Iron Palm Kung Fu
鐵掌功A hand-conditioning method that, according to English Wikipedia, many Chinese schools know. It is not a separate style. According to Wikipedia, Gu Ruzhang was known for mastering it.
Quick Facts
ChinaCharacter & Origin
Training
Who It Suits
Organisation & Competition
What the style is built from
Editorial rating on a 0–3 scale, based on how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
Catalogs & Databases for Iron Palm Kung Fu
About Iron Palm Kung Fu
Iron palm, in Chinese 鐵砂掌 or 鐵沙掌, is not a separate martial art. English Wikipedia describes it as a body of training methods in various Chinese martial arts, a special kind of conditioning that appears in many schools. According to it, the aim is to prepare the hands so that the practitioner can deliver a very powerful blow without injuring his own hand. Training consists of strikes on a bag or container whose filling, according to Wikipedia, gradually changes from beans through sand and gravel or river pebbles to steel, copper or iron shot. Wikipedia lists five ways of striking: slapping with the whole palm, hitting with the back of the hand, cutting with the edge of the palm, jabbing with the fingertips and striking with the base of the palm. After training, the hand is usually treated with the traditional Chinese liniment dit da jow. According to English Wikipedia, Gu Ruzhang (1894 to 1952), who spread Northern Shaolin in southern China, was known for his mastery of iron palm. Wikipedia also cautions that the main events of his life are hard to verify and many of his deeds may have been exaggerated.
History
According to Chinese Wikipedia, Gu Ruzhang was born in 1894 in Funing in Jiangsu province and studied under his father from childhood. Benjamin Judkins writes on the Kung Fu Tea blog that he spent at least eleven years in Shandong with master Yan Jiwen, where he learned ten sets of Northern Shaolin, weapons, iron palm and an exercise called small golden bell. After the national guoshu examinations in October 1928, according to Judkins, Li Jishen invited him to Guangdong as one of the five tigers who went south, and in June 1929 the Guangzhou Guoshu Institute was founded. He died in 1952.
Technique
English Wikipedia states that the bag filling can be sand, rice, dried mung beans or soy beans, fine gravel or steel shot, depending on the practitioner's level. According to it, most iron palm systems are considered internal and use qigong exercises alongside external conditioning. According to Wikipedia, the name literally expresses hands hard as iron yet soft as silk.
Training
According to English Wikipedia, practitioners can measure progress by the number of strikes in one training session or by time spent training. Among practitioners, it says, there is a widespread belief that skipping dit da jow after training can lead long term to limited movement, arthritis and nerve damage in the hands. According to Wikipedia, dit da jow is a traditional Chinese liniment used in the belief that it soothes the pain of external injuries. We have not found the length of each training phase in months in the sources.
Today
We have not found iron palm as a separate item on the national list of Chinese intangible cultural heritage. We have not found a peer-reviewed medical article on iron palm or on hand injuries from its conditioning in the PubMed database. English Wikipedia states that practitioners often demonstrate their abilities by breaking bricks, coconuts, stones and boards.
Did you know
According to English Wikipedia, Gu Ruzhang was photographed breaking twelve stacked bricks with one strike, while Chinese Wikipedia gives thirteen. According to a legend that Wikipedia reports, he killed a Russian circus horse with iron palm. Judkins writes that he does not know whether this really happened. Wikipedia states without a citation that iron palm belongs to the original 72 arts of the Shaolin monastery.
Frequently asked questions
Is iron palm a martial art?
No. English Wikipedia describes it as a conditioning method that appears in many schools of Chinese martial arts.
What is the iron palm bag filled with?
According to English Wikipedia, gradually with beans, sand, gravel or pebbles and finally metal shot.
Who was Gu Ruzhang?
A Northern Shaolin master (1894 to 1952), known according to Wikipedia for his mastery of iron palm. According to it, however, his deeds are hard to verify.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.