Makiwara pads

[Wastelander]

Since I moved into a house, I've been working on getting things set up in my garage for at-home training. One of those projects is a wall-mounted makiwara, which is still in progress because I'm working out a way to angle it away from the wall. I did get the makiwara pad made, however! Instead of buying or making a leather pad (I do leatherwork on the side, so it would be easy to do) I decided to go old-school and make a rope one. I was wondering what you all use for a makiwara pad, because I've seen a wide variety of creative options!

Mine is made with 50ft of 3/8in manilla rope that I soaked, bundled, wrapped, flattened out with a mallet, and singed off the stray fibers.

http://s13.postimg.org/isarr68x3/Homemade_Makiwara_Pad.jpg

[Harkon72]

I don't have a traditional Makiwara, I have a Wing Chun Wall Bag - Canvas with a dried black eyed pea filling. It does the same job.

[sensei8]

Noah,

You are going to slowly work into that type of pad aren't you? I only ask because starting and/or changing out with that type of pad might cause more harm than good across the board. Your skin will tear and the like at first!!

I do use that type of pad, and have been for quite a long time, but it took me awhile to reach that. I gradually worked up to that type of pad.

To tear or to condition, it's such a small line to define, imho.

Hang in there, push through the setbacks, and you'll be fine!!

Btw, it's a very nice looking pad.

[Wastelander]

Noah,

You are going to slowly work into that type of pad aren't you? I only ask because starting and/or changing out with that type of pad might cause more harm than good across the board. Your skin will tear and the like at first!!

I do use that type of pad, and have been for quite a long time, but it took me awhile to reach that. I gradually worked up to that type of pad.

To tear or to condition, it's such a small line to define, imho.

Hang in there, push through the setbacks, and you'll be fine!!

Btw, it's a very nice looking pad.

Thanks! I've been using a makiwara with a Shureido leather pad on it up until now, as well as doing my bagwork without gloves/wraps and doing knuckle pushups on various surfaces. I gave this pad a try with light taps while it was on the floor, and it didn't feel too bad, so I figured I would try it out.

On Wednesday I took it to the dojo with me, tied it to the makiwara and gave it a try, and it wasn't a problem. I could actually get in a couple more punches on each hand with this pad than I can on the leather ones, even though this one is a rougher texture. I think it's because the thing that really slows down my makiwara training is the bruising I get from my knuckles penetrating through the thin leather pad and smacking the wood every time I punch. The rope pad is thick enough that, even though it's plenty firm, I'm not hitting such a hard surface. I'll definitely be checking my knuckles often while using it, though, so I don't overdo it.