Me and the Heavy Bag

By Stuart Dansby

Ever wonder what really goes on in the mind of a fighter as he is working over the heavy bag? With the MMA boom that has gone on over the course of the last five years, heavy bags seem to be popping up in gyms all across the nation, along with people who use them on a regular basis. We decided to catch up with our resident MMA expert Stuart Dansby, a man who has logged hundreds of hours training on the heavy bag over the course of the last few years, to find out exactly what is permeating through the mind and body of a fighter while he's blasting away on the heavy bag. A more interesting account of what is going on while a fighter is in the "zone" you won't find anywhere!

Most of the time when you box, kickbox or practice some form of an MMA discipline you are doing so with a partner, a coach, or a trainer. Either you are doing conditioning drills, lifting weights, grappling, sparring, or punching and kicking something (e.g., a heavy bag, a kicking pad or mitts) or someone (e.g., your training partner). On the other end of the spectrum there are those times when you train alone, with no one else in the gym ... isolated from the world. Your hands are wrapped, you have gloves on and it's just you, your thoughts and the heavy bag. This transcendental moment in time with the fight flowing through your body like a caged animal dying to get out - with knees, elbows, punches and kicks pouring out of you in complete synchronicity - this my friends, is the topic of the article contained herein.

Working the heavy bag alone allows you to perfect your fighting technique as you fine-tune your lungs, legs, hands, knees and elbows, allowing your body to move in a uniform precise and choreographed manner. These are some of a fighter's best workouts. Your competition becomes yourself, as your goal centers on making your mind and body function as one. It all starts very simply, 30 jabs circling the bag clockwise, then 30 more circling counter-clockwise. The same with straight right hands, then hooks, then upper cuts. Next, 20 low kicks with each leg, 20 middle kicks and then 20 high kicks. Then the same sequence for front kicks, knees and elbows. Then you move into throwing combinations - simple combinations at first, making sure that you focus on the fundamentals of the action. You may start with two to three punches and one kick, all the while doing reps of 15-20 for each combination. Before you realize it, 45 minutes have passed, your breath is labored and your body is drenched in sweat.

Managing your breathing to get your lungs under control, you jog quietly around the gym with your hands held up in your guard, making sure to stay on your toes at all times. Next it's time you begin the complex movements. You start attacking the bag at angles, ducking and counter attacking off of imaginary kicks and punches. This is when your mind subconsciously starts to slip into a trance. It's a slow crescendo into an elongated state of focused meditation, as you push your skill level to new heights. This is where you formulate what you want to do the next time that you step into the ring, or the cage. You're just starting to reach your peak. It's very much like the quiet Zen-like trance of scuba diving when all you can hear is your breathing, and you seem lost in time and space. At the same time, it's similar to the synchronicity that you feel when driving a Porsche around tight corners at such a blinding rate of speed that you're sure you have become part of the car.

Now 90 minutes have passed and you're pushing harder than ever, driving that bag almost off its chain with combinations of three and four punches laced with three to four kicks and knees. You're down to 10 reps per combo because they take so much out of you. Your breathing is strained now and your lungs feel like they are about to pop, but your body is smoother, faster and more flexible. Your distance, footwork, timing, power and endurance are approaching a higher level of perfection than you've ever achieved. Endorphins super-charge your mind, as it unilaterally focuses on the synergy at hand.

You look up at the clock. Almost two hours have gone by now and every ounce of energy and focus that the fighter in you possesses has been used. You wind down your workout with one last combination of speed and power that leaves you breathless. The loud snap of your hands and the thud of your kicks against the bag have quieted. Your breathing starts to calm, your heart rate slows as you move into methodical, tranquil stretches. Your meditation session is over. You are now calm, confident and energized all at once.

Much like an artist needing to paint on a blank canvas or a writer craving to put pen to paper, you have let the beast out on this day. You are a little better skilled by the end of the workout, a little more conditioned and a lot more confident about your game. Your mind is rested, your body is drained and the beast, for the moment, has been tamed.

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