1877, birth of the speed bag?

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  • paranday
    Speed Bag Guru
    • Sep 2009
    • 2515

    1877, birth of the speed bag?

    "In the fall of 1877 I was living in Troy, N. Y., teaching a large class
    of students of the Polytechnic Institute. In my leisure hours it was my habit
    to call on my old friend and advisor, James Kiloran, who kept a hotel there.
    One day, while chatting with him about my prospective match with William Mc-
    Clellan, I noticed a round football on a shelf. I took it down, and began bouncing
    it with one hand and then the other. While doing this, all of a sudden the idea
    came to my mind that it would make a better punching ball than the big heavy
    sand bag that was used by all pugilists and athletes at that time."


    And so the story begins. Now I'm not sure that this guy is the lone true inventor of the speed bag, but at a minimum his text narrows down the time period when the bag was born. On Google Books, anything much earlier than the 1890s turns up, when there are any details specified at all, striking bags which were of a heavier, non-rebounding type.

    The quoted italic text above is from an article titled How to Punch the Ball by Mike Donovan, boxing instructor, New York Athletic Club, dated 1903. Courtesy of the LA84 Foundation, you can download the entire article here as a pdf:



    For evidence of his claim regarding "the big heavy sand bag that was used by all pugilists and athletes at that time", attached is a striking bag patent from 1872. Filled with sand, it's clearly not a speed bag. Mr. Donovan's story rings true. Now when our British or Australian members refer to it as a speed ball, they just might be onto something. It may have all begun with a football.

    (I just found the Mike Donovan article, if you'll excuse me, I have some reading to do.)
    Attached Files
    Last edited by paranday; 07-19-2010, 06:27 PM.
  • crapshoot
    Senior Member
    • Apr 2010
    • 135

    #2
    I think that it was during the late 19th and early 20th centuries that there was a whole wellness/fitness craze or movement at least in the USA. As the author points out, the big bags were more aptly or appropriately used by boxers and strength fans.

    In contrast, if you look at the gyms and advertisements during the same period, the majority of physical fitness revolved around a more calisthenic, gymnastic, etc. model. Yes, there were weights, but the average fitness buff was not a power lifter. Remember the indian clubs, rings, etc.? That was their heyday.

    As the last article paranday put up points out, basically anyone can do it. They can get into shape and not spend large amounts of money or worry about where to put the equipment. Also, some of the first "home gyms" or "door gyms" came about during the same time.

    So, the time period and circumstances certainly point in the right direction.

    Comment

    • paranday
      Speed Bag Guru
      • Sep 2009
      • 2515

      #3
      Guess I shouldn't be surprised that Mike Donovan was doing reverse fist rolls on that big bag. Over a hundred years ago. And wrote about it.

      Comment

      • crapshoot
        Senior Member
        • Apr 2010
        • 135

        #4
        Just found this: http://ejmas.com/jmanly/articles/200...myers_0801.htm

        The "Punching Ball"

        This is likely the predecessor to the well-known "speed bag" used today. It eventually evolved directly into the "double-end bag." Mike Donovan claimed credit for its invention. In his 1893 work "The Science of Boxing", Donovan describes the process as follows:

        Sixteen years ago (1877) I brought it into use. I began by using an old-fashioned round rubber foot-ball with a canvas cover for arm exercise....when the idea came to me of swinging it from the ceiling.

        Donovan was so impressed with his invention that he goes on to declare:

        I regard the punching-ball as the most valuable mechanical assistant to a fighter in training. The most important thing is the punching-ball; practicing with it quickens the eyes, develops the hitting muscles, and makes a man a two-handed hitter.

        Edwards seems to agree, calling it the "flying bag":

        If you are in real earnest with the fun, you will have all you can do following it round and about.

        James provides similar sentiments:

        To acquire celerity of eye, hands, feet and head, suspend an inflated bladder, and hit, parry or dodge as it rebounds---it will keep you busy, and, although recommended by no other work, there is nothing to equal this sparring with the bladder for exercise or amusement.

        Edwards gives the best description of its construction:

        It is a large, inflated rubber bag pendant from the ceiling, if that be low enough to allow of your hitting it so that its return to your reach may be almost instantaneous. If the ceiling be too high, hang it in some convenient corner of the room, so that you can drive it hard and rapidly against the two walls.

        Doran, writing in his 1889 book "Doran's Science of Self-Defense" gives some good guidelines for its use:

        In this exercise be careful not to fall into the error of driving the bag with the right hand and merely sticking out the left for the bag to strike against as it returns. You can tell when you are hitting the bag correctly by the way it returns to you, if it is not struck fairly in the center it will jump upward as it goes from you, or away to one side in returning toward you. So, endeavor to keep it going and returning straight.

        Comment

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