The Other Side of the Empty Hand

“We are unique, gentlemen, in that we create ourselves. Through long years of rigorous training, sacrifice, denial, pain. We forge our bodies in the fire of our will.”

Dr. Han, Enter the Dragon

It is true, we train for years to make our bodies into weapons. Regardless of the philosophy we claim underlies our training, regardless of reasons we first begin our studies, such as self-defense, competition, health, or whatever.

The basic fact is, we do not train as hard as we do, as consistently as we do, for as long as we do, to not be able to use the skills should we ever need them. We hope we never need them, but the reality is many of us will at some point need to defend ourselves.

And what about conditioning training? What about the makiwara? What about breaking boards and patio tiles, bricks, blocks of ice, concrete slabs? What is the point of all that if it isn’t representing what we can do to the human body should the need arise?

Yes, some people layer the wonderful breaking feats they perform with the philosophy that we are “breaking the evil things within us”, and some people say they do tameshiwari (breaking) because its too dangerous to perform their techniques against live, ordinary people.

Masutatsu “Mas” Oyama, killed 52 bulls over his lifetime in order to prove the skills of karate and his personal methods of conditioning his hands. He could literally hammer thumb tacks and small nails into the calcium deposited lumps where his main knuckles used to be.

And of course, let’s not forget the Sanchin training done in so many karate schools. They say it toughens the skin, hardens the muscles and strengthens the bones against impact.

The ancient Greeks and Romans used to soak their hands in milk and then pound on rocks to toughen their hands for use in Pancration or Pancratium.

What about the other side of the empty hand? What about the healing methods that are available for study?

Everyone knows by now that I make my own Jow, which is short for the Cantonese saying, “Dit Dah Jow”. In Mandarin its Dieh Da Jiu. They both mean, simply-speaking, “Fall and hit wine”. In other words, it’s a liniment, a topical analgesic to be applied after taking a hard fall or being struck, kicked, or punched.

Jow is the most basic level of Traditional Chinese Medicine. At the other end of the spectrum is Acupuncture. Somewhere in between is massage, shiatsu, acupressure, hilot (Filipino massage, similar to shiatsu) and other remedies. Obviously, acupressure cannot be as exact as acupuncture, but can still provide relief from some injuries.

Jow can do many things, but one of the most important for the martial artist is the relief from bruising. Once you’ve been struck and a bruise forms, you want that trapped blood to dissipate as soon as possible.

Did you know that some Jow are “hot” meaning they are meant to be heated before application. Others are “cold” and do not need heating. Its important to know which kind of Jow you are using or you will get less-than-hoped-for results or even negative results.

You also have to be careful which herbs you use when making your own jow. Some herbs are benign and won’t hurt you, some can be applied externally without any problems (but you cannot ingest them) but some are deadly and can be poisonous.

This is why my Jow is made from Essential Oils rather than herbs from a Chinese recipe. You still have to be careful with oils, because they are volatile (for instance some can remove paint!) and they shouldn’t be ingested.

It took me 40 years of research and testing to come up with what I have as a formula for my Jow. The man who started me on my journey was Soke Jim Lloyd.

For those of you who want to give it a try, here is the recipe:

essential oil quantity (ml)

camphor 10

cajuput 10

Eucalyptus Globulus 10

cassia 7

cinnamon leaf 7

clove leaf (rectified) 7

peppermint 10

wintergreen 10

alcohol carrier (I used vodka) 71

total (ml) 142

The carrier liquid must always be the same amount as the total amount of the oils. This will usually prevent any skin irritations.

I use roller-top blue-glass bottles. Jow should be stored in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight. Roller-top bottles allow you to apply the jow without it touching your hands. You should always thoroughly wash your hands after using the jow, and do not touch your eyes or any other “tender vittles” until you have done so.

You should be aware that the jow I make isn’t good for people who are allergic to aspirin. For those folks, you can make the above jow without the peppermint, wintergreen, and camphor. Those three have components that metabolize in the human body as methyl salicylate, which is a form close to aspirin (acetyl salicylic acid).

And for more information and to compare, here is a traditional Northern Praying Mantis Jow recipe (in grams):

28g Sichuan Aconite

28g Pinellia Ternata

28g Prickly Ash pepper

28g Pumice

21g Arisaema Tuber

28g Lycium Fruit

28g Aconite Tsao-wu

14g Stemona

28g Veratrum

All the above must be ground to a fine powder in a stone mortar-and-pestle, then placed in a dark brown jar filled with twice the alcohol required to cover the powder, (such as a medium price vodka) and then left to sit for two (2) months. It should be stirred once or twice a week and after the two months it will be ready to use, just strain out the sludge and throw it away. You can strain the liquid through cheesecloth if necessary.

Many of the ingredients for the Northern Praying Mantis Jow can be found on Amazon, or on PlumDragonHerbs.com, and other sites.

Good hunting!