What are you thinking when you hit?

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  • atgatt
    Speed Bag Guru
    • Nov 2007
    • 446

    What are you thinking when you hit?

    When I hit I find myself thinking:

    -How I'm hitting
    -How I feel when I'm hitting
    -and oddly, How much noise I'm making and the rhythm of the noise

    My mind does not drift off into things not related to the bag, or if it does, it is very brief. That is the same way when I'm target shooting. My mind is on what I must do.

    Thinking about it, those are the few hobbies that do that to me and I like it because it forces me to get my mind focused and off the world. Off my problems. It is a cherished mind escape.

    What do you think when hitting?
  • Speedbag
    Author of the Speed Bag Bible, founder of speedbagcentral.com

    • Feb 2006
    • 7109

    #2
    What I think about has kind of changed over time. When I'm in a "learning mode", trying new things, or needing to pay attention to my hands, the bag or swivel for some technical reason about position, techniques or "learning" reason, I'll be totally focused on that, either talking to the camera (or myself...) about what I'm doing or what just happened, and then perhaps writing it down for future reference. Mostly I do this a lot when I see new combinations that I want to try.

    But mostly, if I'm going to hit for "me", I'll probably have a few songs in mind I want to hit with, or some new songs I want to "punch up" and see how they sound. Then I will get lost in the music, just jammin' to the beat and having fun with it. Lots of times I'm kinda playful and I may rerun a section of the song over and over, trying different combination sounds. Lots of times I'm singing with the music or dancing and clowning around when I do this.

    With the current state of my shoulders, particularly my left, I don't hit that much anymore, and I usually have a short time under the board of 30 minutes or less when I do either of the above, so I don't get into the "zone" of punching non-stop for hours at a time when my mind and concentration would focus on other areas of life. I'd pretty much hit on automatic then. I can't do those marathon sessions anymore and lately when I enter the speed bag room I seem to have a set purpose or a video to make when I punch. But I do miss the days when I could simply punch full bore to exhaustion.

    I normally encourage people to divide a workout up into several parts, with one part concentrating on learning new techniques or combinations, and another just hitting freely without concentrating specifically on technique, position or "technical bag stuff". The serious concentration part can leave you frustrated and create an un-enjoyable workout, particularly if you're struggling with new stuff, so I always like someone to finish up with some free hitting, just cutting loose with what they know.

    Not to get to philosophical, but Freeing your mind from the mechanics of your movements can open you to the opportunity of "becoming the bag", which is kind of a zen state where it just all fits together. The right bag, the right beat, the speed, the body, movement, etc. It just feels perfect and your oblivious to everything but the moment of the experience. this can last a few seconds, or go on for minutes. It is a hard experience to describe, but you will know when you are there - and that's the workout you just don't want to stop.

    for me, I could bet I would enter this when going near full speed for several minutes on whatever bag size I was hitting, for at that point I can't concentrate on anything for it's all happening way too fast. That's why I would love to crank it to fast music.
    Speed Bag

    Put a little Rhythm in YOUR workout!
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    • NABALCHI
      Member
      • Nov 2007
      • 31

      #3
      For My Part

      For My Part My Mind Goes To Totally Blank And Im Only Focused On The Bag./ There Are Time When I Cant Even Concentrate Because My Daughter Of A Year 1/2 Is Always Running Around The Garage Grabbing Everything And Playing Around..
      But For Some Weird Thing When Im Really Focused And Really Into My Workout After A Few Minutes Non-stop, Im So Focused On Hitting That Sometimes I Dont Hardly Hear The Bag Or Anything Around Me Its Like I Zone Out Completely From All My Surroundings.

      Comment

      • Deevosee
        Speed Bag Trainee
        • Dec 2007
        • 1

        #4
        I'm just like NABALCHI here. I go into a total blank. I dont hear anything, and I'm sort of "in the zone" if you will. It's kinda nice to be able to clear your mind of things for a period of time, that's why I enjoy hitting the bag so much. If I have something else on my mind at the time, I dont get into the zone, and it really shows in my technique. I mess up my rhythm, my angles, everything.

        Comment

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