by Hephaestus » Sun Jan 15, 2006 3:49 pm
The iron palm practiced by Wing Lam and other BSL students is the method of Gu, Ru Zhang(Ku Yu Cheong), who was the founder of BSL as it exists today.
KYC was famous not only for his iron skills and martial abilities, but as a healer. If his method of Iron Palm reduced the sensitivity of his hands or made them shake, it would have greatly impaired his medical skills. BSL Iron Palm is fairly internal in theory, in that the aim is not only to harden the hands through conditioning, but to pack them with Qi similar to internal Iron Body practices.
I believe I recall NorthernShaolin mentioning to me that his teacher (Wong Jack Man) told him that what is practiced by BSL students is only 1 of 3 possible levels of Iron Palm training. Whether these other two levels were practiced by KYC or not, I do not know. It is perfectly possible that KYC was able to perform that famous break pictured previously in this thread without practicing the "advanced" forms that would damage his hands. Long term effects in KYC himself were impossible to observe, as he died fairly young, executed.
Something to note is that KYC also practiced Yang style Taiji as taught to him by Li Jing Lin (also a master of Wudang Sword). Perhaps internal training and qigong balances out the harder Iron practice.
Many of Lam, Kwong Wing's students whom practice Iron Palm will attest that their method does not make one sterile, as several of them practiced for years before having children of their own. Also, one of the things the Chinese method of hand conditioning is most famous for is the lack of disfigurement of the hands which occurs in many Japanese and Korean methods, likely due to improper transmission of Qigong and jow recipes.
As with any martial practice, some toughening/roughening of the skin is to be expected as with hitting a sandbag, but deformed hands are a sure sign of either improper training or improper treatment.
~H