Hi folks
This question is for the Muay Thai folks.
I belong to a karate forum. There's a debate going about shin conditioning by kicking hard stuff with your shin or hitting your with hard stuff (Coke bottles, rubber mallets etc).
3/4 of the group says it will have a detrimental effect on your legs. Arthritis, deadened nerves and so on. 1/4 of the group is staying silent.
Does anyone here have any experience with shin conditioning as I've described? How long did you do it and what have you noticed both positive and negative?
Mark
Mark, kicking hard objects is bad for your shin, it will develop bumps and ridges. Tapping your shins, rubbing bottles down them etc.. - no good.
Thai fighters condition their shins by hitting the heavy bag over and over. since they start at an early age they have built up very heavy conditioning by the time they are in their fighting prime.
Bull
Any cons to hitting the heavy bag with your shin?
Can you explain why shin bumps and ridges are bad - weakening the bone? Also, why are bottle rubbing and shin tapping no good? Are they just ineffective or are they harmful in some way?
Mark
Many muay thai guys will tell you these things, but I thought I'd post one written by our very own Khun KaoLink
Actually, that article is quite dated. I have since learned that "rolling" objects on your shins merely desensitizes them, but does nothing towards conditioning the shinbone itself.
Just kick the shit out of the heavy bag and Thai pads. The impact will signal the body that the shin area is under stress and cause the body to make the bone grow thicker.
Arthritis from shin conditioning is a myth, mostly. Arthritis is a condition that affects your joints. The shinbone is not a joint. If you are kicking without proper technique, or you screw up, you could potentially damage your knees and/or ankles, which may lead to arthritic conditions in them.
There are also tales of blood clots forming in the legs which eventually break free and lead to heart-attack, stroke, or brain aneurysm. Though possible, this is such an unlikely occurrance as to be almost negligible. Training smart and taking care of your body will minimize the risk of something like this. And even if you don't, the liklihood of this happening is quite, quite slim.
I know of one instance of someone having developed shin cancer after beginning shin conditioning. There is no study to back this up, but this is something that supposedly occurs from time to time as well. But it is not the shin conditioning which is the cause of the cancer. A person who is going to get cancer is going to get cancer. The shin conditioning, since it causes stress on the body in a very specific area, may simply just be giving the cancer cells a place to start growing.
In my 13 years of Muay Thai training, I have only heard of a total of three deaths which, if you stretch your imagination, may have been caused by shin conditioning. Mind you, I have associated with HUNDREDS (if not THOUSANDS) of coaches and trainers over the years.
In the early 90's, Nanfah, a famous Muay Thai and Boxing Champion dropped dead in his 40's due to a massive heart attack. Possibly a blood clot?
About two years ago, another famous Muay Thai fighter, Chatchai Paiseethong, dropped dead of a massive heart attack. Possibly a blood clot as well?
In both of the above cases, two people cut down in what should have been their prime. However, I never heard of any "cause" being determined. Since blood clots breaking free and getting to the heart are a common cause of heart attacks, perhaps this is what occurred. Does that mean the blood clot broke free from the boxers shin?
The last instance is a Forum Admin on a martial arts board called "Martial Arts Planet" (M.A.P.) lost a friend to cancer of the shin. Shortly after beginning to train and condition his shins, he developed cancer in his shins and died within a year. This is a very drastic case, and I personally believe his friend to have already succumbed to cancer, and the shin conditioning was merely an unfortunate situation that gave the cancer a catalyst to take hold in his body.