PAD WORK

Each martial art uses some form of pad work, it has it's own art of using them which has evolved with the style. Pad work dates back to the founders of styles developing ways to improve their fighting technique by hitting boards, leaves on trees, sand bags, rice and bean bags, paper and leather pads and wooden men. These are all forms of pad work that have evolved through traditional styles.

A bit more modern is the history of boxing, kick boxing and full and semi-contact sports. These have all evolved with the aid of pads made from sacks of rice, dried beans or straw, leather and canvas hand made pads to the more practical style of pads we use today.

Using pads as part of your training develops skills required for combat.

• Distance
• Coordination
• Focus
• Power
• Timing
• Speed
• Combinations

Coordination is important so you can hit the pad with the proper form and your footwork is coordinated with your arm and leg movements.

Focus on the target area use your hand and eye coordination to strike the exact target area with the proper focus and mental attitude.

Power, the correct power should be used when hitting pads. You should determine how much power you should be hitting the pad with. You may be hitting the pad to hard or to soft. Pad work is used for developing different skills so the correct power is important.

Timing is when to hit the pad at the right moment for the best result. When your distance, coordination, focus and power develop your timing will become more natural.

Speed is developed when all the other skills are natural to you and the technique flows from you naturally with speed and accuracy.

Combinations are developed with pad work so you can strike at different target areas with different strike areas, with improved, distance, coordination, focus, power, timing and speed.

Each style has evolved their own combinations and each master through their style has developed these combinations. Each individual practitioner learns these combinations and develops the skills required, but each individual practitioner develops their own preferred combinations due to their size and build. You will find it is important not to become predictable, you should develop your combinations and try to be random but also natural.

Focus Mitts:

Focus mitts are used by most styles but most predominantly with boxing. They are good for developing focus, accuracy and speed. As the they are small targets and can be moved quickly your focus and distancing has to be right so that you hit the pad at the right time without being to short or overextending. Focus mitts are very adaptable that's why other styles of martial arts incorporate them in their training. If you are a grappler, shoot fighter or street fighter you can grapple or wrestle your partner to the floor and continue striking the pads. They can also be used for multiple attacks drills.

Thai Pads:

Thai pads were traditionally made for Mauy Thai boxing but other styles of martial arts have developed their own methods of using Thai pads. Most full contact martial sports use Thai pads. Thai pads are good for developing fast powerful kicks as well as other strikes inc. hands, knees and elbows. They are also very effective for fast and furious combinations. Your timing has to be good in order to develop powerful and fast combinations. Thai pads are one of the best ways of developing the skills required for full contact martial sports.

Kick Shields:

Kick shields are very adaptable they can be used for striking with all striking areas inc. hands, shoulders, hips and back. That is why most styles of martial arts use some form of kick shield. There are different styles of kick shields, some are flat some curved and some large. What type of shield you use depends on what skills you are training for. The skills learned using the kick shield include good distancing to execute fast powerful techniques and it good for practicing advanced jumping and spinning kicks.

Paddles:

Paddles are used mostly for kicking styles but can also be used as a form of focus mitt. Paddles are good for training the skills of speed, focus and accuracy. They can also be used to develop agility used in combinations of advancing jumping and spinning techniques.

Body Pads:

Body pads are used to improve on variations of the combination techniques including distancing, power and timing. Body pads can be used in conjunction with focus mitts and Thai pads. It is mostly Boxing, Thai and kickboxing styles that use body pads but other styles use them for close combat and the use of weapons training. All the other pads can be used for some form of weapons training but that is a whole different article.

Technique to holding pads.

To obtain the desired skills of pad work it is important to have a good partner or feeder (the technical term) to feed you the pads correctly, pad work can rely as much on the person feeding the pads as the person striking the pads. To prevent you or the feeder from injury each pad should be held in the correct manner. Your instructor should show you the correct way to hold the pads for the technique being practiced. Position and stance are important so as you are able to withstand the force applied on the pads. You also need to know how to relax and then apply force with the pad at the right moment or alternatively you should know when to hold the pad lose so as it moves out of the way or whips away when struck. When the feeder is feeding pads to the striker he or she should call out clear commands so the striker can understand the techniques. At an advanced level sometimes there is no longer any need to call as soon as the pad is in position the strikers instincts take over and the techniques flow from he or she naturally. Some pad drills are practiced stationary while others are in motion so as to make the simulations of combat more realistic and therefore improves your distancing and timing. There are many ways in which to use pads but I will discuss them in more detail in future articles for now I will show you how to hold them correctly so as to prevent injury.

Focus Mitts.

It is important to hold the pads with a good grip. When your fingers are in the mitt grip the inside as if you were picking up a football with one hand. This tension should not be constant only at the point of contact with the strike also apply a small amount of force against the strike. Do not hold the pads to soft as it may come back and hit you as it gets hit, also don't be to tense. It takes time to find the right timing with your partner because everyone is different but this also helps you feel and be aware of different peoples timing. Don't hold the pads to close or to far away from you, this applies to most pad work.

Thai Pads.

You can hold the pad with an over or under handgrip with the pad resting along your forearm. There are many ways to use a Thai pad but whatever way you hold it you should have a good stance so you are able to withstand the force from the strikes.

Kick Shields.

There are different types of kick shield but the most standard type has three straps. Put one arm through the two straps at the bottom and grip the top strap, then position yourself in a good stance making sure you hold the pad close to your body and be ready to apply force at the right time.