Building training equipment

[Spartacus Maximus]

Nowadays it is much more common to buy training equipment rather than building it. Almost any kind of equipment can be found available in sporting goods or martial arts supplies stores as well as online retailers.

Sometimes there is some piece of equipment or training tool that is unavailable anywhere. In such a case the only solution is to get creative. Designing and building equipment can be an interesting project.

Have you ever built something to use in your training? What is your inspiration for making it?

[mushybees]

I haven't yet but I'm going to soon build a heavy punchbag and pull-up frame using scaffolding tube. I'm building a 4.5 x 3.5m log cabin at the bottom of the garden to train in and I need to build a frame that allows me to maximize the floor space.

When I build it I'll post it up with instructions and a list of materials. I'd love to see other people's projects.

When I'm done with the cabin ill make a makiwara which seems simple enough.

[Spodo Komodo]

I made a makiwara with a bit of old timber, a length of polypropylene rope and a couple of old chamois window leathers. I also made some chi ishi training weights by driving a couple of six inch nails through an old rake handle and then setting them in four inches of cement at the bottom of an old plastic bucket. You can also make Ishi Sashi stone padlocks with a bit of broom handle and some cement but you really need to make a wooden pattern to set them in so the handle is secured which is more difficult than using a plastic bucket.

[Spartacus Maximus]

I still have my hand pads that I made many years ago. They are filled with pea-sized ball bearings and wrapped in denim canvas. In my yard I have a post makiwara, which is basically just a post stuck into the ground and stabilized with rocks and plank sections. The top end is sawn along the length in three cuts, then wrapped with strong natural fiber rope for all the striking surface.

[Wastelander]

I've made a makiwara, a kakiya/kakete-biki, several chi-ishi, some nigiri-ishi, a couple tetsutaba, and some padded weapons for sparring. Although it isn't technically necessary, I feel like at least making your own chi-ishi is almost a rite of passage for karateka, nowadays

[DWx]

Couple of years old but check out this thread for some more ideas:

http://www.karateforums.com/diy-training-gear-vt45313.html

[Judodad_karateson]

I've made a makiwara, a kakiya/kakete-biki, several chi-ishi, some nigiri-ishi, a couple tetsutaba, and some padded weapons for sparring. Although it isn't technically necessary, I feel like at least making your own chi-ishi is almost a rite of passage for karateka, nowadays

What kind of rope/striking surface did you use for the Makiwara?

[Wastelander]

I've made a makiwara, a kakiya/kakete-biki, several chi-ishi, some nigiri-ishi, a couple tetsutaba, and some padded weapons for sparring. Although it isn't technically necessary, I feel like at least making your own chi-ishi is almost a rite of passage for karateka, nowadays

What kind of rope/striking surface did you use for the Makiwara?

At the dojo, we use Shureido leather makiwara pads. I have made leather pads for my old dojo. My personal makiwara, I made a pad the traditional way because I'm a nerd like that, although I had to use manila rope instead of rice rope. I feel its important to point out that wrapping the board in rope is NOT how to make a makiwara pad. They were made out of a bundle of rope or straw, which was then wrapped in rope, and the whole assembly was tied to the board. It is a much different surface to strike than just wrapping the board in rope. Here is mine:

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

[Bulltahr]

I made my own portable Makiwara out of Oak and Manila rope. Take it with me everywhere I go.

http://i.imgur.com/n75bY7U.jpg