I have been without a punching bag since I left Canada. Now I find punching bags to be a particularly relaxing and theraputic training tool so I was missing having something to punch. Well last night I was wandering in the local mall looking for Boxing Gloves (didn’t find them; I’m getting tired of hearing the phrase “moyo”) and I found a group of punching bags for sale. The cheapest were 25 RMB - they were not much more than large focus pads really. I tested one and after one punch with the pad held in my other hand (ie: not the best punch) the pad was already looking quite deformed. No, don’t want that one.
So I looked and the next one up was a small heavy bag for 55 RMB. That had promise but what else was there?
A large canvas heavy bag with a leather base for 65 RMB. That was the ticket!
So today I came back and bought the thing. The poor girl working clerk at the store could barely lift the bag with both hands so (macho me - so sue me if I like showing off for the ladies here in China a bit - they are a bit more easy going about fat here and I have always had a touch of “yellow feaver” :p) I hefted it up onto one shoulder without even putting down my other parcels. I wrestled it into a taxi and brought it up to my flat when I realized that I had nothing to hang it from. :eek:
So I went to the corner store and bought four nails. I pounded them deep into the plaster wall and hooked up an intricate rope system to hang the bag from the nails in the wall. Then I put on some loud music and began punching.
I hit the bag with jabs and reverses until I had scratches all over my hands and one rather large cut. Fortunately the canvas is red so it shouldn’t stain too bad.
One down side. The white-wash on top of the plaster has begun to flake off the wall behind the bag. I may leave the bag here for the next tenants in a few years when I move (provided I haven’t destroyed it by then) since it would be a pain in the ass to ship by train and rediculously expensive to ship by post or airplane.
Actually the second time I did mess up the punch and a small amount of slip across the bag sheared the scab off my knuckle. The first time it was just because I way overdid it.
Earth to planet idiot. Only trolls use phrases like death arts.
and meditation.
Oooh! I’m scared now! Look I’m 26 years old and have practiced meditation since I was 6. MEDITATION IS NOT A MARTIAL ART!!! Martial artists are one of the groups of people more likely to practice meditation along with monks, priests, artists, scholars, people with high religiosity, yoga afficionados, and hippies.
Yeah but they are cheap, durable and if you stick at it you build nice caluses. Then the cuts stop being an issue. My problem is that I stopped training with a bag for about two months due to moving to a different continent and all.
I believe that’s basically what I said. I haven’t been hitting the bag lately because I didn’t have one to hit. As a result the skin on my knuckles softened up again. I resumed hitting the heavy-bag with the same intensity I always use and split a knuckle in the process.
Solution? Make sure I keep practicing until my hands get used to the strain again. China’s great but there isn’t a boxing or bag glove to be bought in this town. On the other hand nunchaku (illegal in Canada) and 10 inch Bowie Knives are cheap and plentiful. I start training with my new Sifu on Monday.
Getting bloody knuckles punching canvass isn’t being tough, it’s being retarted. Chinese seem to have some wierd theories that aren’t backed up by evidence. Such as breaking your knuckles, getting cuts on them, developing callauses, ect to make your hand more resistant to injury.
Are you really “toughening up” your hands? or are you making them frail and bleed more easily in the future from scar tissue.
Look I wasn’t bragging about how “tough” I was. I was making a point about how if a person ceases in their conditioning regimen they will have to expect set-backs when they start up again and using myself as an example. I was further commenting that I was enjoying being able to resume my conditioning regimen as it is part of martial arts practice I traditionally enjoy.
And although breaking bones would not be a wise way to condition your hands (no good Sifu would advocate this) developing caluses DOES make your hands more resistant to injury. HELL! Guitarists develop caluses on their fingertips over time and it makes them less likely to cut a finger on a guitar string.
Bags don’t punch back. I’ve already given you some encouragement that you have good martial spirit. It’s a good start when you’re a beginner. pls don’t like me take it back.
FYI, I’ve even passed the stage when I’ll go down with everyone.
, and I used to feel the same way. Why am I using gloves 
