If you have just purchased or are thinking about purchasing a punching bag for improving your martial arts skills or to get in shape - consider some of the following tips.
I will assume you are working with some form of heavy bag (something that can take a beating and offers some resistance). If you want to focus more on your movements, then you can consider getting a lighter punching bag or frees standing punching bag.
One of the challenges you will face as a bag owner, is boredom. You can only throw so many punches and kicks and spending 20 - 50 minutes on a bag can be rather tedious. If you are combining it with other workouts then you really just need to play with it for 5-10 minutes. If this is your main piece of exercise equipment, you will need to be more creative. Some of the tips below will help:
01 Music
Have you ever walked into a nightclub or dance studio with the beat blaring and sending a chill down your spine that makes you want to dance? Okay, even if you do not get the urge to move those feet when you hear the beat - you will be able to improve your inspiration and lift up your energy if you find some music that gets you into action. Normally, I would suggest that you use music that is designed for Fitness Kickboxing. It will have a good beat that you can punch and kick to. If this isn't your style, then simply play anything that you enjoy (though it should energize you for fitness) or makes you feel great.
A side benefit you will get from playing music is that you will associate (internally) the joy of music to the act of working out. This will help your brain to see working out as fun and thus you will be more likely to include it in your regular routine.
02 Create a fun freestyle form / drill
Just throwing jabs and crosses can be too repetitive and boring for many of us. What I suggest is that you create a very long freestyle form that you can use on the bag. I offer a DVD on a form called the strikes and kicks form, but you can also see it (for free) on YouTube by searching my name and for Strikes & Kicks Drill. The idea is that you make a list of moves for you to follow. Start off with 10 and then add to it as you master the list. For example, the list might look something like this:
01 Jab
02 Knee
03 Spinning back fist
04 Round kick
05 Cross punch
I build lists like this all the time for our long term martial arts camps and the students love them because they are challenging, fun to learn and they offer something to work on for a long time without getting bored. I have a self-defense version too called the 1-40 form / drill. Again, start your list off small and build up on it. If you want the drill to fit into a work out, try the following as an advanced drill:
01 Warm up with basic boxing on the bag for 5-10 minutes
02 Blast the first part of your drill for 20 seconds
03 Complete 40 seconds of your drill at a regular pace
04 Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you complete the form or repeat the form at least 5 times
If you are trying to lose weight and get in shape, you will want more than 20 minutes for working out. I would suggest at least 50 minutes (10-minute warm up, 5 minute BLAST, 20 minutes of movement and end with another 5 minute BLAST) because the body does not really start to burn that fat until AFTER the first 20 minutes.
The idea is to get a good workout, but play with it until you have something that you look forward to practicing. If you include some advance moves at various sections of your drill, you will be sure to improve your martial art skills while getting a great work out on the bag.
The right bag or bags will depend on exactly what you are trying to do. I like to do the strikes and kicks drill on a BOB - Body Opponent Bag made by Century Martial arts. For fitness kickboxing I prefer the Muay Thai Style heavy bag.
Be sure to wear hand wraps (keep the wrists safe) and get a good pair of bag gloves.
Visit NinjaGym.com - NinjaGym™ Martial Arts & Fitness Blog: Health Tips for Mind, Body & Spirit, Ninja Training, Ninja Weapons and Gear.
| Price : $79.99 | Post Date : Nov 13, 2011 08:11:51
