Quick Notes
 

Iron Palm Die Da Jiu may differ between schools from Northern China vs. Southern China. In the South, where Buddhist ideology (ie the body is like a space shuttle which requires a tremendous amount of effort to break through the atmosphere)is predominant , many schools require 2 seperate formulas for Iron Palm/Iron Body training. The premise behind this method is to stimulate the wei qi before contact, followed by the stimulation of ying qi after contact. In western words, there are different stages of injury: the inflammatory, proliferative, and remodeling stages. Thus there are methodical healing techniques for each stage.

Herbs that help you "feel" that it's working are used to stimulate the wei qi (defensive chi), or inflammatory response, in preparation for contact. The continued use of menthol, camphor, etc., may cause throw your healing response out of it's natural cycle if not used during the appropriate time of injury.

In Northern China, where Taoism is predominant, many schools require only the ying qi formula. The Taoist approach is very soft, progressive, and time-consuming. The arguement here is that if bruising or pain is present, then you are over-working the body. Consistent, long-term, progressive practice is the key to this method.

The training method that Shifu Puyot has taught me includes high repititions of Falling Palm, Ridge Hand Palm, backhand palm, fist, and fingers on sand bag followed by knife hand in a bucket full of Mung Beans (Mungo!). The material in the bag and bucket increase in density after years of practice (ie, after the all the green is peeled off the mungo). The focus is on disolving any muscular tension in an effort to stregnthen the bones, tendons, and ligaments. There is a known fear of training the finger tips (merdians associated with vision), but if you include massage and healing as part of your training, you should be fine.

Iron Body gets tricky. Formulas are adjusted based on which herbs have an affinity for specific regions of the body. Of course, a simple base formula Die Da Jiu is always effective.

Lastly, on injuries, inadequate healing, not inflammation, is the problem. Many western approaches lean towards Icing, numbing, etc. Taoist believe that icing will lead to arthritis. Pain is a good indicator to stop what you are doing. I only prescribe the RICE principle to students who can not bare the pain (which is rarely the case).

M.