Oso as far as I know (and I’m sure some might not agree) it’s a one shot deal.. Once I drain my batch off the herbs go in the trash.. I sometimes like to keep the stuff in the bottle so it looks cool.
Now it sounds like some have different views on how long the jow has to sit for it to be useful etc so that could be a factor.
gotcha. I had a gallon of jow that someone else started. I kept it in the closet and poured some off into a pint container after it had gone through the two months but left the herbs in the gallong jar till it was gone then dumped them. I feel like the stuff got better and better over time…by the time I got to the last of it it had been sitting for something like 12 years.
I noticed that it seems like when you use less alcohol (volume wise example half a gallon of alcohol instead of a gallon for a 1 gallon mix of herbs) for the batch it seems to get thicker and more potant as well.. Has a darker look to it and stronger scent.
I just checked, I still have like 1/2 an ounce of it.
I think I’ll hang on to it and let Mike give it a sniff the next time I get up there…just to see what he thinks of it. It was something my hung gar teacher made a long time ago.
Wow, lots of questions: Ill try to taclke some of them and clear the misconceptions:
Heating jow: Some jows ARE heated, and for good reason. While I dont prescribe to the heating during the mixing process, some “warm” jows are heated a small amount prior to use. This has to do with the fact that warm jows (those used for iron palm type exercises) are, from the TCM perspective, “warm in nature”. They deal more with “deficient yang”, and getting more blood to the area for the healing process. It should be noted that heating or cooling jow TOO much will cause a breakdown in the herbs and isnt advised. Some herbs, like camphor, cant be heated too much or they wille evaporate off the mixture. Same goes for light: Keep your jow out of the light. Some of the herbs can break down with too much exposure to light.
Cool jow deals more with “deficient yin”, removing toxic heat, expelling stagnant blood, removing inflammation. They are more of a general purpose jow, and are used more for older bruises and the like. This is what most of you should be using in your general everyday martial arts classes.
Herbs are used as a one shot deal unless you want weak jow next time around.
using less alcohol wont necessarily get you anywhere…Using the right mixture of alcohol means there will be more alcohol concentration (surface area) for the herbs to interact with. The result is that youll pull more out of the herbs. Using too little means there wont be enough alcohol for the herbs to continually mix with for maximum extraction. Too much is bad, too little is bad.
Ive smelled dozens of differnt jows and they all have their own aromatic smell. Some are worse than others, some are more pungent, and some are fairly pleasant. It really just depends on the herbs you use; one different herb can really change the way a jow smells. Going by scent is no way to tell how good a jow is.
I think that takes care of most of the questions… 
PD,
You want to be very careful with dropping deficiency syndromes as they apply to TCM and TCM theory. One would need to be reading both pulses as well as using the tongue and other diagnostic tools to completely make sure that you have deficient yin versus excessive yang which would be a totally different scenario yet might give you the same physical manifestations.
Making the mistake of yin deficiency and using a cooling or cold jow would dampen the yin even more and cause severe reactions.
Just a word to the wise, paint the whole picture as your leaving out serious amounts of info. Not really geared to this forum as most people dont have a clue when it comes to TCM.
Warming jow is rather an idiosyncratic method that some schools use. Some do not believe in it as again too much heat after beating your hands on a bag of steel shot could potentially cause extra heat to be trapped in the meridians. Many people leave their jows at room temp as an extra protective measure. As well as use expelling breaths along with specific movements to rid the heat from the body.
In Boston,
Dale Dugas
Agreed Dale. Theres LOTS of information to portray and its difficult to cram it all into a single message; I could have been a bit more clear, although, I think youre assessment is probably slightly too critical for the basic bruise that most of these people will see.
Most of the questions, and hence the answers, had to deal more with nuances of a given style/art and not necessarily diagnoses on certain things. But most people, as you said, dont have a clue, but they need to start somewhere…
PD,
I had very a very anal teacher at New England School of Acupunture. Hence my reaction as I know people here take things literally. Just wanted to get it out there.
I was trying to convey that Iron Palm training can induce stuck energy in various places within the body if one is doing it incorrectly and many people say they are doing it by video ala Wing Lam or another advertised method versus one on one with a teacher who has knowledge of the medicines and procedures involved.
Lots of qi gong/heih gung are involved to make sure the pathways are open and running smoothly. As well as using very specific and powerful herbal medicines(using an internal medicine as well for the advanced stages) to help make sure the internal energy you are cultivating and “coercing” to your palms from dan tian is not going to play dead halfway there.
Hence my reaction to your ad for an iron skills medicine without mention of the actual training.
My sihing under GM Gene Chicoine, Steve Hamp is going to be releasing his Iron Palm method very soon. It is a method that is very through and produces great results. You can look it up on Http://www.noweightsworkout.com
In Boston,
Dale Dugas
PD, welcome and thanks for the input.
Thanks Oso, I appreciate the warm welcome! =)
I dont sell the training, I just sell the jow. I use it with great success in my iron palm training, but I dont teach iron palm. Its not yet my place to hand down that knowledge, and when it is, my lessons will be in person, not on some video or downloadable internet site.
I’ve found that chinese doctors who sell the herbs can gie you tips on chi kung / iron palm / poison palm training. If you smooze them a little they are happy to volunteer info.