So my family's recently come into possession of a heavy boxing bag. Now, as a figurative stick-man, I've got virtually zip upper-body strength, and this seems like a good way to develop some. Unfortunately, I know absolutely nothing about boxing, or training with a boxing bag. Thus, for anyone who cares to help a clueless bloke, I've got a few questions:
-What should I know about using a boxing bag? Any dangers/tips?
-What equipment (e.g. gloves, etc.) should I use?
-Should I be concentrating on any sort of technique? What?
-Anything else I should know in order to do this right?
If anyone could give me some pointers, I'd be really grateful!
You're not going to be able to move the bag like professionals/guys in movies. Don't hurt yourself trying to punch the bag so hard that it moves around a bunch, especially when you're just starting out.
Wraps and 14oz or 16oz gloves. Don't try to go without gloves/wraps until you develop some wrist strength. Jamming your wrists is extremely easy to do when new to using the heavy bag.
You should concentrate on your punching form, power can come later. You shouldn't even be hitting the bag very hard at first. I suggest shadowboxing (boxing against air in front of a mirror) first, as it helps develop technique very well. Pretend you're fighting yourself and you'll see where you leave openings/where you look awkward. You can also record yourself hitting the bag and then review it later, seeing where you need to work on form.
I also suggest you work the extreme basics first, especially if you've never done any kind of striking before. Jabs and crosses/straights. Watch some training videos online and perfect the form of those basic punches, then you can move on to hooks, uppercuts, and combinations.
Safety first. Bags don't hit back, but that doesn't mean you can't get hurt. One way a lot of beginners hurt themselves is throwing hard hooks into the bag when it's coming back. The force of the bag swinging colliding with your hook could jam the fuck out of your wrists. [B]Learn how to properly wrap your hands.[/B] It's not as simple as just go a few times around the knuckles and a few times around the wrist. Wrapping your hands correctly will save you from a lot of potential injuries.
Hell, I know I said you should start with wraps and gloves, but you might want to start bare knuckled, hitting the bag very lightly. The reason being it will greatly discourage you from getting overzealous and slugging away at the bag, your wrists will tell you "Fuck that shit," real damn quick.
There's a lot of videos on youtube and whatnot that can help you out. Keep in mind that there isn't only one way to do things, there's a lot of different styles. Try things out until you find something comfortable, don't get discouraged just because you can't throw punches like Ali, you might be better off throwing like Tyson.
competeing Amateur gay-as-shit boxer here
If you are actually keen on learning, go join a boxing gym that produces fighters, I'm not sure where you live, but I'm going to assume you're in America, so it shouldn't be hard to find a good gym. America is literally the mecca of boxing, much like Thailand is the mecca for Muay Thai kickboxing.
As for the bag, use 16 oz gloves for 6 months, and when your hands are more conditioned and you're technique is sharper, you might like to try moving down to 12 oz gloves.
Also, make sure to work on head movement and whatnot too. Too many people just stand there and wail on the bag without moving around, which makes them miss out on half the workout. Boxing is as much a core/legs workout as it is an arms workout. If you do it right, your whole body should be sore afterward.
Basically, you know nothing of technique, so its going to be harmful if you try to punch the bag. Your not going to get size doing this, you will get good cardio and cut though. I suggest go and get a month membership at a boxing gym, and working on technique there as much as you can, and review it a home, you will feel when the punches are getting correct, it will feel solid, no problems with it.
And dont get cocky because you can punch a punching bag, too many people i've seen did this, and then got the shit beat out of them for it.
Thanks, guys. Another question: how do I wrap my hands properly? I've got 180 in. wraps, but no real idea on how to use them properly. I've tried a few Youtube flicks, but a lot of them do very different things. Anyone got a link for a video showing me how to do it right, or something?
There's a lot of different ways to wrap hands. I personally wrap my hands like this:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeEYjgfYG7c[/media]
But it really comes down to preference.
Thanks; that's different from the other methods I've seen, but I'll give it a go.
Is there not a boxing place where you live? You could walk in and ask these questions. I'm not saying that Maverick is wrong (he's spot on actually), but having a person right next to you showing how to punch is more helpful than watching a couple a videos.
Definitely.
I mean, you could make progress if you really took the time to watch a lot of videos and work on your techniques alone. Even then, it would be very slow progress.
Having someone there showing you how to do things speeds up the process tenfold. I always used to have a terrible left hook despite working on it by myself for weeks. When I finally got around to getting some real training, the guy fixed what I was doing wrong in a single day. Now it's one of my primary strikes. Nothing compares to having a knowledgeable trainer showing you at least the basics.
It's tempting, but to be honest, I'm not really doing this right now for boxing, but just for the sake of exercise and upper-body strength; hence, I'm not yet going to put the money/effort into doing this /properly/ while I'm still pretty busy. Once this year's out, if I'm still doing this, I'll consider going somewhere to learn how to box properly - but for now, punching a bag hanging from a carport will do me.
[QUOTE=Dr_Funk;31201783]
-Should I be concentrating on any sort of technique? What?
[/QUOTE]
You don't need a technique, it's quite a lot down to your stance.
And to start off don't go too hard on it.
Speed isn't essential straight away. All that matters at the moment is your accuracy and how
fluent your punches are, try and string them together. But control your jabs with your shoulders
and always when making a straight jab follow it by going onto the balls of your feet. It'll increase your reach.
And make sure when hooking that you are gathering momentum by swinging with your hips.
As previously stated by JaegerMonster, I'd advise you to go to a boxing club. It's a fun(If so gruelling)
experience and you'll be with some hard-working and dedicated people who will help you better
yourself. After moving house, I went a boxing club in Edinburgh and met up with Paul Appleby.
He has tons of dedication behind him. Just stick to it buddy and you'll probably
notice and increase of your upper body strength in a couple of months.
Just to let you know, when you punch, don't completely make your arm straight, when you add force and you punch like that, you just might mildly hyper-extend your elbow.
Therefore when you punch keep it slightly at an arc.
Bas Rutten's boxing DVD's (forgot what they were called) are amazing audio tracks that tell you when to do certain combinations, of course, not really sure if that's what you're looking for but I know it helps me. Best of luck.
I can only advise you to go to some boxing lessons. Ask one of the box gym trainers nicely if he could introduce you to the very basics like jab, right straight, hooks, maybe upper cuts.
If he is a kind guy, he'll most likely show it to you for free.
Also, please, please start out lightly. Only throw weak punches at first, you need to get to know your bodies current limitations or else you injure yourself.
What helps in developing your joints is doing push ups on your fists. Do 5 every day, and slowly work up to 10 a day. It's easier to do them on your last three knuckles, but you get the most benefit out of using the first two.
^ Perhaps I should've read what you wrote before I started, haha.
Got a question, guys:
Recently, I've been having some troubles with my hands. Despite wrapping, etc, whenever I try to do anything but a straight punch, such as a hook or an uppercut, I get shooting pains down the bottom, pinky-side length of my hand. I'm not actually hitting anywhere near that part of my hand, but it hurts like hell all the same. Doesn't happen up the other, thumb-edge of my hand. It's a real hassle, because it hurts, stops me from throwing any other sort of punch, and forces me to stop far earlier than I'd like.
Anyone know why this is, and what I can do about it?
e: for reference, i'm not throwing hooks or uppercuts particularly hard, but it hurts all the same.
Did you have any kind of injury in the past ? Broke your hand, tore a tendon, etc ?
Could be that it didn't heal properly and now you have a deformation.
And always try to hit with your first 2 knuckles, at least during your beginnings because they are naturally more durable.
How are your wrists positioned when you hit the bag? Try to keep them straight or the power will be distributed badly.
Do the fist push ups. You may feel pain on your knuckles and pressure on your wrists, but as long as your wrists don't hurt excessively it's ok.
Mmm, never had a hand injury, which leads me to believe that rather than having anything structurally wrong with my hands, I'm just doing something wrong. The weird thing is that I do both jabs and hooks hitting the same first 2 knuckles, but hooks still kill me. I'll try doing fist push-ups - maybe I just need to strengthen my weak-arse hands.
E: On that question, are knuckle push-ups safe? I've been trying to find a straight answer, but only got people arguing about them on 1000 martial-arts boards.
Won't add shit besides tougher skin and better stabilization when it comes to knuckle push ups.
Your wrist won't give out better blow to your opponent if you do them, but actually hitting stuff will.
TWo different motions.
You aren't doing knuckle push ups to increase your punching power. What you do, you strengthen your ligaments, tendons, bones, cartilage and joints.
Basically everything you need to TRANSFER power, not generate it. It's like you would hit somebody in the face as hard as you can... you hit his chin? Your hand's most likely broken now. But not if you actually strengthen it.
This exercise works because it pressurizes the whole tissue in your hands and wrists. Your body is forced to strengthen them or else injury will occur.
And yep, they are save, I'm practicing it for... 3 years? now. If you don't overdo them at start and listen to your body when it's telling you you have enough. So build up slowly and carefully.
I never said you did. Two different motions. Laying on your wrists will only make your skin tougher and muscles able to balance better.
You want better tendons n shit? hit st uff.
The point is, it's not just your skin hardening and your muscles becoming stronger. Your joint, the wrist, gets compressed under pressure. It's the same pressure as in punching, though there is not such an intense peak in pressure when you do push ups. More of a steady loading and deloading. This benefits the growth of cartilage, which doesn't get any nutrition through your arteries but rather a passive exchange through small "holes" in the tissue. So it's essentially "dead" tissue because there is no active blood flow.
And that's where the push ups come into play. By constantly compromising and extending the tissue, you pump it up, more nutritions reach it and it grows.
It's by far saver than hitting a heavy bag without any experience whatsoever because there is no peak in pressure, so you can't just "suddenly" injure yourself.
Just do them and you will notice the effect.
E: Cartilage absorbs impulses. When it's not strong enough, you get injured.
He's probably throwing hooks terribly wrong.
Your fist needs to stay flush with your forearm when throwing a hook. Too many people try to swing out wide, causing them to turn their fist inward in order to hit the bag, which easily leads to injuries. If done correctly, a hook hits the bag just as flush as a cross or jab. Also, the power from hooks comes from turning your body, not from swinging your arm out wide.
Look at the guy in this video. Notice how he isn't swinging his arm out, he's staying compact. His fist is perpendicular to the target at the end of the hook, it shouldn't be coming in at an angle.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp4J45kF-mI[/media]
Hooks take a bit of practice to learn, since you really have to be coordinating your hands, body, and feet. I really suggest you take it easy and just work on the form of your hooks before actually trying to hit the bag while doing them. You don't need to be Tommy Morrison right away.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07E4ps4mkXw[/media]
[b]NO HOOKS BEFORE BOOKS[/b]
I used to have exactly the same problem with my pinky hurting like hell, it was actually because of a wrong fit with my glove. While that not might be the case for you, it certainly was the case for me. You should also look into your wraps, maybe adding more pressure to the pinky finger would help, or less, when you wrap.
hit the fucking thing
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