Makiwara pads?

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 3/14/2008 11:51am

Kingwado, how old are you and what sort of impact has all that Makiwara training had on your dexterity? Typing for instance.

**maofas** · Posted On: 3/14/2008 8:16pm

Originally Posted by Vorpal

The best freestanding bag is the one from Ringside (pricey though). I have one in my garage and we just got one for the gym at work.

Aha, I was just about to post asking about that bag. I moved and there is no way I can hang anything in this house; I can barely get a towel rack to stay in the wall with brackets.

In a nutshell: does the ringside standing bag actually feel like you're hitting a heavy bag?

I've played around on century wavemasters in the past and aside from the tipping problem (supposedly the xxl one won't tip if you fill it with sand though, according to amazon reviews), my beef is that it really does not feel much like a heavy bag. It doesn't feel like you're overcoming the inertia (or momentum) of a heavy object with your strike (because all the weight is in the base), but like you're hitting something soft that gives. The spring arm of the ringside version got my hopes up.

Also (not for me, but perhaps the OP might be interested):

http://www.amazon.com/Century-Corner...5546039&sr=1-1

I don't know how good the quality/construction of this is, but in my school we made (one guy was a workman who owned welding equipment) a device very similar to this and it worked amazingly well. Ours was probably a lot heavier (big steel tubes), but I notice this one has braces for the wall to keep the frame from slamming against it. If the worksmanship is decent, this is probably a good product.

**Vorpal** · Posted On: 3/14/2008 9:33pm

No, it doesn't replicate the feeling of hitting a heavybag. The "bag" part itself is actually quite light so the impact is much lighter. After using it for a few weeks however I began to like it better that a hanging bag because of the way it moves. Stand up vs hanging is a matter of positives and negatives for each, but if you must have a standing bag the Ringside one is the only way to go.

**kingwado** · Posted On: 3/15/2008 4:18am

Originally Posted by WhiteShark

Kingwado, how old are you and what sort of impact has all that Makiwara training had on your dexterity? Typing for instance.

Hi whiteshark, im 32, typing is a bad example for me because as you can tell my skills at a keyboard are minimal and my written english piss poor (mis-spent youth), but for most things im fine, ive got very big hands so minute detail isnt and never has been one of my talents, extended use has however changed the appearance of my hands, but not in a very ghastly way.
For instance if you didnt know me and saw me on a train etc and looked at my hands i doubt you would see anything worth a second glance.
I notice the change more than anything.
Ive bloodied and split my knuckles many times (i used to go a bit too far) and there is a bit of minimal scar tissue, but not to the degree of anyone noticing.
The biggest alteration has been in the size of the knuckles, they get bigger in appearance, but again nothing freaky.

The worst effect was at the start, i always had bruised knuckles, i reckon my co-workers thought i was going around knocking severn bags of **** out of people every night, but nowadays in can use the makiwara better, and my knuckles dont bruise as much.

You get over the worst of things after about severn months, atleast thats what happened in my case, makiwara training might kick me in the teeth when im old and crusty but so far the benefits have been all good.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 3/15/2008 7:21am

I'm the same age. I used to to Makiwara training and it definately works for bare knuckle striking. For me after weighing all the factors it just wasn't worth it. Pictures of older masters hands in Shidokan and Kyokushin really made me wary of committing myself to it. All but a handful of knockdown tournaments I have done have been with gloves on. I am also a heavy computer user by profession so I already have repetitive stress problems.

I'm not really saying anything profound just trying to sum up for people that don't really understand this training. It absolutely does work it just isn't always the ideal training for every situation IMO.

**sochin101** · Posted On: 3/15/2008 7:34am

I used a makiwara twice.
I stopped after I watched an elderly instructor struggle with a pen lid.
His hands looked like gloves filled with walnuts.
I had pretensions of being a guitarist at the time.

I also used to visit an instructor whose party piece was breaking a brick with his finger. The finger was about 1/2 inch shorter than it should be.

**Goju - Joe** · Posted On: 3/15/2008 11:13am

^^^
Exactly to both replies. Not worth the damage to me. That's why when I hit a heavy bag bare handed I practice slaps, elbows and knees.

Also the old shooto chop is a good one to that gets over looked in modern MMA training.

**frikifu** · Posted On: 3/15/2008 2:06pm

Originally Posted by kingwado

a forehead is apt for the smashing and my hands wont feel a thing

Man, I hope you are exaggerating. Makiwara wont make you superhuman.

The forehead is a very solid bone and I cant believe, you, nor I, can punch someone there, full force, without getting injuried. Even your elbow would hurt if you strike the forehead, "bone-vs-bone action" hurts like hell, its painfull, and definetly it isnt healthy.

**Vieux Normand** · Posted On: 3/15/2008 5:59pm

The forehead definitely ain't the sweet spot, but it's nowhere near as solid (or as resistant to bare knuckles) as the top of the skull (where the fontanel has healed over solidly) which is also supported by the spine (for top-down impacts, the combination of skull and spine provide a lot more solid protection than many think, likely evolutionary: for a long time, structural resistance to the blunt-force weapon would have been the natural selector). That's why the most effective head-butts are delivered through the top of the head into the other person's jaw.

Bareknuckle conditioning? Well, train for what you do. If your job puts you in situations where you might have need of conditioned bare knuckles, things like makiwara might have their purpose. If not--if the only fighting you'll ever do is in a context where the hands will be gloved and your wrists taped--then you'll have to decide if any kind of bareknuckle conditioning is really worth it.

**kingwado** · Posted On: 3/15/2008 6:16pm

no im say you can hit the forehead (hardest spot) as hard as you like and cos of the conditioning, it wont matter. also if you hit a guy with glasses, no problem.
aside from the knuckle conditioning, the makiwara is very good at making the wrists more capable to the task, the wrist is usually what gets cocked up when punches go wrong.
Im a doorman and i can honestly say, not everything happens in crisp and even order, not least with two or three wild a flailing drunkards, the law of my country says i have to take a hit for a hit so the makiwara does pay dividends.