Heavy Bag Training Tips.

G

git_r_dun0405

New member
I just bought myself a 100lb heavy bag /w stand. Im into fitness and self defense. Could any of you point me in the direction of using the heavy bag for fitness and possibly self defense. Tips, websites, etc. Thanks for any info.
 
heavy bag is great for developing power and for learning how to "direct" a target with your strikes.

OTOH, daily training with it can really wear out your joints, especially if you really lay into it.

For the "fitness" aspect, I'd suggest more shadowboxing to concentrate on your technique and to develop your striking muscle memory. You can use your heavybag to target the end of your strike so you are actually making contact with something, but you aren't laying your bodyweight into it... this will save your joints.

I also took black spray paint and painted fist sized dots on the canvas of my 100lb bag... some are high, others low and medium. While the bag is in motion, I sometimes choose a dot to pick for a particular strike to work not only on my accuracy but to remind myself to stay on balance and not overcommit with strikes.

Knees work fine - I just lean into the bag with my upper body so the bag is about 35-45 degrees off vertical and that creates enough of a surface for kneeing. Uppercuts don't work too well, however. What I did for those is take some old towels and sand and duct taped the whole mess together to make a head sized target. With a little creativity (I cant remember exactly how at this moment) I attached a rope (maybe 550 cord?)to it. I unhook the heavy bag and replace it with this duct tape mess and it works well to practice uppercuts. In retrospect, I would have probably used upholstery foam if I could have.

cheers
 
What krept said about potential damage. WEAR YOUR GLOVES!

I dig those new 14 ozers from Everlast. I bought black for enhanced tacticality. :D
 
Please, please, wear your gloves. Not just speed bag mitts, but gloves with some padding. Start slow, build gradually. Unless girls are around, don't have to knock bag off chain (girls don't care anywho).

Unless you are on the Internet or in a Hong Kong movie, the fist is a lousy weapon, but a real good gun holding device. :D May want to save your hands for stuff later in life.
 
I agree with KS...never hit someone with your fist when you can hit them with something held in your fist :)

I don't like stands for heavy bags. The motion of the bag after you hit it is totally unlike the motion of an opponent you have hit. In my back yard I built a frame that supports a very taut wire cable. I put a pulley on the cable and hang the bag from this. When I use the bag perpendicular to the cable, it reacts to blows like a standard bag but when I hit the bag in line with the cable, it moves away from me each time I hit it. I have to follow it with punches and kicks. While it still is not that similar to the reactions of a human opponent, at least I have to train to move and hit rather than train to be basically in one spot or a small arc. I'm not training to fight in a ring.
 
My bag hangs from a beam in the ceiling of my garage... Can't really comment on what It's like with a stand...

YES the fist is a poor weapon but one that should not be neglected nonetheless... just another good tool to have. Open hand striking is great to practice with. Don't forget the elbows too... they are a lot like the 12ga for CQB (trapping/ greco clinch range). VERY devastating, minimal distance needed to create lots of power, relatively few ways to get hurt compared to all the small bones in the hand and wrist.

Regarding the gloves, I personally don't like bag gloves that have the fistpack (most of them do). I prefer to use the boxing wraps that they sell in sporting good stores... the ones made out of cloth but are semi elastic like the athletic bands. VERY IMPORTANT is to also wrap your wrist. There is a lot of technique involved in wrapping the hand/wrist that I don't know about but I do know what works for me. The wrist really needs support! I don't know about breaking a knuckle on a heavybag (very easy on the skull) but it's EASY to tweak your wrist if you are using bad technique. I've done it a lot in the past and the wrist wrap really helps to prevent it.

Hitting bare knuckle on the canvas bag is a good way to bloody the knuckles... looks cool if you are into the fightclub thing but it takes longer to heal and really doesn't do all that much i.e. the scar tissue doesn't really help.

Remember, hitting the heavy bag daily is kind of like doing heavy squats daily... not much return, easy to get hurt and burnt out. I'd leave it at a 2-3x/week activity or so. Another thing you can do is get some rattan sticks (heck even 26" or so broom stick would work) and do some work with those on the off days. Practice with the basic escrima strikes... you never know if a chairleg or stick might be handy.

Again, I'm not really trained with how to do good heavy bag work... all these observations come from personal experience. Any corrections would be appreciated... especially more tips.

cheers,
Erik
 
You want to build up endurance as well as power

Think landing lots of punches....

Start out at a minute/ round and build from there

It WILL get your heart pumping.

Just like weight training...build intensity slowly...and avoid injuries
 
git, are you suggesting that people should emulate Tank or that they shouldn't?

If you're saying "Train with gloves, Tank Abbott doesn't and you don't want to end up like him" then maybe I could see it.

If you're suggesting that people train like Tank Abbott, I don't. The guy abuses his body unmercifully. He's a good illustration of the fact that you can't just slavishly copy a champion (or in Tank's case, a tough guy who was able to hang with the best in the world for a little while.) Some of these people got where they are because they were thinkers who were always learning and seeking a better way--that would be the Randy Coutures of the world, for instance.

Then you've got guys like Tank, who do all sorts of stupid things and yet are allowed by their freakish natural ability to win through until they meet people who have that same freakish ability and also worked smarter than they did. Tank can punch really hard. That's it. He can do it because he was born to do it. Yes, he trains, but not like the other guys in his class. And the way I hear it, if he fights that Vera guy, he's going to wake up to smelling salts.

Yesterday I saw a story on Sherdog. Someone had asked Mario Sperry if it was true that he trained Nogueira. He said that the Noqueiras seemed impossible to train becasue they did nothing but party, so he took them to what he considered a remote camp. He took away their money, phones and wallets so they couldn't go out and party. They snuck out anyway and got caught sneaking back in at 5 a.m. drunk as skunks. So Sperry decided to teach them a lesson about fighter's discipline by having them spar against everybody in the place all morning. This they did, taking breaks to run to the bathroom and puke every 20 minutes or so. They dominated everybody. He said "These guys don't feel pain. There's nothing you can do to stop them. They never learned that; they were born that way."
 
No Im not saying train like Tank Abbott. I just said that he doesnt use gloves while training. If he is such a dumbbutt would you get in the ring with him? :p I think not. Im going to buy myself a pair of 16 oz gloves today. Bloody knuckles are BAD. :eek:
 
Nog is badass... Sperry, Ruas, man I could go on...

Randy is truly a quintessential champ, a cut above IMO...

Tank got subbed by Kimo and destroyed by Cabbage in his last couple fights. He's always had a bad boy attitude and donkey punch power but lacks good technique for anything but haymakers, has a decent sprawl at best, gasses out, pinner legs, etc.

Would I fight him? Well, I wouldn't look forward to it! but remember he's far from the same guy that KTFO'd Matua and Nelmark. Vitor, Ferrozo, Rizzo, etc. did him ugly.

Strikers that I would really not want to fight:

Vanderlei - even though he's small, he's badass
Gilbert Yvel (one of my favs)
Remy Bojanski
Jerome LeBanner
Cro-Cop

See, all those guys not only can KTFO with punches, but with knees, elbows and kicks as well... things I've never really seen Tank do.

bloody knuckles DO suck and it looks ghetto as well if you work in a place where people get scared by MMA.

work on your combos, set things up behind jabs and thai kicks http://stickgrappler.tripod.com some GOOD stuff on that page

remember, heavy bag work is only a small part of the overall picture.

cheers,
erik
 
Recently, Tank is or has been working with his knees.

Ps
I went out to Hibbett Sports and bought myself a pair of Everlast Heavy bag glove package. Which included the gloves, jump rope, wrist wraps, $5 off and a free mouth piece. :D
 
No, I have no desire to fight Tank, but that doesn't mean I want to be anything like him. I also don't want to get drunk and dance to techno music in bikini underwear in front of a sellout crowd, though Tank and I are of a similar body type.


All I'm saying is, no matter how dangerous the guy is, he's dangerous because of a freakish, innate ability to punch very, very hard. Yes, he learned some wrestling and such, but what kept him in those matches was his ability to hit like a mule. It was not his training. Tank, Nog, these people are the Michael Irvins of the fighting world.

Michael Irvin was a great wide receiver, with a good quarterback and a brilliant offensive line, but that doesn't mean that aspiring wide receivers should snort coke off hookers and finish by stabbing their teammates with scissors. Irvin got away with that because of his talent; it wasn't smart because a good receiver did it.

I realize you weren't suggesting people train without gloves or wraps because Tank does, but that's the way it looked.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top