While I love to train with other martial arts practitioners, I enjoy the convenience of training when I’m at home and without any training partners.  When we purchased our home, my wife was kind enough to give me the use of a quarter of our home office and a 15′ x 10′ space in the garage.  While I no longer have use of the office, I still have my sanity space in the garage.  My personal space to train, watch videos, exercise, or just hang out and have a beer.

Here are my essentials to having a garage dojo AKA man cave AKA the sanity zone…

• Punching apparatus.  I have a Thai heavy bag which is perfect for any strike I can think of . I also inherited a wall bag for other punching angles. I also have a speed bag and maize bag for some extra boxing work.
• Kettlebells.  One of my favorite tools for training.
• Resistance bands. Another quick and convenient tool for conditioning.
• Jump rope.  A must have.
• Various protective gear.
• U.S. flag and Filipino flag.  Another must have…the Filipino flag is optional.
• Martial arts Memorabilia. Pictures of seminars and legends.
• Martial arts specific weapons.  For me it’s Escrima sticks and knives.
• Television with DVD player and VHS (for the rare Panther Production videos)

That’s about it for my garage dojo.  Here are some pics….

I gathered most of my gear from Craigslist, e-bay, and as hand me downs from other like minded folks.  While my dojo isn’t the prettiest or most modern, the space lets me do my thing!

Fighting Measure would love to see some of your personal dojos, send us some pictures on Facebook and tell us how you get-er-done.

-CD