Outside the dojo are a couple of makiwara, the punching boards that karate students use for the same reasons that boxers use heavy bags.
And there’s also a nice heavy bag.
Sensei Koyama walked me out of the dojo and put me in a stance and had me start hitting both of them last night. This is the first time since I re-started training a couple of years ago that he’s instructed me on the use of the makiwara.
I had taken a shot at the makiwara and the heavy bag a couple of years ago when I started my long-interrupted training again. Two years ago, it didn’t work as well as it did last night.
Knowing that I had not kept up makiwara training, and sensitive to my years and profession (I routinely get in fights. With mean, nasty envelopes. Or heavy books. And normally I win, but not always), Sensei Koyama had me punch the makiwara and the heavy bag with the palm of my hand.
I know he didn’t want me to tear the skin on my knuckles and start to fear the makiwara.
That’ll be for next time!
I did a lot better than I expected. My palm didn’t skitter off either the makiwara or the heavy bag, and a fair amount of the energy that I was trying to transmit made it into the makiwara and into the heavy bag. And I didn’t fall over backwards. Very often.
I look forward to working with both of those supplemental exercises more in the future. If I find out the secret to getting the most out of the exercise, I’ll pass it along.
And Sensei Koyama has pointed out to me that it’s not a critical exercise for many purposes. You can do training for health in karate and never touch a makiwara.
My guess is, however, that for self-defense, it might be helpful to develop the ability to strike objects without injuring your hand. And according to the literature, the makiwara develops that, over time, but it’s important not to overdo at first.
Some writers (Rob Redmond, of 24 Fighting Chickens fame, for instance) believe that the makiwara is inferior to the heavy bag as a punch development tool. And I’ll link to his post on makiwara training when I’m not late for work.
Since I am a relative beginner, I have the luxury of doing exactly what Sensei Koyama suggests, which saves me from all kinds of internal stress.
It’s very nice not to need to re-invent the wheel. Since Sensei Koyama has been there and done that, and is 75 and looks 55, I’m going to see if I can get the same results out of karate that he has (in specific, using it as a fountain of youth, which has worked very well for him!).
