Five years ago I showed how to build a makiwara from scratch for less than $50 and in about 4 hours or less. You can read that original article here:

https://www.karatetips.com/post/how-to-make-a-makiwara.aspx

Then a few month’s later during a heavy punching session, it split due to the continual impact.

Bummer.

I built a second one and this time it lasted about 9 months before it started to split again in the exact same spot. Yep, that same spot on the shaft about 12 inches above the ground.

Rather than punch it until it snapped in half (although that would have been extremely gratifying in the short term), I decided to employ some maturity and wisdom, and pull it out and set it aside until a later date.

That date came last weekend – 3.5 years later!

I opted to fix it by drilling a hole through the shaft close to the top of the split. I then poked a 3/8 inch bolt through and added a couple of big washers; one on either side. I then popped a nut on the back and tightened that sucker up super tight.

It’s not pretty… but it was a simple and practical solution.

It’s now battle worn with the scars to prove it.

The irony is that I procrastinated for 3.5 years about what to do with it. And it only took 2 minutes to fix…

I’m so frustrated I just want to hit something….