Favorite Punching/Kicking Bag?

I’m sure alot of you are serious about your sport.
Of course, i’m talking pretty much about striking here.

I’m looking for one bag only. I’d prefer anything thats stand up. I’m looking for a hard material since i will be using it to condition my shins among other things. I just need a really sturdy general purpose bag.

Do you guys have any ideas? I’ve tried the ones at my dojo but i’m looking for something a bit harder so as to help build those osteoblasts (sp).

Thanks

None of the standing one’s are hard enough on their own to condition your shins… You’re better off figuring out a way to afix some high grade/sturdy foam to a tree (duct tape?)Looks ghetto as fuck but it works for what you want.

Other than than that there’s ways of customizing a standing bag but its really labor intensive (and just conceptual at this pt) and probably not worth the effort.

Imo, get a canvas bag (military surplus store) fill it with beans or sand or iron beads, wtf ever you can get your hands on. Lean it against something and practice your low kick.

100 kicks 10x a day with good technique would make you a beast.

*fyi after just typing that^^ I think I"M going to do that idea fuck. lol

I have an 80 pound TKO bag. It’s pretty nice. I’ve given it a beating over the years and it’s still very much intact. It came with a stand that I’ve lost last move. I need to get something like this:

the stand was ridiculous and would always tip over if you kicked the bag too hard.

[quote]Xen Nova wrote:
None of the standing one’s are hard enough on their own to condition your shins… You’re better off figuring out a way to afix some high grade/sturdy foam to a tree (duct tape?)Looks ghetto as fuck but it works for what you want.

Other than than that there’s ways of customizing a standing bag but its really labor intensive (and just conceptual at this pt) and probably not worth the effort.

Imo, get a canvas bag (military surplus store) fill it with beans or sand or iron beads, wtf ever you can get your hands on. Lean it against something and practice your low kick.

100 kicks 10x a day with good technique would make you a beast.

*fyi after just typing that^^ I think I"M going to do that idea fuck. lol [/quote]

That was pretty much the idea. I want to practice my speed kicks and my power kicks and just turn my shins, knees, elbows, hands, feet and forearms into steel. Next time someone blocks my kick with their knee, i dont want to feel it ,etc.

Also, for the standing up bags, i was going to fill it up with sand, not water.

yea i have one, its filled with sand AND water (so its a lot more like cement) and its pretty much worthless for conditioning your shins.

It is great to work out especially if you don’t have an area for a hanging bag and mine has lasted me for the past 6+ yrs so i love that thing…

If you’re moving from a hanging bag to a standing one it’ll be a little awkward but they’re useful and serve their purpose.

but for conditioning shins they are not.

How is hanging bag to standing different other than the obvious? Isnt a hanging bag better because its like a makiwara where as you go further the resistance increase, so you have to perfect your technique?

Actually, i know how to make a makiwari for hands, would the same thing be done for leg but just have it lower and a larger pad?

http://ctr.usf.edu/shotokan/makiwara.html

actually yes you can do the same with a makiwara board for the lower body hell I’ve seen it done. Not sure if it was a bruce lee thing or Erik Paulson thing…

That said my two ideas are the same principle if you just want it for bone conditioning.

But remember its just like lifting weights. It’s just a supplement so its not going to make you a better fighter other than improving athletic attributes.

so if you’re going to be spending a good amount of time doing this make sure its something that reinforces good technique

in which case a makiwara board might not be ideal because you can’t really drive THROUGH your target especially with the kicks.

Which Is why I was thinking extra hard sandbag.

Still I must admit I dont have enough experience with makiwara and hand conditioning to really comment on it.

So if anyone wants to chime in please feel free. i know we have some goju-ryu guys on the board who should know more than me in case I’m talking out of my ass.

makiwarda comparison with a heavy bag, i have no idea what you mean…

um after a while the material inside the bag settles at the bottom and it gets very very hard there. so yea it gets “harder” but you should always have refined technique. Think I might be misunderstanding you.

The difference is the swing of the bag, the length, the ways it moves, and the ways it doesn’t move.

It’s just different.

[quote]Xen Nova wrote:

makiwarda comparison with a heavy bag, i have no idea what you mean…

um after a while the material inside the bag settles at the bottom and it gets very very hard there. so yea it gets “harder” but you should always have refined technique. Think I might be misunderstanding you.

The difference is the swing of the bag, the length, the ways it moves, and the ways it doesn’t move.

It’s just different.
[/quote]

I actually wrote comparison between standing bag (has a stand and doesnt move, the one you fill with water/sand) and hanging bag.
What are the main differences?

[quote]Xen Nova wrote:

The difference is the swing of the bag, the length, the ways it moves, and the ways it doesn’t move.

It’s just different.
[/quote]

^I was referring to standing vs hanging

If you are new to conditoning ike this, I would gradually move up to striking / hitting the heavy bag filled with sand / beans / etc. There used to be on Dragon Door a good article for Garm Olafson (not real name , supposedly) on starting iron hand / body conditoning. Basically, fill a bag full of beans and hit it gently with your extremeties, moving up to full power, then fill it full of sand, then eventually iron shot. The idea here is starting slow and gradually working up. This takes years of consistent effort.

You could also buy a regular heavy bag, take out the top couple of inches of stuffing and fill it full of sand, that will eventually work its way down, and you fill it again. Soon you will have a rock hanging up to hit.

If you are moving towards this, I reccomend heading to your closest Chinatown herbalist and buying Dit Dat Jow; it helps.

One word of caution here: this type of conditoning takes years and years to actually strenthen and build bone, if you want to do it w/out causing injury or negative effects later on. Please be careful.

Come on guys, give me some advice here.
Which one do you recommend? Hanging or standing up?
Don’t worry Gerg, i’m not a meathead :stuck_out_tongue:
I just figured i might as well start now rather than later. I will do it carefully. Thanks for the concern.

hanging but its just a preference based on the type of bag I use. Thai bag is longer, and heavier, can’t really practice leg kicks on a standing bag (though they do have some big huge one’s out there). and maybe i’m just nostalgic…

What style/martial art do you practice, Xen Nova?

I have a hanging century wave heavy bag; water core with about 3 inches of foam. I find that it saves my joints after a layoff, and I like the “give” you get from it.

I am also partial to the “BOB” standing bag; that or a hanging dummy.

Although I haven’t worked on one in a long time, I love the thai bags, but not the real skinny ones. They really help work the leg kicks.

If you’ve got a good place to hang a bag, I wouldn’t even consider a free-standing bag. Hanging bag all the way, IMO

mmmm…ok i think ill get a hanging bag. Any brand or make in particular?

Ringside, Fairtex or Canbox. Hanging bag and the heavier the better. Stay away from TKO, Everlast and the waterbags; they will not stand up to serious use.
Kicking an old worn-down tire is always an option as well.

hanging heavy bag, those MT long bags are awesome. also when I used to train I used the old tire option a lot. You can also get a tire for your hanging bag to thread thru for use as a ring, for uppercuts, knees etc or just as an extra different area to aim for. you can rivet the top of it on 2 or 4 sides and thread rope thru to suspend from the top of the chains as well.

(if you want it to be something you can move around, get rid of from time to time etc, or just put it against a tree or wall) Same also goes for sand bags and such. Really having a hanging heavy bag allows for a lot of improvisation. hanging a heavy sand bag off it gives angles, hard surface, variation etc, whatever.

[quote]imoko wrote:
Ringside, Fairtex or Canbox. Hanging bag and the heavier the better. Stay away from TKO, Everlast and the waterbags; they will not stand up to serious use.
Kicking an old worn-down tire is always an option as well.[/quote]

Very true re: the water bags; I’ve blown through two of them. Century just (w/ in the last couple of years) got rid of the lifetime guarantee, to a one year.

However, I have seen leather everlast bags take years of punishment.

Oh, to the OP, stick with leather or nevatear if you ever strike w/out gloves. If you hit wrong, it will rip off skin a lot quicker than leather.