Pit Pack

There various types of makiwaras available on the market and most of what is available is potentially going to cause you some permanent hand damage, or they are too cumbersome to use.

Let’s go over the various types of makiwaras:

1. The bury-your-own method- This type of makiwara board has similar instructions all over the internet, all designed to build a makiwara that you bury in the ground.  Although this is the cheapest and easist makiwara board to make, it has some major flaws associated with it.  Even if the post is cemented in the ground, which most aren’t, the act of punching it repeatedly will make it loose very fast.  This loose, swinging of the board does not provide enough resistance and will cause your makiwara to do nothing for you except increase your stress level.  In addition, you have to use this makiwara  board outside

2. The pad on the wall method- This is the most-sold makiwara board all over the internet.  These are very cheap boards that are covered with some kind of pad.  You can find them at any martial arts distributor, and these need to be avoided at all costs.  They can injure your hands permanently and provide little benefit, because you are punching against a soft cushion.  The problem with these is that there is no bounce or give.  You are punching against a solid surface where you can easily break your wrist or create permanent joint damage.  In addition, the pad is too soft, so you will not create the calloused, built-up knuckles that you are trying to develop in the first place.

3. The floor mounted makiwara board.  This type of makiwara is the one that you want to build or purchase.  These makiwara boards can be mounted inside your home or dojo and will last for years.  You can practice indoors, in a controlled environment.  These makiwaras are the original, traditional makiwara that have been used in Okinawa for many years.  They provide exactly the right amount of bounce, while having a very hard target to strike, which creates the callouses on the knuckles.   They are expensive to purchase, but you can build your own, that is just as strong for a 10th of the price.

4. Punching trees and walls.  Sure there is a ton or lore throughout the martial arts world, of masters that walk through the woods and punch trees every day, but quite honestly, this will just make your hands useless and put you in the hospital.

The main idea of makiwara training is NOT to injure the hands and make them bleed.  If you are doing that, your are doing it WRONG.  The purpose of makiwara training is to make the bones of that hands used to heavy shocks, and become more dense, and also to develop callouses on the knuckles.  This type of training takes years to accumulate and you should not expect instant results.  Just like any trianing, the makiwara needs to be practiced often, and carefully.

Joshua Black is an on-line infopreneur, author, and martial artist.
Mr. Black is the developer of the Ultimate Makiwara Creator, a how-to course that can be viewed at: http://www.UltimateMakiwara.com

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