Bagwork and..... ninja training?

**Odacon** · Posted On: 7/05/2009 2:38pm

Edit: Just realized this might not be in the right forum, so sorry if I put it in the wrong place.

Watched a San Shou tourney this morning which made me miss training, so I thought I'd take myself out for a spin in my old club, I still have a set of keys and am totally welcome so I didn't break in or anything........

Tried out the speed bag, not sure if I'm hitting it right. I look a bit like a cat hitting a ball of wool
YouTube - Bag 08

YouTube - Bag 09

Hit the heavy bag too, just slow movements here
YouTube - Bag 04

Warming up:
YouTube - Bag 07

I put my cycling/ninja mask on, which clips the nose shut, added to gumshield in my mouth, it makes breathing very difficult, so my out of shape behind gasses quickly.

Just hands:
YouTube - Bag 03

Last 2
YouTube - Bag 05
YouTube - Bag 06

So yeah, that's how I spent my afternoon today, critiques are welcome (apart from the last 30 second of the last video, I'm about to pass out).

**Marrt** · Posted On: 7/05/2009 3:13pm

So, do you do that sliding skip-step backwards when you fight or only when you're shadow boxing/doing bag work? FWIW, it seems like something that if someone picks up the pattern and shoots on you, you could be on your back pretty quick.
I didn't watch every clip all the way through but on the ones I looked at, you seemed to be kicking pretty far down too - i.e. a lot of your foot/end of your foot contacting vs. lower shin.
I'm not much for striking so I'm sure others will chime in better.

**Odacon** · Posted On: 7/05/2009 3:15pm

It's probably a bad habit I've picked up, I'll try to get rid of it. My kicks leave a lot to be desired alright, I'm unable to put punches and kicks together properly too.

**strikistanian** · Posted On: 7/05/2009 8:56pm

You've got fast hands and it looks like you're hitting pretty hard. The biggest problem you have is your tendency to keep your feet REALLY close together when you're advancing. As the guy above said, that's just asking to get taken down. Plus, during that moment, you're helpless. You can't attack or defend effectively when you're standing like that. If somebody times you on that, bad things will happen.

**dwkfym** · Posted On: 7/06/2009 10:41am

You're moving just forward and backwards. Do you practice lateral movements too? I like to use the bag and the swing to work on feinting left-right motions. In application it'd be timed to an opponent's jab (I'm a leftie)
Also your hooks are real loopy and with someone with the same speed as you, it'll be easy to see it coming.

I dunno if you are working on pure power and are trying to wind up hooks, but you also drop your hands quite a bit.

Obviously none of this means you can't make your current package work.

The reverse hand drops a bit while you kick. I have same habit. A lot of people defend kicks with punches, and with a guy that has longer reach its a real big concern. I try to keep my leading hand up and pointing at the guys face, and my other hand right nest to my head. Most poeple keep both hands up next to their own head.

Snap the punches back, a good boxer will counter instinctively. (my face hurts right now from said boxer. lol)

Hey, does restricting breathing help? I started doing sprints in my runs and also started mixing in sprinting with my breath held. I developed shin splints and now can't even run. Maybe I can replace this with what you are doing temporarily..?

**kwoww** · Posted On: 7/06/2009 2:27pm

Originally Posted by dwkfym

The reverse hand drops a bit while you kick. I have same habit. A lot of people defend kicks with punches, and with a guy that has longer reach its a real big concern. I try to keep my leading hand up and pointing at the guys face, and my other hand right nest to my head. Most poeple keep both hands up next to their own head.

Depending on the kick, I've been usually taught to bring my reverse hand across my face, so that my lead hand is free to swing a little bit, which helps you torque your body for better power. Of course, that might just be a bad TKD habit, but I know I'm not the only one who kicks like that.

Either way, you do absolutely have to have something protecting your face while you're kicking, whether it's one hand or two.

**Odacon** · Posted On: 7/06/2009 3:13pm

Thanks for the tips, I'll definitly try to improve next time. The first thing I noticed when I watched the videos back was my forward and backward movements, I had completely forgotten to move away at angles. I think I'm moving too far away too, which is resulting in that skippy/hop movement. I didn't think I dropped my hands all that much though, in fact I thought that was one of the few things I did ok.

**Odacon** · Posted On: 7/06/2009 3:39pm

Originally Posted by dwkfym

Hey, does restricting breathing help? I started doing sprints in my runs and also started mixing in sprinting with my breath held. I developed shin splints and now can't even run. Maybe I can replace this with what you are doing temporarily..?

Well ever since I saw Wanderlei Silva do that snorkeler training I've been mixing in restricted breathing with my training, it definitively makes a difference.