Punching bag! Soft or hard the way to go?

[_Simon_]

Heyhey guys!

i currently have a punching bag, that's a very dense HARD one, is that the best option for training, or would a softer one be more beneficial?

it's just that i can't stay bare knuckled on it for long, i have to put mitts on or else the skin on my knuckles eventually tear off! and that hurts!

the harder bag basically doesn't bend inwards that much when you punch it, like it does, but not much, as though your hitting a slightly flexible brick wall LOL

also, in terms of conditioning the knuckles, soft or hard bag???

any personal experiences/thoughts would be great
thanks!

[EddieP]

as far as punching bags go...i would get a medium one...def. not hard though...that's what rice bags are for.

OSU!!!

[Jambone]

I have found that even soft bags eventually rip your knuckles. I guess they toughen up over time but I usually use light gloves.

[mpeters]

I'm with EddieP on this one, medium would be better, but I also think that it needs to be heavy. I've trained on some light ones and you have to wait for the thing to come back to you after you hit, a real pain.

[jcbel]

From an old-school perspective hard is probably the way to go - after all I don't think trees have much give!

However I'm of the mindset that your hands should at least be wrapped when doing lots of bagwork - the last thing I want to deal with is broken skin and blood all over what I'm hitting.

That said I do work on bag bare knuckled too but I work into it. I'm no sadist!

[_Simon_]

ah ok thanks guys! well i've already got a hard one, but i just think it's way too hard at times lol but i'll stick with it for the moment it's still good i love going bareknuckled, but when i go hard, it does end up ripping my skin lol

[powerof0ne]

If it's so hard that it hurts your hands and makes you stop, that's just dumb. You want to be able to spend some time/rounds on punching the bag.

[EddieP]

agreed...punching bag should be medium.....sand bags are hard.

[FutureProdigy]

Originally Posted by jcbel

From an old-school perspective hard is probably the way to go - after all I don't think trees have much give!

However I'm of the mindset that your hands should at least be wrapped when doing lots of bagwork - the last thing I want to deal with is broken skin and blood all over what I'm hitting.

That said I do work on bag bare knuckled too but I work into it. I'm no sadist!

Is this common in kyokushin? I know in boxing its a huge no no - bagwork bareknuckled.

[FutureProdigy]

it especially cant be good for putting off the onset of arthritis

[Bloke]

Ive worked bags bareknuckled for a long time now and as long as you ease into it you should be fine.

[Kyokugen]

Anything would work....I guess

[Deaken]

Bare knuckle fighting = bare knuckle bag work. You need to work your way up to this gradually, but after some time your skin won't break any more and it will become second nature.

[Kenpo4life]

People seem to think that hard bags mean punching full power from the onset. Start light so you can go the full rounds. As you get used to it, you will naturally punch harder.

[Bloke]

Originally Posted by Kenpo4life

People seem to think that hard bags mean punching full power from the onset. Start light so you can go the full rounds. As you get used to it, you will naturally punch harder.

Spot on Kenpo4Life - couldnt have said it better.

[_Simon_]

but after some time your skin won't break any more

oh really? AWESOME! ok, so it's a matter of working into it? i have done that, but my skin ended up breaking still, or is it a matter of over-time conditioning?

thanks guys

[Deaken]

Yes, give it time, work the hand conditioning slowly. Do knuckle push ups on a hard surface, use a makiwari and a heavy bag. At any point if the skin starts to chafe (before it actually breaks) stop and let it heal fully before starting again. If the skin breaks, it must heal fully before you start conditining it or it will continuoulsy open and never heal properly.

I tape up phone books with box tape and use them for hand conditioning. You may want to try this at home in front of the TV or when you have extra time. Hit the makiwari or your phone book twice per week with 2-3 days recovery inbetween. I do 100 strikes with either hand. The same frequency with bagwork, but of course using round time and not # of strikes. Do knuckle push-ups as often as you can, but not if the skin is broken, if so switch to your palms until it heals.

[seienchin]

I have a slightly different view here, a combination of caution and traditional kyokushin hard-headedness.

I think that hard bag punching is definitely better for readying you for the shock of impact, and for ensuring that your fist and hand configuration are good. This is essential in a full-contact style. However, if you are planning to train many sessions a week on your bag, it is definitely worth thinking about the wear and tear effects that this will have on you over the next 20 years or so.

I actually think that if you can do it, have 2 bags...a hard one that you use for small amounts of time, and a softer one that you do the bulk of your stamnia and cardio work on.

I have found that as I have gotten older, even though my knuckles are still quite happy, my shoulders really don't like the hard bag.

Alternatively, you could use a hard bag with larger gloves, but I'm not a fan of this as it builds the habit of poor fist configuration.

Plan to do karate for the rest of your life: be nice to your body, as it is the only one you have got, and it has about 70 years to pay you back for any abuse you dish out now. Train hard, but have one eye on the future.

[_Simon_]

very great advice guys, thanks so much, i'm thinking of getting a softer bag in addition to keeping this rock hard one haha, has anyone seen the clip of bruce lee where he's going at his bag, and it's outdoors, and the amount of bend that the bag has? i would just think that THAT would be a sort of bag to get, as when u hit someone (not that i'm planning to lol), there is that 'bend' (in other words, it's not like hitting a brick wall).

OH here's the clip of Brucey gettin into the bag: YouTube - Bruce Lee Punching Heavy Bag

[Kyokushin_Practioner]

the sand bags are kinda too hard i think,and the soft bags aren't hard enough so i would go with the meduim bag.