Advice from the experts

[Douglas Hall]

Just a quick whistlestop on my background, I'm 39 years old, male, married, parent (2 young boys, 11 months and 4 going on 5 going on 14 ;-)).

As a youth (from around 7/8 to around 15/16) I was "in to" martial arts - mainly Karate, at the time, managed to dabble with a few styles of Kung Fu too.

At around the age 15 I took up weightlifting / bodybuilding. And considered myself fairly serious about it, until, perhaps early 20s when I decided that much of the bodybuilding scene wasn't for me. After that point, up to now, and hopefully for the rest of my life, I regularly workout in a gym (lift weights) normally 4 times a week. I also try and do some exercise at home, I skip most days, and have some dumbells and other home equipment.

Towards my late teens, one of my friends from the gym (who was a Karate instructor) helped me do a little heavy bag work - just helped with very basic / rudimentary technique. I haven't always been able to do much work with a heavy bag, but in recent years have one at home, now. It's on a large-ish 4 foot wall bracket - so extends a fair way from the wall it's attached to. I'm not sure - even with the 4 foot distance, that it's fully usable 360 degrees, but you can get a fair amount of movement around it.

The bag is a 4 foot leather Reebok thing I bought from Argos. Not the heaviest around, but has a teather hook on the bottom - so I sunk an anchor eyelet in the ground below it, and I tend to use some bungy cords so that the bag can still move around some, but not too wildly (as I said, it's not the heaviest). Is that a reasonable thing to do, or will it make movement (for the bag, and me) somewhat artificial.

My goals (from a boxing perspective, anyways) are really just to get competent with the heavy bag, really. I've no personal interest in training to get sufficiently good to take it any further. At some point, I'd love to do some classes with my son (who's nearly 5) 'cos I think certain sports (like boxing) can be a great influence on kids as they get older.

The problem I have, mostly, is time in terms of organised class times / clubs. On days when I commute to work, I'm not getting home 'til around 7, then I've got a family to be with, 'til their bedtime. I am hoping at some point, to be able to do something shared / family orientated (not 'cos I'm one of the controlling or competitive dads - more as a sort of father son thing as he grows up), but I doubt - at the moment - I could find the evening / weekend time for just myself to go to a club (I train in a gym for weights during my lunchtime at work).

So in the short-term, I'd like to regularly do some heavy bag work - which has been somewhat sporadic over the years. I feel I have a grasp on how to perform the fundamental punches, and I've got a couple of instructional boxing DVDs / videos I watch to focus on technique and form. Is there any other resource you guys would recommend?

[Howlin Mad Missy]

Howdy. Welcome to Saddos.

It's possible that having a MA background will help you pick up the moves more quickly or you may have habits that are hard to unlearn.

There are a number of clubs that open at weekends, some just focus on fitness and bagwork. Some have junior classes others will let you all mix together. If you are really pushed for time perhaps one of the clubs allow you to take private lessons and ask them to focus on technique?

There are some clips of pros working on heavybag knocking about on youtube if you fancy a look (can't search at the moment).

Every club is a little different so it's best to ask round.

Whereabouts do you live? Maybe someone could recommend a club.

[wesrman]

Welcome to the forum. =]

[Douglas Hall]

Whereabouts do you live? Maybe
someone could recommend a club.

Blackpool, north west England.

[Douglas Hall]

Welcome to the forum. =]

Thanks.

Love the clip in your sig - "Boards don't hit back..." ;-)

I can't be the only one, here, who grew up in the 80s watching Bruce Lee's films countless time each :-)

[Chris Nagel]

Welcome to the forum. =]

Thanks.

Love the clip in your sig - "Boards don't hit back..." ;-)

I can't be the only one, here, who grew up in the 80s watching Bruce Lee's films countless time each :-)

Hey Doug,

I enjoyed Bruce's action sequences, and I even have the fight scenes on my computer. Have you seen Jet Li's Fist of Legend? The choreography is superb, and you'll recognize a lot of Bruce Lee's notes and philosophy in the film as well.

One piece of dialogue that stuck out from Fist of Legend, was between Li's character Chen Zhen, and an older Japanese Master.

Chen says, "The object of matching (fighting or perhaps martial arts) is to beat down an opponent."
To which Fumio Funakoshi responds, "You're wrong kid, the best way to beat an opponent is to use a gun."

In regards to a heavy bag routine, I assume that you already use gloves and hand wraps. One thing that I'd recommend is to use an audible boxing timer instead of just a watch/clock. You can check here for some boxing timers: http://www.saddoboxing.com/boxingfor...udes-mp3s.html

If you have any specific questions about coming up with a routine, or how to throw your punches properly as to prevent getting injury, you're welcome to ask.

[wesrman]

I still watch bruces movies and documentaries.