What is your opinion about the makiwara?

[MartinRumbo]

Did you use a makiwara for train? Someones said that the makiwara is a good element to train, and in the other hand said that is so bad for the body , the hearth and hands.

I want start to use the makiwara to train, and get more power in my hands but nobody in my dojo use it.

What is your opinion about makiwara?

[Dent]

Osu!

I do like the Makiwara. I don't think it is necessary to damage yourself to learn better striking, so moderate use can be encouraged.

Osu!

[Bloke]

I have never used one

[Dent]

Osu! Bloke,

What about a fella with the big mouth? Never condition your hands on one of them? ;) :D

Osu!

[Bloke]

Yeah - often enough :)

[Dent]

Osu!

I thought as much. (Checks size of own mouth... ;) )

Osu!

[jcc]

Hi bloke - what about bottles of guiness - do you practice on them as well? :D

And:

Did you use a makiwara for train? Someones said that the makiwara is a good element to train, and in the other hand said that is so bad for the body , the hearth and hands.

I want start to use the makiwara to train, and get more power in my hands but nobody in my dojo use it.

What is your opinion about makiwara?

I use makiwara quite a lot - I think it´s a good way of getting "feedback" on your strikes (and toughening up the hands). Don´t see how it could be bad for the body or heart as such, but maybe excessive use could lead to arthritis. Anybody have any information about that?

[DKKC]

I've heard too people saying that makiwara is bad for for the body, the heart and hands. I reckon they meant it's bad for for the body, the heart and hands of your enemy! :D

Any exercise that is done incorrectly is bad for your body. It can't be bad for the heart - if they say it is ask them to prove it or explain why - they can't - this is just one of those things used to scare people away, can't be rationally explained (like some non contact styles saying that fighting full contact is bad for you and you might even get cancer!!!!! - people hear it from people they respect - but who are either missinformed or want to manipulate them - and they believe what they hear without even thinking - and then they pass this missinformation on).

Makiwara was an early version of the punch bag, methinks, and the effects on the body are similar.

I have a makiwara at home - don't use it much though as I find it too static. A hanging bag gives you the possibility of moving in all directions and trying different angles, makiwara on the other hand is not that flexibile. But it does give you good feedback on kihon style punching.

[MartinRumbo]

I've heard too people saying that makiwara is bad for for the body, the heart and hands. I reckon they meant it's bad for for the body, the heart and hands of your enemy! :D

Any exercise that is done incorrectly is bad for your body. It can't be bad for the heart - if they say it is ask them to prove it or explain why - they can't - this is just one of those things used to scare people away, can't be rationally explained (like some non contact styles saying that fighting full contact is bad for you and you might even get cancer!!!!! - people hear it from people they respect - but who are either missinformed or want to manipulate them - and they believe what they hear without even thinking - and then they pass this missinformation on).

Makiwara was an early version of the punch bag, methinks, and the effects on the body are similar.

I have a makiwara at home - don't use it much though as I find it too static. A hanging bag gives you the possibility of moving in all directions and trying different angles, makiwara on the other hand is not that flexibile. But it does give you good feedback on kihon style punching.

Osu! thank you!. I'll star to use it! Actually, I've been used the hanging bag (we said "puchinball" in my dojo) but I think that the makiwara is more hard and I can get more power in my hands whit the same training time, thougt you have reason about the possibility of moving.

[Willem]

I find myself not old enough to start training on the makiwara. But I think that it will give much more feedback than a hanging bag.
A bag just sways back and forth when you hit it, I think that a makiwara will deliver constant feedback against your strike instead.
I think that you will learn much more about your strikes whilst practicing on a makiwara than on a bag. My teacher always says that you must hit with your front two knuckles, with a makiwara you feel which knuckles connect, on a bag you dont.
You will really learn to put all the force and concentration into one punch. And in a fight you want your opponont to feel each and every punch as you wont have much chances to hit the good spots. So I think that by training on a makiwara you can hit your opponent much better so that he feels all power going into him.
2 years until i`m 18 so i have much time to learn about the makiwara and how to use it. Its as much about study as its about training.

I`m still a bit confused about the purpose and effect of a makiwara, I will ask me shihan`s opinion about it on Monday.

[Dent]

Osu!

Two quick things:

1) Okinawans had hanging punching targets. They were made of several materials, but the hardest I've seen is a tree trunk wrapped in straw mats. I think you'd need to do a lot of conditioning to me able to use it.

There is movement that can be done on the standing Makiwara, which is where I find the most benefit, working the accuracy.

2) If you can practice in such a way that you dent the bag with your knuckles, you'll be well on your way to a decent punch.

Think George Foreman in the footage from Rumble in the Jungle.

Osu!

[chen3141]

Everything in moderation is good, but there is one problem I've seen with a makiwara compared to a punching bag. Punching the makiwara hard will make it push back just as hard. It's stable and unmoving. When punching a heavy bag, it will swing back. By punching the makiwara its common to only hit it, instead of hitting through it. If you hit through it you'll feel more in your knuckles, while if you hit through a punching bag, it just swings back farther.

[Willem]

Chen, that is exactly the confusion I have. I though the makiwara was supposed to give you more penetration but how can you get this whilst not being able to punch through.

Poeple say that when they hit it with only the power of the arm that the makiwara delivers as much force back so you can hold the makiwara in place. But when you hit it whilst wanting to hit through the makiwara responds with all the power from that moment so you cant hold the makiwara anymore and it comes back really hard.

My question was, is it the purpose to hit through or just hit it?

Experts talk about a kinetic shock that you will be able to deliver to your opponent when you become experienced with the makiwara. They say that when someone holds 3 telephone books against their belly and you hit the books that they still feel a really hard punch going through.

I`ve never tried a makiwara because i`m only 16 years old.

[Dent]

Osu!

This is tough to describe, because it is all about the feeling. When I started with the Makiwara, I used to punch too shallow, and it would bounce away and back. Now I punch with more through feeling (All shorter punches.), so I don't get the bounce.

Osu!

[ori51]

in the bigging when you train with Makiwara it hurts your hands,
but you start to gain some calises and i think that its good,
i love it, if you wanna start off slow, punch a punching bag bare hand for a while
then move to the Makiwara. not my personal advice but i know people who do it like that
and they are satisfied

[Willem]

But the makiwara is not supposed to be used to get callous right? not from what i`ve heard. I though it was supposed to help you with your punching techniques and stance. So you will be able to deliver a solid strike where you punch through the target. I heard that a makiwara punishes hard good strikes but rewards soft superficial strikes thats why many people use them the wrong way. I`ve never heard about the purpose of the makiwara from a real master. Even my shihan says that the makiwara is for making strong bones and callous. I dont like the sound of that because then the legends about super strong punches by using the makiwara are not true. I`ve heard a lot of people say it is for callous and some other people who seem to know more about it say it is for making strong strikes---> ikken hisatsu and stop an opponent with one blow.

I`ll search for the truth.

[ori51]

although you are right, it doesnt really reward strong punches cause it still hurts
it just builds strong hands so that when throwing a strong punch you know the difference from good punch and bad, it does after a while build tuff skin and calises

[seienchin]

makiwara is to strengthen the hand configuration.

I was taught to use makiwara by starting with shuto techniques. This really builds the muscles in your hands. Only after several months, building up to pretty much full strength techniques, should you start doing seiken.

The goal is to perfect fist configuration and wrist alignment, along with strengthening the bracing muscles. I don't think it is about callus development. I actually never did enough reps to get callus from it, but it really helped my fist configuration.OSU-EN2

[Martin H]

Osu!

Two quick things:

1) Okinawans had hanging punching targets. They were made of several materials, but the hardest I've seen is a tree trunk wrapped in straw mats. I think you'd need to do a lot of conditioning to me able to use it.


My shin hurts just thinking about that one.

on the regular trad makiwara, I think it is ok if done right and in moderation.
Done wrong or to excess, It is very bad.

[Dent]

Osu! Martin H,

Only guy I've seen really into shin abuse is an Italian gentleman who spent at least thirty minutes a day kicking a thick wooden pole, sunk into a concrete floor. And not that tip-tap stuff that sane people do either. He had calluses from about four inches below the knee all the way down to the top of the foot.

I still don't know what to make of him... :D

Osu!

[Mikemok1981]

Osu! Martin H,

Only guy I've seen really into shin abuse is an Italian gentleman who spent at least thirty minutes a day kicking a thick wooden pole, sunk into a concrete floor. And not that tip-tap stuff that sane people do either. He had calluses from about four inches below the knee all the way down to the top of the foot.

I still don't know what to make of him... :D

Osu!

Tong Po from Kickboxer?

[Dent]

Osu!

Very quiet dude. About 65-70kg, but very unassuming. Then I saw him kicking the pole. A very effective way to show his colors without doing anyone else any damage.

A bit like a Far Side cartoon...

Osu!