Iron Palm, tie sha zhang, “iron sand palm,” is where every tour of the secret skills should start, because it’s the one you can watch somebody actually train. Traditional accounts describe a canvas bag on a low stool and repeated hand strikes. The filling varies by school, from grain to harder materials. Herbal liniments known as dit da jow often accompany the practice. Red Sand Palm is described as internal: its power is said to be cultivated through breath, intention and qigong as much as through striking and to penetrate beneath the surface into the body. The legends say it leaves a red mark that slowly appears where the palm landed and injures organs while barely bruising the skin. If Iron Palm is the hammer, Cotton Palm, mian zhang, is the velvet glove with the hammer inside it. The idea is paradoxical and very old. The striking hand looks relaxed, soft, almost harmless. It lands like a pat. And yet, the stories say, the force goes deep, past the skin and muscle into the organs, while the surface barely marks. Set the three palms side by side and the pattern is clear. Iron Palm: hard exterior conditioning. Red Sand Palm: internally cultivated, penetrating force. Cotton Palm: a soft exterior hiding internal power. Contents include: Tibetan Burning Palm, Ice Palm, Yin and Yang Palm, Poison Hand, Venom Palm, Black Sand Palm and many more.