Ways To Condition

“The mind of the warrior seeks wisdom, his heart seeks compassion, his body seeks conditioning, his conscience avoids violence, his resolve is to end violence if encountered- who can compare?”

-Jonathan E. Kiser

 

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out."

-Robert Collier

There are many ways to condition; from the physical form to the mental.

I have written before that I believe the best way to condition the mind is through contemplation and meditation. Reading, observing are best aides toward that.

As for our physical form there are many things we can do. Conditioning is important because it both increases our ability to tolerate injury and pain, while at the same taking steps to reduce the measure and likelihood of getting hurt.

 I will list and explain what I personally do.

Conditioning one's knuckles; I do this by punching bricks or concrete or hard wood. I do it just hard enough that mild pain can be felt. This will create micro-fractures in the bones which when healed will strengthen the bones. I began with a light tapping and over time incrementally built until I could punch with full power in executing a technique.

I use a tree to condition my palm; when I see tiny red spots I know I have ruptured the capillaries, which after the blood inside coagulates will also strengthen the tissue within. I do not strike full force unless I can tell my hand can handle it. Remember, if you break something you have torn apart all that you have built up. The point is not to strike full force, but to be able to strike full force eventually, and remain unharmed when in combat. Avoid striking bark with your knuckles, they often will cut them. If I can condition without losing blood, I feel I have done it right.

Run water of about body temperature over the area conditioned afterwards. This is a more natural dit jao and assists in recovering blood flow and reduce any swelling.

(Note: this will damage the tree. If you direct your intention inside the tree or hit it too hard the energy from the strike will hit the heartwood, killing it faster. I have accidentally killed a tree doing this. The goal is to cut the tree down by conditioning, and only in that way end it. Having killed a tree both ways I prefer to condition with doing minimal damage to it, such as I show below.)

 

 

 

This is what a training partner did with their practice tree.

 

For my inner hands I practice kendo; this creates calluses which allow me to grip much better.

For my midsection I do crunches, I hop in place while using the bottom of my fists to strike the midsection. I do this around 200 times every three days. I also will assume a horse-riding stance and have a partner punch my midsection at varying degrees of speed and force. The focus is usually on the abdomen, but occasionally I will have someone strike around the area of the solar plexus; you cannot really condition that area, but what you can do is cause a muscle build up to reduce the surface area for when you are hit you won't lose air as easily.

For my forearms I use partner practice, where we clash our forearms against each other. You can also do this with elbow strikes.

 

 

For my thighs I have someone either kick them at varying degrees of force, or strike it with a shinai.

 

For my shins I use an escrima stick and roll it up and down around fifty times a day per leg. About twice a week I will do it one-hundred times instead. This allows one to develop the ability to eventually kick wood and steel without self-injury.

 

 

Do this at a slow speed and with soft use of power, and build up until you can kick to a degree of comfort.

 

A way to condition balance and improve it as well I have three methods for. The first is simple, simply raise your knee above your waist level and hold it for as long as possible. Do this everyday. Then once able to do it for two-three minutes without having to move or adjust yourself at all, attempt it with your eyes closed. Once you can do this for a minute, do it with your eyes closed and socks on. It is very hard, but worthwhile.

 

The second is what I call the rotating round-kick and roundhouse drill;

 

 

 

 

And the third is to do as many kicks as possible without directly repeating the same kick. Begin with as many as you can do, then work your way up and always keep pushing. I am currently at 60 and intend to get to 100. Do this about every three days when starting, otherwise you could stress the tendons in your leg. If your shin has a kind of sick ache feeling after you do it, do not worry, it should only last a few minutes at most and is a sign you did the process properly.

 

 

 

 

Stretching is important as well to conditioning, something many people neglect when doing the practice.

 

The idea behind conditioning is to gradually build- if you try to do it all at once I assure you, you will destroy what you are attempting to condition.

 

Additionally, keep in mind that if conditioning, if you stop for an extended period of time, for me usually around 4-6 months, you will lose around 90% of what you had built and will essentially have to start all over again.

 

 

 

 

 

"It never gets easier, you just get better."

-Unknown