Heavy bag vs Bag with heavy base

[GranFire]

As the titles says it: What is the difference, pros or cons?

[Piston]

I did have a heavy bag that I hung from an I-beam in our house, about 5 foot long and filled with a sort of fluffy material. I have since had to take it down due to moving of stuff. It was ok for punching and maybe front leg turning kicks, but it was worthless for any sort of power kick because it swung to much. I would say go with the heavy bag with a base, much easier to set up and use.

I'm hoping to get one of those punch bags shaped like a man, so....therapeutic.

[lindz]

heavy bag with a base are the best.
its no fun to do powerkicks on the the hanging bag, and have it swing back and knock you over...
expect if you do powerkicks on the heavy base, it falls over and you have to keep picking it up...

[Sagacious Lu]

IMHO it's better to hang your heavy bag because you have to move with it while it swings which lets you train your foot work. You have to learn to move with the bag while it swings. Bags with a base are cheaper and easier because you don't have to hang them but they simply aren't as good. I'll grant you that it's frustrating for me to work on a bag that's too light because I knock it all over the place to the point where it's excessive, but that just means I need a bigger bag. You don't want to cheat yourself out of the movement of the bag.

[kuk sool won]

Bags with bases are not cheaper, no way, you pay a lot more for a bag with a base. A little birdy told me (Mike Brewer) that the weight feels distinctly different on a free standing bag (it pivots at the base and moves at the top rather than swinging from the bottom like a hanging bag), so you don't get the same resistance benefits from them as you do a hanging heavy bag.

Still, I bought a free standing bag a week or so ago and filling it with sand has basically given it enough weight for it not to fall over and i'm getting along fine with it. You can still work your footwork, perhaps not to the same extent as its relatively static but still a good work out.

[13ang]

A good solid 100 pound heavy bag is all you will ever need. I like the swing, it gives much more resistance, and depending on the material it also conditions the striking surface.

How much swing you want can be determined by how much you let it hang. If its on a 10 foot chain its obviously gonna swing more than if its on a 1/2 foot chain.

[WildWest.]

We have a free standing bag at our MT club, I don't use it much because it always falls over when I do a Thai round kick or especially a back kick. My preference is definitely a heavy hanging bag, for the fact you have to move as and you can belt the shit out of it. It must be heavy though, helps with conditioning I find.

[WildWest.]

That would make it one very heavy bag Mike! The conditioning you would get from hitting it would be awesome though.

[Shard]

Hanging. My preference anyways.
I find it forces you to practise foot work and you have to adapt to the swings the bag makes just like how you have to adapt your techniques to different opponents.

[GranFire]

Thanks guys!

We have several different standing bags, each with a little different characteristics (sorry, not the dud shaped one...)

I was considering a hanging one for home...if I can find a place to hang it up, carport or so...

What brand and weight do you suggest (I take it, the one Walmart sells is for small fry, if that?)

[WildWest.]

It is heavy, and the downside is it's almost impossible to empty and refill without making a horrible mess. But it won't tip over. That's how I had mine for the longest time. Oh, it won't develop that irritating leak that so many of the plastic based water-filled bags get from time to time either.

I'm not familiar with plastic based water-filled bags?? Are they like those large patio furniture type umbrellas which sit in those round plastic holders that you fill with water?? Sounds cheapish? I thought the free standing bags simply had a heavy weight at the base of the bag like the one at our MT club?

As for the 500lb bag, that sounds awesome.....At a MT club that I used to attend while at Uni we had a hanging bag that was fricken huge, you could hug it yet your arms were still miles apart from each other and it was bloody heavy. You would whack the shit out of it and it would only move a little bit. With your bag, is it easy to move or do you need to get some mates together and try not to hurt yourselves??!!

[GranFire]

I'm not familiar with plastic based water-filled bags?? Are they like those large patio furniture type umbrellas which sit in those round plastic holders that you fill with water?? Sounds cheapish? I thought the free standing bags simply had a heavy weight at the base of the bag like the one at our MT club?

As for the 500lb bag, that sounds awesome.....At a MT club that I used to attend while at Uni we had a hanging bag that was fricken huge, you could hug it yet your arms were still miles apart from each other and it was bloody heavy. You would whack the shit out of it and it would only move a little bit. With your bag, is it easy to move or do you need to get some mates together and try not to hurt yourselves??!!

The water filled base is in essence like the patio umbrella, just bigger...I don't know if 500 lbs is in the realm of possibilities, some of the guys in our school can knock them over (and have to pick them back up ) You can simply tilt them on the side and roll them, we have matts on the floor, so they don't take a beating, but at around 200$, that's hardly cheap... Once the tank wears, you could fill it with concrete....