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Makiwara Training - The Dangers For the Novice

Author: Joshua Black
Date Posted: May 22, 2009

Makiwara training can be a very important part of your martial arts practice. However, their are some dangers associated with it that you need to be careful about, especially for the novice. Read on to find out more.

With the proper training and guidance, the makiwara can be an important tool, creating iron-like fists and rock-hard knuckles. This training takes time and even more importantly it means that you have to be careful.

Here are some issues that you need to be aware of if you are going to practice with a makiwara:

1. The goal is not to make your fists bleed. Novice martial artists feel like they need to "catch up" when they are using their makiwaras. They practice in the basement until their knuckles bleed so that they feel like they have accomplished something. The only thing accomplished is that you now have to postpone your training and start all over. The goal is not to ruin your hands.

2. You must slowly work up your power level. If you start out too hard, you can cause excessive bruising and even infections in your hands, near the joints where the swelling has created a cavity. You don't want to have swelling either.

3. You makiwara is padded incorrectly, or it does not bounce enough. One of the biggest crimes currently on the Internet is that so many martial arts dealers are selling the padded boards that you mount to a wall. These should never be used, they have no give, only a pillow for a pad, and they are terrible for your joints. I have even seen people advocating that you should punch a 4 x 4 that doesn't move at all, terrible advice. The board should bounce fairly easily when you punch it.

4. Give your hands time to recover. They will be a little red and sore after training. This is normal. Give them a few days to get back to normal. If you feel like your hands are injured or stiff all the time, then stop training until they recover, or stop training altogether.

About The Author

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 for creating your own low-cost makiwara, that can be viewed at: http://www.UltimateMakiwara.com

Article Source: JKD Street Combat - online collection of Weapons articles.

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