GotAGrip Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 I basically need some advice/tips on how to bend cards with tiny, girly hands lol. I have a lot of strength - predominately in crushing and have been working the pinch and extensors extensively lately. I also play about with a homemade leverage bar. When I grip the cards and attempt to rip them, I feel that the size of my hands are hindering me and not my actual tearing strength - this may or may not be the case but I won't be defeated. I am not a "wimp" and don't mind pain, but there seems to be damage being done to the area between my thumb and forefinger as there is a lot of pressure here during the attempt. Do I need to keep practicing until this area toughens up? Or won't it? Some specific card tearing exercises may be needed - I imagine a leverage bar is important for the actual "pressure" strength for the rips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broly Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 How big are your hands? I have 7" hands which is considered small in grip and I've been able to take down a few different brands of decks. Haven't tried bicycles just yet but shouldn't be too far off. I bought Jedd's card tearing e-book and it was actually a great read with a ton of exercises for card tearing and all the techniques you can possibly think of to tear. It might just be a comfort thing. The one thing I can suggest that will help a lot and is something I made is a to get a piece of wood with similar dimensions to a deck of cards (maybe a bit fatter) and screw in a fish eye hook and do drywall lifts. It puts the pressure on your fingers in the same spot as it would be needed for a deck of cards. Assuming your gripping over/under. I would've used steel but I'm not that handy just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mephistopholes Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Are you trying to rip a whole deck? If so, try starting with less cards and work up to a full deck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jedd Johnson Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Thanks for the mention, Matrixsleeper. If you would like to check out the Card Tearing eBook, you can do so here: CardTearing.com There are many ways to tear a deck, which I show in the ebook. maybe you just need to try a slightly different variation. Also, it never hurts to bring up your strength for the positions used in card tearing. It's a very important and often forgotten part of the feat that certain strength levels are needed in order to over-power the cards. i show many drills in the ebook that can help with this. All the best with card tearing. Jedd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotAGrip Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 Thanks for the reply guys, the card tearing ebook sounds awesome - will try to grab that when I get some spare cash. I buy it in the same fashion even though I am in the UK right? As for the size of my hands, SNAP - 7", assuming you measure from bottom of hand to the tip of the middle finger... I feel like I have a lot more strength left in the tank for the tear but it hurts my hands a lot and leaves some gnarly marks on my hands afterwards so I hold back. I train in iron palm so my bones are really tough but I feel like the tissue on my hand isn't able to withstand the pressure. I have no idea what cards I have - I was unaware they are different in difficulty. Posted a picture of the brand I have, any ideas what they are and how difficult they are in comparison to the bicycle brand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotAGrip Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 @Mephistopholes I can't afford to buy lots of cards for this purpose right now, it's surprising how much money I have spent on supplements... Dessicated Liver, Multi's, Krill Oil - haha, any spare money feeds me. I always have cardboard boxes laying around however, I could cut these up to the same shape, gradually increasing the thickness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mephistopholes Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Ha well I'm not saying out and buy a bunch of cards dude. But If you do buy cards, always go cheap I know you can get em a buck a pack at walmart. And of course, get as many tears as you can out of them, go for quarters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mephistopholes Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 And save your money on the supplements dude! The only supplement you need is heavy iron! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotAGrip Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 And save your money on the supplements dude! The only supplement you need is heavy iron! Amen. I found the box which my cards came in - they are "Lucky Club"... Any idea where these rank on the difficulty scale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mephistopholes Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 No idea. Haha. But you can kind of tell by the feel of them... If it's just paper and plastic coating then they're about average for cheap ones. Bicycles and the harder decks are made with a heavier coating, and something that feels like linen, making it feel like you're tearing a towel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six Barrel Shotgun Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 +1 on the recommendation of Jedd`s great e-book of the subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotAGrip Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 No idea. Haha. But you can kind of tell by the feel of them... If it's just paper and plastic coating then they're about average for cheap ones. Bicycles and the harder decks are made with a heavier coating, and something that feels like linen, making it feel like you're tearing a towel. I'd like to believe that my cards are some super-saiyan, ultra tough cards - which makes it excusable that I can't rip the bas**rds lol. Instead of starting a new thread, I thought I would throw this on here - I have bought a few tennis balls in the hope that I can achieve the strength of digging my fingers into it and tearing it apart. Judging from the lack of youtube vids and stuff on this feat, I am assuming it will take me a lifetime to achieve. I am hoping my thin fingers will give me an edge as it is more likely to "puncture" it. Am I aiming too high? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mephistopholes Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Search the forum, I actually posted a thread about tennis ball tearing recently. My opinion is that yes, it's very hard, but it can be done with practice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotAGrip Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 Search the forum, I actually posted a thread about tennis ball tearing recently.My opinion is that yes, it's very hard, but it can be done with practice. Thanks for being patient with me and my newbie questions Will check out the thread, cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatorGrip Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Here is a list I compiled a long time ago regarding difficulty of decks that were in the market place...Take a look it may save you some money and let you try some brands that will challenge you in the future... http://www.gripboard.com/index.php?showtopic=17979&hl=%2Bcard+%2Bdifficulty#entry220194 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawel r Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 (edited) John McCallum wrote an article on training grip/forearm strength that described how to fold a newspaper into an object that's about the same size and thickness of a deck of playing cards.Here is the basic idea that he presented: Starting with two sheets of newspaper, lay one on top of the other. Fold the sheets in half a total of five times. When finished, this will resemble a deck of cards. Once you can go through two sheets, add another. McCallum says that anyone who can tear four sheets of paper, when folded in the manner described, should have no trouble with a deck of playing cards. http://www.heavysports.com/emag/Clay_Edgin/cards.html I hope this help I like this style Edited January 19, 2013 by pawel r 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GotAGrip Posted January 19, 2013 Author Share Posted January 19, 2013 John McCallum wrote an article on training grip/forearm strength that described how to fold a newspaper into an object that's about the same size and thickness of a deck of playing cards.Here is the basic idea that he presented: Starting with two sheets of newspaper, lay one on top of the other. Fold the sheets in half a total of five times. When finished, this will resemble a deck of cards. Once you can go through two sheets, add another. McCallum says that anyone who can tear four sheets of paper, when folded in the manner described, should have no trouble with a deck of playing cards. http://www.heavysports.com/emag/Clay_Edgin/cards.html I hope this help I like this style Thanks for that mate, I will give that a go. Loving your vids on youtube btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mephistopholes Posted January 19, 2013 Share Posted January 19, 2013 That Sounds like a great idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jose Cabrera Posted January 20, 2013 Share Posted January 20, 2013 Hey man, I was reading this post last night, and it inspired me to try a deck, and I tore it! Try really hard when your hands are rested and get some cheap Dollar store cards! Thanks man because of you I tried and pulled it off! Small hands aren't the factor! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six Barrel Shotgun Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Pawel r: I remember you said sometime that Narrow Pinching helped with your Card Tearing Strenght. What is your thought about that today? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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