Talk:Dit Da Jow

Dit da jow is a must for any iron training. While it's powers of chi focusing are questioned by some, no one can deny its healing properties. When training iron fist, palm or any other iron form your skin is all that is between your force and the training surface. If you do not properly use dit da jow to lubricate and soothe your skin you will scar terribly and possibly injure yourself chronicly. There are many jows out there to choose from. Stick to ones that list the herbs used, anywhere from 10 to 30 herbs can be found in most jows. The liquid base should be sake or vodka. These fluids work well at extracting the herbs medicinal properties as well as preserving them. If you take your training seriously you will be using a lot of jow so you may want to make your own. The herbs can be ordered online or bought near you if you are in a large enough city to have a Chinese market. Here is a common method for making dit da jow.

You will need: herbs 1x gallon sake/vodka (no more than 80 proof) 1x amber glass one gallon jug 1x large funnel 1x cheese cloth

What you do: You probably won't find a 1 Gallon bottle of sake or vodka, more like 2 1.75 liter bottles. That's fine. Take the cap off one bottle and pour a little of the sake/vodka into the (clean) amber jug to make room for the herbs. Drop the herbs into the bottle of sake/vodka and let it sit in a cool dark place for 4 weeks, with a gentle shake daily. Then you will have 1 bottle of sake/vodka, one bottle of 1 month old jow and one amber jug with about 5 ounces of sake/vodka in it. Place the funnel into the opening of the amber jug. Fold the cheese cloth over itself 3 or 4 times and then hold those 3 or 4 layers over the opened bottle of jow so you can pour it into the funnel without letting the herbs out. After pouring your jow into the jug pour the fresh sake/vodka into the herb filled bottle(remember you will have to pour some into the jug too). Now the fresh sake/vodka will remove anything left in the herbs. Let this all sit in a cool dark place for 8 more weeks(don't forget the gentle shake). Then you can pour the newer jow into the first batch in the jug. You can leave the herbs in or take them out. Because your jug is amber you can take it out of the dark, but keep it cool. Your training may require you to heat your jow before use. Only heat what you will use, do not heat your whole supply.