Jeet Kune Do Double End Bag (AKA Top & Bottom Bag) Training

OK, here are some suggestions for putting your Double End Bag to good use given to me by my good friend Vagelis Zorbas of the Athens Academe of Jeet Kune Do Fighting Technology (Academy Of Jeet Kune Do Fighting Technology official site). Vagelis is a Level 2 JKD instructor under Guro Dan Inosanto, he's trained with Paul Vunak for a number of years and he's a treasure of knowledge about martial arts - he's forgotten more stuff than I'll ever know.

The Double End bag is a tricky little piece of boxing equipment that will help you hone your punching timing and hand-eye coordination. It can be a little frustrating in the beginning (the darn thing is hard to hit!!!), so stick with basic drills until you get a feel for it. Don't forget to always punch it with good technique - make sure you transfer your weight from foot to foot as you're punching and that your shoulders cross your centerline in your crosses and hooks. Do NOT sacrifice good body mechanics in order to hit the bag with arm punches! You may even loosen up the rubber bands a little so that it swings with a lower frequency (slower, that is) and tighten them up again as you get faster and more precise. That was my advice. Now here's Vagelis' program:

JKD Top & Bottom Bag Exercises Handbook

Always focus on hitting the (DE, Double End) bag AS IT COMES TO YOU! Don't hit it as it is going away. TRY TO SEE THE BAG AS IS RETURNS TO YOUR FACE. Also, within the same practice session, switch from light bag gloves, to heavier boxing gloves to bare fists; this changes the speed of the bag, and forces you to adjust your timing and rhythm. You tend to hit the bag with the same amount of force all the time and this makes it easier to pick up on the rhythm. Try to vary the force of your punches.

Drills:

*Basic Jab-work on seeing the ball

*Jab and Slip right and left

*Jab-catch-Jab-good ol' Panantukan drill works here (You can do a ton of the Panantukan drills on the DE ball)

*Jab-Cross-make sure to hit the ball as it returns

*Jab-Cross and slip-Depending on how hard you hit with the cross-you may or may not successfully slip.

*Jab/R or L uppercut

*J/C/R or L Uppercut

*Jab/Lead Hook-try to hit the ball as it returns

*J/Lead Hook/C-try to not "wait" on the ball-hit it accurately on its first return and first "lateral" motion in front of you as a result of you hook-easier said than done.

*Pak sao by capture-you can do two variations in your "boxing" section of DE ball work-1) put your "pak" hand on the ball and punch the air or 2) pak in the air and hit the ball

*Gunting the ball with either hand as it returns-this is great with a training knife too (don't use real blades as it is hard on the ball :)

Elbows and destructions in the same fashion as above.

*Add the head butt-(make sure you intentionally head butt the ball and don't call a missed slip a head butt! Also make sure the metal fixtures are covered in tape so you don't poke out your eyes!

*As the ball returns slip inside (this is where your imagination comes to play) and take a low single on the rope. This is where the small sandbag comes in handy. It needs to be heavy enough to hold the bag but light enough to grab and pick up.

*Sometimes after you take the single to the left, you drop the weight and shoot a double under the boxing bag which is hung with the bottom at waist height to the left of the DE ball.

*Shorten the cord (lengthening the elastic) so that the ball is about 2-3' off the ground, work your thrust kicking from the butt scoot position. Accuracy and timing is important here also.

*Hang the ball at waist height and work the knees, you can also punch the cord above the ball to screw up the rhythm and return.

*Use your feet to screw up the rhythm by thai kicking, pak tek, now tek, whatever tek the bottom rope.

*Shoulder roll the ball (you visualize going to the outside) and on the return beat: -Uppercut with the rear hand -Bob/weave to the other side and lead hook or uppercut. -Uppercut/overhand, overhand/uppercut, hook (just box)

*Jeet sao (stopping hand) the ball in flight with your palm-then combo

*Place a "dot" with tape on a couple sides of the ball and try to eye jab the dot as the ball is in flight-this really enhances your ability to see/-if the ball is spinning too fast (because you didn't hit it very square) this can be near impossible until it slows.

*Place the DE ball about 2 feet off a wall so when you hit it towards the wall it rebounds back at you hard and fast. This is a lot of fun for your defense. This is a solo version of a partner drill I do-each person stands on opposite sides of the ball and works it at the same time-this is a blast.

*Place your back foot on a wall so that the return of the ball will hit you and you can't move backward as you work the ball-this is fun also.

*Male Triangle Lead Drill: With the right hand, Jab, elbow, back fist, hook, step diagonal back with right foot, and left Jab, elbow, back fist, hook, step, etc.

*Ambidextrous Lead Drill: Jab, uppercut, hook, step back into right lead and cross with the left, uppercut with the left, overhand with the left; then jab, uppercut, hook with the right hand, step back into left lead, cross with the right, upper with the right and overhand with the right etc. Always adjust your distance to the bag appropriately and work in slipping right and left if you need to b/c of your proximity to the bag.

MAKE SURE YOU CIRCLE THE BAG-DON'T STAND IN ONE PLACE.

For more info on JKD equipmnet training you can check out this classic book by Guro Dan Inosanto, although I believe it's now out of print:

Guide to Martial Arts Training With Equipment

Always make sure you enjoy your training,

Spyro Katsigiannis
Systema Russian Martial Art & Filipino Kali instructor, San Shou coach.


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Martial Arts instructional DVDs: The best ever! (Part 1)

Martial Arts instructional DVDs: The best ever!

OK, it's not as if I've seen them all, but I've seen quite a few of them (about 250). And it's not as if I'm a couch potato dedicated to watching "how to beat up other human beings" kind of tapes (that would be kinky, wouldn't it?). I've been training for about twenty years and I'm kind of using myself and my training partners as guinea pigs to test the stuff I watch. I've done striking, I've done grappling and I've done doth striking and grappling, so I rather know what I'm writing about. About thirty percent of the instructionals I've seen were nothing but wasted time and money. Another sixty percent were ok but I had to dive into a lot of fluff to distill the essence, the good stuff. And then there was a ten percent that changed the way I train, the way my body performs and the way I fight. These are the ones I want to write about, so here I go:

1. Matt Thornton's Functional JKD Series 1
2. Real Contact Stick Fighting Series Vol 1-6 by the Dog Brothers


There once was a time when people in martial arts must have thought that Jean Frenette could fight and perhaps believed that preset drills such as one-step sparring and FMA's Sinawali could make one effective in combat. The karate guys were sure that they couldn't practice full-contact since one of their punches was enough to kill any opponent. Sure, there were also the kyokushin guys, the full-contact karate guys from the US and Muay Thai fighters of course, but the consensus was that drilling is as close to fighting as one can get. The change came in the early nineties partly because of the UFC and partly because of some training groups like the Dog Brothers who fought full-contact with non padded sticks and Matt Thornton's Straight Blast Gym who advocated "alive" training against fully resisting opponents. Thornton's Funtional JKD Series 1 first DVD includes kick-boxing instruction, alive focus mitt training, footage from hard sparring sessions and - most important - interviews with Matt himself and his instructors explaining the difference between "dead patterns" (preset drills) and alive training, that helps you hone your skills under pressure. DVD 2 focuses on what is called "trapping range" in JKD circles, and Thornton cannibalises on drills such as Wing Chun's Sticky Hands and FMA's Hubud and Tabon Siko Nordabis, stating clearly that he's never ever been able to use any of these in real combat. He then goes on to suggest the Greco-Roman wrestling clinch as an effective alternative for the trapping range and brings in the best possible expert to explain and demonstrate, none other than Randy Couture. Basic pummeling and takedowns from the clinch are covered here as well as attached and unattached striking from close range and the drills suggested are sure to elevate your game to a higher level. Finally, DVD 3 is an introduction to positional ground fighting and BJJ. The Straight Blast Gym curriculum has evolved a lot since the nineties when this was filmed, but back then this set was a real eye-opener and the contents are still useful.
What Thornton's set was for unarmed combat, the Dog Brothers RCSF set was for Filipino martial artists that wanted to test their art under pressure, not under huge amounts of protective padding. Eric "Top Dog" Knauss, probably the best stick fighter of the late 20th century explains plain and simple that in order to fight with a stick, you must first be able to hit hard (so that you command your opponent's respect), you must then be able to move fast to all directions, when you can't move you have to use reliable blocks, when the fight goes to the ground you must be able to grapple and when using double sticks, twirling like a cheerleader is the only thing you must NOT do. The Dog Brothers curriculum has also changed a lot in the following years thanks to the genius of Mark "Crafty Dog" Denny, but Knauss was also a stylist like no other and seeing him first demonstrate his skills and then apply them in real contact fights is a feast to the eyes.

(To be continued)

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