Body Hardening

[shogeri]

With proper training you can teach your body to absorb blows.

Then there are those you simply just learn to take.

With proper breathing one can take 40 to 50 percent more blows than those who do not breathe properly along with the correct redirection techniques.

Add balance, parry methods, body positioning to the mix as well.

The biggest thing is also to expect to get hit.

Most people in the arts forget that they might get hit, so many times they don't even train for it.

I am not saying 'no' to conditioning, just to some traditional techniques.

The principle of absorbing blows, along with all that it involves has not changed.

And yes, I too went through the sanchin/shime testing for years...I may have even posted a bit of information either on this forum or on a different martial art forum relating to goju ryu and the sanchin kata.

When I think of body hardening, I envision sand, beans, gravel, boards, metal, and glass.

Take care!

Later!

[sanj]

As you say it yourself; it is the fear people have. It helps more to help those people to deal with their fear. So instead of conditioning their bodies, those people should condition their mind. That's much more effective

Mate, having a strong mind but a weak body still wont make you break tiles- or even save you in a real fight. You need mind and body conditioning. Do you think those shaolin monks performed those amazing feats through pure mind conditioning?