Anyone do this? I don't but Im going to get into it. Just moved into a sweet place, its got a big garage which Im going to use as more of an old school gym as the drive way is more than big enough for the cars. Anyways, I've never really done much in the way of boxing training but have read that working the bag properly will provide a very good cv workout whilst toning shoulders, abs, biceps etc. Im not looking to get into boxing at all. No clubs, no sparring, just working the bag on my own. Any advise from more practiced sparrers would be most welcome, specifically along the lines of a good workout regime with it, what sort of weight of bag I should be looking at considering that I am a total beginer, etc etc. Im also aware that you can seriously do yourself a mischief with improper use, such as sprained or torn wrists etc. I know theres a need for proper wraps and protection, Im probably going to look up a guy I worked with years ago who was a real boxer for some advice on the correct technique. But any pre-emptive advise is welcome.
I have a heavy bag in my garage that I beat on from time to time- nice stress reliever and you can get a good workout in if you really go to town. Couple of things: 1. Get some light gloves or wraps so you don't chafe the shit out of your hands, particularly if it's an old fasioned canvas covered bag. 2. Get some guidance on the proper way to hit if you don't already know. (Don't assume there's nothing to it) You can break your hand or wrist on a heavy bag if you go town with bad form. Good boxing workouts include: Speed bag Heavy Bag Jump Rope Drills Running Situps Bob and weave
Only thing I'd say is, I used to have a heavy bag and when I was buying it I wanted the old-school white canvas & leather one that gets greasy and sweaty and bloody. The only think I could find was a vinyl one that had a foam liner and then a water bladder inside. That's really the way to go. IMO it functions about the same and it is so much less of a headache to move or store.
Roommate has a full length Thai bag hanging in his basement. I try to put some feet and fists to it once or twice a week. I prefer to toughen up my knuckles and strengthen my wrists/forearms rather than relying on wraps and gloves. Mostly I just like to practice focusing as much power into single strikes as I can, though. I'm lazy with combinations and footwork, and I never spar. So the utility of my bag workouts is dubious.
If no one can go to your place to see your form, film yourself and compare that to examples of proper bag work on the interwebs. That should at least tell you if you're making any horrible mistakes.
Hmm...was thinking about replying to this thread while in Hawaii, then decided not to, then decided, yeah what the hell. I am no expert on these types of exercises, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I have one of the larger heavy bags, and get on it at least once a week. There is a lighter version and a heavier version. Depending on how big you are, get the heavy one, unless you are built like a little girl. With enough practice, you can start to almost knock it over with just your punches. If you plan on ever practicing elbows on it, a light one definitely won't do. Are you planning on doing any kicking? If you are, you should sign up for at least a month of Karate/Hapkido or Muay Thai classes. They will show you the proper technique for kicking and make sure you are doing it right. Once you get the technique down, it will be with you FOR LIFE. And the basics are all you'll really need. (A black belt is really just a martial artist who has perfected the most simple techniques; conversely, it is better to be a white belt who has mastered all his techniques than a black belt who has mastered none.) Side note: I only listed those three just because I've seen their kicking techniques and I like them - no insult is intended for other martial arts as I've just not studied their technique for kicks in depth. Also, don't join Tae Kwon Do. Their kicks look spectacular, but unless you have a very special teacher who teaches it with a focus on self defense, most, if not all Tae Kwon Do kicks don't have much power behind them. For the bag, start off SLOW. The worst is when you can't use your new heavybag for another week because you hurt yourself. I did this on my first day after getting it by doing an overhand palm strike to the top of the bag, which wasn't cushioned! Ouch. I was out for a week and a half - only being able to practice with my left hand, which conversely, ended up getting faster and more accurate - so it all worked out. Also start off slow because if you don't lock your wrists properly, you could end up spraining them or breaking them. I have no idea about the way the muscles in your hand work, but in my experience, after awhile, your wrists build up tolerance and won't give as easily. I don't believe in using wraps because when you find yourself in a situation and you are chucking knuckles at the other guy's face, there won't be any wrist bands to prevent your wrists from being hurt when they cave his skull in . If you just want to exercise, use them, but if you're also training for self defense, toss 'em. After that, it's really just a matter of your own personal endurance. For myself, I do 50 kicks with right foot, 50 with left, 50 jabs left, 50 right, then practice haymakers, backhands, elbows, palm strikes, uppercuts, head movement, and other fun stuff. Just remember that when you are tired, you are more prone to getting hurt, so when you are tired, focus more on technique instead of raw power. The power will come with enough practice and is just something that happens over time.
Hey, now. My first training was in TKD. I was eventually able to build up my hips and sink some power with those fancy kicks. They were also excruciatingly slow to the point of being useless, but they had some POWAH. These days, I only kick head high for a conditioning workout, and rarely if ever jump or spin. For practical purposes, I've decided that anything you can't do in blue jeans and standing on ice is pretty useless. Also anything that relies much on athleticism, but that's another discussion.
^ I can sometimes catch people off guard with a head high kick, but they are more of a haymaker. You throw it near the end of the round or fight, when the other person is tired and their reaction time is slow. Not at the beginning, where they can just dodge it and come in at you. There are very few people who can use it as an effective knockout jab to the head, like Bruce Lee used to do, but that's Bruce Lee. I think Tae Kwon Do training would be good for a martial artist who wants to use some of their kicks as a feint or as a setup for other things like takedowns or to keep an opponent away. I liken it to the feather at the end of a spear. It's a great way to distract your opponent and make him think twice about coming in to punch you, and to set up something else, but not as your main martial art. I've sparred against quite a few Tae Kwon Do guys, and even though their kicks are fast and can sometimes hurt you, they can be brushed aside and countered. This one kid in the Chinese church recently started trash talking Hapkido because he was a Tae Kwon Do champion. He was about 5'11" or 6' but still in his mid teens. I outweighed him by, oh probably 30 lbs. I told him if he thinks his Tae Kwon Do can beat Hapkido, then lets go. He hemmed and haw'd about it for probably half an hour, where I kept reassuring him that it was no big deal, it's just a spar, and he should be used to it, since he was a tournament champion and all. With enough friendly egging by me and his friends, we decided to test his theory in the grassy area behind the gym. So after talking about the rules - i.e. basically, the UFC rules, except small circle joint locks are allowed, and we'd TRY and not hurt the family jewels. (in which I told him, with a face like yours, you won't be using them much anyways. ) Oh, and head butts are allowed. We basically start off with one of his friends being referee and saying 'lets get it on'. We step around each other for a bit, then he throws a few fast jab kicks at stomach height. I block some of them and a few others hit me. I circle around and he changes stances. I circle the other way, he goes in and out of range and changes stances. I charge in as he recovers from a kick, and he jumps and does this flying kick that nearly took off my head, that I manage to duck, then he lands and throws another fast kick, and this one gets me on the shoulder and also deflects and tags me on the right side of the head. I do the double leg takedown, he struggles mightily, and I hang on for dear life as he tries to peel me off and get on his feet again. No luck. I am just too heavy set and get half guard . Eventually, he tires out, I isolate an arm and apply the kimora and he yelps then taps. The first kick would've probably knocked my head off, especially with shoes on. The second, not so much, and I got more injured by him struggling and inadvertently scratching my face, which left two nick marks and probably some future scars. If he had made me bleed, I would've probably used a wrist lock instead and then knocked him unconscious. But I thought, nah, I actually like this kid, and I didn't want to make his mom cry on a Sunday after church. Total time: probably 1:30 or less. In a few years, this kid might actually be able to beat me with Tae Kwon Do. But not this year. Then again, maybe not. I've fought a lot of Tae Kwon Do guys, and they all suffer from the same thing: Not enough power in their quick, fantastic looking kicks. I protect my jaw, take the first hit, which is generally not too bad, and then rush in to do a takedown. I don't always get the perfect takedown, but almost always knock them off balance enough that they can't do their kicks except maybe desperation haymaker type kicks that mostly don't connect or only get a piece of me. I guess I really didn't beat him with Hapkido per se, and beat him more with Jijitsu, but for these little pissing matches and friendly spars, I don't like to use it unless I want to be cruel and give them an injury they might never recover from. Overall, it was a good fight and taught me I should maybe give Tae Kwon Do a little more respect, but when an ignorant kid is trash talking Hapkido like that, it's fun to teach them a lesson. And the thing is, a lot of my spars with Tae Kwon Do guys start off the exact same way. Hopefully the kid will take something else with him other than he lost to a Hapkido guy. I'm not saying that Tae Kwon Do is bad....heck, there are some Tae Kwon Do guys I just can't touch because they move so quick on their feet or have serious kicking power. But those are the very very rare exceptions. In my opinion, using it as your main martial art is not good unless you have some incredible athletic ability or some innate trait that lets you avoid takedowns and know how to handle in-close fighting. I am only a purple belt in Hapkido.
Getting taken down is bad, and my ground skills are minimal. Actually, all my skills are minimal. My endurance is...let's call it 'less than phenomenal,' and the more energy you commit to one opponent is that much less you'll have when his buddies jump in. I don't want all of the habits of an MMA fighter, but I still really need to get off my ass and spar with some.
Tae Kwon Do is 95% flash and no meat, unless you are in what I'd call about a 1% club of people who have the natural athletic talent and speed to really pull it off. For the other 99% it's a good exercise class at best, with little to no self defense value other than the 'non-tangible' benefits of engaging in any martial art such as discipline, awareness of your surroundings, threat assessment, etc. For karate-style fighting, your best bet is to let your hands and elbows take care of business above the waist while using feet and knees for business below the waist. I'm an aikido/aikijtsu and shinkendo (sword) guy myself, but I have a background in Tang So Do (basically another version of Tae Kwon Do) and a little bit of Okinawan Karate. I've basically come to the conclusion that the only kicks I ever need to throw are the kind that crush knees. Anything higher for me is just too slow, too potentially balance-breaking, and leaves too many openings. Of course, at age 42 I simply carry a gun and a knife. I'm getting too old to take the sort of ass-beating I could take when I was younger, and I don't have the fiery temperament for it anymore. I'm pretty polite and I go out of my way to avoid trouble these days, but heaven help the fucker who just decides he HAS to push it. He'll be staring down a .45 pretty quick.
Cheers scorp. some good information. Im not into the kicking element, just boxing training, and it's only for excercise, not self defence so I'll go with the wraps. Got the bag on Sunday, holding off until after wednesday, I've got a big golf tie tomorrow and don't want to fuck myself up with a injury or strain caused by being a total beginer. Whats your opinion on types of wraps? I see you can go for the conventional wrap it yourself, or theres newer type supports which are basically a gel padded very tight cast/glove which fit under your training mits. Are these as good as old school wraps?
Doesn't have to be anything fancy or expensive. You can use strips of cloth if you like- you just want something over your hands and knuckles to provide a bit of cushioning. Believe me, you're going to feel it either way especially when you are just starting out on it.
Bah. Screw wraps. You know you're done for the day when the flesh peels off of your bruised knuckles.
For wraps, I've always just gone with the traditional type. Basically, a long piece of cloth that wraps around your wrists to prevent spraining. I've never tried the other types, and you'd have to ask someone who has used both to get an opinion. I can see how the gel ones would be better if they worked as well as the cloth wraps. You wouldn't have to spend 4-5 minutes wrapping your hands every time you work out. This is fine if you only train once or twice a week, but the time you'd save would add up if you are only spending 1 minute putting the guards on as opposed to 4-5. Hmm...I might have to look at getting some also.
