Kickboxing and Bag Training inWestchase Tampa
I can remember my first time bag training about 47 years ago. Training in Spring Valley, NY at a Kyokushin Karate school. Shortly after they announced that there was a special seminar with Big Mike, a full contact fighter at another location. I was an eager to learn skinny thirteen year old with a few months training under my belt so of course I signed up.
Bringing another classmate with me we walked into this strange dojo. Big Mike was a great name as this guy was as big as a mountain. Myself and my buddy were the only ones that showed up and that should of been a sign to get out of dodge! This would be the most grueling torture of my young martial arts career. The word must of gotten out about how hard this workout was and it scared all the more experienced students away. Big Mike lead us to a huge hanging heavy bag hung in the middle of the gym. I had never seen a heavy bag before so I was intrigued and excited to get to work. Now, Kyokuskin was known for bare knuckle fighting and thats what the seminar was all about. I noticed big Mikes knuckles were padded quite heavily with calluses from special conditioning. He said in broken english we hit bag, we hit hard. We kick bag we kick more hard. So off we went with big Mike holding a bamboo stick behind us and whacking us on the legs if we slowed down. No wonder no one else showed up. I survived the seminar barley and lived to tell the tale. Souvenirs included ripped bloody knuckles and not being able to move for about three days. My very own heavy bag was hanging in my basement the next week and I have been bag training ever since.
Luckily for myself and my students our knowledge about proper equipment and training strategies have come a long way in 47 years.
Before you go out and hang your very own heavy bag in your garage or basement make sure you have had some training in the basic striking techniques used in kickboxing. Improper technique can lead to minor or major injuries. I recommend an experienced kickboxing instructor. You will also need certain equipment such as hand wraps. Wraps are usually made out of cloth and must be wrapped around your wrist and hands protecting your wrist, knuckles and thumb. To learn how to wrap your hands I recommend YouTube. There are probably 500 videos on how to wrap hands. I will not let anyone bag train without them on at my gym thats how important they are. Besides hand wraps you will need a pair of boxing gloves. Depending on your weight they can range from 10 to 16 ounces. Gloves come in weight not by size.
So why bag train? First you don’t need a partner so its a great workout when you are alone. It provides a fantastic way to practice whatever technique your coach is working on. Techniques can be timing if your bag moves, distance how close or far you are from the bag. You will also see an increase in your power as you start cracking your bag. Bag training is also known as one of the best resistant training devices available. You will work every muscle in your body as well as the most important muscle your heart.
My basic bag workout that I use for myself and my fighters goes like this:
3 minute round with a one minute rest
1st round is jumping rope ( if you cant jump rope jog in place).
2nd round shadow box with a 2 pound weight or less
3rd round just punches on the bag
4th round through 9th round punching and kicking combos.
10th round shadow kickboxing
I would like to thank Big Mike for kicking my butt 47 years ago and starting my love of bag training. I am forever grateful!