How do I go about selecting a punch bag? What size / weight would be good for a begginer?
Any tips on using it (not just for me, my son fancies getting one too.)
Does height & weight of the user have any influence on the choice? (I’m 6ft, 275lb, my son is 6ft 5in and 220lb)
Thanks for any tips.
What style do you plan on doing against the bag muay thai, taekwondo, or boxing?
Heavier is better. Leather > any other material, but much more expensive. Everlast makes some good vinyl ones. I have a vinyl Muay Thai bag and we’ve (2 200+lbers, 1 190lber…me, and another 170lb’er), beat the bejeebus out of the thing for well over a year. No tears and its stayed pretty well packed. I dont leave mine hanging after use and it also doubles as a take down dummy.
If you are just boxing, you can pick up a decent vinyl one for around 50 bucks. If you are training Muay Thai, those are more expensive. Height/weight of the user doesnt matter. Guys your size should use hand wraps and at least 16oz gloves. You can cheap out a bit on the bag and hand wraps, but do not cheap out on your gloves. I cant tell you how important a good pair of gloves is.
[quote]admbaum wrote:
Heavier is better. Leather > any other material, but much more expensive.
…
You can cheap out a bit on the bag and hand wraps, but do not cheap out on your gloves.[/quote]
Agree with both of these. Also make sure you have a place to mount the bag that can handle the weight and gives you space to move around it. No point in having a heavy bag of your own if it just teaches you bad form.
I have one of those standing bags where you weight it down by pouring water into the base. It works okay except if you put too much weight into a punch or kick (like if you’re hitting through it) in which case it falls over but you can just pick it up.
I think it’s less noisy than a hanging bag since there’s no chains to rattle and people upstairs (if you box in the basement like a lot of people) won’t bother the people upstairs as much since it’s not attached to the rafter beams.
I read that apparently there are water-filled hanging bags in this old manga called ‘One Pound Gospel’, haven’t been able to find any yet. Apparently it’s soft on the hands or something and deforms more easily so that you don’t get fractures. I figure it makes sense since there’s a lot of water in humans so the consistancy would be more similar than sand.
I’m betting hanging bags are superior since you never have to pick them up, if you hit them hard they go back and will come back with momentum you have to cancel out which allows you to hit them that much harder.
I am interested in getting those torso-looking flesh dummies some MA guys practise their moves on. I think I saw Ashida Kim selling them once 
More than that though, I want to try that ‘Body Action System’ that Bas Rutten, Kimbo Slice and Randy Couture were hyping about during the Heavyweight TUF live finals. It looks interesting, like some weird mix between a heavy bag and a speed bag and targets.
I gotta say I disagree on telling a beginner to get the heaviest bag available. It depends on style. If he’s doing boxing sure. If he’s doing Muay Thai possibly since Muay Thai encourages it to build up the shin. If he’s doing any sort of Karate or Taekwondo though no way should a beginner get the heaviest bag available. Its a surefire way to fuck up the top of your foot and ankle real fast.
[quote]tyciol wrote:
I have one of those standing bags where you weight it down by pouring water into the base. It works okay except if you put too much weight into a punch or kick (like if you’re hitting through it) in which case it falls over but you can just pick it up.
I think it’s less noisy than a hanging bag since there’s no chains to rattle and people upstairs (if you box in the basement like a lot of people) won’t bother the people upstairs as much since it’s not attached to the rafter beams.
I read that apparently there are water-filled hanging bags in this old manga called ‘One Pound Gospel’, haven’t been able to find any yet. Apparently it’s soft on the hands or something and deforms more easily so that you don’t get fractures. I figure it makes sense since there’s a lot of water in humans so the consistancy would be more similar than sand.
I’m betting hanging bags are superior since you never have to pick them up, if you hit them hard they go back and will come back with momentum you have to cancel out which allows you to hit them that much harder.
I am interested in getting those torso-looking flesh dummies some MA guys practise their moves on. I think I saw Ashida Kim selling them once More than that though, I want to try that ‘Body Action System’ that Bas Rutten, Kimbo Slice and Randy Couture were hyping about during the Heavyweight TUF live finals. It looks interesting, like some weird mix between a heavy bag and a speed bag and targets.[/quote]
If your having problems with your bag falling over, fill it up with a mixture of sand and water. That’s what I did to mine and now that fucker won’t budge unless it gets a hard rear thrust kick or side kick, and even then it doesn’t fall. Ive heard of people filling theirs with cement also. Only other problem with those bags is that they break once you get enough power. The plastic upper part that holds the padding is busted, so now adjusting the height constantly is fucking annoying (it slips down whenever i give it a hard shot.) So, overall i really wouldn’t recommend those.
Those bob dummies that you are talking about are actually kind of cool, it really helps when it comes to targeting. I worked on one for a couple months, making sure I hit specific areas everytime I punched, and after a while when sparring with others, I noticed the hits I landed were more and more on the nose, jaw, and temple, rather than just wherever on their face.
I’d get at least a 100 lber. Otherwise the bag is going to swing around too much, and while that’s good for your movement and footwork, it’s bad for your actual power, which is why you’re working the bag in the first place.
I’ve got an Everlast 100 lber. and I love it. Standard heavy bag you hang up for 20 years and beat the shit out of.