Anyone have any training tips for developing strong fingers and grip for improving clawing attacks and chin na techniques?
Just gripping anything you can get your hands on very hard will be good for finger and clawing strength. Use your sandsock too, that will help alot. Also, when you train gripping techniques with a partner, and you have to grab their arm for example, just grab the crap out of it every time untill they tell you it hurts. Then you know when the real thing comes you'll be able to make someone be in some serious pain.
finger pushups also help. also you can do pushups on the tiger handform, which really works the muscles that hold your big knuckles together. another thing you can do is get a tennis ball or one of those stress squeezing balls & keep squeezing them until your fingers get tired & start to shake. then let your hands rest & go at it again once they're healed.
geb, here are some of the things I do in mantis where we study a lot of qin na: empty air crushes (in horse, crush the air), finger exercises (open and close fist, crane claw, roll fingers back and forth, etc., start at 30 seconds, work up), fingertip press ups, windlass, farmer's walks with plastic jars of sand, reverse curls, coin pick up (stand in horse, pick up 50 coins [we use nickels] as quick as you can), phone book toss (tape up metro phone book, toss back and forth), shock the pole (from Wing Chun), around the office I have one of those hand gripper thingies and a ball filled with sand that I crush (can buy there at those rock climbing places). Lots of other stuff you can do. Important to start slow and keep at it. You'll do great. Where do you study qinna?
i advise research reaserach reserach before anything hehe. a good hand grip you'll want to read up on and maybe even iron palm training. read read read or you'll get arthritas lol
Get an Eagle Catcher, they're far better than tennis balls or anything like that - I speak from experience, I used to use a stress ball. Providing you get a good Eagle Catcher, you may not even be able to move it for a while, but eventually your fingers get really strong. Once you can move it a decent amount (say, 2/3 of the total distance they can be moved), I suggest moving onto finger push ups, because by then your fingers should be able to do them quite well.
i have a very good hand gripper (the green one) http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12647&highlight=hand+gripper it is very good for forearm/hand grip streanth. the best thing however i found to be was the kettlebell because everything involves your forearms and grip. fingers themselves need to be conditioned for streangth but also durability/density. you should RESEARCH iron palm training for this (finger jabbing iron palm pads)... however you have to do reaserach. it is the number one warning so you don't get arthritas from some idiot who suggested you hit concrete.
How's it going with that device? Ultimately, it's training the wrong part of your fingers. When you seize someone, it'll be with the fingertips and thumb-tip. Until then, I can see how it will make finger-pushups easier, so it's only a step towards fucntional power. Does it train the thumb at all? Rgds, David
if you were replying to me.... i would say yes it does increase your thumb grip because your hand tends to squeeze from both ends when its at that high of pressure. your thumb is like the counter squeeze, trying to keep it coming together. pretty much your hand either pushes it towards the sliding piece (thumb to fingers) or your fingers suck it in (fingers move to thumb).... the kettlebell, is very very good for grip streangth, though it doesn't condition your hands like striking pads and iron palm would.
I've tried the eagle catcher out before, and it didn't seem to be that practical for training for seizing.
This website is were I ordered my new iron palm bag. They have a couple of training items to help with grip strength as well...like the Chin Na stones or the Chin Na grip bags. My order arrived in just a few days....Good Stuff. http://www.wle.com//store/t_chinna.html Chin Na training stones are one of the older training tools used in ancient China for building finger strength. These days, few of us do much physical labor and thus few possess the strong grip strength that is ideal for Chin Na (grappling). Beginning with the White Stones and progressing through the Green and Black Stones, these conical weights are gripped by the fingers and lifted. Since their surface is quite smooth, even the White Stones are challenging to begin with. The video VCN06: “Chin Na Training Methods and Tools” provides details on their use. Weight: 9 lbs.; high: 10"
Try picking up cinder blocks or bricks with JUST your fingertips. Trust me, you will develop a very good level of gripping strength and conditioning.
Bai, you got that right! We use 2" block (a rectangular block of concrete). We throw it, drop it, spin it. Good workout. geb, YMAA!!! Where? Are you going to the summer seminar in Boston? We'll be there. Staying at the Doubletree on Washington.
Some good advice all around here. Looks like alot of the people here are on the ball with their grip and hand training. You may want to consider a couple of the methods that I use as well as the others. The first is the very clasic bucket of small peas. Simple and cheap: Fill a large bucket with small dried peas (it should be at least two to three feet deep, I use a small trash can). Then drive your fingers as deep into the bucket as you can. You'll be supprised that at first this isn't very far at all, as the peas provide progressive resistance. The deeper you go, the more preasure the pease are under and harder it is to drive them out of the way. The advantage of this method is not only will it greatly increase finger strength, it will also toughen the hands. Make sure you treat your hands with Dit Da Jow after this exercise. A second method I use, is just as smiple and cheep. Saw off a piece of a broom handle or dowl of about the same thickness or thicker. Drill a hole in the middle, and tie about three feet of rope to the stick. Tie a weight on the other end and, holding the stick extended out from your body use just your wrists and fingers to roll the wieght up to the stick, and back down agian. You'll be amazed how this blasts your forearms, and does wonders for over-all grip strength. Funny enough I saw a slick looking neoprene and metal version of this on sale at a local sporting goods store for about twenty bucks. As for me I'm just too poor to pay that for something that cost about three dolars, and takes ten minutes to make. The last one you may want to try is again, fairly clasical: fill large (plastic) jars with more of those small peas. Later on you can switch the filling out to sand, or gravel or whatever you want to add weight, but peas work fine at first. Make sure the jars have a large mouth, the bigger the better. Grip the jar using just your fingertips and hold it extended out to your side. Stand in a horse stance and hold one jar out to each side. Not only does it improve your grip, it strenghtens the shoulders, traps, and supporting muscles as well. You can pick up the plastic jars at Home Depot or any other store they sell a lot of continers. Yeah, I realize they didn't have plastic jars in ancient china, but I don't want to have to clean up the mess if I drop a ceramic one. Good luck and happy training!
And it does wonders on the hands! Strengthening and conditioning all at once! Although the dust the drills leave behind isn't very fun to clean up...
Another good exercise our instuctors are trying out on the upper belts is having them walk around with a steel rod roughly the size of a short stick. Must be held with only the fingertips. I tried it, and I am so glad I have another year or so before I have to do it regularly.
