Iron Body
When it comes to Iron Body, in respect to the CMA’s, it is important to remember the strong relationship the CMA’s have with Traditional Chinese Medicine. Understand that Chinese Kung Fu is not a art of fighting but rather an art of survival. Be that surviving in a battle field, a back alley, or simply disease and aging. When the old masters developed and perfected their arts they kept this ever in mind and it is even truer today. One is more likely to fall to the onset of disease than from the injury of battle. This approach is also consistant with iron body as well.
With so many videos and books out now, one can learn pretty much anything you wish with a little searching and a credit card. However, many of these videos are lacking in substance when it comes to the more important aspects of such training. Videos may show techniques with bags, sand, and other training devices but really the most important aspect of any iron body training is the chi gung meditation. It is here that many of the videos fall short as they place little or no emphasis on the meditation.
This is not only debilitating to the training, but down right dangerous. While in old China it was very dangerous at times and survival meant skill in fighting, the masters did not forget the health aspects of their training. In such dangerous times they could not afford to miss out on a month of training to an injury because they were careless. And so the methods of training iron body if done correctly are quit safe. But one needs to know proper methods and as intensity increases so to does the need for proper supervision increases.
In the early stages of the training it is best to simply practice the chi gung. There are many methods of this such as Hung’s Iron Thread, Golden Bell, Iron Vest and so on. A personal favorite of mine the Stone Warrior exercise. A video on this can be purchased from Green Dragon Studios, however I am not sure of the production quality as I learned this from my sifu and not the video.
Now many of these are in the category of isotonic exercises. Stone Warrior for example, is a set of 21 exercises done with tension of the muscles. This tension is also the way of the karate Sanchin exercise. Now these types of exercise are very “yang” in character. Thus one should be sure to keep up with “yin” type of training such as Tai Chi and the like so as to maintain a balanced body.
Exercises such as the Iron Vest are a little more balance in nature but it is still good to maintain training on the internal aspects of CMA as well.
These exercise are the basics so to speak for more advance iron body work. The hitting and slamming of various body parts, while highly emphasized, is really more advanced and should be avoided without proper supervision. However many of these chi gung exercises are safe if done correctly and can be performed on your own. Take care to look from reputable sources as some videos feature incomplete exercises which could be potentially dangerous. If you are in the company of a knowledgable sifu, have him/her check it out and see what they think.
These exercises not only are good for iron body, but the tension of the muscles will also develop incredible explosive strength with dedicated training. After a few months you will notice a great increase in striking power and overall endurance. So these exercises are very important in that they will develop your body on multiple levels, they will prepare your body for the impact of the striking in more advance Iron Body training, and will improve your health level against illness in that it brings the Wei chi or Defensive chi to the surface through the tension of the muscles.
Later when performing more advanced training, do not forget the meditation as it helps to rebalance your chi after the intense training. This is wether training iron body, iron fist, palm, fingers and anything else. In fact, you may only spend around 20 or 30 minutes porforming actual hitting but the meditation may take up to an hour or more! The meditation is the key, so remember this when practicing.
Well anyway sorry so long, many of you probably already know all this but just thought I’d throw it out there in case anyone was interested. And since many of you are more knowlegeable on this than I am, please bring any incorrect statements to my attention as it will further my knowledge.
Stay healthy and train hard!
