External conditioning and Kung Fu.

[Enviroman]

hey all,

i recently started to train with a small group of guys led by a mantis sifu. last night we did pretty hardcore conditioning (inner/outer calf and ankle, inner/outer thigh, left and right lats, and outer upper arm). i haven't conditioned this hard in nearly 7 years. do you have any recommendations on bruise prevention or remedy? i took some ibuprofen as an anti-inflammatory.

[elbows_and_knees]

get some good dit da jow. also, you may have gone too hard. Bruising isn't good, as it sets your training back - you can't condition that area that hard again until the bruise heels. you should use jow before and after your conditioning.

[Enviroman]

Actually, I barely bruised at all! I was pretty surprised...but yeah, I need to get some jow. I'm not sure if jow is any better than ibuprofen, but I've used it in the past and it's worked.

[elbows_and_knees]

they have different, yet related purposes. ibuprofren relieves the pain. jow acts to toughen the skin and to break up blood clots that form beneath the skin.

[Enviroman]

Good lord this stuff is expensive. 18.00 + shipping for an 8 oz. bottle! Do you know if there is somewhere to get it cheap?

[stonecrusher69]

you can make your own its not hard to make.you have to wait about a year before you can use it.thats why its expensive.I make my own .I age it a minimum of one year.

[Enviroman]

Here is a list that I found online for a homemade dit da jow:

Artemisia (Liu ji nu) - 5g

Borneol (Bingpian) - 1g

Carthamus (Honghua) - 5g

Catechu (Ercha) - 8g

Cinnabar (Zhusha) - 5g

Cirsium (DaJi) - 1g

Dragon's Blood (Xuejie) - 30g

Mastic (Ruxiang) - 5g

Musk (Shexiang) - 1g

Myrrh (Moyao) - 5g

Pinellia (ShengBanXia) - 5g

Mix/slightly crush the herbs and submerge in a bottle of strong alcohol (80 proof vodka/gin/chinese rice wine). They say to put it into a dark container and store it in a closet or some other dark and cool place. I'm going to try and track down these herbs in China town here in Philly this week or next.

[elbows_and_knees]

sometimes, the herbs are hard to obtain and can only be gotten by an herbalist - it will all depend on the recipe. Since there is a chinatown in your area though, price some there.

[MenteReligieuse]

Does it really work? With all the interest I have in MA and oriental life style...chinese medecine is something I see more like a placebo then anything else.

[elbows_and_knees]

It really works... good jow does, anyway... I'm skeptical of a lot of things as well - I will try them and see for myself. good jow is good stuff.