Chinese 跌打酒 Literal meaning fall hit wine Yale Romanization dit dá jáu | Cantonese Yale dit dá jáu Hanyu Pinyin Jyutping dit3 daa2 zau2 | |
Dit Da Jow is a popular Chinese liniment sold to heal external damage such as bruises or sore muscles. There are several different recipes for Dit Da Jow, most of which are considered to be a "secret formula" passed down through oral and written history of Traditional Chinese medicine, martial arts, and modern Western science. Today Dit Da Jow can be bought online and through martial arts catalogues or it can be directly obtained from a Chinese apothecary or master. Dit Da Jow is primarily used by martial artists to aid the healing of Iron Palm training.
Contents
Dit Da Jow is an analgesic liniment traditionally preferred by martial artists. Often a martial arts master blends his unique mixture of many aromatic herbs such as myrrh and ginseng, which are combined to stimulate circulation, reduce pain and swelling, and improve healing of injuries and wounds. The tradition became known as "hit medicine". The main healing function of Dit Da Jow, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine, is to unblock blood stagnation and blood stasis. When one suffers a trauma type injury, qi is blocked in the meridians causing pain and swelling. Dit Da Jow opens up this blockage allowing the qi to flow freely allowing the injury to heal.
Dit Da Jow is made from herbs put in a glass or polyethylene terephthalate plastic jar and mixed with an alcohol like vodka or gin. Centuries ago, Dit Da Jow was made by combining the herbs in a clay vessel and adding rice wine, then burying the vessel in the ground for months or even years; it was believed that the longer the herbs sat in the alcohol, the stronger the Dit Da Jow became. This has been tested by Wing Chun Illustrated Magazine, which asked Jere Boudell, a professor of biology at Clayton State University, to determine the bioactive ingredients. The results showing that aged solutions had more bioactivity were published in Wing Chun Illustrated as well as at a conference which can be viewed on YouTube.
Typical ingredients
Many recipes are available; the ingredients listed here are merely examples. The best mixture depends on many factors, including the particular intended use. In particular, there are "toxic" and "non-toxic" recipes—the former must not be used on open wounds or ingested.
The herbs and other ingredients are typically coarse-ground, then steeped in alcohol (vodka or rice wine is commonly suggested), sometimes with heat, and then aged. Many vendors offer "herb packs" from which Dit Da Jow can be prepared, or pre-made Dit Da Jow mixtures for particular uses.
Traditional ingredients
Traditional recipes vary greatly; some of the many possible ingredients are:
Westernized recipe ingredients
Some recipes instead use ingredients more readily available in the West. These are obviously non-traditional, and some practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine would not consider such recipes "true" Dit Da Jow. A Westernized recipe might include ingredients such as: