Hardening bones?

Question

You know how fighters harden their hands and legs by hitting hard things? Is that bad for them? Could there be any long term damage from doing that? And those people who break blocks with their heads, that has to be bad for them, right? I mean the training part, not the actual hitting part...

Answer 1

It does cause long term damage, eventually, you get athritic pain (in old age), if you over do it.

I would suggest continuing your training but supplementing your body with the proper vitamins and supplements.

Vitamin D and Calcium = stronger bones
Glucosamine = to keep your joints lubricated

Answer 2

The so-call bone hardening is nothing new or all that special. The human body will always over-built or repair any area that are stressed or suffer light injuries provide you get the proper nutrition and sleep. This is why bodybuilders lift weights and it does not only work on the muscles but also the supporting bones, tendons, joints. Many of the so-call bone-hardening techniques are actually bad for you because they do nothing more than deaden the nerves in the striking area and as the practitioner age, he/she will suffer terrible arthritic pains and disabilities, not to mention the grotesque deformaties. You pay a hefty price for it. I've personally met a monk from Shaolin who did the iron claw conditioning where he plunge his fingers into various grade of hot sand, stone, and even metal shavings. His fingers are very tough, but they were also stubby and all equal in length. He also cannot seem to sense heat anymore in the fingertips nor feel fine details when he pass his finger over an textured surface. Can you say "nerve damage"?

Answer 3

Hardening Of The Bones

Answer 4

fighters don't hit hard things, they use gloves to protect the hands. Reason being, it damages the bones.

For instance, muay thai fighters are said to hit trees, they hit BANANA trees which give in, this practice has been replaced by hitting the heavy bag.

People who break blocks with their head do so with the top of the head, which is the hardest part of the body, and they hit a small spot which starts a chain reaction, that breaks the block provided you apply enough force, remember that with every action, comes a reaction, so the force you apply comes back to you, this technique when done incorrectly can seriously damage your body.

Answer 5

Like Yen Foo said, hardening the body is really rough on it. Do it incorrectly and you probably won't be able to walk when you're older. A lot of muay Thai practitioners in Thailand are that way - they fight throughout their childhood and into their adult prime, hardening their bodies constantly all the while then once their metabolism slows, they find that they are in for a world of hurt.

Take any body conditioning slowly, don't be too extreme, and you should be fine though. If you do it right, you'll be adding density to your bone mass rather than destroying it.

Answer 6

If you take anything over the top it will harm you, Muay Thai fighters push themselves to the limit and beyond, mostly because they have no choice as they need the money they get from fights

The trick with conditioning is to do it small but consistently and use things like Di Da Jow to heal your hands, also one of the best ways to get strong bones is actually weight training

A good example of conditioning are the shaolin monks, they do crazy things with their body but because they have plenty of time on their hands they do a little everyday and seem to stay healthy all through their lifetime

Answer 7

Sanchin or Samchien or Sanjan(Okinawan, Fukien, Mandarin translations) hardens your bones.

It has to be done correctly to have the proper affect, of course.

It is originally an old internal form used to develop "iron body".

Arm training with one of my teachers is ridiculous. It's like being hit with a pipe. He is almost sixty.

It is not necessary to hit your bones using Sanchin but it speeds up the process.

Answer 8

Yes it is bad to be hitting and kicking things like walls, trees, etc. It will eventually lead to severe arthritis. Get an actual heavy bag and some gloves. Also supplement your diet with proper amounts of calcium and glucosamine.

You'll be grateful for it later when all your macho buddies who decided to punch and kick walls and trees have to get a walker at 35 years old.

Answer 9

Done incorrectly, the worst case scenario would result in painful arthritis in the long run and possibly disfigured fingers and unusable non-bending joints.

It is better to numb the nerve endings in your striking surface areas by hitting a bag of pellets/pebbles/etc with many repetitions and appropriate force. This way you avoid the problems mentioned above.

Answer 10

The basis of this thinking is "Wolf's Law"

Interesting video regarding strengthening your bones (Wolf's Law)
Documents two guys who are famous for breaking boards, but around 6 mins, it describes what's happening to make your bones stronger.
http://www.filecabi.net/video/body-as-weapon.html