Back in February, I got an email from the folks over at MMAOpinion.com asking if I would be interested in reviewing the KD Elite XL Curved Body Shield.  Despite the fact that I havent had a lot of time to get new posts/reviews up lately, I felt I would be remiss if I passed them up.  I’ve had the shield in my possession for about a month now, and I think I’m ready to share my findings with all of you.

First of all, the KD Elite XL Curved Body Shield is exactly what the name implies.  It is a body shield.  It is curved.  And it is fairly large.  This thing was meant to take your more powerful strikes  – primarily kicks and knees but punches are just fine as well.  Having a straightforward purpose, however, is not enough to make a good product.  We need to really get down to the nitty gritty.

This shield is made of impact-absorbing foam and covered in vinyl, with nylon and rubber used for the handles.  Right now, the folks at MMA Opinion are selling it for $69.99, which seems to be a fairly reasonable.  The shield appears to be be pretty solidly made:  my students and I wailed on it pretty thoroughly and it showed no signs of distress.  I continue to be impressed with the build quality that the KD Elite folks deliver with their products at such good price points.

The shield features three different handles on the back (one horizontal and two vertical).  The handles were my main concern with the last KD Elite product I reviewed, and honestly are my only issue with the shield.  The horizontal nylon strap you hold on to still has the same cheap-looking piece of rubber on it that looks like it came from a garden hose.  Also, there is only one of them.  On several occasions I found myself really looking for another horizontal strap to hold onto.  The vertical straps got rid of the rubber, which I like, and are adjustable via velcro.  I like this a lot, and think they should have gone the same way for the horizontal strap.  That said, the straps definitely work.  My complaints here are fairly minor, all in all.

The impact absorbing foam they use in the shield really shines through as the star here.   I’m a fairly small guy, and even when using it with my much larger students I found it did a very good job of softening the blows.  Striking it feels pretty good as well, which is also fairly important.  It provides enough resistance to let you know that you’re doing it right (or not), but not so much resistance that new folks are likely to hurt themselves.

So, is the KD Elite XL Curved Body Shield any good?  Is it worth the $70 pricetag?  Yes.  The shield is reasonably priced but also surprisingly high quality.  If you run a school, then you will need a shield at some point, and these are a great bargain.  I’d even be tempted to call them a no-brainer.  If you are just practicing/training yourself, then unless you wall mount it somehow, this is probably a pass.  It *does* require two people.  Having said that, if you have a regular training partner then it may be a good call.

Interested in buying one?  Head over to MMAOpinion.com.

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I promised that there would be more posts this month and I meant it.  To follow up my review of the mouthguard last week, I was sent a pair of Combat Sports Gel Handwraps from the folks at Boxing Depot.com.  Now, I am a striker by nature and by training, so this was right up my alley.  Also, I’m not generally a fan of gloves or handwraps – I tend to train bare-handed (yeah yeah, I know).  So it takes a lot for a product like this to impress me.  That said, I was definitely impressed.

Let me start out by telling you a little bit about these.  Most gel handwraps are simply like a glove, but filled with gel.  These are a little bit different – these have both that gel glove component as well as a traditional wrap.  This means you get that ultra-important wrist support as well as the hand/knuckle protection.  The gel padding, which is roughly 1/4″ thick, covers your knuckes and your fingers – not just your knuckles as is common.  Again, this means improved protection.

Ok, enough about the technical stuff.  Let’s get down to the experience.  These are really nice handwraps.  I put them through some pretty extensive use on my heavybag, and my hands were none the worse for wear afterwords.  Now, I did experience some rub burns on my fingers from the wraps when I used them alone (that is, without wearing regular gloves over them), however I have found this with every other wrap I’ve used as well.  I did not have the same issue when I used gloves over them.  Aside from that little detail, my hands were extremely well protected throughout.  The added wrist support also paid off.  It helped me keep my wrists straight, preventing injury.

These wraps seem to run for anywhere from $19.95-24.95.  In my experience, that is pretty reasonable, especially when you consider that it is really two products in one.  I do wish that these were a little more practical to use by themselves (without gloves over top), but I understand that this is a weakness of all the products in this segment and not just these, so I cant really hold it as a negative.  All in all, I would highly recommend them to anyone who does any sort of bag work.

Interested in buying a set?  Head over to Boxing Depot.com.

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A few weeks ago the folks over at Elite MMA.com sent me another goodie to review, the Power Gel-Nano Mouthguard.  Reviewing something like a mouthguard is pretty tricky, so I called in some assistance.  To test this bad boy out, I had the help of Joe Cunningham of Yamasaki Woodbridge.  Read on to see the verdict.

One of the biggest issues is getting a mouthguard that forms properly.  An improperly formed mouthguard is uncomfortable, and can cut your mouth.  The way this is usually handled is either by having a very soft mouthguard that is ultra-flexible (which obviously trades off some of the effectiveness), or by having a more rigid piece that does not mold as well.  The Power Gel-Nano Mouthguard tackles this issue by having a fairly flexible front end, but a harder back end to provide good concussion protection.  It is not unique in this feature, but what is fairly unique is the fact that the harder back end still molds well and does not cut up your mouth.  This is a huge selling point.

Another big issue with mouthguards tends to be breathing.  They do the most good when your mouth/teeth are closed, but this limits your ability to breathe out through your mouth.  This piece, thankfully, has a slot in the front which is intended to be used with the included tether (for those people in sports which require helmets) – but it serves double as a handy breathing vent.

In short, Joe reports that this is one of the best mouthguards he has ever used.  At $17, it isnt especially cheap – but this is not an area I would skimp.  A good mouthguard is the key to a fighter’s safety, and can mean the difference between taking a good hit and getting KO’d.  This is definitely a product we both highly recommend.

Interested in buying one?  Head over to Elite MMA.com.

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About a month ago, I got an email from the folks over at Elite MMA.com asking if I would be interested in reviewing the KD Elite Knee and Elbow Strike Bag.  I know I’ve said before that I love freebies, and so I stayed true to myself and agreed.  What can I say?  I am a simple creature.  Anyhow, I’ve seen what there is to be seen with this bag, and I’ve finally finished evaluating it.

To start off, the KD Elite Knee and Elbow Strike Bag is really a combination of a target shield and a mini heavy-bag.  You hit it with your knees and elbows  You can punch and kick it too, and I promise the police wont show up, but it was intended for the knees and elbows.  It is small enough to be good for some accuracy training, but bit enough to really throw yourself at.  As always, though, you have to ask if it is actually any good.

This bag is made of impact-absorbing foam, canvas, leather, nylon, and something that I think is wool.  At the time of this writing it is on sale for $29.99, which seems to be a pretty fantastic value.  Beyond a few threads here and there coming out from the handle stitching, this bag is rock solid.  My students and I abused this bag every way we could think of, and it just kept coming back for more.  For the pricetag, you dont generally expect this sort of durability, but the KD Elite Knee and Elbow Strike Bag certainly delivers.

The bag features four different handles on the back (two horizontal and two vertical), as well as some rings to hang it.  These work extremely well, but are also probably the source of my biggest complaint.  The nylon straps you hold on to have what appear to be pieces of rubber garden hose on them, to help keep the straps from killing your hands.  This is great, but they look cheap, and your hands still tend to rub on a lot of nylon anyway.  I think a little more work here could go a long way.  Also, when you are not hanging the bag, the nylon straps and rings meant for hanging flail about a lot when the bag is struck.  We found turning the bag upside down reduced the risk of being hit in the face by a metal ring, but I think it would be better off if these were removable somehow.  That said, we did find one (probably unintended) use for the rings.  If you hold the rings and face the bag towards yourself, you can do solo knee practice – and it works ASTONISHINGLY well when used this way.

This bag seems primarily designed for practicing your knee strikes.  I know they say you can use it for elbows, and you can, but until you get the bag broken in properly, the wool/foam padding combination is very stiff and can be quite jarring when you strike it.  You dont have this issue with knee strikes, but once you get it broken in it is fine for your elbows as well.  It sounds like more of an issue than it is – it gets broken in reasonably quickly if you’re making pretty regular use of it.  Just be careful when throwing those elbows – if you miss the bag you can wind up elbowing the
person holding it in the face, which isnt a lot of fun.

So, is the KD Elite Knee and Elbow Strike Bag any good?  Is it worth the $30 pricetag?  Yes.  This is a reasonably cheap training tool, but is also surprisingly high quality.  If you are prepared to spend some time initially just getting it broken in (and figure out how to not get hit by the rings), you will be very happy with it.  This isnt a must-have for every martial arts school, but I would definitely recommend it.  If you are just practicing/training yourself, then it may make less sense as you do need two people for most uses, but with a friend or training partner you wont have
any issues.

Interested in buying one?  Head over to Elite MMA.com.

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I know what you’re thinking: “He’s reviewing a skin sanitizer?  That’s it!  This guy has clearly lost it!”  And to be honest, I would normally agree with you.  What in the world does a sanitizer have to do with Martial Arts, right?  Well let me tell one.  One of the biggest problems faced in Martial Arts training (and in fact, in any sort of athletics) is how to deal with all the crap you can pick up from the gym/dojo/teammates/training partners/etc.  Ring worm isnt exactly a load of fun.  So when I found that Athletic Body Care was creating products specifically to address this issue, I had to get my hands on a sample and see if it worked.  Thankfully, they were kind enough to oblige and sent me the Athletic Body Care Foaming Skin Sanitizer.  Now unfortunately, a product like this is a bit hard to test for efficacy (after all, noone gets an infection EVERY time they train) – so I recruited some help.  In addition to trying it out myself, I had some of the folks at the local Brazilian Jiu Jitsu School try it out too.  If anyone is going to pick up something nasty it is those guys!

Let me start out with what exactly this stuff is, and what it purports to do.  This skin sanitizer is intended to stop the spread of germs, bacteria, fungus, and infection.  The claim is that it kills 99.99% of disease causing bacteria and fungus within 15 seconds.  Now obviously, this isnt a claim I can test specifically (I run a martial arts website, not a chemistry lab) – but I’ll do my best.  The manufacturer also claims that it is hypo-allergenic and soothes the skin.  The active ingredient in the Foaming Skin Sanitizer is Benzalkonium Chloride (a salt used for its sanitizing abilities).  It also does not contain alcohol, which I know for a lot of people is a big plus.  All in all, it sounds to me like one impressive product so far.

Now, let me just start out by saying this: During our testing, noone contracted anything.  This doesnt mean that this stuff works with 100% effectiveness – or even prove that it works at all.  However, considering the test conditions (use in a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu School), that is a very favorable outcome.  Some of our testers also reported that the use of the sanitizer helped with their pre-existing rashes – as well as the accompanying itching.  It also seems to help with dry skin.  The other big positive item of feedback was smell.  This sanitizer itself has a fairly neutral smell, a good thing in my opinion, but more importantly it helps eliminate the unpleasant smell of your sweat (not to mention the smell from the other people you’ve been in contact with).  This is not an advertised feature, but seems to be true all the same.

The Foaming Skin Sanitizer runs around $10.99 for a 5oz bottle.  This seems to be a little on the high-end for a sanitizer, but considering its apparent efficacy I would certainly not consider it overpriced.  A product of this nature is exactly what the Martial Arts community is in need of, and I am glad to see someone entering the market with such a good product.

I guess the summary for the Foaming Skin Sanitizer is the following: If you practice martial arts, and are not hermetically sealed inside a bubble, you should buy and use this product.  I would be happier if the price came down a little (or the bottle got a little bigger), but that is a minor quibble.  This is a very good product.

Interested in buying some?  Head over to Athletic Body Care.

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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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Back in October, I reviewed the ProForce Curved Plastic Rebreakable Board.  Once I was finished with it, I moved on to its bigger brother, the ProForce Rebreakable Board.  These boards come in multiple sizes (ranging from 1/4″ thick to 5/8″ thick), are not curved, and – thankfully – are padded, to help prevent you from tearing up your knuckles.  Pictured on the left is the 3/8″ board – they are color coded for convenience.  I’m going to assume at this point that you know what rebreakable boards are, and what they’re for.  If not, go ahead and read my earlier review which covers those basics.  Now, on to the good stuff!

These boards are 9″ x 12″ in size, and as I said above range in thickness from 1/4″ to 5/8″, with yellow boards at 1/4″, blue at 5/16″, red at 3/8″, and black at 5/8″.  This is handy, since it means you can be sure to find a board that is appropriate for your skill level.  I have personally only used the red and black boards, but as they are the two most difficult ones it allows me to give some perspective on the challenge.  The red boards are not difficult to break.  I would say that any adult male should have no difficulty with them, if they have any prior experience with breaking.  Women/children should probably start with the blue or yellow boards and work their way up.  The black board, being the thickest, is the hardest to break.  Again, any adult male with prior breaking experience should be able to handle this with no problem – at least at a full punch.  I can not yet 3-inch or 1-inch punch my way through the black board – thankfully the padding on the boards helps with this sort of training.

The padding on the boards is extremely helpful.  If you are practicing close-range punches, it helps keep you from injuring your knuckles.  The only downside, of course, is if you slide your hand on the board when you hit it – the padding will tear your skin.  That said, I find the trade off to be quite worthwhile.  These boards do not stack as well as some of the others.  You can do it, but you may find them too close together to break well.

These boards seem to run around $35 each.  This is more expensive than some of the other boards on the market, but does not make them the most expensive.  The construction quality is pretty good, with my only complaint being the glue used to hold the padding on – in some cases it can wear off and the padding will come off the board.  I have not encountered this on all the boards, but I have on some – and in these cases I was able to re-glue the padding back on without issue.

The bottom line is: these boards are a great value for the money.  They are reasonably well made, and not over-priced, and the padding will let you keep hitting them over and over again with minimal discomfort.  The range of thicknesses will help keep an appropriate difficulty level as your skills improve.

Interested in buying one?  Head over to Sakura Martial Arts Supplies.

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I’ve said time and time again that fitness is a very important part of the life of any serious martial artist.  With that in mind, a few months ago I started looking into some proper exercise equipment for the house.  Let’s face it – most people dont get to the gym as much as they should, and having something at home can be very handy (so long as the problem is one of time, and not one of motivation).  In the end, I settled on what you see here: the Bowflex Revolution.  We’ve all seen the ads on TV, but that doesnt prove anything.  What everyone wants to know is whether or not it is any good.  Well, it has been a few months and so I think I’m ready to give it my verdict.

The first thing you should know is that this thing is BIG.  Huge, even.  On TV and in the pictures it doesnt look nearly as large as it actually is.  Expect it to take up roughly the same amount of space as a full weight bench, and you wont be surprised when it shows up (like I sure was).  The Bowflex Revolution is designed to be a complete home gym.  The only thing missing is a treadmill.

The Good:

Once you get used to it, it is very simple to use.  The learning curve is not steep, but it does exist.  Obviously it isnt as easy as it looks in the commercials, but what is?  Even without the manual, I suspect anyone could figure it out.

The included manual contains a LOT of good exercises.  Look up the muscle group you want to work on, and it has dozens of exercises and detailed instructions on how to perform them.  This is fantastic for the folks who want to get in shape but dont really know what they’re doing.

The “Spiral Flex” technology they’re talking about in the commercials?  It works.  The “weights” are very light and easy to handle, but provide all the resistance you could want.  There is no jerkyness to your movements while exercising (at least, none caused by the equipment).  This is fantastic for helping to prevent joint/muscle strains and injuries.  I cant begin to express how impressed I am by this system.

The system is incredibly versatile.  When I said above that all it was missing was a treadmill, I meant it.  There is not a non-cardio exercise I’ve been able to think up that I couldnt do on the Bowflex.  I’m sure there are some out there, but it is negligible compared to what the system is capable of.

The Bad:

As much as I love the “Spiral Flex” technology, changing weight between exercises is a pain.  If you want to add weight, you have to go get the discs, put them on each side, lock them in place, and go.  If you want to remove weight, you have to unlock the discs, slide them off the bar, and put them someplace.  It may not sound like much, but trust me when I tell you that it gets annoying.

The Bowflex Revolution is expensive.  Yes I know it is their “flagship” model, but you should expect to spend at least $3,000.00 for one of these.  That is a lot for exercise equipment.  Particularly since most people who buy these things never use them.  If you’re going to buy something to never use, you can get that something much cheaper.

They provide lots of exercises, and tell you what muscle groups they work on, but they dont really help you put it all together.  Opening up that manual and seeing all those exercises can be intimidating to a novice.  I think they should flag the book as for “advanced” users and provide a simpler, friendlier, guide for beginners.

The Verdict:

I like it.  Would I recommend it to everyone?  No.  You should only buy the Bowflex Revolution if you are really serious about getting in shape, are already motivated to do it, and, most importantly, can afford to spend this sort of money on exercise equipment.  If you are just making your first foray into home exercise, I’d start off with something a bit cheaper (and maybe a bit smaller too).

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ProForce Curved Rebreakable Board

Finding good equipment can be a challenge.  There are lots of shops selling lots of items that look good, but are a bit more questionable in practice.  Thankfully, I am here to help sort through the mess.  First up for review is the ProForce Curved Plastic Rebreakable Board.

Let’s start out with a quick overview of what, exactly, this product is, does, and is for.  In martial arts, a common training technique is to break boards with your hands, feet, head, etc…  This is usually done to help develop power and precision, as well as teaching the practitioner how to “punch through” a target – it is also frequently used in competitions.  While wood is relatively cheap, you can start going through it pretty quickly if breaking is common.  That is where rebreakable boards come in.  Rebreakable boards are generally made of plastic, and are intended to resemble (as closely as possible) the dimensions, strength, and other features of a wood board – but with one big difference: when you break it, you can put it back together again and keep reusing it!

Enough about the theory – let’s talk about this particular rebreakable board.  It is approximately 10″x8-3/8″x1/4″ in dimension – this makes it an extremely thin board.  This is fine for beginners, but pretty useless for advanced breakers (or even intermediate ones).  The advantage of this board is that it is fairly inexpensive (usually found for around $20 each) and that it has small feet built in to allow easier stacking.  The stacking ability, in particular, can aid in the longevity of this unit as people rarely break just a single board at a time for very long.

The relatively low price is both a good, and a bad, thing.  The good news is, it doesnt take much use to earn your money back on this.  It is not a stretch to be able to buy several, even for a home user.  The bad news is, unlike some of the more expensive boards, these are not padded.  While padding may not seem like a big deal, this board is clearly intended for novices – the very people who may need it most.

Enough beating around the bush.  Is this board any good?  Yes.  This board is a great way to introduce someone to breaking.  It wont last them very long, but it wont need to, and as a confidence booster it is fantastic.

Interested in buying one?  Head over to Sakura Martial Arts Supplies.

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