Martial Arts Training - How to Make your Own Makiwara Pad and Base

A makiwara is a training aid for the karateka (karate student) and many other Japanese martial arts practitioners.

It consists of a tapered piece of wood, the thick end being buried around two feet in the earth and securely anchored, usually with stones around the base in the hole.

Approximately five feet protrude from the ground, and this length tapers up to the top, where it has reduced from perhaps six inches thick to two inches. This gives the tip of the makiwara flexibility and give, and means that when struck, it bends and then returns to its former position.

A homemade makiwara provides an intense and very personal connection with a student's chosen martial art.

A makiwara is traditionally made from maple or oak, or another wood with a high tensile strength.

It can be shaped by a local carpenter or hardware store, or a timber yard. Simply specify the length you need - remembering that the top of your makiwara should be level with you sternum when you are in stance - and add two feet on, which will be buried in the ground in order to provide a base against which you will strike.

The taper begins at the point where the makiwara emerges from the ground, not from the very end. It should be a smooth taper all the way to the end.

Once your makiwara is shaped and secured in the ground, either concreted in or surrounded by stones to prevent it moving, you need to pad the striking area. Traditionally this consists of rice straw and canvas. This will quickly strip the skin from your knuckles, elbows and any other striking surface, but you will develop tough callouses to combat this eventually.

Alternatively, foam padding, rope (another traditional and painful form of padding) or any other form of padding will help you to become used to the makiwara and training with it. If you want to use traditional padding materials but find it too painful, hand wraps can also be used until you develop the necessary callouses.

 A makiwara can be used to practice every striking technique in traditional Japanese martial arts.

As can be seen from the picture, Kanazawa Kancho - 10th Dan Shotokan Karate - is performing a mawashi empi uchi - a roundhouse elbow strike - against a makiwara. You can see the give in the tapered top of the makiwara which makes the piece of equipment more realistic to hit; it gives in the way a human body would give.

A makiwara can be used for punches, elbow strikes and kicks, as well as knife hand strikes and knee strikes.

Makiwara training is a very personal struggle; fifty punches with each hand against a makiwara, performed with spirit, takes dedication, discipline and self-control. It hurts, but it works.

And a makiwara is a beautiful piece of equipment to grace any martial artist's garden, its thick white oak or red maple weathering gently through a decade of winters and spectacular autumns. A permanent reminder that a martial artist is never perfect, but always striving for perfection.

If you are new to makiwara training, then there are books available that give you a very good grounding in makiwara use, including proper form and technique and what bodily changes you can expect from regular makiwara practice.

These should be read in conjunction with the beginning of your makiwara training and remember: if in doubt, speak to your instructor for advice.