Body conditioning: how to build pain tolerance

Master Kongling All, Conditioning, Exercises, Mind / body control Iron palm 1

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Conditioning to pain: a simple but effective exercise

After having familiarized ourselves with the concept of “pain tolerance” (read Acceptance and prevention of pain), it is now time to make a new step toward a real impact conditioning for combat.

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

The exercises we are going to describe allow a gradual but functional conditioning process accessible to everyone: in fact, the incidence of its stimulation is totally under our control. The idea is to carefully dose an increasing strength against ourselves: let’s see how.

A note by Master Kongling – As we said in the past article of this series, body conditioning for impact (read Conditioning check for the impact) is not mandatory but only if we practice Kung Fu for wellness / health; it is instead a fundamental step if we aim for a real combat preparation (read also How to learn to fight: all the steps and Kung Fu: the parts of the body to condition).

Self-hitting our body

A note by Master Kongling – Before performing this new type of conditioning, it is important to have acquired a certain practice with the past basic exercise: read Conditioning to pain: an introductory exercise. Substantially, passing to this “more intense stimulation”, we need to be able to properly choose the right amount of strength to impress: we need (at least) an idea of what and where are the areas of our body that could bring more pain (if not damage).

The basic version of the exercise

The execution:

In the beginning, we simply have to start to gently poke our body (from head to toe)
Let’s hit with the last phalanx of our 5 fingers (gently gathered at a short distance but not in contact)
Let’s not skip any part, we need to cover the entire surface of our body
Let’s hit with a rhythmic cadence (at 1-second intervals)
For now, let’s hit a maximum of 2 times the same point
Depending on where we hit, we need to position our hands in such a way as to impress ta constant amount of power
Let’s pay particular attention only to delicate parts like ears, nose, neck, temples, eyes, cheekbones, chin, mouth, genitals, hips, the lower back (etc. and in general the central line of our body)
Let’s perform the exercise for 10 minutes (at this level it is nothing more than a sort of gentle massage)

A note by Master Kongling – To help the mental aspect of this conditioning, let’s also focus on eliminating any instinctive useless reaction, like little grimaces, verses, head / torso bending (etc.). As the ancient Shaolin monks teach us, whether there is pain or not, it has no use to express it with vocalizations and / or body language.

The next step

Even here, after 5-6 sessions we can start:

Use more power and hit gradually with a greater intensity
Use more technical blows (more similar for example to punches)
Hitting with a slightly more rapid cadence
Hitting up to 10 times the same part

A note by Master Kongling – For now nothing more, nothing less. Perfect conditioning is a game of patience, let’s not skip the right evolution phases or when real pain will come, we will be totally unprepared.

Final notes

A few conclusive thoughts:

Impatience is the worst enemy of a serious impact conditioning journey; let’s not try to anticipate the times (getting uselessly hurt does not mean toughening ourselves, it means being stupid)
In no case, our goal is not to hurt ourselves (let’s focus on this, especially if our skills already allow us to deliver ample power in small loafing spaces); what we want is to become, with time, less and less subduable by increasing levels of pain (mind and body)
During a real fight, pain can be accepted, transformed, controlled and / or ignored but in no cases not felt; being totally “blind” to pain is not positive, it is a serious disadvantage (pain must be interpreted for what it is, an important signal to always take into account)
In conclusion, let’s remember that while performing these kinds of practices, we must not execute any pain absorption / mitigation techniques (read for example How to breathe when I get punched)
…

In the next article of this series, we will see a third (and more intense) type of pain conditioning.

In-depth video courses

Iron body: the development path – A visual step-by-step explanation of a complete conditioning
Diamond Finger conditioning – Learn to use the fingers as weapons
Iron palm: complete development path – How to develop this advanced Kung Fu skill

In-depth articles

Pain conditioning for combat [MINI-GUIDE] – The full basic path toward impact conditioning
Martial arts conditioning [MINI-GUIDE] – The general approach to body preparation for combat

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

How does your body react to this type of stimulation?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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