Makiwara Board……

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have a good blueprint for a makiwara Board? Loving the hand conditioning brick. Wanted to see what’s needed.

[Damian (Instructor)]

Pedro,

You can search the forum. Recently, I think, Damian made a post on this. If you can wait until module 6, you’ll get the body conditioning module and he covers all kind of body toughening training including the makiwara.

You can search “makiwara.pdf” on google and get links to documents describing using and making a makiwara. Make sure you use a standup style, not any wall mounted board that has little to no movement. You need the resistance on the upright board to keep you from damaging your joints. You’ll notice there are different styles, some taper from the front, some from the back. Some use a 4×4 post and taper from the ground to about 3/4 inch at top. Some screw 1×4’s together at different heights to form a tapered 4×4 ish post of 1x4s. I have seem some people use 1×8 boards for a broader surface area. I use the 4″ wide. People’s throats are usually 8″ wide unless they have been on the McDonalds diet. You are trying to focus here.

If I remember correctly, the one used in module 6 is the one Damian got from Carl. The construction is not described in detail, but it appears to be 1x4s or 2x4s screwed together with pads duct-taped all over it. It is a work of art! Has a neck striking area as well. Very interesting. If you have module one, look at the makiwara nearest the door in the background. You’ll see it. Can freeze frame on some shots and maybe get some idea.

Module 6 is the best body conditioning tape I’ve ever gotten my hands on. Excellent material.

Start with some slow push punches to check alignment of your body. Build power slowly, avoid injury that will set you back some months. Soon you will get the power. Nothing tells the truth about your punching better than a makiwara.

[Damian (Instructor)]

Here’s a newbie question. But when I hit with the axe hand, I dont feel like Im gettin alota power behind it. I mean I do my dropstep and everything but because the EOH is short range and isnt supposed to be telegraphed. I feel as if it’s still not powerful enough to be devastating in one hit. So would I just need to start doing my dropstep a hell of alot harder, like an oncoming freight train! Just curious.

[Damian (Instructor)]

Sboswell, thanks bro, this is pretty good! I want to build one in a couple of weeks!

Keeping it old school, My understanding of it and I’m a newbie too, though I am familiar with this type of Training. Damian said it best, Lead with Speed and follow with Power. Anytime someone experiences pain their hands usually goes where the pain is subconsciously. This is kind of the point of it, once someone is on the defense, they are not planning an attack or hitting you, but you have to keep the pressure on (keep hitting him).

Even a short Axe-hand to the Jawline or side of Neck is going to hurt like hell. I would review the DVD’s again, sometimes you can miss a very important point or concept. Once you have him on the ropes so to speak and an opening arises, go for the Long Axe-Hand and take his damn head off!

I feel far to many people are suppressed, I say get as aggressive as all Hell!!! Treat training like your life is on the spot right then and there! Others including Damian can give you much better feedback, I’m just sharing things that helped me in my transition into this type of training! Best of Luck!

Pedro

[Damian (Instructor)]

It is not so much as do your drop step harder as it is in using your hips. Yes you should explode forward and stomp. A lot of karateka folks want to center and throw a punch or elbow. They will use their hips and generate good power. However, they are balanced and cenetered and not moving forward. They generarte power from this rotation. We explode forward throwing ourselves off balance but putting our full weight into the blow. Yes we are off balance but we regain our balance when we crash into the other person. It is like the steel balls. The one on the end is released and crashes the other ball. The second ball takes off and the original ball comes to a rest. I’ll get my balance back when I knock him back when they receive as much power as I can generate. I keep my footing by stomping instead of sliding. Keep sliding to the JKD guys and fencing. I use to slide, but I have left it behind now.

I want my first hit to be fast (lead with speed), but I want my first hit to tell the sucker he is in a fight and it is going to be a very bad day, so I want some power as well.

Hip rotation helps. When I explode to hit I throw my hips into it as well. My “hello” shot is a vertical elbow. My hand is going for a chin jab and my elbow is going for the sternum. I don’t care which I hit, or both. It all sucks for him. My knees are coming as well, as well as my foot is going to a shin (not aiming, just hoping and don’t care). When I stomp, it is gravy if I catch a shin or foot on the way down. Throw your hips into the elbow towards and up as you swing the elbow.

As for EOH. It is similar. After my first crash (with elbow), I am immediately going to EOHs. I may slap down their arms and roll back to an EOH but an EOH is coming. Everyone develops their own way and this is mine. However, when I throw the EOH, it may be a quick snap to begin, but when I want power, you twist your hips immediately before or as you swing to generate power. The quick snaps are to overwhelm and make them go fetal or cover, duck, etc. When you throw a frisbee, you can throw it with arms only and it way fly away from you. If you use your body, hips and all, it flies alot further and faster.

People are thinking of this centering thing and throwing just arms. You want to EOH the snot out of him. Throw that arm. When I throw for power I usually follow with something else. On BOB, I will throw a right EOH to BOB’s side of the neck, my left hand will almost always go for a palm heel to the temple near simultaneously. It helps keep my balance. I am then reay to go on to a left back hand or EOH. Remember, don’t hit them once and check how you are doing. Hit them 20 times before you look.

I demoed this in class yesterday. I stood 90 degrees to BOB and with just arms, did a EOH to the trachea. Yeah, it woulda sucked, everyone agreed. I then used my full body and hips and did it and BOB about fell over. Much more devastating and just as fast.

[Damian (Instructor)]

After all that blabbering above, I am thinking maybe the answer to your question is as simple as this… If you are stomping and your foot is landing before your strike hits, then you are loosing power. You must hit (elbow, EOH, etc. I don’t care which) before your foot lands. When your foot lands, the floor absorbs energy from your attacking force. You want your opponent to absorb all this energy instead. Not your total attacking force minus the floor absorbed force. So, explode, contact opponent, stomp = maximum force (and regaining of balance).

Hope this helps.

[Damian (Instructor)]

Well said.

[Damian (Instructor)]

I was wondering about the hammerfist. Ive heard it to be effective and ineffective as well. Im not sure. Naturally, Im more comfortable with a hook or chinjab. Hammerfist seems too risky.

[Damian (Instructor)]

In effective LOL. We use both the hammer fist and the edge of hand. It’s like using either a sledge hammer or a hatchet/ saber.

I can’t comment on how you’re using a hammer fist and I don’t know what you mean by risky.

In the SDTS we use it in conjunction with or in replacement of the edge of hand. The way that it’s used provides cover and delivers some incredible power. Getting hit with a hammer fist in the correct manner is not a comfortable experience.

Regarding individual techniques, it all depends on your training and aptitude. I won’t retrain a boxer on how to punch, but the SDTS will show that boxer how to use those techniques successfully in the street.

The techniques in the SDTS are what has been proved to be a combination of:
Causing the most injury on your enemy
Causing the least amount of injury to you
Techniques that provide you the most amount of cover or protection while attacking (there in NO blocking in the SDTS)
Techniques that can be mastered in the shortest time possible
Techniques that can be recalled under extreme stress

Damian

[Damian (Instructor)]

I use the hammerfist the way i use my axe hand. drop step elbow raised chin tucked, not too much though and just swing using the body. Though id be more likely to use an axe hand cause id want to chop anything in my way

[Damian (Instructor)]

that’s it exactly. Most times people switch to the hammer fist when their hand begins to hurt in training.

The axe hand is still the preferred technique. It’s faster and delivers more force per square inch of contact area.

[Damian (Instructor)]

I generally train with my hands open and loose so that I have speed. When you tighten your fist, you tighten your forearms and you loose speed especially if you tighten too early in the swing. Try training and waiting to right before contact to tighten the fist (or EOH also). Of course, this is training, when things happen for real, I hope I operate the way I train. But, being a realist, I really don’t know. That is why I like this system. No specifics.

The only time I purposely train a hammerfist is when I crash with a vertical elbow, and if I miss (on purpose in training) and my hand goes above their head, I come down with a hammerfist. It seems to fit. Else, I just use it when I feel like it while working out combos on BOB.

A hammerfist to the temple sucks, and an EOH to the side of the neck sucks. The hammerfist is better when it is more on target and it is a smaller and harder target area. The EOH can be anywhere from my finger to my elbow and I am going for a larger target with lots of little goodies that can break or get crushed/bruised (trachea, thyroid, nerve ganglia, etc.). If they move around and I hit a collar bone instead, that’s OK. And as Damian said, it gives more power per square inch. You are not using your fist but the narrowness of your hand or forearm bone.

Make them punch drunk and start playing them like a funky piano…

[Damian (Instructor)]

Ha, excellent, just wasn’t sure though. Boot stomps are also a fav of mine too. Especially the low boot kick, fairbairn demonstrates in his book. With bigger people. Is it true it’s easier to take out one of their knees, their weight should just take care of the rest. The bigger they are, the harder they fall!

[Damian (Instructor)]

Absolutely! Low kicks are great. We concentrate so much on our hits with our hands and elbows that we forget these. Those crazy chambering kicks from TKD are just too slow and telegraphic. The flicks we do generate pain, are fast. People react to pain. They will drop there arms or bend over or do something. People move to pain. Hands drop momentarily. You can anticipate this and wail away with a hand blow to the head after the kicks. You can kick without looking at the target. They are really a very important part of your self-defense system.

I use them on the initial crash, but tend to forget them later on, to be honest.

The karatekas will say chambering gives more power. I want speed and distraction. I want them to feel pain before they know I’ve moved. Everybody looks down when they get kicked.

[Author]

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