Dojo in a Bag With 30+ Training Weapons

This bag includes everything needed for your martial arts training on the go! This small bag incudes travel versions of the following:

- 30+ PVC practice weapons

- Wooden Dummy

- Heavy/speed bag

- Makiwara (hand toughening)

- Tournament ring

Personally, I use this bag along with an empty back room to train during lunch at work, as well as for hotel rooms when I travel.

Also, which I am a karate instructor, this would be the perfect bag for a new student of karate; it has everything they would need to train with, at much cheaper cost than buying the full size versions of everything.

All told, the bag costs about $60-80, depending on the price you can get everything for.

Here is a list of the weapons that can be made (more are possible!)

- Tonfa Sai Kama Bo staff Jo Staff

- Nunchakus Cane Katana Escrima Manriki

- 3-section staff Naginata Kusarigama Broadsword Wakizashi

- Jitte Yin-yang Sai Tanto Spear Blowgun

- Pistol Rifle Ax Mace & chain Mace

- Hook sword Shuriken Tekko Punching dagger

Parts List:

Bag: 15" tool bag, Harbor Freight. $10.99. Click HERE

Iron Tao bag: Tiger claw or amazon, $23.99 (set of 3). Click HERE

550 Paracord, 100'

Tennis ball

5/8" Nuts

Carabiner

Clothesline, 10'

PVC (All 1/2", Shed 40, from Lowes):

(1) 5' Stick furniture grade PVC, Amazon. Click HERE

(12) Female slip to male thread (Bar code 025528131661)

(2) Threaded tee (Bar code 025528149383)

(2) Slip cross (Bar code 025528139285)

(2) Threaded plug (Bar code 025528143145)

(2) Slip cap (Bar code 025528136789)

(8) Threaded cap (Bar code 025528137168)

(4) Slip plug (Bar code 025528142865)

(4) Threaded coupling (Bar code 025528137946)

(2) Threaded Elbow (Bar code 025528142063)

(2) Threaded male to Threaded female (Bar code 025528132668)

(2) Slip 45 degree elbow (Bar code 025528140229)

(2) Slip to thread elbow (Bar code 025528141202)

(2) Sip elbow (Bar code 025528140625)

Step 1: The PVC Weapons

The highlight of the kit - using the PVC parts included, you can make about anything you could ever want. Keep in mind, these are non-contact weapons; good for practicing kata (forms), partner drills, etc.

Print out the instruction sheet (PDF attached), fold, and put in the bag (I prefer to laminate it first).

In the photo below, the yellow fitting are glued to the red pipe. I made them yellow so I would know they were glued, and not try to pry them off - you can do the same thing easily with purple PVC primer. It goes without saying, but make sure you are using PVC glue, not anything else.

Note: I include a cheap pair of slip joint pliers to lossen the fittings, since it is easy to hand-tighten beyond your ability to easily unscrew. Do NOT use to tighten the fittings!

Step 2: Everything Else

Before anyone makes any nasty comments, keep in mind these are compact travel versions of larger training equipment, and while great for on-the-go training are, of course, not as good as their larger counterparts.

Makiwara

Used for hand toughening, the Tiger Claw "Iron Tao" bags serve the purpose of a Makiwara. An excellent book on their use is "Fundamental Iron Skills", available HERE on amazon.

Heavy/Speed bag

A tennis ball suspended by a rope (paracord) is an excellent training tool, and with a carabiner at the end, can be hung from all manner of surfaces. Lightweight, compact, great for hand/eye coordination, and practicing slipping/dodging. A good video on it's use is HERE. While you can use a knife to make a big enough slit in the tennis ball to push the rope, a paracord needle (HERE) and a drilled hole make a much nicer finished product. If you want, a length of elastic could be added to the bottom to make a double ended bag.

Wooden Dummy

I tried as hard as I could, but I could not find the photo I got this from, which showed a parchment with what looked like shaolin monks using rope to practice blocks/parrying. I did my best to recreate it in the attached image. Loop one end of a 10' section of clothesline (could have been paracord, but clothesline feel better) around the top or middle hinge in a door (depending on your height). Loop the rope over the left side of your neck, across your back, and under the right armpit. Fasten the other end of the rope to the bottom hinge of the door, and shut the door. Back up until the rope is taught. Now you can practice your blocks wooden-dummy style!

Tournament Ring

To practice your tournament kata on the go, this full-size ring comes in handy. Tie a small bowline in the end of your paracord. Then, every 16' (20' depending on your tournament), tie two 5/8" nuts to give it weight. Once you have four 16' sides, tie a heave carabiner to the end. This can be clipped to the bowline loop at the other end to make a square. When un-clipped, it can be wound around a paracord holder like the one HERE from amazon.

NOT SHOWN - MMA gloves

The bag is not full by any means, even with all that in it! You can easily fit two pairs of compact MMA gloves in there if you want. I add one pair MMA gloves, my belt, and a mouthpiece.

NOTE: This instructable assumes that you have had the proper training to use all this equipment, and are under a qualified instructor. You take all liability in using the information presented.

Note 2: All photos not taken by me are from WikiCommons