Message from Alan Kahn

Alan Kahn is the speed bag king! Anytime you get a compliment from one of the best int he field it makes you feel great. This is what Alan had to say about one of my recent videos:

"That's It!! you got it brother. Form and function look sound great. Just hone it down a little and you'll own it.

and later on...

"A larger bag is normally "longer", and the belly is lower under the board, making the downward elbow easier to connect. Downward Elbows take a bit more skill on a shorter bag since there is not much room to make contact with the larger downward motion..."

For those of you learning the technique like me, take these words into account with your training! Check it out here: Quadruple Elbow Strike.

Check out Alan's site Speed Bag Central.

-Jedd-

Quadruple Elbow Strikes

This is an attempt at performing the quadruple elbow strike with the speed bag which involves striking the speed bag in an elbow-fist-elbow-fist succession with the bag hitting only the back of the platform in between strikes. This was my first time trying this advanced technique.



-Jedd-

Halloween Speed Bagging

Here's Alan Kahn kicking it on the speed bag with an old Halloween favorite, Monster Mash.



-Jedd-

Alan Kahn - Punch Drumming Medley

Here is Alan Kahn's latest video, a medley of punch drummer over the course of time.



Check out how his legs sometimes kick up the pace in time with his gloves - very cool!

-Jedd-

Advanced Speed Bag Hitting

Here is my latest speed bag video, from early September, featuring a variety of advanced speed bag techniques, including front fist rolls, double and triple elbow strikes and various forms of linking fists.



My speed bag beginnings were humble! I started hitting the speed bag on a regular basis in October 2006, and could barely pull off the basic triplet beat. Through hard work, dedication, experimenting, study, and patience, I have been able to come a long way. Over that time, I have learned several things about progressing with speed bag training.

1) It takes consistent practice. Hitting the bag just once a week is not going to get you much progression at all. I think you need to hit at least 3 times a week to learn the rhythms of the bag and pick up the timing.

2) You do NOT have to train for a long time. I have seen dramatic improvement over the course of my time under the platform by spending just 15 to 20 minutes at a time working on my more advanced skills.

3) All the advanced techniques are based of the basic techniques. Hitting quicker and adding strikes usually just branches off a more basic strike but you reduce the number of rebounds off the board.

4) Keep your arms up! At first, keeping your upper arms up, in the correct position, will burn you out! But you can condition yourself to this very quickly by forcing yourself to keep your arms up longer and longer each time, building endurance.

5) Learn from the best! Most of the people I have met that are hitting at gyms with speed bags know very few techniques and many of them have poor form. For me, I immediately purchase Alan Kahn's Speed Bag Bible DVD. He is the best, and the originator of the established language describing the techniques. Also, Zach Ruffo puts up many short tutorial videos on youtube. Aside from Alan Kahn, Zach is the best on youtube I have seen.

Alan Kahn's SIite

Zach's YouTube Page

-Jedd-

Zach Ruffo - Advanced Strikes Lesson

In this clip, Zach covers continuous elbow strikes from the sides and front, (triple and quadruple), and also double bumps from the front, back, and with the elbows. Zach is showing no signs of stopping in his speed bag innovation here, as he is displaying several techniques that I have never seen before, or at least I do not remember seeing them before!


-Jedd Johnson-

Speed Bag Resources

My purpose with this blog is to establish a source of information for athletes who are interested in learning how to hit the speed bag.

The majority of the posts will include videos. Many of these videos will be shot by other speed bag artists, especially, Alan Kahn and Zach Ruffo. They have already shot these videos many months, and in some cases, years in advance of me posting them here. They are the two people who have given me the knowledge for me to get where I am with the speed bag today.

I will try to compliment their works some insight of my own.

I will also from time to time post videos of my progress as well and try to shoot some instructional video clips as well.

Thank you for stopping the Speed Bag Resources Blog.

-Jedd Johnson-