hi, i was just wondering about shin hardening. I heard that hitting the shin with wood/blocks gradually hardens the shin and stops pain. Is this rubbish or true? matt_991
Unless you compete, in which case i think you have to wear shinguards anyway. Pain is a warning, removing the warning is not a good idea. Have a search on the Thai Boxing forum, this topic's been covered heaps of times. -Qis
its true because you will be killing the nerves around the shin area also if im not mistaken when your body repairs the damage done by the hitting it tends to make the bone harder.... but i wouldnt suggest trying this... bad idea in my opinion
I don't use shin guards ever. I was bare knuckling with a friend one time and smashed his shin with my shin (he blocked on a good angle) and that area of my shin is much tougher (there is a scar and the bone feels reinforced in that spot) not just nerve wise. I plan on buying some kali sticks and bashing my shins. Just threw sparring hard my shins have gotten more conditioned. I don't feel as much pain as the other guy. At my school we condition our bodies. We just stand there and kick/punch each other in places that will be conditoned. This is for the hardcore students though. Now if you got something for toughing up your heal I wanna know. Every time I forget to sidekick soft on the padded pole I kick threw the padding on the pole and hurt my heal. I also have torn a tendent on the stupid thing before doing a roundhouse kick.
Welcome to arthritisville, population - you. Don't do it. You'll feel like a rickety old sixty year old by the time you're thirty. At least I would. I'm 19.
I am very suprised at the reactions I have heard. Matt_991, yes it is true, the shin bones become harder and tougher and stronger. I would imagine it does kill some nerves, but not all in an extremely bad way. The point on body conditioning is so when you do hit somehting or someone very hard, you don't break. Take Thai boxers for example, their fists and shins are well condition. In many old school methods NOT conditioning your body was rediculed and seemed rediculous. Pointly on your shin, you can generate a great deal of power through your shin, just as your could thgouh your instep, but this doesn't put your ankle at risk. That is why many condition their shins and kick with them. It is also a very hard contact surface whenever you kick an opponent. If you want it, go for it. It is true, it works. Infact martial arts dealers sell a wooden stick with a thin iron plate in the center used for strikiing the bones rapidly with some force to build up the bones without detroying everything else, like your skin and sinews.
i've got a beam in the center of my shed and i just wrapped it a few times with towels and i kick it to "condition" my shins****thanks for the better word**** pain is a warning thats true but a crippling pain is never a good thing and thats just what shins can be...a distraction because the damage done is nothing like the pain it gives you...
If your gonna break your shin it will happen conditioned or not and you will know. It is such a strong bone though, so I don't see that happening.
hey, wanna condition your hands and shins? hit a heavy bag. want shattered bones, arthritis, and even bone cancer? do that conditioning crap.
A friend that is into this told me to take a hard wood broom handle, cut it about 18 inchs. Every morning after you wake-up, rub the broom handle up and down your shin for about 2 mins and also before you train. Too nuts for me. RonR
Shins "hey, wanna condition your hands and shins? hit a heavy bag." This is the right idea from totality. If you have not tried to condition the shins before it is best to start with a good HEAVY bag. Start by lightly kicking the bottom section (tends to be hardest/most filled) of the bag using your shins to make impact. Even light kicking can hurt and cause bruising/grazing if your not used to kicking with the shins, but you'd be surprised at how quickly you can build up an adequate toughness. Gradually increase the strength of the kicks( don't uses any scale, just do what you can and gradually increase). You can also aid the hardening effect by rolling a rigid glass bottle/rolling pin etc up and down the shin, making sure you're applying pressure when rolling it. Make sure you are consuming enough calcium when doing this though (milk is best but if you don't drink it, take a supplement) as the reason your bones (shins/knuckles) eventually harden is because when you damage the bones a deposit of calcium forms on the damaged area, and solid calcium deposits are bloody hard!... make make no mistake, this hardening effect is only taking place because you are damaging your shin bone (in a reasonably controlled manner) in the first place!
Has nobody seen the clip that's been floating around the internet for years, Muay Thai fight, first kick comes in, guy blocks with the top part of his shin, near the knee - attackers leg snaps in two... I think conditioning is a good idea if it's required. I would say to exercise caution though. As a Taekwondo-ist I suggest buliding a forging post as described in the condensed encyclopedia - you can use that to condition hands, arms, shins, whatever... I'm planning on building one myself after I've moved house.
I haven't seen that clip but I have seen the one of a TKD fighter against a Thai Boxer... I think it is UFC. They exchange a couple blows, then the TKD guy goes for a roudhouse and the Thai Boxer makes roudhouse to the TKD guy's shin. The TKD's breaks and as he snaps his leg back you see the bottom half flail about and as he goes to step back down he misses his foot and steps on the broken end of his leg and falls backwards... Muey Thai guys just better conditioned on the shin and more leg power I guess... haha.. it is a gruesome, but slghtly interesting;y funny viedo clip.
