The study of martial arts is an integral part of many people's lives. Someone does this simply as a hobby, setting aside a couple of nights a week for classes. And someone, being a professional athlete, devotes all his time and effort to this. But regardless of whether it’s a hobby or a lifestyle, if a person is seriously engaged in combat sports, then he knows how important it is to hone his skills over and over and have prepared shock surfaces.
The best assistant for this is Makivara (a special tool for practicing blows), which is in any gym. But what if the opportunity to visit the gym for some reason is temporarily absent, but you need to train? To do this, you can and should do the makiwara himself. How? You will find the answer to this question in this article - in it we will consider how to make makiwara with your own hands.
To begin with, it is worth saying that in general there are 2 types of makivar: hanging and standing.
Outboard is a great success as a home-made portable. More precisely, its variety is makivara wall. This device can be hung on a wall indoors or on a tree or post on the street.
What is needed to make a good makiwara made by yourself:
- Polyurethane (thickness from 5 to 10 mm). It can be replaced with ordinary tourist foam (a rug made of foam material). It is a shock absorbing material.
- Faux leather or burlap for sheathing. It is better that the material was with a margin.
- Elastic bands (width from 3 to 5 cm) or ropes for fastening (to a tree or post).
- Velcro for fastening (to a tree or post).
- 4-8 screws (wall mount).
- Screwdriver.
Manufacturing process
Our makiwara should consist of three links vertically connected to each other.
From a polyurethane (or rug) plates are cut about 20-25 by 35-40 cm in size. Each section can be made of two or three plates. It depends both on the level of your training and the thickness of the shock absorber.
Next, we take the material prepared for sheathing and fold in two layers. We place it vertically and lay out the column of the plate. On top we put the same layer of skin and sew the front and back of it. You can also lay seams between the plates.
To the lower and upper edges are sewn elastic bands (to the edges of which Velcro is sewn) or ropes that will be used to fasten makiwara. This option is great for attaching to a tree or post.
If you use a wall as a support, then simply screw it with screws (you can nail it with dowels, if desired) in the right place. So much for the makivara you have created with your own hands!
Another option for making portable makiwara is the following: go to the pet store and buy a cat scratcher. Then you get two rubber bands with hooks at the ends in some household goods store (you can make them yourself) and connect the whole structure together. It turns out a good projectile that can be hung on a tree or pillar.
There is another way! You can wrap a small board with hemp (you can put something under it for softness). Then figure out a suitable mount, and do-it-yourself makivara is made.
And finally, the easiest way - take an old thick book and fasten it to the wall, tearing off the cover.
A good ready-made portable option is Makivara Badyuk-Shilov. This is a portable version of the patented Makivara Kamerton Shilova, which is considered by many professionals and martial artists to be the best.
Usually it is called MBS, or just Makivara Badyuk. It is more difficult to make it with your own hands than those that we examined above. But there is an opportunity. You just need to find out the principle of its work and choose the right materials.
Still, it’s worth remembering that a good and high-quality makiwara, assembled at home, can replace you with the equipment available in the gym and allow you not to lose that valuable time that you can devote to training. Constant practice will make your punch technical, strong and punchy.