condtioning shins

[Chris05]

when i spar and throw a kick fast and powerful and collide shins it hurts really bad. How do i condtion my shins so it wont hurt anymore when i spar. Is there any methods to strenghten my shins or something?

[Shotokan-kez]

Hiya chris...i suffer with the exact same thing. I often come home with bruises on my shins and yeah it hurts. I'll probably not be much help but i just bought shin pads for sparring, are you allowed to wear them? If you do find anything out i'd be interested to know hehe. Kez xx

[lordtariel]

You can condition them to stop hurting, but it takes some work, basically, start kicking a pole with your shins and eventually you'll condition them. You can do the same drill with a partner to make it a little less painful. Stand facing each other and kick so your shins collide, then kick with the other foot. You don't have to do it hard, just enough that it stings. Doing it consistantly for a while will help strengthen them. You can do the same drill with your arms to strengthen your block. Stand facing each other and both inside block with the same arm so that they collide. Immediately roll the arm down to a down block, then switch to the other arm. I believe this is a modified escrima technique and is also a good blocking drill.

[elbows_and_knees]

You can condition them to stop hurting, but it takes some work, basically, start kicking a pole with your shins and eventually you'll condition them.

DO NOT do this. they don't even kick poles in thailand. All you need is a heavy bag. the filling settles at the botton - kick the lower portion of the bag, where it is hardest. do not kick poles, do not roll sticks down your shin, etc.

Sparring is good also. eventually you become conditioned to it. Also, as has been stated, there is nothing wrong with wearing shin pads.

You can do the same drill with your arms to strengthen your block. Stand facing each other and both inside block with the same arm so that they collide. Immediately roll the arm down to a down block, then switch to the other arm. I believe this is a modified escrima technique and is also a good blocking drill.

I never saw it while I was training kali. However, it is a chinese three star conditioning drill. We did something similar when I was training in longfist.

[New Beginner]

Rolling a wine bottle up and down the shin bone will start to condition it, as will hitting the heavy bag, and a lorry/truck tyre is also useful for low kicking. However, I haven't checked out any verifiable statistics but have heard over the years that excessive shin conditioning can lead to health problems, try and acquaint yourself with the facts before embarking on any conditioning regime.

[lordtariel]

I stand corrected... I was told to wrap a rope around a pole and go at it. Probably a good thing I didn't start. As for the other exercise, we used to do it with two sticks. Started with the right hand and both of us struck at the head, so the two sticks intercepted... then swung at the torso... then switched to the other hand to do the same thing again. Hm... makes me wonder what else I've been told that's wrong. But that's what this forum is for, to get an opinion from a wide group of individuals.

[Abraham_lincoln]

It's actually a strength in arnis, though. Because if you have a good striking opportunity, then you usually should go for the legs, neck or head.

[P.A.L]

I stand corrected... I was told to wrap a rope around a pole and go at it. Probably a good thing I didn't start. As for the other exercise, we used to do it with two sticks. Started with the right hand and both of us struck at the head, so the two sticks intercepted... then swung at the torso... then switched to the other hand to do the same thing again. Hm... makes me wonder what else I've been told that's wrong. But that's what this forum is for, to get an opinion from a wide group of individuals.

We do exactly the way you do, hitting a wraped wooden post(kind of makiwara), shin to shin drill and forarm drill, i started it two years ago with my new sensei at that time , I was on the floor after 5-6 shin to shin kicks, now a days i can easily stand 30-40 of his kicks,IMO the important thing is to wait and heal bruises before resumming the hardening drills otherwise it may become a stress fracture.

[Sohan]

You can condition them to stop hurting, but it takes some work, basically, start kicking a pole with your shins and eventually you'll condition them.

DO NOT do this. they don't even kick poles in thailand. All you need is a heavy bag. the filling settles at the botton - kick the lower portion of the bag, where it is hardest. do not kick poles, do not roll sticks down your shin, etc.

Sparring is good also. eventually you become conditioned to it. Also, as has been stated, there is nothing wrong with wearing shin pads.

You can do the same drill with your arms to strengthen your block. Stand facing each other and both inside block with the same arm so that they collide. Immediately roll the arm down to a down block, then switch to the other arm. I believe this is a modified escrima technique and is also a good blocking drill.

I never saw it while I was training kali. However, it is a chinese three star conditioning drill. We did something similar when I was training in longfist.

I have used a wooden rolling pin in the past to condition my shins. When I first started MT, I was too aggressive with the pin, and experienced constant bruising, and when I blocked kicks I got goose eggs constantly. I finally decided to just kick the heavy bag like E & K says, and that has done the trick. Now my shins are tough as baseball bats.

Now, this is not to say the rolling pin won't help (it actually can), but you have to start out very lightly and do it consistently for it to work properly. As for me, I would rather spend my limited time kicking the bag. Or a sparring partner....

With respect,

Sohan

[Rick_72]

I personally don't advocate for body conditioning and this is why:

What are you conditioning for? Are you deadening the nerve endings, creating calcium deposits over bones, or compressing joints so that you can spar in class once a week or a couple of times a month? Are you doing all this because you want a career in full contact of some sort? Or are you actually conducting conditioning simply to be tougher on the off chance you get into a fight on the street?

Conditioning you body to throw a punch or kick on a heavy bag that provides some protection, while wearing heavy bag gloves and wrist wraps is one thing, because your protecting your body from permanant injury or disfigurment, while still conditioning your self for the impact of those strikes. Punching and kicking hard objects to make yourself tougher is a completely different situation.

Unless your lifes ambition is to be a professional fighter, and your willing to accept the risks of permanant pain after your career's over, then all your doing by banging bone and soft tissue against hard objects is setting yourself up for artheritis, bone spurs, broken bones with permanantly sore calcium deposits over top of them, painful joints (that may or may not tell you that its going to rain), etc. later in life.

I would say use the safety of a padded bag, and just bang it harder and harder as your get stronger. I plan on a career in martial arts after I retire from my military career, and I want to be the best martial artist that I can be so I'm confident that I'm passing on the best education to my students, but my wife still want me to be able to move my hands when that retirement comes.