Using a heavy bag?

Everyone at least once in their life must have hit a heavy bag, even if you walked by one in a store and gave it a quick pop… right?

Most folks relate this piece of equipment to a boxer, or maybe kick boxers. And everyone will have their own way to use it,  or to tell you how to use it…

Truthfully IMHO there is really no right way to utilize the heavy bag, and you don’t have to follow anyone’s particular way, you can be creative and it’s the perfect piece of equipment if you don’t have anyone to train with. . 

Application:

Look at measurement (range) a recent thread out here. You can use this bag to start to judge your own range, feel how close you have to be before you can reach it with your foot or a punch etc.  You can practice hitting the center line with the 12 weapons of the body or side stepping and attack the bag outside of center line.

Traditionally this bag was used to develop power in single or combination strikes while conditioning the athlete and preparing the muscles for the percussive shock of the contact. Indeed this bag can be utilized for these reasons and more!

Push the bag and get it swinging away from you and toward you, when the bag advances you try to retreat and hit it. This will work your distance and your timing, plus footwork balance and all sorts of attributes. When the bag swings away you advance and try hitting the bag moving forward. Next time the bag swings at you, you side step off center line and use the  7 – 10 combination,  the 7 is the hands for hitting or grabbing, and the 10 is the knee strike from the 12 weapons of the body.

You can use weapons such as a broom stick or a ground down ice scrapper to simulate an edged/blunt weapon. Two people can work on the bag at the same time, bet ya never saw that? Neither have I, but if two Police officers, (partners) wanted to train together I might have them work the bag together for team awareness or at least give them a feel for fighting together. Both strike the bag at will or one strike’s while the other holds and when I blow the whistle they switch,  or one tackles the low line while the other bear hugs the high line simulating a take down to control and cuff. The ways to use the heavy bag are endless and is limited only by your imagination.

The heavy bag is the perfect training partner because he’s always on time, you can hit him whenever you want, and he never complains or hits you back, and it doesn’t matter what style you adhere to, the bag does not discriminate. But he’s not forgiving you should get some gloves, work gloves are fine and learn to wrap your hands, at least until you get to know him (the bag). I only wrap up if my goal is to hit as hard as I can for an endurance workout, but most of the time I don’t where anything because I use the bag for so many other things then power development.

Seriously if someone wants to learn on his own this is a cheap way to do it. People give these things away and I see them on Craig’s list all the time for short money.  The thing can be hung anywhere. I had one outside for about 10 years. The bag was so water logged it gained maybe 10 pounds and was hard as a rock, it was awesome  If you put it indoors spend the extra 12 bucks and get the heavy duty spring that you can hang it by, I think Everlast makes them and you can get them at Dicks sporting goods and other similar  stores.

Using this apparatus is definitely not a substitute for a training partner, but you work with what you got.