Century Torrent T2 - Review

[singularity6]

The bag arrived on Friday. It's set up, and I had one good 30 minute workout on it so far. So, here's my initial impression:

Unboxing and setup were fairly simple. There are some Velcro flaps that need to be pulled over a ridge on the base (for stability.) That part took a little persuasion, but other than that, no issues. It's almost as tall as I am, so it'll be great to work on almost all my techniques.

I threw a large variety of techniques at it, with a fair amount of power in some. My upper body lacks strength, so my punches didn't do too much to it, and the bag holds up well to my round kicks. When it came to my side and spin-side kicks, it moved quite a bit (it was too close to the wall for some, but it might have otherwise fallen over once or twice!) My palm-heel strikes also got it moving pretty good.

Overall, I really liked the way it felt when I struck it. The vinyl seemed very tough, yet soft enough to not mess up my bare knuckles too much. Century also did a nice job on the foam - the density and firmness seems just right! I did beat on a Wavemaster XXL at my friends school for a bit, and the Torrent T2 does seem a bit more stable. We have a BOB XXL at my school, and while I like the idea, I do not like beating on it without gloves - the rubber is too hard on my skin.

This was my first time going at a bag as intensely as I did, for as long as I did, so I was a little sore yesterday (then I shoveled the foot of snow that fell. Ooof.)

At any rate, I will update this tread after a few weeks or a month.

[singularity6]

Yep... I can knock this over with my side kicks.

[neoravencroft]

Good to know. Thanks for the info.

[singularity6]

After beating on this thing for a couple weeks, I really do think its a keeper. I hit it pretty much as hard as I want with hand strikes and round kicks. It'll move a bit, so I do have to re-position it from time to time. I can knock it down fairly consistently with my side kicks, jump kicks, and almost topple it with my front kicks. Due to its girth, I find myself needing to readjust my position for particular techniques. Spin hooks, hook kicks, back fist, ridge hand strikes, etc all need me to be slightly off-centered when facing it, as I will not be able to complete the technique (spin hooks actually get me to spin a second time once I connect!)

The first time I trained on it, I went to town without gloves, and ended up missing some skin on my middle-finger knuckle. So now, I do most of my training with some fingerless bag gloves that have minimal padding, then a few minutes without gloves to toughen my knuckles. Overall, the bag seems fairly pleasant on the hands (being made of smooth vinyl instead of canvas.)

[JR 137]

As far as sidekicks go, I’m not surprised that it’ll topple over. Sidekicks are more of a thrusting/driving kick than others. People complain that freestanding bags will get knocked over by stuff like that; it’ll make a heavy bag swing pretty wildly too, so it pretty much is what it is. Running and jumping kicks will do the same.

I really liked the Wavemaster XXL. I liked it mostly for the shear size of it, as it’s easy to do a lot of different height kicks and in combination with punches.

If the Torrent’s moving about starts to really bother you, I’ve got a great fix that worked great for my BOB XL; get one of those industrial mats from a place like Home Depot. The big and thick rubber squares with the holes in it. No more turning, sliding, etc. While it still rocks a bit, no more loud slamming either. And it should rock a bit, otherwise there’s too much stress on the stem.

[singularity6]

Meh, moving it just adds to the workout

[sensei8]

Meh, moving it just adds to the workout

Nothing like a little additional cardio just before bashing it to smithereens!!

[jsizzle]

Any chance you might record yourself hitting this bag? There isn't any real good videos on the product with someone putting in some serious effort.

[singularity6]

Maybe if I can get back into my routine. Things with work have been really crazy and I haven't been able to get back into training with any regularity since March.

[jsizzle]

Maybe if I can get back into my routine. Things with work have been really crazy and I haven't been able to get back into training with any regularity since March.

I can totally understand. I am really looking into purchasing this bag but all the videos I have seen online show this bad wobble so much, and makes it a difficult decision. I would be interested in just a quick 5-10 second clip of a strong kick to it, hopefully with a base full to really see the stability of it. Thanks!