Do schools still train by kicking posts and striking hard surfaces? What does this training accomplish?
This type of training was done to build stronger bones and create calluses on the skin, allowing the practitioner to repeatedly kick and strike without injuring themselves, as well as making there kicks/strikes more powerful and devastating. Most schools nowadays do not train this way. Wars are no longer fought with your hands and feet like they were in the earlier days of martial arts, therefore most schools have removed or reduced this style of training due to lack of necessity. Typically the only training done anymore to toughen the striking areas are done through striking heavy bags and doing push ups on the knuckles rather than the palms, though some sport oriented schools go further due to the amount of striking they may do during competition. It is worth while to note that extensive training in this fashion can be detrimental to ones health and can lead to deformation of bones, and is believed to be linked to bone cancer, though not proven.
