How To Start To Bend With Minimal Wraps?

[ewokhugo]

well i am still in shock after watching Gazza bending the big shiny with oil and NOTHING in his hands ...

i'd like to give it a try (inspired by Foxman as well).

for start i may cut some leather/suede and make lets say 5"x4" wraps.. (half the size they are now) ..what do u think guys? or should i use one bandhana (sp?)like Foxman did?(dont have im wraps).thanks in advance.

[yodajaeger]

well i am still in shock after watching Gazza bending the big shiny with oil and NOTHING in his hands ...

i'd like to give it a try (inspired by Foxman as well).

for start i may cut some leather/suede and make lets say 5"x4" wraps.. (half the size they are now) ..what do u think guys? or should i use one bandhana (sp?)like Foxman did?(dont have im wraps).thanks in advance.

Seriously now Hugo, I might sound a little harsh here, but it is only well-meant

You have only been bending for a few months. In my opinion, you should not even go close to barehanded bending until you have at least a year of bending "under your belt". You need to really strengthen skin, tendons, bones etc before you even start. It takes time, these tissues heal and regenerate much slower than muscles.

Until then you can do the following:

Learn traditional DU and reverse (i.e. not the modified/modern DU), involving wrist, grip and fingers to the highest degree.

Bend with thin pads, I suggest you order im pads from ironmind, they're not expensive, not even to ship to Europe. Trust me, they are thin enough, especially if you are using "traditional DU". Gradually during the year, you can experiment buy wrapping them looser, skip the chalk, and after a year gradually cut them shorter and shorter.

My point is, you have been progressing quite impressingly during your short bending career so far, but what gazza shows here is really advanced and not (in my opionion) something you should experiment with yet.

/Henrik

[gazza]

HHHMMMM this is going to get interesting

[luuc]

I just started bending 1/4" HRS without any padding, now I'm slowly starting to improve, soon some CRS and other steel.

DU feels best for me for barehanded bending.

[Tim71]

Any you trim it back will help. I bought some hankerchiefs that I bend in sometimes and some washclothes. Not all hankys and bandanas are the same thickness but all I've run into are MUCH harder than leather wraps.

I use Reverse style myself to get it started but that's just me. There are much better thin wrap benders on this board.

As for Gazza's bend, don't ask me how to train for that. Maybe go to that place on "Batman Begins" and carry that flower up to the top of the mountain for starters .

Tim

[timiacobucci]

I do agree that traditional DU and reverse with both hands touching reflects the movement you need to train. But I don't think bare hand stuff is gonna kill you. Just don't start with nails and pointy stuff or very hard alloys. Start with softer steel that gives you the most surface area for the amount of force it takes to bend. Say for instance a 1/4" g8 bolt vs 5/16 hrs. The later is easier and has much greater area to spread the force over. Round the edges off so you don't concentrate the force along a narrow corner.

It will hurt and you will know what your weak areas are as far as strength and hand and skin coniditioning. I actually think it is safer because your body tells you in a very progressive and obvious manner how close you are getting to injury. Most other stuff with lots of padding the injury is sudden and not just a cut or bruise on your skin like bare hand might cause but a tendon or muscle injury. In fact the amount of skin conditioning you need will greatly limit the amount of force you can even put into your tendons so the risk of inuring them bare hand I feel is even less than with wrapping.

[ewokhugo]

thanks guys ,very usefull!!