Shin/Forearm Conditioning!?!

[Dobbersky]

Now I know this isn't just a Kyokushin/Ashihara/Enshin/Muay Thai technique.

What techniques do you all use?

Also what do you recommend for treating Bruises?

When I'm kicking pads heavy bags its awesome and sparring without shin guards etc feels so natural.

One story, I thought had really hard shins, I love snooker cues etc, I was doing some light sparring, seriously light sparring and ended up with a huge bruise on my shin and its been a week, gone through 1/2 bottle of Thai Oil, I'll try Dit Dat Jaw tomorrow, lol.

[guitarguy]

I can't help you much with the treatment of bruises but for shin conditioning a lot of Mauy Thai practitioners use a broom or a pole of some kind and role it up and down their shins and as their shins get stronger they role the pole harder. It develops calluses on the bones over time. Also kicking objects with the shins is common but you obviously have to know your limitations, you need to kick hard enough to increase the strength of the shins but soft enough that you won't do harmful damage. So it's all about listening to your body.

I imagine you could condition the forearms by hitting objects as well though I’m not too sure. But if you’re looking for forearm strength here are some ideas... Pullups, forearm curls, the farmers walk (which is you grab 2 very heavy dumbbells and walk until your forearms are burning), fist pushups are also pretty good as apposed to normal pushups (although the normal ones are good for open hand strikes), Chinese meditations (balls more for loosening up and injury prevention they feel great to, look them up).

This next one’s very good, what you do is you tie a piece of rope to a dumbbell or other heavy object, and then tie it to a middle of a pole. You then proceed to role the pole up clockwise and role it down then reverse it and role it up anti clockwise. Pretty much any exercise that involves pulling is going to work your forearms in one way or another. A controversial exercise for forearms are finger pushups, I'm still not sure where I stand with them if anyone could enlighten me on whether they are beneficial or placing unnecessary strain on the fingers I'd be happy.

[MasterPain]

Dit Dat Jaw is Mandarin for IcyHot.

Shinguards are Universal Language for a Good Idea. The accidental hard contact of 2 tibias is not the time for conditioning. That's what shinai and glass bottles are for.

I don't bruise easily, but I've been told that witch hazel is good. It's by the rubbing alcohol at most stores.

[yamesu]

In Kyokushin we do a lot of techniques against one another. For example, Chudan-Uchi-Uke while standign facing one another to make contact with the appropriate part of the arm.

This then continues with various other blocks.

For shins its the same deal. Partner throws a gedan-mawashi (low roundhouse) and you block with sune-uke (shin block/parry). I particularly hate this one... ouchies!

Start soft and work up from there.

I tend to let bruises heal naturally. This can take up to a week for the dark-purple suckers!

[Kodiak]

I'd suggest the ice for two days heat after that doctors recommend for bruises. I've had good results building forearm muscle with those grippy things and wrist pushups.

[LittleW]

I use mint oil on bruises. It cools them down and, I think, helps to spread the blood.

[Wastelander]

We do some forearm and shin conditioning in class, but not a whole lot--most of us who want to get that conditioning do it outside of class or between classes either with the makiwara, wooden dowels or hitting each other . As for treating the area, Thai Oil is almost nothing but Wintergreen Oil, which is already in Icy Hot and not all that good for you in large quantities. I use Fighter Fix.

[Lee M]

Yes rolling pin on the shins!