Product Review: KD Elite Double Leather Focus Target
A few weeks ago, while I was in Japan for vacation, I got an email from the folks over at Martial Arts Supplies.com asking if I would be interested in reviewing the KD Elite Double Leather Focus Target. Being a lover of free stuff, I happily agreed. Well, I’ve spent the last couple weeks giving it the beating of a lifetime with some of my Kung Fu students and I think I am ready to give my official opinion on it.
Now, I have to start this out the way I start out all of my reviews: by assuming you have no idea what this product does, and explaining it to you. The KD Elite Double Leather Focus Target is…. a target. You hit it (well, I recommend kicking it actually, but I suppose you could hit it if you really wanted). If you hit it properly, it makes a clapping noise. If you dont, it doesnt. This makes it great for practicing accuracy (its not a big target), speed and power. It is not a hugely difficult item to figure out/use. The real question is, is it any good?
This target is made of impact-absorbing foam, high density foam, nylon, and leather. For around $23 in price, that is much better than you expect. When it first arrived, I had to wonder if it was real leather, and how well it would hold up. Let me tell you, it IS real leather and it can take an impressive beating. My students and I assaulted the target with our hands and feet – we even tried it with shoes on. Nothing we did tore the leather in any way. In fact, the worst we could manage were some dents and scuff-marks – all of which easily came out. I guess we also managed to get the handle to go a little bit wobbly. If you hit it hard enough, enough times, eventually the handle becomes more and more flexible. However, this disappears when you give the target a chance to sit for a while. The interior foam is wrapped in a plastic bag, which will help it survive much longer – though you may occasionally see some of the plastic sticking out of the top of the target, along the nylon string. In short, this is built to take whatever you can dish out.
The target also features a wrist strap and a small outcropping at the base of the handle, both of which help make sure that whoever is holding it doesnt need to worry about it flying off when hit. These work extremely well, though you can certainly wind up with a sore hand from the handle – I found the outcropping to be a little bit too solid after repeated blows. The tradeoff, however, certainly seems to be worth it.
This target seems primarily designed for kicking. While you certainly can punch it without any issues, I found it awkward for anything except backfists. For kicking, though, it is perfect. The target is just small enough that you find out quickly whether or not you need to work on your aim, but not so small that you are driven to frustration. My only concern would be that the hands of the person holding the target are very exposed and vulnerable to being kicked by those with less accuracy. While no hands were kicked during our testing, there were one or two close calls.
So, is this target any good? Is it worth the $23 pricetag? Absolutely. This is a cheap, but high quality and effective training tool. I couldnt damage it when I tried and even if you can manage it, the price is low enough to make replacements easily worth it. This is a must-have for any martial arts school. If you are just practicing/training yourself, then it may make less sense as you do need two people (someone has to hold it, after all), but if you can find a friend or training partner to help you out, then it is a good investment there as well.
Interested in buying one? Head over to Martial Arts Supplies.com.
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