Poor man's training: Training with Tires.

Every humble gym or club would probably have gone through the phase of finding a venue & having to DIY their own equipment for training. When I first had a space for my club Kinabalu Fighters in the Sabah Judo Dojo, they had a huge space but no punching bags (duh) it was going to be a problem for me.

Problem was, neither I nor the small group back then couldnt afford a proper punching bag... We turned to a simple alternatives. Tires.

Tires are just an awesome tool for training. The weight, hardness and bouncing use of a tire can help a person in many ways when training. Almost anyone who owns a car would have some tires they want to get rid off (even if not, you can always find extra in a nearby garage that nobody wants).

Here are some ideas of the use of tires in various martial arts & fitness training.

For Kendo practices:
Many Kendo beginners would know this, they are usually stuck on the 1st few months practicing their form and strikes on the tire. The tire here becomes an item use as both accuracy exercise and also good for training upper body muscles.

For Punching Drills with gloves (Boxing / Mauy Thai / Karate & etc):
All you need is to find a way to tie the tires up and get some one to help hold the tires on the other side. The thick foam of the tires are actually pretty hard and is perfect to punch at (before you can afford to get your own punching bag). Please do not ever try punching this without gloves or wrist-knuckle protection.

You could of course just leave the tire to be swinging, which will then train you to "follow the target". Check the video below for example:

For Kicking Drills on shin area (Muay Thai / Taekwando / Tong Soon Do & etc):
Same concept to punching the tire, you can actually use it as a "kick pad" by holding it vertically. Note: this is for shin kick conditioning only or push kicks. Person holding the tire on the other side should always be ready as not paying attention or holding the tire away from the body area can result in injury.

Tuck the tire tightly to the body to reduce too much impact. Video below will give you an idea (it comes with an alternative idea for holding it for boxing & elbow strikes as well).

For Foot work exercises (Boxing / Muay Thai & etc):
The hole in the tire and its bouncing texture is perfect to practice footwork stance apart, quadriceps and calf muscles. This method has always been used in traditional Thai camp.

Another way to train the calves is to ask the person above to keep switching stance while bouncing on the tire. Beginners might even feel some burning sensation after just 2 minutes of bouncing.

For Explosive power training (good for wrestlers and rugby training for the shot or take down)

 (Tire flipping exercise in TANKHEAD fight club)

 The tire flip is a test of total body strength, flexibility, endurance, and explosiveness. It closely mimics the starting position of linemen in football, has tremendous carry over to other sports performance, and is a staple in strongman. Read this page here for more specifics on tire flips.

Other exercises:

Besides the above, there are also many other exercises one can perform with the presence of tires. Some examples are raised level push up or triceps dip.

This is just some stuff we'd like to share with you. I'm sure there are more tire exercises out there which you can find.

But for the poor guy who needs something for your gym, just get a few tires of different sizes, weight & height. It will surely come in handy. Plus your doing the world a favor in recycling.