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Toughening Your Feet, Knees, Legs Shinbones and Insteps 
Exponents of Shao Lin concentrate on improving the durability of their legs so as to be able to absorb any shock directed against the shinbones and insteps, the simplest of the Shao Lin leg-toughening methods involves the use of a cylindrical piece of rottan cane about one-half inch in diameter. Tap this cane along your shinbone, form just below the knee to the ankle for ten to fifteen minutes during each training session. Apply medicine to the exposed parts on both legs immediately after such training. As your legs toughen and you grow able to withstand the force of such light blows without experiencing any pain, increase the force of the taps until you can take a hard blow. This achieved, substitute a flat piece of wood about one or two inches square for the cane, and proceed as before until both shinbones become numb each time you use this method. Continue using the piece of wood at each training session for four months. After that you should impact your shinbone against a heavy sandbag. Concurrent with training to toughen your shinbones, it is also necessary to toughen your insteps. Using a frontal snap-kick action, strike the underside of a sandbag with your insteps, or use a roundhouse kick to strike the side of the bag with your insteps. Kick at least 100 times with each leg during every training session. The size of the sandbag used and the nature of its filling material should be varied in accordance with the three stages used in developing the hands and fists by the sandbag method. A wooden post that has been firmly set in the ground and wrapped with burlap or straw to provide a padded target is a good substitute for a sandbag. A fully trained exponent of Shao Lin is able to impact his insteps against an iron post that has been erected and padded in this fashion. When training to toughen the outer edges and the heels of your feet, impact these parts against a one-inch-thick wooden plank that has been set tightly up against solid wall.
It is also necessary to develop and maintain the flexibility of your ankle joints as you toughen your feet. Do this through flexion exercises. Stand on one leg and raise the other leg, keeping it straight, until the toes are just off the ground. Point your toes downward. Flex the ankle so that you can point your toes up and back toward your shinbone; then point them down once again. Make clockwise and counterclockwise circles with your toes. Make ten flexing and ten circling actions with each foot. Do this every time you complete impact training for your insteps, and follow up with the application of medicine to the affected parts of your body. Knees The sandbag provides the best source of resistance when you train your knees to increase their durability and general toughness. Use the sandbag in exactly the same manner as you do when training your hands and fists. Never omit the use of medicine after training your knees. | ||||
