Admit it, reading that one phrase conjured up images of Bruce Lee moving with lethal power and accuracy. Water has long been a close friend of martial artists, itself having many characteristics that an experienced fighter desires: fluidity, adaptability, persistence, and the ability to crash hard or flow softly.
What Aqua Training Bag has done is take the liquid we typically associate with a martial arts master and use it to fill a thick vinyl teardrop-shaped bag, making a unique punching bag that absorbs impact better than most and gives uniform feedback wherever your strikes land.
Sound interesting yet?
The Set-Up
This thing sets up quick!
The specific bag I received for review was the 15" Aqua Bag. In only about five minutes, I had the bag hanging and fully filled with water. Fully filled, the 15" bag weighs roughly 75lb, plenty of weight to hit with solid blows.
That's not to say that filling the bag wasn't a messy task however. When you receive your Aqua Bag, it comes with a tip for you to attach to your water hose. Until the tip was slid into the perfect position, water was constantly either dripping or gushing out.
The cap is placed on the side of the bag's upper half, strategic in that its placement prevents the bag from being over-filled. The cap is secure enough that water can't escape, yet it is also designed to allow air pumped in additionally, if desired.
You can fill it up near full capacity with water and simply top it off with air to remove any ripples or wrinkles in the bag. After trying it with air and without, I definitely found a preference. Inflating it a bit helps ensure each hit comfortably and consistently lands solid.
How Does It Feel?
Hitting the Aqua Bag feels much better than I initially expected it to. Contrary to a bag filled with sand, the water disperses impact from hits in a uniform manner. Whether you hit it on the top or the bottom, it is going to give the same consistent feedback to your punches.
The vinyl walls are very thick, making for a surface that feels more firm to touch than canvas. This also means the bag is less forgiving to anything other than a gloved hand however. If you are looking for a bag to use for drilling Kung Fu shoulder attacks or Tang Soo Do kicks, I would suggest looking elsewhere. This is a bag that excels in taking impact in the form of punches from Kickboxing or Western Boxing.
Being made of thick vinyl means this bag can hang with the best of them outdoors. Of course, the bag itself is water-proof and isn't going to get hurt by a rainy day. My experiences working with the Aqua Bag while outdoors were good, however I worry about how it would handle on colder days that carry the risk of freezing the water. I, personally, would bring the bag inside on those nights, just to be safe. Thankfully, the bag sets up and can be taken down quite quickly!
The size and shape of the bag does mean that you can't easily train changing levels on the bag. If you want to drill a combo working a punch to the head followed by a blow to the body, you're going to have to work with a rather limited striking zone.
Overall
Surprisingly quick to set up (yet messy as well), the Aqua Training Bag will have you hitting hard without hurting yourself, an ideal balance sought in every fighter's training sessions. Unfortunately, the size and shape does mean you lose the ability to comfortably practice changing levels with your punching combos.
Thick vinyl keeps the bag durable, however bear in mind it is a less forgiving surface than canvas. This means that the Aqua Training Bag is not for you if you intend to train unique hits on the bag, such as barehanded hammer fist strikes.
The Aqua Training Bag is great at what it aims to be, a punching bag that absorbs impact better than the rest. A few flaws keep me from giving it a perfect score, however that doesn't mean it isn't a bag I wouldn't recommend.
My advice: if you need a bag to handle plenty of punches, give this one a shot!
Pros
- Quick set up
- Excellent energy absorption
Cons
- A bit messy to fill
- Can't easily practice changing levels
Durability: 8/10
Performance: 7/10
Design: 7/10
Overall Rating: 7.5/10
Interested in checking out this unique punching bag?
Click HERE to order one for yourself!
