Iron Vest

Iron Vest also called Iron Shirt/Jacket or the Copper Body shows up across a wide cross section of Chinese martial arts systems. It appears in two distinct forms with some schools performing external exercises combined with some internal exercises; mostly Pai Da Gung the hitting of the body with sticks and canvas tubes filled with various things like beans, gravel and steel shot very similar to what one would find inside an Iron Palm bag, as well as using a serious amount of Dit Da Jow on their bodies to heal the trauma of striking it with hard objects. This is a Wai Gong practice. Wai Gong means external practice.

Many Shaolin based schools call this form of specialized training Iron Body or Small/Big Golden Bell Cover.

Sifu Dale Dugas Iron Body Demonstration Zhang San Feng Festival 2008

The internal version of this training is the Iron Vest set. There is no hitting of the body with sticks or bags. It is a series of exercises that are designed to stretch and strengthen the bodys fascia. It is combined with a serious amount of standing meditation that is built into the set. Your fascia will thicken and strengthen over time. The stretching and the standing added together create a stronger body able to absorb more punishment.

The first 100 days sees the student avoiding sexual intercourse as well as not ingesting any fried food, nor alcohol. There is an herbal medicine that is used to help the student start his foundation in this program. This herbal medicine is specifically used in the Iron Vest set to help cool down the rather hot energy that the set can build during practice. The student will ingest this medicine for the 100 day period.

It is considered a high level Nei Gong set. Nei Gong meaning "internal work/practice". This lengthy set is performed with little or no residual body tension except for holding yourself upright in many of the postures that are held for varied amounts of time.

Compared to Iron Palm training this type of training is a little more sedate, some would say even boring. The benefits that are accrued from dedicated training on the Iron Vest material are not to be ignored by those who are serious in their training. Many find that not only the amount of abuse and punishment they can accept is much greater after working on this set for a year, but their health as well as energy levels are affected in a truly positive manner.