Heavy bag or Makiwara what are pros and cons of each?

[elbows_and_knees]

Also makiwara is useful to harden the striking area while bag is useful in making your strikes heavier

the bag toughens the striking area as well. you can't hit a 200lb bag without some amount of toughess being developed. Look at thai boxers for example - all of their toughening is based on the bag, thai pads and sparring.

But as you would expect IMO there is not a better tool for showing weakness in technique as a properly made makiwara.

It is also my experiance that a heavy bag tends to encourage bad form e.g. your elbow flys out on tsuki,s.

regards maki

How does a heavy bag encourage that? that is bad form the the person's part - not a fault of the bag. If you have to move yourself into proper position, then maneuver around the bag. but I don't see how bad technique can be blamed on a training tool...

[makiwaraman]

How does a heavy bag encourage that? that is bad form the the person's part - not a fault of the bag. If you have to move yourself into proper position, then maneuver around the bag. but I don't see how bad technique can be blamed on a training tool...

The heavy bag simply does not punish bad form like a makiwara. We all have some bad form to some extent or if we got it perfected we may as well sit back and say we have arrived.

I simply said encourages bad form as I have found my elbow moves out slightly on the heavy bag.I did not say causes bad form, that is my fault.

regards maki

[ovine king]

The best thing I like about working on a heavy bag is that it can imitate different situations.

You can chase it on its way out as you would a real opponent or you can close in on it as it returns. You can walk around it and hit at various stages of it's outward/coming back motion at various angles or you can get partner to hold it and give you active resistance. You can work multiple hits and different heights or you can work a single hit at a single height. You can punch it or you can kick it.

Now I've not trained with a makiwara but I do have a three-section wall bag in my garden and as much as I love it, I know that I am missing out on it being immobile and essentially flat.