How heavy should a heavy bag be?

[hughes]

Hi all, I'm getting a punching bag and i pretty much know the type i want, but what weight should it be? It's for home use. Thanks guys.

[Royal Dragon]

Fill it with Iron saw dust from a horizontal band saw located in the south west corner of the machine shop you work at.

[Merryprankster]

Read the label. It will tell you. (40 lb bag, 60lbs bag, 100 lb bag, etc)

Or are you asking how heavy the one that you are getting should be?

I like 100 lbers and up, but space and price might be an issue. 60 lbs is a good compromise.

[hughes]

I dont work in a machine shop and if i did i seriously doubt i'd have a compass with me.

[hughes]

Thanks MP,i think my best bet is a 40lb in terms of where its going and me being a not used to heavy bag training,after all i guess i could upgrade it, thanks for your help.

[Merryprankster]

I think you're going to find a 40 lbs bag too light, but then again, I'm 6' 185, so I suppose that's a matter of personal preference.

If it does turn out to be too light and moves around on you TOO much, consider tying the bottom end down a little bit. A lot of heavy bags come with a second ring on the bottom for this.

[hughes]

Ok,I'll try and accomodate a 60lb bag. You box don't you MP? Hows your training coming along? I'm seriously thinking about taking up boxing and am trying to condition myself for it.

[Merryprankster]

The training is consistent, but not as much as I would like.

My schedule is funny at work, which allows me to box, however, I can only go to my trainer 4-5 days every other week. This works out to around 10 days per month. The problem is that we'll have ironed something out by the end of one of the weeks, then I have a week off to forget half of what we ironed out :)

Two steps forward, one step back. When I compare this to my BJJ practice which is more like every day, it becomes frustrating sometimes.

If you want to get in shape for boxing--sheesh. I don't know what to tell you! It's the hardest, most intense thing I've ever done... and this from a wrestler!

[guohuen]

Dude, your gonna get bored with that weight awfully quick. I suggest you go with as much weight as space and money will allow.

[Kristoffer]

I recently got a bag by my parents. It's 40 llbs (20 kg) coz it's for my room and I cant have much bigger than that in here. I love it

[JWTAYLOR]

If money is not an option, I would HIGHLY recommend the Everlast 180lb horsehide covered bag. I got one a few years ago and I've been beating the hell out of it ever since. Btw, it actually weighs in at 190lbs. I think I paid 300+ or so bucks for it but I think it was worth every single penny. It's the best training party I've ever had.

I have a 65lb Everlast bag as well, but I think you'll want to get rid of it the second you hit a heavy bag.

A 150+lb bag actually moves, or for that matter doesn't move, like a man. It won't fly back or give unless you MAKE it give. All of a sudden you get the idea that your straight punches had better really connect to move someone back. And I haven't found any better shin conditioning tool than the heavy bag.

Moreover, there are few things more satisfying than laying in a good hook punch and seeing a bag heavier than you bend in half.

JWT

[guohuen]

I second that! Once you've hit a 150+ bag you'll not want to bother with a lighter bag. Weight is important, that's why they call it a heavy or body bag. The Everlast 180 is sweet! The Franklin 150 is nice too. Horsehide of course. If your carefull you won't need bag gloves. Don't try this with canvas!

[Ray Pina]

I think some would be more impressed with the way you hit a single suspended piece of paper.

Be careful with a heavy bag. Besides possibly damaging your wrist it will not teach you how to chase with your punching.

A punch should not be: punch ... impact . stop

A pounch should be: punch . impact ............. stop.

You need to drive all the way through. Loose, tight only in mainating the shape if your art is based on wedging type principles and at the fist.

Wierd I know. Many say hit harder, hit a heavier bag. Some say hit smarter, you'll never be the hardest hitter so why invest your time there. proper mechanics is what's important, and hitting something so unforgiveing can be difficult to train this.

I suggest a soft, light padding bag. Or one of those that you fill the base at the bottom. They will rock with heavy blows.

Either way, up to you. This is only a place for opinions.

[Kristoffer]

go hit a cow.. when u can kill a cow with a side-kick, you are a master.

[Kristoffer]

...or a ninja

[JWTAYLOR]

Ninjas are cool, and by cool I mean totally sweet.

I would agree that a heavy bag isn't the best thing for beginners. You might focus too much on moving the bag and not on striking correctly. Learn to strike correctly first, then start hitting the bag. Maybe a 40lb bag to start with, then move on up.

JWT

[ewallace]

along the same lines as the thread topic, just wondering what surface everyone prefers? I personally like leather bags since canvas usually does a number on my knuckles.

[Royal Dragon]

Start with a light bag, then go up to an 80-100 pounder, and finnaly a 150-180 pound bag, and then back down to the lightest one again.


What do you guys fill your bags with?
I have the 80 pound everlast canvas bag, filled with cloth.

I am planning on getting another and filling it with sand, and finnaly the heavy duty leather everlast bag filled with iron saw dust (As I have a ready supply of it) . Currently, I have about 400 pounds of Iron saw dust with another 200 by next spring or summer if we are busy at work next year.

What is the 180 pound everlast bag filled with? is it sand, or cloth?

Royal Dragon

[Merryprankster]

E-fist,

Use the right tool for the job. The purpose of a heavy bag isn't to teach you how to do anything but put rock solid power in your shots. It's to make you work your ass off by forcing you to put 100% behind everything you throw for 2 or 3 minutes straight, throwing everything as fast, hard, and relaxed as you can. Feedback is immediate. If you have bad structure, you'll know it right away.

If you want to develop some footwork and handspeed, go chase the double end bag for awhile or get somebody who knows what they are doing to hold the focus mitts.


So, the heavy bag is just a tool that serves a purpose. If you start thinking that's all that's out there... well, then the tool uses you :)

Royal dragon, I think you're a nutcase! Do you have any idea how HARD that bag is going to be if you fill it with iron sawdust? The bottom of an old bag is hard enough... I can't imagine hitting something as hard as what you seem to be envisioning. WOW.

[Ray Pina]

I don't lift anymore. I was told that it begets the habit of fighting the weight, resisting. 100% against the rules.


I'm listening to my coach.
:)

[Royal Dragon]

Actually, I have 4 bags filled with this stuff @ about 100 pounds each. it takes 6 to fill the BIG everlast bag.

As far as hititng them goes, they give similar to sand, and are not any harder at all, just heavier. :D

RD

[hughes]

Well its for my room,and in terms of space and stuff i think - at the moment my best bet is a 50lb hanging bag. I'm just starting off so I'm hoping I'll get a good start with it. In the summer I should be joining a club so hopefully they'll have real heavy bags there,but i think this one is perfect for home use. Thanks again all, and thanks E-fist for specific tech advice.

[Ray Pina]

I do use a bag, but it is a home made concoction. The principle behind it would seem rediclous, the way it works and the stratagy behind it.

I would love to share it, but when it was told to me it was followed by the words "top secret". Not often, but soemtimes this comes up in class and I must respect the wishes of my teacher. He has already shared "closed door" info with me and I am not a disciple. Who knows who reads these posts and the last thing I want to do is break trust before it has firmly taken root.

[Water Dragon]

Well, if you're not gonna tell us, why post about it?

[Royal Dragon]

'Cause he's a tease???????!!!!!

[bamboo_ leaf]

A good bag that we used when I was younger was one made from an old army duffle bag filled with sand.

Yes it was very hard, but you didn’t use it as a normal punching bag. We used to

1. swing the bag and let it swing back, just stop the bag with a punch or what ever you wanted to develop power in.
2. Extend the punch out till you are just barely touching the bag and with a slight twist of the waist make the bag move
3. Stand very close to the bag and again using a punch with arms bent twist out and move the bag to the full arm extension.

All these things help with power and structure. You can hit the bag after a while and as some pointed out canvas is very unforgiving. :(

If you slide or your punch is not aligned you will know it very quickly. I can’t really recomend this way (some may find it usfule) and don’t practice this way anymore, there are easier and I think better ways to attain the same results with out the bag just takes longer.

If you go to www.cyberkwoon.com and look at the gallery you can see this bag by me and one of my teachers at the time

Oh yes some of my teachers where able to upper cut the bag and lift it in to the air. During some sparring matches the same thing happened to people caught by the same hand. "long arm" good stuff!!

[JWTAYLOR]

I don't like canvas as much since I don't think it's sanitary. Too much blood soaks in and stays there. I refuse to use bag gloves.


BTW, great last post MP. I very much get lost in just training for the bag sometimes. You gave me a nice reminder of the point of the thing. Thanks.

JWT

[Ray Pina]

I brought it up so as not to imply that I think bag work is useless. We're fighters. Need to go to the artillary range as often as possible.

[Yanglao]

I don't know about you guys but my Mom bought me one of those Slam Man punching dummies. Instead of boxing like your supposed to, I just remove the little computer that makes the lights blink, then I just practise my forms on it. You can fill them up to 190 with sand, and since its bottom heavy, it doesnt sway much, kinda like those inflatable clows that bob straight up after you hit them. So when your able to knock it over, you'll feel pretty proud.