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Drew Loto
Drew Loto's picture
Mini-Makiwara

Does anyone have any experience with small, wall hainging makiwara (examples below)?

I'm considering items such as: http://www.martialartsmart.com/20-86.html or http://www.martialartsmart.com/20-8485.html

I am currently living in an apartment, and am interested to know if such items are likely to damage my walls or create disturbances for my neighbors?

Perhaps more importantly, I would like to know if these products actually provide the same kind of training benefits as a stand up Makiwara one might place in the backyard?  I like to train on the makiwara because of what it teaches me about structure and penetrating power more so than the way it conditions my striking surfaces.  Have you found these items to provide the same type of resistance and feedback as a standing makiwara?

My other option would be a makiwara with a stand.  Preferably one that would be easy to store in my closet when not in use, as my space is limited.  Does any one have recommendations for such an item?

I appreciate your help!

Matticus
Matticus's picture

Unfortunately, even with the walls as thick as they are at mine, my makiwara work disturbs my neighbors (those below me).  Mine is built off this template: http://ryukyuma.blogspot.com/2013/05/moveable-indoor-makiwara-dimensions...   I'm also thinking of building a whatsit for my truck's hitch receiver that will form the base for a makiwara, but I haven't found time yet. Anyway, I can tell you that they will not afford you the same benefits.

Wastelander
Wastelander's picture

The wall-mounted "makiwara" that you often see from martial arts suppliers are pretty much useless, in my opinion, unless you're just trying to condition your hands. Even then, there are better ways of doing it. I wouldn't even bother with them.

I built my own makiwara that mounts to the wall of my garage, that more-or-less follows this design: http://abieneman.wordpress.com/2010/04/02/diy-wall-mounted-makiwara/

You can see mine in this photo:

Unfortunately, it didn't work out very well, for me. The wood I used for the spacer blocks was too hard, and the screws didn't go all the way in, so I tried to use bolts, and ended up stripping them. The result was a wobbly, squishy makiwara. It's better than nothing, but nowhere near as good as the makiwara we have at the dojo. I've heard good things from Ryan (whose blog Matticus linked to), and others who have built platform makiwara like his. You can set it on a towel or carpet to reduce the noise going into the floor, but it's still going to cause a disturbance. Hitting a plank of wood is hitting a plank of wood, and it's going to be noisy.

Steve Gombosi
Steve Gombosi's picture

If you have any kind of power at all, you'll find these clapper makiwara pretty unsatisfactory. Shureido (Okinawa) used to (like 25 years ago) make a heavy duty wall-mounted makiwara that used really robust leaf springs (like automotive springs) as a damping device. I never saw it advertised in the States, but saw one at the Shureido outlet store in Naha. I don't know if they still make it. I suspect it would still really annoy the neighbors, though.