Hey just kidding, you’re not too cheap. You’re just saving up for more manly things, like you know… an ATV, monster truck, fighter jet, battleship, etc. Well until your arsenal arrives, here’s a way you can keep fit while teaching mother nature a serious lesson.
We’re going to make a kicking bag out of a tree. Some may say this is stupid but if you’ve ever tried to hang a heavybag where you didn’t have the support, or tried kicking in closet-sized room, you’ll see the divine wisdom in this. The only trick is convincing your wife/neighbours/landlord that this is necessary and somehow benefits them too. I built my first kicking tree many years ago and have enjoyed countless early-morning and evening sessions with it.
1. Find a tree. Not too big: 1 or 2 feet diameter is ideal. Preferably on your own property [wink-wink].
2. Find some foam carpet padding. Springtime is great because of all the people doing renovations and throwing their old padding to the curb (that’s exactly where I found mine). Or do some exploratory digging under your own carpets. You’ll need a strip almost 30 feet long and 4 feet wide.
3. Wrap the tree with padding. Tie it using thick string or cord (cotton cord works best because the knots stay tight).
4. Wrap and tie some blue nylon tarp over top. Oh you may think this is optional… but no. You’ll literally kick the stuffing out of that padding, and the dust and debris it makes probably isn’t good for you either. More importantly, it makes the thing waterproof.
5. BONUS STEP: build a head for your tree. As you can see in the photo above, I used a partially-inflated soccer ball wrapped in a basketball net. This setup moves like a real head and builds your accuracy too (especially for punching).
Congrats! you’re done. I should probably give some kind of disclaimer here… ‘be careful’. Make sure you have enough padding to absorb the shock since trees are pretty strong, and build your way up from just a few minutes a day. Send a photo of your own kicking contraption and we’ll post it here too!
A couple more things you can do with trees:
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