Title: Authentic Iron Palm: The Complete Training Manual
Author: Phillip Start
Publisher: Blue Snake Books
Publish Date: 2020
Format: Soft Cover
Pages: 97
Cover Price: $18.95 (US
Iron Palm is one of those “techniques” that you hear a lot about from old Kung Fu movies. Its name is mentioned almost ad nauseum. Near mythical capabilities are often attributed to this type of training. It may surprise you to learn that not only is this a real teaching, but it is something you can add to almost any martial art training.
Content
The book may be short in terms of pages, but it is packed full of info. It starts out talking about what iron palm training is and what it isn’t It also explains why you would want to partake in this training, for whatever art you practice. The author then goes through every piece of information you could possibly need for training in this technique. It shows examples of the equipment needed, as well as illustrating some of the philosophy/qi ideas that Iron Palm uses. The book breaks up the training into two sections: the first 100 days, and after the first hundred days. It concludes with a section on how to use and test the technique.
Pros
I appreciate the brevity of this book. Many martial arts books look to convince or sway you to see the validity of their philosophy. Mr. Starr makes no attempt to do that. It’s almost as if it’s more of an instruction manual or cookbook. A sort of “do this first, then do this” type of feel. He also does a good job of showing all the equipment needed for the practice. Not only does he show the equipment, but he gives lower price alternative ways to make the same equipment yourself.
The illustrations are also quite clear for how to use the equipment to develop the technique. This is a feature that I appreciate in a martial arts book, as what we do is often very kinetic and hard to demonstrate in static formats.
Cons
Although it is not something I practice in my martial arts, I can fully appreciate its usefulness. We do a little bit similar in the movements, but not the long term training. That being said, I think the one flaw of the book is that it doesn’t show how the technique can be applied beyond the qigong aspect of it. It could be that the use will be self-evident with practice/training and that I’m missing that aspect.
Conclusion
The name says it all. It’s a complete training manual from the start of your training to the testing phase.
I have to say, I like having this book on my shelf. It is a good reference book for the subject matter and a very good book for instructional purposes should I ever decide to start the training. It has a very easy readability and the pictures are done in such a manner that there is no confusion about how something is done.
The Iron Palm training can also be applied to any martial art, hard, soft or in between. As such, I’m going to give this book 3.5 out of 5 ninja stars. There’s a lot of good in this book, and if its something you are looking for or looking to add to your training, then this book is a must.
Editor’s note: need a quick refresher on qi to understand how iron palm relates? Check out Why Incorporate Qi Into Your Training.
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