How long to master?

[michaelm]

Hey everyone,
I am new on this forum.
I have recently been falling in love with the speed bag and trying to get better at it.
I am fairly new at hitting the bag and have been following the techniques offered in Speed Bag Bible. I am nowhere to the level of skill displayed by so many followers of the speed bag bible.
But I was curious how long did it take you for you guys to get to a very proficient level?

[Tim]

Hey everyone,

But I was curious how long did it take you for you guys to get to a very proficient level?

Some people pick it up fast, some slow, and others in between. I would say enjoy the process - every new training session where you feel you've done something new, or better, is an accomplishment. It's not the destination, it's the journey.

[dad]

Tim said it all.

[Speedbag]

How long to master...

Hey everyone,
I am new on this forum.
I have recently been falling in love with the speed bag and trying to get better at it.
I am fairly new at hitting the bag and have been following the techniques offered in Speed Bag Bible. I am nowhere to the level of skill displayed by so many followers of the speed bag bible.

But I was curious how long did it take you for you guys to get to a very proficient level?

Hey Michaelm,

Welcome to the forum and using the Speed Bag Bible. Hopefully it will not take as long "with" the Speed Bag Bible as it would "without" it.

That is really a hard question to answer, because it depends on what you mean by "very proficient". That is a relative term. There are 24 techniques in the book, leading to hundreds of combinations, as well as a bunch of new combinations developed by ingenious baggers since the last update of the book. You could be "very proficient" in the seven fist techniques of the front and back and linking them all together, but not very good at elbows or side techniques. Or, you could also be good with a few of the elbow strikes but no so much with the others. Me being me, ( ) I tend to be more critical of rating proficiency only because "total proficiency" means being able to work your fists in and around all four areas of the bag (front, back, side, side). Elbows always hit the front of the bag from different positions, but that helps also. What I see a lot of is a baggers, particular beginners becoming very proficient with the few techniques they know, or mimic, from watching videos of others, but they are limited to that UNLESS they practice with a purpose to expand their understanding of all the options that are available.

I suppose it also depends on what YOU personally define as proficiency. I personally felt pretty proficient on the speed bag until we started having gatherings and members started showing up with new and unbelievable variations of things I (and others) had never seen. When I watch the likes of Matthew Santiago, (speedbag ataraxis,) Tim, Speedy T, G-Town and Juxt cut loose, my own sense of proficiency goes down, because I can't really do what they are doing. I understand how they do it, and they will teach you as long as you will listen, but it's a different level of proficiency for sure.

What I hope you don't do is become a one, two or three hit wonder, mimicking some really great combinations, but that's it. Right now the rage is phantom punching combinations and spins with elbow striking. A lot of people are seeing it and doing it, but have no idea why the combo's work and after that, they are pretty much done. Some spend hours working on some combinations that are way more advanced than they need to worry about, like a white belt in karate wanting to jump in and do the black belt moves. And they may learn the move, but they can't really "use it" with anything else.

Anyway, I have seen pretty much beginners with you love of the bag and they discipline to practice the basics (first 4-5 chapters) and then keep pushing to the point that they are hitting with fists and elbows from all around the bag, smoothly, in a few months. Once you learn single and double fist linking (front to back and side to side) the rest is fairly easy because the most difficult part is to understand linking continuously. That is where the magic happens for hitting repetitively from the ANY side (front back or sides) is not hard. just repetitive triplet rhythm. mixing all areas with passing fists in the double bounce rhythm seems to be the hardest part. But with focused practice you should have at down in a few months. But as Tim Says, it's not a Race. Some techniques will be easier than others. Outward Elbows are way easier then Inward elbows. Some people seem to struggle with Reverse punching, some side punching. But once you get that Eureka moment and feel the movement, then it comes pretty quick. And once you learn a new technique it opens up a whole bunch more combinations. In the book I purpose wrote exercise to (1) show a new technique and (2) show how to use that technique with EVERY other technique you have already learned. That is why the exercises get progressively harder and longer as the book goes on. Yes, I did that on purpose. So spend some time reading and working under the board and share some of your progress on video when you can.

We'll be watching

[michaelm]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write back.
Will keep you posted on my progress

[Speedbag]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write back.
Will keep you posted on my progress

looking forward to it....