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Training Equipment General: Portable training equipment: Towel: used for pulling the towel. Cheap. Disad: not fast. Most power training in 1 min sets, towel (min)10+. Shin and forearm pads: good padding for full power impacts. Disad: really shouldn't be needing them, set is about as bulky as wedge. Grip exerciser: used for clenching, can develop hand or fingertip strength. Good for holding while doing wrist movements. Cheap ($5), small. Wedge: wrist curls and reverse wrist curls. Isolates the forearm muscles, reduces tendency to cheat w/biceps that free weights allows. Disad: size of forearm, bulky, expensive($30). Mace: twist side to side, maybe figure 8s. Also incredibly intensive to practice figure-8s with while shifting. Disad: size of forearm and 5 lb. Inner tube: only way to practice chi sao w/o partner. Packs anywhere. Can substtute for towel. ASP baton: besides being a functional weapon in its own right, it is a extensible baton which packs well, and can be used for solo practice of 1h weapons such as Chinese broadsword, or any staff work where hands don't separate more than 20-22". Example: kobudo uchi-otoshi (bo staff) depends heavily on smooth grip switches. Finally, remove interior sections to avoid rattlling, and use grip area (slightly padded, but heavier) as a conditioning tool (tap forearms and shins. Work methodically, try to cover entire area evenly). Not as good as a muk yan jong since myj conditions while ensuring proper positioning, but better than no conditioning. Tracks staff: collapses/expands from 36" to 57". Much easier to travel with and extend to practice kwan do techniques than carrying around a quarterstaff. Collapsed at 36", does in a pinch for use w/broadsword review. Semi-portable: Wall bag: Disad: pillow size, few lb, noisy. Long pole: great for speed training, arm explosiveness, grip conditioning, incredibly good crossover training for SCA. Disad: 8 feet long, does not travel well. Roof rack? * Speed punch box: build box about 12-18" square, and at least 6" deep. Hang on wall. Secure a sheet of X-ray film to the top edge, hanging free. Use to work on precision of speed punches. Disad: larger than wall bag and even noisier. Non-portable training equipment: Pullup bar: Great upper body, also good for abds. Might try doing lat shrugs on it. Cheap: $12 Heavy bag: 70-100 lb, but try finding anywhere to hang it. New $80+ Muk yan jong: wonderful, but very expensive and bolted to wall. $875. Gravity boots: great for abds, but just as portable as pullup bar. Not good for bad knees? $90 Kicking post: build right triangle - floor and riser of 2x4, hypotenuse of 4x4. 4x4 at 30° from vertical, top (when assembled) about hip height or a bit lower. Brace triangle into a wall and practice knee-height kicks on it. Possible equipment: PVC pipe 2"x3' or so, tied to wall or bolted w/universal joint at height between solar plexus and shoulder. Use for huen drill. If get good, add weight to "arm". 3-foot stick w/5 lb. weight on 2-foot string: YJ-M ASCN, use for arm movement and toning. Cord on one end for most drills, in center for wrist curling. Advantages: cheap, requires less space than long pole, much more portable. Considering a weight bag (don'twant to hang from ceiling indoors, don't really want to hang from porch (much easier w/exposed struts), as afraid of noise/vibration complaints, even if use coil spring as shock absorber for hanging. So: need big heavy thing to hit, some padding nice, preferably dismantlable. Idea: take several (maybe 6-8) car tires and stack vertically, fill inner tubes w/water. Put rims on top and bottom tire ONLY (keep cost down) and compress with a cable running from bottom to top, attached to rim at base and attached to long bolt at top. Tighten nut to compress tires together for stability. For extra mass (my apartment and porch are both concrete flooring on the first floor, so I can't go with a mercury-filled waterbed, but anything else is probably to light to bother the foundation), can stuff sandbags down center cavity (easier to remove than loose sand when dismantling time comes). Fancy improvement to above massive post: add flat plates between tires which have a protruding socket, adding "arms". Start w/ single arm (center one @ solar plexus) as pictured in Robert Smith kung fu book for conditioning forearms. Add other pipe extensions as pad holders for training (either wall bags for punching, or Thai-style kicking shield size). The extension would look like a big lollipop with a short stem. May have center punched out for filler of center cylinder, will need at least a small center hole for the steel cable. Maybe put rims on a couple of interior tires and bolt lollipops to those rims? Perhaps have truck coil spring mounts for bags for a little give? Grip exercisers: Brand: Everlast Cost: $5/pair Noise: irritating, squeaky Comments: V-style. Cheap, nice shape. Sliced the rubber nubs off the finger side of the grip, was developing blisters. Palm-side does not develop blisters, nubs aid in traction. Spring does lose tension after a few months of usage. Brand: Everlast Flex-Grip Cost: $2.50 Noise: irritating, squeaky Comments: 2 grips with a spring mechanism at each end. Hard plastic grips w/o rubber surprisingly comfortable. Design is conducive to careless exercise, allows springs to pivot w/o collapsing. Also, squeaking noise irritating. Brand: Excel Squeeze Machine Cost: $10.99 Noise: acceptable, clicking Comments: A V-style grip exerciser with an adjustable spring in the main (palm-side) shaft with a basal knob, variable tension like the Marcy Wedge. Well-made, appears to be very durable. By turning the adjustment knob below the weakest setting, lowest tension is maintained, but V narrows for smaller hands. Quiet, inoffensive clicking noise. Problem: adjustment knob is too shallow/slick/narrow/etc. for me to turn the setting above 6-7 (1-9) w/o using something else besides my hands. (If keep working @ 6-7, might be strong enough to turn it.) Brand: Gripmaster (also pistol version) Cost: $11 Noise: low, clicking Comments: light/medium/heavy 5#/7#/9# color-coded (x/red/black) Has a separate spring-loaded column for each finger. The separation identifies which fingers are weaker than others. Also, very good for toughening fingertips for grip penetration. Brand: Eggserciser Cost: $7 Noise: silent Comments: a rubber egg-shaped squeezer, designed to fit the hand better than a tennis ball. Brand: Power Putty Cost: Noise: silent, with occasional popping bubblegum-like sounds Comments: 4 lvls color-codedx/x/blue/green Silly putty in various viscosities as a grip exerciser. Silent. Good for extending the fingers (dig in or loop over, then open the hand). Disadvantage: can get dirty, etc. When it does, loses strength. Also smells. Comes in small plastic fist for carrying. Brand: Marcy Wedge xe (plastic, not the earlier metal model) Cost: $30 Noise: loud Comments: Can get same effect doing wrist curls w/dumbbells. One good feature: wrist curls depend on gravity, Wedge does not. Can work the motion while arm is turned so as to make gravity ineffectual. Brand: Tunturi Cost: $3.50/pr Noise: medium, clicking Comments: V-style. Comfortable foam padding, no shaping for grip. medium/heavy Brand/type: Rubber doughnuts (Bridgestone) Cost: Noise: silent Comments: Brand/type: Egg-shaped coil spring (Bridgestone) Cost: Noise: Comments: Brand/type: Metolius? rock-climbing practice block Cost: High. Real high. about $100 or so? Noise: Comments: designed for rock-climbing training, hangs on wall like a pullup bar, do finger hangs/pullups/etc. For cost-effectiveness, probably better just to do fingertip pullups off doorlintels. For more usage, see Performance Rock Climbing. |