a quartet of old bags on eBay

[paranday]

I have no plans to bid on any of these, but it's nice to look back in time a bit,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-VINT...item35c440be37

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-VINT...item35c440c9d9

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-VINT...item35c440b25d

http://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-jack...item1c2ffba2a7

[fedora]

Were all older bags from that era gynormus? All the vintage ads and pics I've seen of older bags, are all bags that seem much bigger than most people use today. Maybe I just haven't seen enough pics that show the variety of sizes but I was just wondering if they were all large when did the smaller 8x5s come into play?

fedora

[Speedbag]

Were all older bags from that era gynormus? All the vintage ads and pics I've seen of older bags, are all bags that seem much bigger than most people use today. Maybe I just haven't seen enough pics that show the variety of sizes but I was just wondering if they were all large when did the smaller 8x5s come into play?

fedora

From a bag size standpoint, I think the smaller bags were a reaction to the overall change of "traditional" boxing training camps (outside, large rings, lots of room) to more indoor based facilities. Whenever you see an outdoor boxing camp from the 1920-40's era you see very large speed bag boards, a 360 degree movement area underneath and big bags to match. Surely these emphasized repetitive and rhythmic power punching over "speed" of smaller bags. But as facilities moved indoors, you see the rise of "wall based units", requiring smaller boards to take up less room in the gym. I suspect these smaller boards gave rise to smaller bags to fit.

As speed bag punching moved out of the boxing gym to the home fitness arena, requiring smaller and lighter equipment, I expect the trend continued. I seriously doubt the presswood, lightweight 24 inch boards of the least expensive home speed bag setups could withstand a hard power blasting with the large bags of the 1920-40's era that would extend 2-4 inches past the end of the board.

That is my suspicion. I do know the move from outdoor based camps to indoor facilities gave rise to the wall units, as I have been told that by several old school boxing coaches.

[fedora]

Interesting history, thanks for the info.

fedora

[Bag Man]

From a bag size standpoint, I think the smaller bags were a reaction to the overall change of "traditional" boxing training camps (outside, large rings, lots of room) to more indoor based facilities. Whenever you see an outdoor boxing camp from the 1920-40's era you see very large speed bag boards, a 360 degree movement area underneath and big bags to match. Surely these emphasized repetitive and rhythmic power punching over "speed" of smaller bags. But as facilities moved indoors, you see the rise of "wall based units", requiring smaller boards to take up less room in the gym. I suspect these smaller boards gave rise to smaller bags to fit.

As speed bag punching moved out of the boxing gym to the home fitness arena, requiring smaller and lighter equipment, I expect the trend continued. I seriously doubt the presswood, lightweight 24 inch boards of the least expensive home speed bag setups could withstand a hard power blasting with the large bags of the 1920-40's era that would extend 2-4 inches past the end of the board.

That is my suspicion. I do know the move from outdoor based camps to indoor facilities gave rise to the wall units, as I have been told that by several old school boxing coaches.

Somethng I never would have thought of. Wonder if the move from bare knuckle to gloved boxing in the early part of the 20th century had anything to do with a change in equipment; albeit gradual. I'm completely out of my depth here, but, maybe a bare knuckler trained/fought in a different manner. From the pics, their stances are very distinct. Maybe that was the custom for photography of the day, and had nothing to do with how they fought.

[Speedbag]

Somethng I never would have thought of. Wonder if the move from bare knuckle to gloved boxing in the early part of the 20th century had anything to do with a change in equipment; albeit gradual. I'm completely out of my depth here, but, maybe a bare knuckler trained/fought in a different manner. From the pics, their stances are very distinct. Maybe that was the custom for photography of the day, and had nothing to do with how they fought.

Changes in equipment and the adaption of modern era training use of it has always been an interesting subject. Many martial arts traditions are very slow to adapt or accept more modern methods. Boxing resisted weight training, cross training or any other form of strength and endurance training for decades, thinking their "old ways" were best. My Korean Martial Arts Master would never accept anything other than "his traditional methods" passed on for generations within his family, say from 1000 BC. There is "the way" and you introduce change, or the concept of it, at your own peril. He would not allow a speed bag (boxing equipment in his mind, and useless at that...) into his training facilities. Double End bags suffered the same fate. In his mind, and the minds of many trainers, the best way to get strong and in shape for YOUR sport or activity is to do that activity and the time tested methods passed on through time. Perhaps that is why so many "systems" and "ways" exist. when you don't agree with theirs, you start your own.

(sigh..)

[Speedbag]

you hit the nail right on the head speedbag ;-) that's why i like bruce lee and is why i hit the speed bag. having an open mind makes progress...rules, we don't need no stinking rules :-)...ralph

Yes, .....Be water, my friend.