Just a quick question to everyone.

Has anyone ever made their own training props, such as kick bags/dummies and spring loaded punching bags/dummies?

If so do you have plans or know of a site that could assist?

I would like to put some hard ware together for our dojo and students.

Thanks in advance!

Due to other committments i find that i use my makiwara very rarely, and having straw rope surface i didnt have the build up of skin and constantly ended up with scabs bruises and blood, even after only 10 minutes or so of practise. As the solid calous' take years of daily training to build up. My discontinual, sporadic training was like going back to stage 1 every time.

personally it didnt bother me but being a student it was frowned upon and it is rather unsightly writing at a desk looking like a gypsy boxer.

so instead of giving up my makiwara practise altogether i have replaced the very abrassive straw rope with A LEATHER BELT. It has worked for me very well as it is nowhere near as abrassive but still fairly unforgiving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GWlJMSAlu4

my favorite way to stretch....adds inches to range of motion......

if you look up on youtube you will find more examples...

any other karate ka do this type?

This is my training plan based on Sensei Nishiyama's book and also on Sensei Nakayama's. Maybe it would be useful for somebody else.

First 16 weeks are just basics (without kumite, cause it's an individual plan but you can add kihon ippon here and 30 minutes more). I added here my katas but you can of course modify it.

So here goes the beginners and intermediate block for 6 days a week for 1.5 hour (or 2 hours with kihon ippon kumite). It's rather for 8 kyu and more but lower grades can also modify it for themselves.

1st week
BASICS
1. zuki -> in shizen-tai, in kiba-dachi; focus on lower part of the body, don't hit from your shoulders

What to look for and how to prepare yourself, so you can confidently walk into a karate school and not only know what to expect, but know what everybody's doing!

People have practiced martial arts for thousands of years. There are many reasons why people practice martial arts and the reasons have changed and evolved over the years.

In times of war, it was the fighting skills learned from karate that were the main reason to train, in times of peace, health and character development took precedence and now we have the competition side of karate, which is huge!