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I finally traded in my eskrima stick for an Iron arm conditioning hammer, and I just wanted to endorse this product. It's been many years since I attended a Uechi class, and at the end I had I think 3 green strips of tape on my white belt. Just enough time to appreciate what it feels like to practice forearm and leg conditioning with 3rd and 4th dans, who seem to have limbs made of steel pipe.

I noticed that the rattan was more of a surface strike, and causes more pain, but does not penetrate deep into the muscle tissue and bone. The bamboo has definitely helped in conditioning, but I think that it mostly was related to pain tolerance with the surface nerves.

The conditioning hammer causes less pain, and replicates the impact generated by an arm or leg. Well worth it for supplemental conditioning, and worth it's weight in gold for those who want to condition outside of a class setting.

Just a bit of advice...

I would stay with wood, if the "hammer" is steel I would stay away from it, until you are VERY conditioned.

Having done my share of conditioning at the Naha dojo, you need "give" in what you are hitting, or bring hit with.

Many years from now you will understand...

FWIW... When I did the nightly shows, I would "warm up" with about 500 hits per limb (arms and shin, about 300 trying to kill it) using a split wood makiwara, about 5 feet tall, and roughly 5x5, give or take.

Slow and steady is the key to proper conditioning, both Kanei and Tsutomu always told me this.

Mark

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"Language was invented to ask questions. Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. People came of age when man asked the first question. Learning stagnation results not from a lack of answers but from the absence of questions."

Thank you very much for the advice, Mark. The hammer is made of wood and actually is split also. It was designed by Ihor Rymaruk, a Uechi sensei, I think to emulate other traditional conditioning tools. I appreciate the slow and steady thing, as I have a long track record of over doing things, to the point of injury/burnout. Now I try to stay aware of that tendency. Again, appreciate the advice, and I hope everyone is aware of the importance of it.

Very good advice from Mark on the 'give'...I remember Mark also saying that the makiwara should be hit with the body turned to the side instead of straight on, to protect the joints from the jarring.



I got one of the first sets made of oak that Ihor was selling at one of our camps, about 25 years back.

The trick, as Mark says, is to do this everyday, in addition to the conditioning we do in class with a partner.

The best way for me to insure continuity, was to place it at the bottom of the basement stairs on a table along with a rolling pin.

Since I have all my shoes down the basement, plus the workbench, I find myself going down there at least several times a day.

And I disciplined myself not to come back up the stairs unless I have completed at least 150 taps each shin and each forearm, followed by finger massage and rolling pin.

If you habituate to this, you will have at least 300 taps a day at various intensity, seven days a week...x 365 days for the year...= one hundred eight thousands...

not to shabby to help in your conditioning.

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Van

I have seen that device used by only a few. I just like a more pliable item. So you can longer periods of time building conditioning.

For me, its still to hard, although I do use a hard rubber mallet. Again for those that don't know, my rolling pin is a cement roller about the size of a coffee can with rocks in it for weight, same as the old Futenma dojo style.

As for the makiwara position, the position of the body is at 90 degrees with the weapon only hitting the maki, all the shock goes out the elbow and not into the chest. (In the pic, more bent elbow and chest squared to the front not towards the maki)

Hope that helps!

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"Language was invented to ask questions. Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. People came of age when man asked the first question. Learning stagnation results not from a lack of answers but from the absence of questions."

Just wanted to ask...

How many, if any, strike the makiwara this way?

I see lots of folks reading this thread, but no comments/questions.

Does anybody use the makiwara or teach it? Just wondering...

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"Language was invented to ask questions. Answers may be given by grunts and gestures, but questions must be spoken. People came of age when man asked the first question. Learning stagnation results not from a lack of answers but from the absence of questions."

I use a Makiwara very similar to how you describe Mark. Rick introduced me to the device. Mine is made of two 2x4's separated by a a 1/4 inch of dense foam. The boards slap together when hit and the foam muffles the sound which keeps the neighbors happy. The space between the two boards absorbs lots of energy and the 2nd board prevents the first one from breaking. Guess I could use a 4x4 , but I don't think I'm their yet. For now the 2 boards work well for me.

I don't train seiken punches on the makiwara. Shins, boshikens and forearms are all I train.

I train shin kicks on the rising plan and I train them on the downward plain(hip rolled over)
I train the boshiken standing to the side with the elbow bent as in a poor delivery of a hook punch.
I train my forearms on all 4 sides standing to the side and striking with full body rotation elbow slightly bent to prevent blowing out my own elbow.

The intent of all strikes is to destroy lumber. I find the makiwara has given me great results as unlike a partner it never gets sore. The limit therefore lies in me. But all conditioning is a gradual process. However this one I have found is easier to tune to ones personal goals.

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Freedom is never free!

I've got different things I strike , they all have give , don't have a makiwara as such as I don't have a space, do also use a rubber mallet on shins , but cant argue with the heavy bag for gradual conditioning for the shins

I really like the makiwara as a tool and hope to have another set up soon, I love the press you get from a makiwara.

only dance date I ever get mate.

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Freedom is never free!