Tire for Low Kicks on Punching Bag

6/7/18

In the system of martial arts I practice, Changshi Quan, or Commonsense Martial Arts, we recognize that flashy high kicks are almost worthless in practice. Such risky kicks can leave you unbalanced, expose your groin, your knee, and set you up for a takedown. Therefore, we emphasize a variety of low kicks, especially the namegaeshi "returning wave", front kick, stop kicks, low side kicks to the knee, low cut kicks, and stomps. With some types of punching bags, practicing low kicks can be difficult because of their plastic base. In this article I show you my solution.

I went to a gas/inspection station and simply asked them if they had any old tires I could have. They actually gave me two, and for free! After a little cleaning after I got it home, I simply slipped it over the punching bag cylinder.

There is one issue. Because this punching bag is kept outdoor, when it rains the tire retains water. During mosquito season this could be problematic. Either way, it will get nastier with stagnant water.

My solution is that I drilled a series of holes in the tire

In practice this has worked pretty well. The water drains out the small holes no matter how the tire is positioned.

I hope this gave you some ideas for your punching bag and kicking practice. Thanks for reading!