My bag work is horrible!

The good news is I am starting upper body (no kicks yet) bag workouts again, after not being able to do so for about 10 months.
Starting off with really short workouts and building up my time.

The bad news is it's not looking good! Of course I am going to have my instructor help me, but if anyone can make suggestions of how to develop bag workouts, stuff on the Internet they have run across, video's, books, etc. I would be most appreciative!

I use that new uppercut bag we just got and the long ones.
Pretty similar to these pics, but a different brand

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I must not fear.Fear is the mind-killer.Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.I will face my fear.I will permit it to pass over me & through me.& when it has gone I will turn to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.Only I will remain.F.Herbert

What specifically is the problem with your bag work?
Endurance?
Bit 'o pain?

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If the problem has a solution, worrying is pointless, in the end the problem will be solved. If the problem has no solution, there is no reason to worry, because it can't be solved.

Yea, what are you finding to be your points of frustration ? That will help us give better tips.

Those uppercut bags look cool BTW. First time I've seen one. I normally slip/slide my uppercuts along the bag surface, mainly so I don't forget about 'em when forming combos.

You may find this article useful. I know I did.

Heavy Bag Hitting - The Ultimate De-Stressor

Push-ups, russian twists, shadow boxing, speed bag, and jumping rope. Only advice I can really give right now. As others have asked what do you find the problem is you are having? Is it just your not where you where a year ago? If so only time and train can help that. I know sometimes have that problem after an injury of expecting to much out of myself. If thats the case go easy on yourself.

You need your knees and stability to get structure behind the movement, and impact. No stability, no punch. Don't go overboard, you have only that body.

Train moves, combo punching at 10-20% power, first slow, then faster, finally fast if you can take it.

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sound advice

Well, everything needs work right now, so I was looking for overall general advice. A lot of it I know will come with practice.

If I had to pick one thing that bugs me a lot is I just have trouble coming up with combinations. Seems Like I keep doing the same thing-rather uninventive.

I know that sounds stupid! But how do you all go about the process of making up combinations? I feel like I am not encompassing all I should be in doing it.

Nik and Green Horn. thanks for reminding me to take it easy and not move too fast. I need to remember it is progress that I am starting to do it again and take it slowly. That is part of why I am mostly using the uppercut bag. I don't even want the temptation of thinking I can try to throw in a kick.

I am literally starting with only about 5 minutes in several rounds, but will work my way up.

“	combo punching at 10-20% power, first slow, then faster	”

yeah, stuff like that is what I need to know. That is helpful. Maybe I am trying to go too fast- not injury wise but just too fast for developing good combos. If I do slow combinations at light power, I can think through more varied moves, then as it becomes more natural and instinctive, I can speed it up.

Doughboy, I am gonna go look at those links now. Thanks!

“	Push-ups, russian twists, shadow boxing, speed bag, and jumping rope.	”

I am ashamed to say I have never been able to do a full push up in my life. Really embarrasing to admit here. But that is a really good idea. That is something I really could focus on accomplishing while I have these other limitations. Shadow boxing is also a good idea, but I still need to come up with combos there too. We don't have a speed bag at my school, not yet anyways. Maybe we will get one as they develop the MMA curriculum. That curriculum does seem to be inspiring more equipment coming in to my school. Jumping rope was something my insctuctor was stressing. I was actually starting to get decent at it, but that is a couple of months away injury wise.

Thanks to everyone and I would still appreciate any other tips, links, etc. Any good book recommendations?

a grateful aaradia

__________________
I must not fear.Fear is the mind-killer.Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.I will face my fear.I will permit it to pass over me & through me.& when it has gone I will turn to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.Only I will remain.F.Herbert

“	Originally Posted By: aaradia If I had to pick one thing that bugs me a lot is I just have trouble coming up with combinations. Seems Like I keep doing the same thing-rather uninventive. I know that sounds stupid! But how do you all go about the process of making up combinations? I feel like I am not encompassing all I should be in doing it	”

Instinct. Don't worry about what looks good, and don't worry about doing the same thing over and over, repetition is good-- to a point.
Think to yourself, what if his arm was here, his other arm was here, etc. What would you do?
Do what FEELS right in this case. If I'm going up against a 6 foot tall, 280 lbs. guy, I'm not going to try and punch him in the chest, I'm going to aim lower. If I'm going up against a insanely quick guy two inches shorter than me, then I'm going to have to use a lot of wicked fast, INSTINCTIVE combinations.

Don't be self conscious of what moves you're doing, just make sure you execute whatever you do with good technique.

__________________
If the problem has a solution, worrying is pointless, in the end the problem will be solved. If the problem has no solution, there is no reason to worry, because it can't be solved.

Don't feel embarrassed I have never been able to do a full pull-up without help. But I am working on that too. For the push-ups, try doing 5 every other day on your knees. Once you can do 5 every day try for 10. Keep doing this till you hit 20 with your knees (oh and keep your feet and knees on the floor while you do the push-ups) once you can do 20 on our knees try doing 5 off your knees and continue to work up as before...Its late so if im not describing this well let me know and I'll give another shot at it.

As for the combos try doing a right Cheong Ngaan Choy, left Charp Choy, right Lo Yum Choy, left Cheong Ngaan Choy, right Charp Choy, Left Lo Yum Choy. I know this is extremely unimaginative and basic but its 3 punches that will make you use both sides and if you are having to come back from an injury it can be like starting from the beginning again. So what better way then to start at the beginning. Plus every time we reach a new level we should all go back to the basics and relearn them at our new level.

After the 3 basic punches try the 3 basic blocks.
After you do them both sides, the the Bagua hands.
You can also combine the afore mentioned drills and combine them. An example would be Soy(sp?) Choy, Cheong Ngaan Choy, Cup Choy or what ever you want to add.

Just a few ideas off the top of my head. The no kicks part makes it hard if you ask me. Oh! Try doing the hand techniques from the forms you know.

“	Originally Posted By: Seh Don't be self conscious of what moves you're doing, just make sure you execute whatever you do with good technique.	”

That needed to be stressed!
Just remember intent in your training and all will come together soon Im sure of it.

All good advice.

“	If I had to pick one thing that bugs me a lot is I just have trouble coming up with combinations. Seems Like I keep doing the same thing-rather uninventive.	”

I'm sure everyone who has every hit a punch bag has gone through this.

Here are some things you might find helpful.

there are quite a few ways you can throw some variation into your bagwork and one of the main ones is footwork and distance. For example, you can alternate between working the bag from the outside and the inside ( Do you know what inside punching is ? ). You can work on straight ahead punching where you don't give up your ground. You can circle the bag in different directions while punching.

Avoid hitting non-stop combinations unless you are doing a Punch-Out drill like explained in one of the links I posted. Move in, making sure your guard is up, and attack the bag ( at the level of intensity you feel is right for your recovery ). Going 10-20% power as mentioned by Nik sounds a safe way to start. How hard you hit the bag is a very small part of what the bag can do for you. After a few hits you need to see what your opponent is up to ( for the bag it's imagination ). So you move in, whap whap whap, move out/use footwork/stay energetic at all times/, move in/circle , whap whap-whap whap whap move out etc. etc. This will teach you to make the best technical use of your combos, instead of just throwing many punches and hoping for some to land.

As for building combos, that's very easy. I would recommend starting with just the basic Boxing punches and adding your own Kung Fu arsenal into it once you are doing well with just the basic set of punches ( Straights, Hooks, Uppercuts ). One thing about the way I train the bag though, is that I don't train the traditional Boxing way of using the left foot forwards if you are right handed ( hand back for power, weak hand forward for speed ). I believe in using both feet with both hands in any combination. I also don't believe in the Jab. This is for combat reasons mainly, so for exercise and conditioning ( and of course Pro Boxing ) the Jab is a powerful tool. I prefer to widen the traditional boxing stance and throw powerful straight regardless of my hand or foot position. How you approach this is up to you, just giving some alternatives.

If you are having trouble visualising the bag as an opponent ( which you need to do even if you are just boxing for exercise ), you may find it helpful to take some chalk and draw some marking on the bag for a couple sessions. You can go simple ( which I prefer ) and draw a line dividing the low punching areas from the high punching areas ), or 2 lines or whatever. Some people draw one line across and one down to divide into 4 areas or more, or even draw a person. Of course do not stick to the boundaries of the chalk lines they are simply a guide to more variation. This can be helpful to building your combos but what is really going to come in hand here is your imagination. You have to really visualise an opponent in front of you. So, think about how people react in a fight to being punched. Everyone is different, but there are certain "rules" people tend to follow. For example if you get punched hard in the face and another one is coming, you are going to want to protect your face, which means your liver and spleen can be open for hooks. The other way is true as well. If you are blasting someone's body with hard body shots, they will want to cover low which will open their head up. It's a simple strategy and sounds almost too obvious to work, but a lot of good fighters swear by it. The other thing is not to give away your intentions with your eyes. You should never look your opponent directly in the eyes while he is attacking you, because the eyes can deceive you. If you train your eye responses, you can become immune to this, as well as use it against your opponent. For example I come into the bag with some punches to the head ( maybe a right straight to left hook to right uppercut or whatever you like ) with your eyes purposely fixed high, then when you see the low opening you hit there while still looking high with your eyes, if your opponent looks in your eyes to try anticipate you, he will be in for trouble. It's a neverending cycle that you can train forever really. The idea is to either hit where the hands cannot be ( 2 places at once ), or to lure his hands away from your true intended target. Of course you need to practice this sparring, but it can be practiced with soft contact so I'm sure you can do a bit with a friend just to try it out and see if you like it.

Don't fall into the trap of always alternating your hands when you punch. Throwing 3 punches in a row with one hand can work. For example 2 hard right body hooks while looking low followed by a right hook to the head while you still look to his liver/spleen. Change it up all the time. Never right left right left right left the whole time. But right left right left in combination with other stuff is good too.

For stamina/endurance, you can time yourself in rounds. Since you are not lasting long ( which means you are working hard ) you can start with short rounds, maybe 1 minute with 30 second breaks, or if you feel like more than 2 minute rounds. If you can only do 2 or 3 rounds that's fine. Just start there and be patient with yourself. Punching the bag is actually a very spiritual experience if you let it become that for you, and if you just take it slow and easy you will progress fast ( isn't there an old Kung Fu saying about Slow can sometimes be Faster ? ).

If you are going to use Jabs, then remember not to just jab to the head, also jab low. A combo I like to use is simply a low right Jab/Straight to the stomach, followed by a Left Hook to the head while I'm still at low jab level. Jabs can really wear you out if you do a round of just jabs and footwork. It's a real challenge. You circle the bag while combining high and low jabs in any amount of combinations.

Skipping is fantastic, and is something any serious boxer will include in his training regime. It completely destroys me, more than the bag even, which is great. I like to sometimes start with 10 min skipping, then do 6 - 12 rounds on the bag, then end with 10 min skipping. Make sure to wear cushioned shoes for skipping and avoid surfaces without shock absorbing properties.

If you want to work on your timing ( you say no speed bag is currently available ? no problem ). There are many ways. I learnt some interesting methods in FMA ( which greatly influenced today's boxing techniques ). If you have a friend ( or a CD ) who can do hand drumming, get them to jam while you are hitting the bag. You treat your timing almost like in music theory ( but more instinct than intellectual process ). So you might find you are hitting in a rhythm to the drums, this is the first step, to be able to keep rhythm to different speeds, then you want to break that rhythm up by striking on the half beat ( the empty space between sounds ). If you don't like the idea of the drumming, you can use a Metronome. This sort of training makes you aware of any predictable timing habits you have built up very quickly and opens up your mind to variations you might not have thought of.

As always, supplement everything above, with sparring ( even at 5% force you can still work timing, distance, spacing, stamina, endurance, etc. )

Good Luck. Hope this gives you a few ideas.

Wow! That is an amazing amount of good information to digest.

One of the articles you linked up mentioned an interval timer. Is that what they call the timers where you can set rounds and rest time between rounds? Can you get any fairly cheaply or are they expensive? Anyone have any recomendations on a good brand?

A few things that stick out are when you say to not always alternate punches. I was actually doing some combinations with the same hand punching a couple of times in a row and thought that was one of the things I was doing wrong. So what Seh was saying about instincts is right. I was doing something good and did not trust that. But I still think I was not putting enough power and proper technique into the second punch (just drawing back and putting it out there), so that is something to work on.

I try and switch from left foot forward to right foot forward back and forth, but I am both left footed and left handed and seem to be most comfortable with those being forward. This apparently goes against boxing wisdom as I have my most powerful hand forward.
I was practicing moving up and back, but I see I need to add more side to side moves. I am also pretty bad at being light footed (always told to be lighter on my feet in sparring class and move around more), but am working on that too. The bouncing on my toes does not seem to hurt my injuries, it is twisting motions I have to be careful of.

Funny, I really thought most people would not have the combination problem I have. It's nice to know I am not alone.

I have always been good at imagining an opponent, but for some reason never applied it to my bag work. I'll start doing so.

I have a metronome from when I played drums. I'll go through some old stuff and dig it up. I knew there was a reason I held on to it.

I can't do sparring class yet, but the bag work is a step towards this. I need to be able to twist more easily and add kicks into the bag workout first. I gotta build up slowly and be smart.

Strangely enough, I have enjoyed my bag workouts much more than I did before my injuries. Before it was just something I had to do to get better at Kung Fu, but it was not one of my favorite things. But I found it pretty fun recently. I have a whole new attitude and appreciation for it!

__________________
I must not fear.Fear is the mind-killer.Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.I will face my fear.I will permit it to pass over me & through me.& when it has gone I will turn to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.Only I will remain.F.Herbert