From the normal speed bag punching stance, facing the bag with shoulders square, the bag should be hanging in the middle of you body. To hit the bag, your normal punching motions will find your hands moving either (1) into the center of the body to hit the bag. Or starting from the center of the body and (2) punching outward toward the shoulder. Generally, the inward punch will extend the hand away from the normal start position, and the outward motion will get it back. The two basic punches shown below are a perfect example of this. The Right Front Straight Punch (R- FSP) hits the bag on the front of the fist while extending the right arm. Follow this with a Right Circle Punch,(R-FCP) which connects the side of the fist and gets the right arm back to the ready position. Follow the Right (FCP) with a Left Front Straight Punch (L-FSP), which extends the left arm, and then finish with a Left Front Circle Punch (L-FCP).

This creates a very rhythmic punching movement often called the Basic Punching Pattern, and is also referred to as the basic rhythm. The body motion and follow through of each punch sets you up perfectly for the next, and your hands flow easily IN to the center of your chest, then OUT to the home position. Notice the RRLL, sequence of the hands. This pattern can start on any of the punches, so it could also be RLLR, and it would be the same thing. It does not matter which punch begins the sequence.

This is THE single most basic speed bag combination, created by only two punching techniques. This one combination will help open the doors to all the rest!

All speed bag combinations work this way. Whenever a fist punch or elbow strike moves your hands or elbows into the center to hit the bag, there are always several fist punches or elbow strikes that will easily follow your body motion to get you back. This same natural flow of movement allows you to easily connect techniques from all around the bag, because no matter what bag area you hit, one technique takes your hand(s) into the center and another takes you back*. When you are more advanced, “back*” will not necessarily mean to the same side that you started from.

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Elbow Strikes

The elbow can be used much like the fists. The key is understanding the directions they can be used. An elbow can move to hit the bag in three directions:

• Inward, (toward the center of the body). The inward elbow motion is similar to the Front Straight Punch and is often used with it. The Front Straight Punch (FSP) moves IN toward the bag, and the forearm point of the elbow follows on the same plane.

** There are several safety concerns for Downward Elbow Strikes. First, The Thumb of the Downward moving fist can catch the frame of your Eyeglasses and knock them off. It is recommended to take off any eyewear when doing the Downward Elbow Strikes. Second, The board overhead may also interfere with the downward fist, especially if you extend it. The chances of this increase as the bags get smaller. Just be aware of the board.

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Inward, Outward and Downward elbow strikes can have one, two, or three parts hitting the bag. The names of the individual elbow techniques tell you how many parts hit the bag. For example, and Outward –Single Elbow Strike (O-SES) has one single part (the elbow) hitting the bag. The Outward-Double Elbow Strike (O-DES) has two parts hitting the bag. The Outward-Triple Elbow Strike (O-TES) has three parts hitting the bag. They are joined together into a single motion with one rebound in-between the parts.

• Elbow techniques with four parts are called Four-Way Elbow Strikes, and are created by the connecting the Double Elbow Strike techniques together with only one rebound in between. There are two of these. The Out & Down Four Way Elbow strike joins the Outward double E.S and downward double E.S. with one rebound in between instead of three.

• You do not have to use elbow strikes to be proficient on the speed bag, but they can add a lot of variety and make the workout a lot more interesting.