From: mary@Cayman.COM (Mary Malmros)
Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts
Subject: Re: heavy bags
Date: 12 Dec 92 19:03:09 GMT
Distribution: rec
Organization: Cayman Systems Inc., Cambridge, MA
In-reply-to: jeff@unix386.Convergent.COM's message of 11 Dec 92 18:43:20 GMT


In article <8956@unix386.Convergent.COM> jeff@unix386.Convergent.COM (Jeff Beckmann) writes:

   I need some advice about heavy bags.  I want to hang one in my garage.

   1) I haven't seen leather bags.  Do they exist?  Are they extremely
      expensive?

They exist but I haven't often seen them in martial arts supply stores.
They cost more than canvas or vinyl; one of the instructors at the
dojang told me they pay about $400 for a decent 50-pound bag.

   2) Canvas v.s. the plastic/vinyl bag.  What are the tradeoffs?  They
      seem to be about the same price.  Which one will last longer?

I've got a low opinion of canvas.  We had some canvas bags in our 
dojang once.  They lasted less than a week.  They just aren't sturdy
enough.  

In contrast, a good leather bag will last a year or more, and this is
with heavy use.

   3) Where do I hang it?  Should it be right against a wall, a foot or
      so away, or hanging free?  I will probably be working it alone most
      of the time (no one to hold).  I'm thinking of having two hanging
      mounts: one for solo work and one for working with a friend.  My
      dojo has them strapped to a standing board.  Kind of like strapping
      it to a tree.  The board flexes a little if you hit the bag HARD.
      It is easy to use the dojo bag solo because of this.  I have never
      used a free hanging bag, so I don't know how much of a problem the
      swinging is (and having to stop after every hit to steady the bag).

Personally, I like having a free-hanging bag.  The swinging isn't a 
"problem"...it's one of the things that makes the bag valuable as a 
training device.  A stationary target is good for power training, 
but you can get that with a moving target also; furthermore, your 
timing and ability to judge distance and spot an opening will improve
more with a moving target.  DON'T stop the bag after every hit, unless
you're trying to work on just one technique.  Do rounds on the bag, move 
around it, use different techniques as appropriate.  It's like having
a permanent sparring partner (and for any of you who think a bag 
can't hit back...ha.  Ha ha.).  

   4) Weight and size.  I want to use the bag for kick and punch work.
      This includes knee and elbow.  I'm thinking of about 80 pounds,
      which appears to be about 4 feet in length.  Does this sound right?
      I've seen some bags that are about 140 pounds and around 6 feet tall.
      I've seen the 80 pound bags (canvas or vinyl) for about $90, while
      the real tall bag I saw was vinyl and cost about $300.

If I had to pick just one size, I'd pick something like 70 pounds, but I'm
probably smaller than you.  It's a good size, light enough to give you 
some movement but heavy enough to give some resistance.

Tangent: I asked my instructor once why I had to exert so much effort to
move a bag that weighed less than I do.  He gave me his "idiot child" 
look and explained that the bag has a chain to hang on and I don't.  
He said, "If I hit the bag, it swings up and comes back down; if I 
hit you, you go down and stay down."  

Um...yeah, I knew that.  I was gonna say that next ;-)  

But the question is...if I hit a 70-lb. bag and feel a certain 
amount of resistance, what is that equivalent to in people-pounds?
In other words, what weight of person would cause me to feel the 
same resistance?  Is it a simple constant, or what?
--
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 Mary Malmros     | Cayman Systems Inc, 26 Landsdowne St, Cambridge, MA 02139
 mary@cayman.com  | Phone 617-494-1999  Fax 617-494-5167  AppleLink CAYMAN.TECH