Training with less joint stress

Back in the late sixties and early seventies the gold standard for kick training was the 70 lb. or perhaps 100 lb. heavy bag that hung from the ceiling in the training hall.  The heavy bag certainly helped you develop powerful kicks, but it also involved a jarring "dead stop" that put significant stress on your joints -- from your ankles right on up through your hips and lower back.  This was fine when you were, say, 23, but if you're now in the ranks of Seniors in the Martial Arts you probably should take better care of those aging joints.  You'll have less pain and help avoid the cost of knee and hip replacements if you find a less jarring alternative to the heavy bag. 

What I have turned to is a relatively inexpensive free-standing bag that a) is softer than the traditional heavy bag [when you make contact, the striking surface feels more like an opponent's midsection than a concrete wall and b) flexes as you hit it, further reducing the stress on your joints.  In the photo sequence below I'm on my back deck practicing a crescent kick.  The kicking dummy offers sufficient resistance to let me know I'm generating some power, but it doesn't produce the dead stop that my aging hips really don't need.

I happen to be using Everlast's version of a free-standing bag, but there are numerous similar products on the market.  My bag cost about $130 at Dick's Sporting Goods.  If you shop online, you can probably find what you need at a reasonable price.  The reason the bag stays in place when you kick it is that the large black base is filled with water.  If I want to move the unit, I simply drain the water, move the relatively lightweight parts, and refill with water.  The manufacturer also says you can fill the base with sand, but then what?  How do you remove the sand when you want to move the whole unit?  Forget that idea.  Use water.

One major lesson I learned while using this device on my deck is that -- duh -- the deck is a really bad surface from which to be launching kicks, especially spinning kicks.  The surface is quite irregular because of all the individual boards, and this increases the likelihood of injury -- as when your pivot foot gets hung up on the half-inch difference between one board and another.  I think I need to invest in a high-quality mat.  With the mat and the new kicking dummy, I should be able to practice my kicks and build additional power without overwhelming the old bones and joints.  Listen, this is all about compromise.  If you want to stay active in the martial arts at 60, 70, or 80, you have to be willing to compromise on the training.  Do as much as you can for as long as you can.  If you push beyond your capabilities, you'll learn quickly that there is indeed a difference between 25 and 65.  Happy training!