toughen hands and feet

Hi guys

i'm a newbie to martial arts and to the site, i've been training in jujitsu for just 6 lessons and i'm really enjoying it so far but i've never done anything like this before so if you guys could answer a few questions i'd really apreciate it :-D

1st question:;-)
it's jujitsu so we havn't done much striking so far but when i do where i'm new to fighting my fists and feet take a bit of a beating, basically is there a simple way of conditioning my hands to cope with it better because we don't do striking enough for my hands adjust so i don't think they'll get much better just from my standard weekly class.

Adam
p.s i've got a few more questions but i'll space them out so i don't annoy anyone on my 1st visit :-))

I would sudjest hitting a Mokiwara board to condition your hand strikes. You can buy one from any Marial Arts supply store. It's basically a wooden board with slight padding. You can mount it on any support wall over a beam and pound away. Start out very light and work your way up. Don't start too hard or you will do more damage than good. It takes years to develope strong striking surfaces. Make sure though that if you are going to use a Makiwara that you are properly trained in stances (for proper weight distribution) and what parts of the hand to strike with. For instance, punching with the top two knuckles with a tight fist, etc. Another route you could take is just simply striking a hanging bag.

Oh ya, one other thing you could do is start doing pushups on your knuckles. Preferably your top two.:-)

I used old coffee cans half full of sand and water to callouse my palms. You just put your hand in the mixture and squeeze... it also builds grip strength

whats your signature off?

i recognise it, its from Black Hawk Down