Indian Mace Training

[JLibourel]

Does anyone else here use the Indian "gada" mace as a training tool? I purchased a 10- and a 15-pounder from Onnit during their most recent Black Friday sale. I am incorporating the former in my workouts almost every other day. The heavier one I still find rather too ponderous, and it remains aspirational. (And if these poundages sound puny, don't mock them until you've tried them!) I think they are at their best used in the traditional Indian manner--swinging the mace overhead behind your back. These exercises (known to the cognoscenti and "360s" and "10-2s") I find challenging and beneficial. There are various other exercises with flashy names like "barbarian squat," "spear thrust" (aka "jousts"), "grave diggers," "uppercuts" and whatnot, but I haven't been very impressed. Perhaps with higher repetitions and heavier maces they come into their own, but I remain skeptical. Maces can be used for tire-bashing like a sledgehammer, but I find I still prefer the sledgehammer.

Anyway, if anybody here would like to share their experiences and impressions of mace training, I'd be interested.

 

[JLibourel]

Just an update to the foregoing. I now have 20, 25 and 30 pound maces from Set For Set, and the exercises about which I expressed skepticism are indeed very challenging and beneficial when performed with heavier maces. In fact, I am now contributing to Set For Set's blog.

 

[javyn]

I'm going to have to check this out. I really like my Onnit kettlebell that's shaped like a monkey's head.

 

[JLibourel]

^The Howler Monkey (18 pounds) or the Chimp (36.11 pounds)? I've got the Chimp. Although I fervently trained with kettlebells for some years, I have come to prefer the macebells now that I have a good assortment. You can really get in a killer workout with macebells. I still use the kettlebells and other workout gear, e.g., medicine and slam balls, free weights, bands, etc., for variety. I always warm up with about 10-15 minutes of swinging Indian clubs before commencing a heavy workout.