These can’t-miss Chinese exercises will turn your hands and forearms into weapons of mass destruction

By James W. McNeil

ImageA frequent contributor to Inside Kung-Fu, Southern California-based James W. McNeil is a former Unique Publications DVD author. He can be reached at www.littlenineheaven.com.

"Chinese Health Balls strengthen the hands, wrist, forearm, and shoulders and increase chi circulation."

"Many MMA fighters break their fists and forearms because they are not conditioned correctly."

In power lifting and bodybuilding, strong forearms and hands are a must. But in martial arts training, it is not something most martial artists strive to achieve. Why? Let’s take, for instance, iron hand training. Most iron hand practitioners are taught that strengthening only the hands will give them a powerful punch, letting them break bricks easily or break pine boards laid with the grain of the boards in the same direction. The shattering will happen only if spacers are used with the bricks or boards or if they break a large concrete slab by hitting it in the middle where it is the weakest. Otherwise, it is only a strong fist without power using the tricks of breaking.

Where does the power come from? You think it comes from pounding your hands on a bag filled with sand, beans, ball bearings, etc. Wrong! The power must come from the bottom of the feet, travels up to the waist, then twists up toward the shoulder and down the arm to the fist where you hit your object. Easy, right? No, again! Because it doesn’t start there; it starts with the most powerful organ we have—and that is the mind. Without positive thinking, nothing will break and the ultimate power will not be produced. You will have power when the legs, back, shoulders, forearms and the fist work together.

With kung-fu weapons you need a strong grip and forearms, along with a strong body internally to hold and control your weapon. In fighting, you not only need feeling, strength, speed, accuracy, as well as the will to win, you need internal power which will give you inner strength. Along with a strong body, strong fist, and forearms, you will produce stronger hitting power. Of course, sparring constantly with a partner is necessary. Many MMA fighters break their fists because their hitting power is not as strong as it should be. This is because their fists and forearms are not conditioned correctly.

To maintain body balance, perform chi kung and nei kung exercises to strengthen your body, mind, and spirit. This will give you the balance of yin and yang for a healthier body. Each exercise shown here should be done with proper breathing. Do them with both hands.

Chinese Health Balls
It seems almost everybody has Chinese Health Balls somewhere around the house or office, just sitting on a shelf, on a desk, or in a box. People buy them for one reason or another. Yet, few people really know the true value of the health balls. My teacher, master Hsu, and I were walking in downtown Taipei in 1979. I noticed a man rotating a pair of steel balls in his hands; they were about three inches across. Master Hsu explained that this was an ancient Chinese exercise for health and longevity.

They are called Chinese Health Balls. They were first made at the Bao Ding factory located in He-Bei Province in the Han Dan dynasty around 230-206 B.C. The Health Balls have been around since the Ming dynasty circa 1368 to about 1644.

The balls became popular for the affect they had on improving health. Many martial artists also used them as weapons. We have pressure points in our hands and feet that relate to all of the organs in our bodies. By rotating the health balls in your hand, you are massaging all the pressure points related to those organs in the body. By practicing with these balls you can treat high blood pressure, stomachaches, heart disorders, nervousness, and much more. They also will strengthen the hands, wrist, forearm, and shoulders and increase the chi circulation in the hands, arms, and shoulders.

Healing Balls Exercise
When practicing with the healing balls, you must remember to always keep your arm away from your body. This will let the chi flow freely through your body. To enhance the chi flow in your body, the arm should not only be away from your body, but the hand should be about at your chest level. This will strengthen your back, arms, hands, and fingers, and will allow the chi to flow easier.

Start with you hand open all the way and keep the balls separated while turning them. This will allow the chi to flow in your hand while strengthening it. You must remember to exercise both hands to keep the body balanced. The right hand will turn the ball toward the left or counterclockwise. The left hand will turn the balls toward the right or clockwise. Using your thumb and other fingers, slowly start moving the balls counterclockwise.

Continue moving the balls around all of the pressure points in your hand; this will stimulate all of the organs in your body and keep you healthy and strong. This exercise should be done for at least 15 minutes a day or longer for each hand.

Bucket with Beans Exercise
Take a five-gallon bucket filled with round beans and place it on a sturdy surface, such as a bench so that you can put your hand into the bucket and to touch the bottom lightly with your fingertips when your arm is fully extended. These exercises will strengthen the arm from your fingers, wrist, and forearms up through the shoulder and upper back muscles. Changing the range of motion will exercise different areas of these main muscle groups. These exercises are not as easy as they seem and you must strive to maintain the integrity of your stance while doing them in order to get the full benefit.

Rotating Method
Stand close to the bucket in a deep bow stance and put your hand deep into the beans. Keeping your arm rigid and your fingers straight and spread wide, rotate your hand as far as it will go in both directions. Do this 10 times in the beginning, then try to work your way up to 25 times each hand.

Chopping Method
Only your wrist should move when doing this exercise. Extend your arms down into the beans palm facing in. Keep your fingers close together, thumb tucked in. Then raise your hand up toward your thumb, as far as you can, using only your wrist, then back down, toward your pinky finger as in a chopping motion. You must use only your wrist. This is important! This is not easy, but it will be very good for putting power into your wrist and forearm. Feel which parts of the arm are being strengthened. Do this 10 times, in the beginning and then bring your hand out of the bucket and open and close your hand several times to increase circulation.

Closed Fist—Tip Up and Back
With your arm extended down into the beans, make a fist and then tip it toward you as far as it will go, then open your hand and move your fingers, keeping them tightly together, and away from you as far as they will go. Return your hand to the first position, but do not allow your fingers to spread apart on the way. Do this 10 times, then bring your hand out of the bucket and open and close your fingers several times to bring circulation back into them.

Flapping Method
With you arm extended down into the beans, keep your fingers together and do not bend them. Now tip them all the way toward you and then move them away from you as far as they will go, as in the flapping motion, using only your wrist. Do this 25 times, then bring our hand out of the bucket and rotate your wrists to get circulation back into them.

After doing these exercises relax your body as much as possible and do not be in a hurry. Take your time, relax and do it correctly. You will likely begin to see noticeable results after one-to-three weeks of training. This method of conditioning your hands must be done very carefully to avoid damage to your muscles. Make sure you rinse off the dust after doing this exercise to avoid inhaling the dust.

Hand Roller
The hand roller is a cheap and easy way to strengthen your hands, wrists and forearms without spending a lot of money. Just get a round dowel about two inches thick then drill a hole in the middle and tie a small rope through it and put a weight on the end of the rope. Don’t start with a weight that is too heavy. Start with three-to-five pounds and start rolling the weight up and down. Try to do this three times in the beginning and when that gets easy, increase the amount of times you go up and down.

It is not important to increase the weight quickly. You can gain more strength by increasing the amount of times you curl it up and down. You will start to feel your forearms strengthening immediately.

Hand Squeezing Exercise
Punching harder, performing higher repetitions and using more resistance in pull-ups, push-ups, and other upper body exercises can help you reach your goals faster and more effectively, if you posses powerful forearms and hands.
You can do this exercise while sitting or standing, but it is best if you do it in a horse stance to strengthen you legs at the same time. As you know, the body works best as a whole. You don’t need to use any exercise tool for this one except your hands.

Stand in a horse stance with your arms out to your sides. Open and close you hands into a fist, then extend you fingers all the way out. Start off with about 50 and work your way up to 300. You will feel your forearms strengthening right away.

Body Roller
Begin with your knees on the floor while holding the body roller in your hands. In a slow and controlled manner, allow your upper body to roll forward, thus stretching your body into a straight position—almost parallel to the floor. Do not allow your body to touch the floor. Once extended, pause for a second or two and slowly pull yourself back to the starting position. Feel the stretch in your abdomen and arms.