I have had one of these before – it was called a "Body Opponent Bag (“Bob”). I can’t remember the brand. I ordered it over the net and it came in the mail. I loved working out on it but it had a couple of serious flaws:
It was too light.That is too say, if I hit it with a right cross, it would fall all the way over. It had a plastic hollow base with a steel plate on the bottom. I filled the base with sand, but it was still too light. I then poured water into the sand, but it was still too light, and the plate on the bottom began to rust from the moisture. So I ended up putting it on a mat backed up against the wall. This worked okay except that the wall got a bit dented and the neighbors could hear my workout more than I would have liked.
It had a hollow steel supporting pole. The supporting pole snapped clean in half after about a year and a half. (I probably worked out on it about 20 to 30 minutes maybe 3 time a week over that period, so that is way too fast given the price of the thing – which I don’t remember exactly, but I think was a couple hundred or more USD.)
The thing I liked about it was that the dummy itself had a very realistic feel, especially for working boxing type combinations to the head and body.
Anyone have any experience with these and if so can you recommend a better brand or let me know whether they have improved on the flaws of the “BOB”? Also, do you know anywhere in Taipei that stocks these things?
I think that’s because it’s really hard to find anything other than BOB. I know I was looking for something because BOB was too expensive for me (here in Croatia at least). Even my coach doesn’t know of anything else (cheaper or otherwise), plus his sister works in a boxing/mma supply store, so she should know.
I think that’s because it’s really hard to find anything other than BOB. I know I was looking for something because BOB was too expensive for me (here in Croatia at least). Even my coach doesn’t know of anything else (cheaper or otherwise), plus his sister works in a boxing/mma supply store, so she should know.[/quote]
Thanks for the reply, Tash. I guess it’s better BOB than nothing. Who knows, maybe they’ve improved the construction since I bought my last one.
Can’t help but if you find one I’d love to know where, looking for something to hit indoors as well but would prefer to be able to kick as well not only punch.
Cheers!
Di.
[quote=“Artemis”]Can’t help but if you find one I’d love to know where, looking for something to hit indoors as well but would prefer to be able to kick as well not only punch.
Cheers!
Di.[/quote]
Been busy lately so haven’t looked around much yet. I’ll post a follow-up if I find anything further.
My old BOB just had a bare tubular steel pole from the waist down to the base, but I wrapped this in multiple layers of a very thin matt (actually the kind of matt designed to go under the glass on the top of a writing desk) secured with duct tape. That worked really well for mixing low Thai-style kicks into the workout. (It also no-doubt contributed to the pole breaking prematurely.)
Hahaha yes now I understand what you are talking about and yeah they fall over all the time bit rubbish. Probably better than one of those blow up things though. Please do let me know if you find anywhere selling that kind of stuff.
Have you any idea if I will get in trouble if I decide to use randon shaped trees on walking trails at the city outskirts as targets ? Not great as they ruin any sort of protection you use or take skin off but nice and cool outside lots of space and it’s free. I used to do that in the UK in the middle of my jogging routes and got all sorts of responses from passers by.
I actually used to do that with a tree in a small park in Hsintien – just doing low Thai-style kicks lightly to try and toughen my shins a bit. The park is no longer there – they built a “community center” building in its place. No one ever said anything to me. I did choose the tree because it was in an inconspicuous spot, so I didn’t stand out too much, however.
By the way, be careful kicking trees. Some years ago I managed to give myself a serious shin infection doing this. There was no visible cut, just soreness and a bit of swelling at first. I presumed I’d just overdone it and bruised myself, and didn’t think it was serious. When the pain persisted, I went to a local Chinese medicine clinic on the advice of my then-girlfriend who was studying Chinese medicine at the time. (I still thought it was just a light sports injury, so I was open to this suggestion.)
Over the course of a week the swelling got worse and my shin got all blotchy red despite daily visits to the Chinese medicine doctor, who assured me that the medicine he was giving me just needed time to work. Finally, an assistant in his clinic whispered to me that I should really go see a Western doctor. Upon doing so, I was told I had cellulitis, and it was too late for oral antibiotics. I had to check into the hospital for surgery to clean the wound and several days of antibiotics administered through an IV drip. The Western doctor told me that I had probably got infected through microscopic cuts, and the infection was worsened by the continual application of poultices over the area by the Chinese medicine clinic. A friend who was formerly a military doctor in the US later told me that this kind of infection is very common in boot camp, and can be simply cured with oral antibiotics if treated early, but can turn into a life-threatening condition if left untreated too long. Needless to say I was really pissed off at the Chinese-medicine doctor, and at myself for being so naive as to listen to his reassurances and not get proper attention elsewhere.
I have a heavy bag with a big water filled base. But it’s no where near as good as a really heavy drop (long) bag. If you could reinforce the roof, then that’s what I’d suggest. Big drop bags let you practice wherever you haven’t worked it out. You know where you’re skimping, because that’s where it’s the hardest.
Buakaw on a drop (long) bag, and some:
The other thing about heavy drop bags is that they swing like a person. You can get your rhythm up. The others tend to bounce back quicker and too often.
In muay Thai the preference is for banana palms. I reckon they have a bit more give than hardwood!
I wish I felt confident hanging a heavy bag from my roof, but I don’t think I’ll test my luck. I used to work out occasionally on the suspended long heavy bags in the gym by the old baseball stadium occasionally and I agree with you they are great.
Thanks a lot for the detailed warning Rotalsnart! Much appreciated although I’m going to be overnervous about any pains from hitting trees now argh!
Big bags great but I’m pretty sure I’d collapse the ceiling and don’t want to have hefty rebuilding bills hence looking for a cheap free-standing alternative.
Do you happen to know of any gyms with nice hanging bags where you can pay a membership and go train on them as you like? That would be a great alternative!
[quote=“Artemis”]Thanks a lot for the detailed warning Rotalsnart! Much appreciated although I’m going to be overnervous about any pains from hitting trees now argh!
Big bags great but I’m pretty sure I’d collapse the ceiling and don’t want to have hefty rebuilding bills hence looking for a cheap free-standing alternative.
Do you happen to know of any gyms with nice hanging bags where you can pay a membership and go train on them as you like? That would be a great alternative![/quote]
Unfortunately the two gyms where I used to train that had hanging bags are now both closed. I don’t do any formal martial arts training these days (at least any group training – I still shadowbox at home for exercise and hopefully will get another sparring dummy soon for the same purpose), so I don’t really know where to direct you these days. I think there are several MMA gyms around the Taipei that should have hanging bags. You should be able to find their contact info by searching the board. Hope you find a good one.
Well, I finally found one place in Taipei that has the Century brand “Bob” sparring dummies: Budomart martial arts supplies at No. 164 Chungshan N. Rd., Sec. 6, Shihlin District, Taipei (02) 8866-6500.
They have a newer generation of Bob than my old one that I described earlier. The base looks bigger, and it is entirely plastic, so you can fill it with sand or water or both. That is clearly an improvement. The post on which the dummy rests is a heavy plastic tube of adjustable height. The adjustability is a good feature, but the plastic base is obviously not meant to be kicked, which is a negative for those who want to practice low Thai style kicks.
And unfortunately, the price is about NT$21,000, and they said there is not much room for negotiation, because of their high shipping fees to bring them in. Considering that you can find the same dummy on Amazon quoted for between US$250 to US$300-plus (not including shipping), that seems too much of a premium to pay for the convenience of buying one locally.
If anyone sees any priced cheaper anywhere else, please post.