Tapping

[BadgerFu57]

Is tapping a heavy bag a good idea? By that I mean, kicking until you just barely tap it, focusing on speed rather than power.

I know that's good for point sparring, but I don't know if that will instill bad habits. I tried it a bit at the recommendation of a TKD instructor, but found that I was having trouble getting power back in my kicks on command due to instilling the habit of tapping.

[shasan]

for speed, I think it may help if you do lots of squats and make your quads huge. The stronger they are the faster they contract (all else being equal) which will give you the speed you need.

Of course, that will ony help with certain kicks. Point is that strength can give you speed.

but yeah, that happened to me too... kicking the heavy bag vs. kicking focus pads was a huge difference, so I'm going to train with focus pads as much as possible.

[BadgerFu57]

but was tapping actually ever beneficial?

[zoti]

Try it infront of a Thai trainer. He will tell you "You kick like a faget".

If you do MT there is no point in "tapping".

[Nutz]

My old instructor used to say "Speed is from the mind", which is pretty true when you think about it. That's sorta what you're doing with the "tapping". You're concentrating on getting that punch or kick out there as fast as possible. If you do the same thing, but refocus where you're hitting the bag (say 6 inches into, or behind it), you'll see speed and power devolop. You don't need a lot of mass if you can compensate with lots of speed. The benefit is the difficulty your opponents will encounter when they face you. I point to Bruce Lee as an example of this. He only weight around 130lbs, but was said to hit like a heavyweight (I think it was Joe Lewis that said it after working out with Bruce one day).

Remember, Mass X Velocity=Force. If you can adjust your striking to fully transfer the force you're generating to your target you'll see a big difference. Right now you're just tapping. If you move in and apply the follow-through you'll be much better off. It still amazes me to this day as to how many people don't "get it" when it comes to this sorta thing. Keep in mind that you'll need to build up to just letting loose. If you did it now you'd probably break your wrist or hand. You'll need to slowly build up the force you're putting into the heavy bag. Going fast "with nothing on it" is counter productive, but so is waiting 8 weeks while your hand is in a cast.

[retired]

Tapping can be thought of like shadowboxing which is needed and can get your joints used to movements without contact otherwise when you commit yourself to a strike and miss you usually jar that leg/arm & can suffer an injury.

[Nutz]

Originally posted by retired
Tapping can be thought of like shadowboxing which is needed and can get your joints used to movements without contact otherwise when you commit yourself to a strike and miss you usually jar that leg/arm & can suffer an injury.

Then why not just shadowbox? See I'm of the school of thought that you should train like you fight. That if you train yourself otherwise you may not be instilling the proper reaction or body mechanics into the body.

[retired]

that's the best thing about forum's

i was once told this witty phrase:

"opinions are like arseholes, everybody's got one"

so just take what you need & dump the rest

[BadgerFu57]

I would prefer shadowboxing and then just full contact.... I hate in-betweens. But TKD instructors think they know best.

[Nutz]

Don't limit it to TKD guys. I've dealt with that with many other martial arts as well. Its all on the instructor and their particular style of teaching.