Question about a rather weird training technique...

**Hiro Protagonist** · Posted On: 1/11/2009 6:48am

Hi all,

So an old budo-shop owner in my town, sort of my personal Mr Miyagi,
gave me a tip how to train my striking without a bag.

I should hang an old belt into the doorframe, and hit it.
He meant that'd be better than shadow boxing alone.

Have done this for a while, and works well for me,
but I wonder if it is just esotericism, or if it gives me an actual advantage
in my training.

So, what do you think?

Yours,

Rafe

**sochin101** · Posted On: 1/11/2009 7:49am

Never heard of it, Rafe.
I would have thought shadow-boxing would be better from the point of view that punching something hung in a doorway restricts footwork and angles.

If you want something to hang in a doorway to punch, have you thought about a floor-to-ceiling ball? Also known in some quarters as a double ended ball/bag.
http://www.sugarrays.co.uk/shop/bbe-....-sku2602.html

Gives you something to hit, and you have to react to it.
Again, not designed to replace shadow boxing, but pretty good non-the-less

**Diesel_tke** · Posted On: 1/11/2009 8:11am

I have heard of hanging tennis balls from the ceiling and hitting them. I would do it in the middle of a room so that you can move around it.

But my opinion is any training is better than no training. What type of striking are you doing? Didn't you say that you do the chun? If so you should look up how to build one of those Wing Chun dummies. I don't do the Chun but I found this one time. Looks pretty easy and cheep to build. May want to try it.

http://alliancemartialarts.com/diy-mook-jong.htm

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 1/11/2009 11:22am

Hang a ball from a string instead it moves more and you can also swing it with your hand then dodge it to practice slipping. Can your belt do that?

**Hiro Protagonist** · Posted On: 1/12/2009 5:57am

*Testing.*

For some reason, my answer isn't accepted.

Every time I post it, I get:

Forbidden

You do not have permission to access this document.
Web Server at bullshido.net

EDIT: Now that I posted my answer split into several threads, it works.

**Hiro Protagonist** · Posted On: 1/12/2009 5:59am

Thank you all for the good replies! :-)

Originally Posted by sochin101

http://www.sugarrays.co.uk/shop/bbe-....-sku2602.html

That would have been my usual choice, but the problem is, there is no way I can tack it to the ground, since we have parquet soil at my place. Next time I move, I'll make sure I find a place where I can have things like that without a problem.

**Hiro Protagonist** · Posted On: 1/12/2009 6:00am

Originally Posted by diesel_tke

What type of striking are you doing?

At home, I just practice my old kickboxing routines, to stay in touch with my old sport.
Actually, I'd say I still do way more MMA than I do Chun, which is surprising, since I was almost completely done with kickboxing in 2006.

Originally Posted by diesel_tke

http://alliancemartialarts.com/diy-mook-jong.htm

That's a cool idea! Let's look if I can get me one of these!

**Hiro Protagonist** · Posted On: 1/12/2009 6:01am

Originally Posted by WhiteShark

Hang a ball from a string instead it moves more and you can also swing it with your hand then dodge it to practice slipping. Can your belt do that?

The belt can swing as well, but you're right, a small ball would definitely be a better choice!
Will do that first.

On a side note, the belt is hanging in a double door, so fortunately, I can circle around it and move a lot.

As far as my experience goes until now, the exercise is a fairly good addition to shadow boxing, but by no means a substitute. :-)

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 1/12/2009 8:52am

As far as this sort of training method goes the thing I ended up liking the best was a small old speed bag that had popped. My coach then took it and filled halfway up with sand and hung it from the ceiling on a long string. This worked great as a punching focus to move around and as a swinging bag to practice bobbing and weaving. You can either have someone swing it at your head or just push it yourself and work around it. Obviously you aren't going to develop massive power this way but it does improve accuracy.

**Hiro Protagonist** · Posted On: 1/12/2009 8:56am

Originally Posted by WhiteShark

Obviously you aren't going to develop massive power this way but it does improve accuracy.

That's exactly what I am looking for, thanks.
Strength I can get elsewhere, but well-placed punches and kicks are pretty hard to train for me, and I usually have to put a lot of effort in that.