloves on bag. what should i do to make my wrists pain free.?

[@sofianesofamik]

+help you need to hold it up i mean you can't do it without pain

[@edouardpierrebatemebande4393]

+help the pain show that the exercise is working. it mean you are doing it right

[@ImAlphaBro]

do pushups on your wrists

[@johnstaunton6730]

you feel pain in your wrists when you punch with gloves but punching something hard without gloves takes time so your wrists should adapt as your punches get stronger.

[@karatespidey]

NIce,

[@Bloodletter8]

OSU!

[@chrisdenwood]

Thank you!