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Hey all, been lurking around here while I designed my home dojo, and now that it's almost done it's time I introduce myself.
First things first, "muad33b" is computer geek version of "Muad'dib" - the messianic main character from the class Frank Herbert/Brian Herbert "Dune" sci-fi book series... I'm a guy so "Muad" is cool, but "Maud" is not.
So yea, I do tech support for a day job, thankfully I get to do it from home in FL (after moving here a couple years ago) for a company in MA.
Anyhow, I decided after a negative experience (read: money hungry owner) at a local martial arts academy (mix of JKD/Wing Chun, BJJ, CSW, Muay Thai, Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, and Filipino Kali/Silat) to continue my training but with my home as a base to train my kids and myself solo and with friends while I continue to seek out other instruction that interests me. Thus began my project to convert my garage into a dojo, with a leaning towards American Boxing for hands (which is really how good Muay Thai is these days anyhow - with the addition of knees, elbows, and kicks) that lead me to seek out a high quality speedbag platform.
In looking at TitleBoxing products, I figure out that their high-end platforms were made by Balazs, which lead me to read reviews on the i-box platform, which led me to this forum where I found that others here were already saying what I was coming to realize - Balazs products are world-class quality at an affordable price.
I might as well share some details about this dojo (even though I'm still waiting on a couple of products to arrive) and some pictures, which I'll have to update when it's complete... however, at this point the construction phase is over, finally.
The first thing I did was decide that my extra fridge and fullsize commercial freezer weren't going to move, and build a wall over my garage door, without taking the garage door down... so I simply removed the automatic garage door opener, sealed the door with duct tape on the inside and silicon on the inside and put up a 16" on center frame with 2x4's (using PT where it touched concrete) and covered it in 1/2" plywood. I then coated the side cinderblock walls with tar paper and and tap con'd regular 1/2" plywood (cheaper than PT) to prep them for wall mats.
I covered the floor in tyrex (so it wouldn't smell like tar) and laid out the Dollamur/Swain IJF (International Judo Federation) roll-out mats that they've used at the Olympics, which are 1.6" and very firm... but not before I put down a 1" soft underlayment foam to make it a bit easier to take hard break-falls - they're surrounded with a 2x4 frame that's tap-con'd into the ground, and then the side 2x4's I covered with vertically + horizontally trimmed mat pieces and attached them with vinyl tape (which I also used to seal the seams) for a seamless wall-to-wall surface. It may have cost me an arm and a leg, but it was worth every penny; it's the best surface I've ever trained on... it's about 18.5' x 13'
For the walls I used less expensive Judo puzzle mats that I picked up used off of craigslist, which are about 3'x3' and 2" thick - they're firmer then high end Dollamur wall mats, but they were also about $1200 less, so that was a no brainer. I simply cut them to size and used strips of strategically placed velcor to hang them up. They go about 8' up the 8.5' wall.
I ended up going with a standard Balazs i-box speed bag platform (I may upgrade the drum in the future, I was running out of funds when I got to this phrase) as well as a Balazs 130lb Thai Heavy Bag, and a Balazs double end bag... along with 2 of the Balazs heavy bag Ceiling mounts. I'm still waiting on Title's shipment of my 70lb grappling dummy (lighter so my kids can use it too) and my Fighting Sports "3-in-1" hourglass-shaped double-end 60lb heavy bag (for uppercuts, overhands, etc.)
I also insulated the attic above the garage, added a 13,000BTU standing floor A/C unit and ventilated that through the attic out to a soffet vent cover. I removed the door to the closet in the garage that holds my A/C-heating unit for the house, sealed that off with plastic after checking with my HVAC guy, and used some leftover wall mats to make a storage space for gear, as well as used some of that mat to build up the edge of the mat where the speedbag is... I covered those and the front edge 2x4 frame (the only part still exposed) with inexpensive auto puzzle mats to match the grade near the speedbag. I also covered the remaining outer wall that wasn't already covered with a hard insulation.
I also covered the electrical fuse box / breaker panel with a couple of plastic tubs using hinges and velcro to prevent anyone banging into that... of course that was a bitch, as well as cutting the wall mats around that setup.
I added a slip bag, a TRX, and a ceiling mounted pullup bar - all of the ceiling mounted stuff is reinforced with 8' 2x6's that run across 4 joists along with 4x4 sections which are lag bolted to the 2x6's so that the mounts are lag screwed into the 4x4's and then the load is distributed over 4 joists. The iBox is mounted on top of a couple of 2x6 sections that are mounted half on my wall plywood, plus another small section of plywood I added to surround the 2x6's will wall mats for an "integrated" look with the walls.
Right now I've just got a laptop sitting in there near my fridge and freezer, but eventually (when I can scrape together some more funds for the project) I'll be adding a 42" tv in the corner over the water heater, and likely an Xbox in there to play DVD's, pull up youtube videos, and maybe let my kids play in there with their friends during sleepovers, etc...
Almost forgot, I also permanently mounted the fridge to a couple of moving dollys so that I could not only move it forward, but sideways in front of the freezer so that I could still get to the attic.
Phew, ok, I think I covered all of that as briefly as I could... the whole project (including the 8x10 hurricane safe shed I purchased to put everything that was in my garage) ran me in the $9,000 range, but it's a dream come true for me.
That all said, I've got my speed bag bible book and DVDs to begin going through (no previous speedbag experience to speak of) right now I've got a 7"x10" Title Gyro bag on the i-box now, with the swivel it came with... I'll be PMing JumpCannon after I'm done with this post to ask him to make me a couple of his swivels when he can... and I've also ordered a 5"x7" Title Atomic speed bag after hitting the big Gyro during the building process and thinking I'd like to feel the difference between that and a smaller one.
I'm posting some pictures I just snapped, and will post updates ones once the additional bag and grappling dummy from Title gets here... and likely again when I get the TV up.
I put a ton of blood and sweat (no tears yet
) into the project so I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone might have...
First things first, "muad33b" is computer geek version of "Muad'dib" - the messianic main character from the class Frank Herbert/Brian Herbert "Dune" sci-fi book series... I'm a guy so "Muad" is cool, but "Maud" is not.
So yea, I do tech support for a day job, thankfully I get to do it from home in FL (after moving here a couple years ago) for a company in MA.
Anyhow, I decided after a negative experience (read: money hungry owner) at a local martial arts academy (mix of JKD/Wing Chun, BJJ, CSW, Muay Thai, Japanese Jiu-Jitsu, and Filipino Kali/Silat) to continue my training but with my home as a base to train my kids and myself solo and with friends while I continue to seek out other instruction that interests me. Thus began my project to convert my garage into a dojo, with a leaning towards American Boxing for hands (which is really how good Muay Thai is these days anyhow - with the addition of knees, elbows, and kicks) that lead me to seek out a high quality speedbag platform.
In looking at TitleBoxing products, I figure out that their high-end platforms were made by Balazs, which lead me to read reviews on the i-box platform, which led me to this forum where I found that others here were already saying what I was coming to realize - Balazs products are world-class quality at an affordable price.
I might as well share some details about this dojo (even though I'm still waiting on a couple of products to arrive) and some pictures, which I'll have to update when it's complete... however, at this point the construction phase is over, finally.
The first thing I did was decide that my extra fridge and fullsize commercial freezer weren't going to move, and build a wall over my garage door, without taking the garage door down... so I simply removed the automatic garage door opener, sealed the door with duct tape on the inside and silicon on the inside and put up a 16" on center frame with 2x4's (using PT where it touched concrete) and covered it in 1/2" plywood. I then coated the side cinderblock walls with tar paper and and tap con'd regular 1/2" plywood (cheaper than PT) to prep them for wall mats.
I covered the floor in tyrex (so it wouldn't smell like tar) and laid out the Dollamur/Swain IJF (International Judo Federation) roll-out mats that they've used at the Olympics, which are 1.6" and very firm... but not before I put down a 1" soft underlayment foam to make it a bit easier to take hard break-falls - they're surrounded with a 2x4 frame that's tap-con'd into the ground, and then the side 2x4's I covered with vertically + horizontally trimmed mat pieces and attached them with vinyl tape (which I also used to seal the seams) for a seamless wall-to-wall surface. It may have cost me an arm and a leg, but it was worth every penny; it's the best surface I've ever trained on... it's about 18.5' x 13'
For the walls I used less expensive Judo puzzle mats that I picked up used off of craigslist, which are about 3'x3' and 2" thick - they're firmer then high end Dollamur wall mats, but they were also about $1200 less, so that was a no brainer. I simply cut them to size and used strips of strategically placed velcor to hang them up. They go about 8' up the 8.5' wall.
I ended up going with a standard Balazs i-box speed bag platform (I may upgrade the drum in the future, I was running out of funds when I got to this phrase) as well as a Balazs 130lb Thai Heavy Bag, and a Balazs double end bag... along with 2 of the Balazs heavy bag Ceiling mounts. I'm still waiting on Title's shipment of my 70lb grappling dummy (lighter so my kids can use it too) and my Fighting Sports "3-in-1" hourglass-shaped double-end 60lb heavy bag (for uppercuts, overhands, etc.)
I also insulated the attic above the garage, added a 13,000BTU standing floor A/C unit and ventilated that through the attic out to a soffet vent cover. I removed the door to the closet in the garage that holds my A/C-heating unit for the house, sealed that off with plastic after checking with my HVAC guy, and used some leftover wall mats to make a storage space for gear, as well as used some of that mat to build up the edge of the mat where the speedbag is... I covered those and the front edge 2x4 frame (the only part still exposed) with inexpensive auto puzzle mats to match the grade near the speedbag. I also covered the remaining outer wall that wasn't already covered with a hard insulation.
I also covered the electrical fuse box / breaker panel with a couple of plastic tubs using hinges and velcro to prevent anyone banging into that... of course that was a bitch, as well as cutting the wall mats around that setup.
I added a slip bag, a TRX, and a ceiling mounted pullup bar - all of the ceiling mounted stuff is reinforced with 8' 2x6's that run across 4 joists along with 4x4 sections which are lag bolted to the 2x6's so that the mounts are lag screwed into the 4x4's and then the load is distributed over 4 joists. The iBox is mounted on top of a couple of 2x6 sections that are mounted half on my wall plywood, plus another small section of plywood I added to surround the 2x6's will wall mats for an "integrated" look with the walls.
Right now I've just got a laptop sitting in there near my fridge and freezer, but eventually (when I can scrape together some more funds for the project) I'll be adding a 42" tv in the corner over the water heater, and likely an Xbox in there to play DVD's, pull up youtube videos, and maybe let my kids play in there with their friends during sleepovers, etc...
Almost forgot, I also permanently mounted the fridge to a couple of moving dollys so that I could not only move it forward, but sideways in front of the freezer so that I could still get to the attic.
Phew, ok, I think I covered all of that as briefly as I could... the whole project (including the 8x10 hurricane safe shed I purchased to put everything that was in my garage) ran me in the $9,000 range, but it's a dream come true for me.
That all said, I've got my speed bag bible book and DVDs to begin going through (no previous speedbag experience to speak of) right now I've got a 7"x10" Title Gyro bag on the i-box now, with the swivel it came with... I'll be PMing JumpCannon after I'm done with this post to ask him to make me a couple of his swivels when he can... and I've also ordered a 5"x7" Title Atomic speed bag after hitting the big Gyro during the building process and thinking I'd like to feel the difference between that and a smaller one.
I'm posting some pictures I just snapped, and will post updates ones once the additional bag and grappling dummy from Title gets here... and likely again when I get the TV up.
I put a ton of blood and sweat (no tears yet
) into the project so I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone might have...
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