I have been training iron palm for over 100 days. As you probably know, the iron palm is a kung fu training program designed to stiffen your hand so you can hit harder without hurting yourself.

There seems to be a special meaning around 100 days when it comes to this. I’ve even seen shows called things like “iron palm in 100 days” that are supposed to teach you a quick method that will have you breaking bricks like a pro in just a few months.

My experiences have been a bit different, but I also take my time and go slower than fast. I know you can get hurt if you try to progress too fast (I’ve even done it before), so I started very slow and smooth and build up slowly over time.

I start with an iron palm bag (a duffel bag) full of mung beans

I keep a record of my training. Here is a summary of the first 100 days or so.

The first 10 days were just starting and getting used to the program. I started doing each hit only 20 times with each hand. I let my hand fall onto the iron bag in my palm instead of hitting it with muscular force. I know there is a traditional reason to do it this way, but I do it to take it easy.

Within 30 days it had become part of my routine. I didn’t feel like it was something new anymore, it was just another part of my training. My hands started to feel different too. For lack of a better description, they felt they had more “energy” than before. It is quite possible that this was only in my head, as I had also spent more time thinking about my hands.

By day 40 he had increased the reps to 25 reps of each stroke with each hand. The training was fun and I was looking forward to it.

While doing the qigong part of the training on day 47, I experienced some strange sensations in my arms that felt like waves. I’m not sure what to make of it, and although I know a lot of people would say it’s the qi flowing through my arms, I’m not so sure I believe that.

That same feeling happened again on day 51.

By the eighth day he had increased the reps to 35 of each stroke per hand. I feel like I’m making progress at this point, and I don’t feel it as much in my hands when I hit the bag.

Day 100! I feel like I’m in the beginner stages and on my way to good conditioning. Eventually I will move on to a gravel-filled bag which is like an intermediate bag.

I didn’t see 100 days as the goal. I saw it as the beginning. Now I am ready to take my training to the next level.