Makiwara vs. heavy bag?

Answer Use both one is concussive the heavy bag the other is percussive the makiwara

Concussive blows are heavy blows the type favored by boxers

Percussive blows are fast snappy target shooting blows meant to hit specific targets think of a boxers straight jab to the chin .

With gloves off only a certain area of the fist is going to hit the opponent anyway so it is best to do some training on the makiwara to train and strenghthen to strongest part being the knuckles of the index and middle fingers so when fighting gloves off this will be your natural instinct.

Bag work is done hands wrapped or with gloves on or should be or you run the risk of developing splayed knuckles which will greatly reduce hand strength and ability to endure heavy hitting.

When boxers damage their hands it is usually the ring and little fingers that get broken due to the circular motion however slight of their punches.

Either method is capable of developing a fight ending blow.

I've never used a makiwara, so my answer may be one-sided. But I observe a few differences, the biggest is that the punching bag provides more resistance; this makes a strike on it more representative of what it'd be like hitting a person. Here, then, follow-through is extremely important. A makiwara doesn't give that tactile feedback, and a followthrough would allow over-extension of the strike. Both can be used for conditioning. Both are difficult to anchor or hang, making location of their placement important. The hanging bag can create problems with the structure from which it is hanging - so it can loosen joists and make your training loud in the house. This can be compensated with stand-up heavy bags, making them no different than makiwaras. However, some styles - I'm guessing Karate - they prefer not to follow through with their strikes, creating as short a contact in the strike as possible. This is an impulse strike. Such strikes, I think, are probably easier to execute on a makiwara than on a punching bag, where the effects are not as easily seen. A makiwara can be gauged to be struck and then moved a certain distance, the greater the distance, the shorter the strike must have been thrown. Though I don't know much about the makiwara, the videos I looked at to see how they're used tells me that I'd prefer to use the punching bag. My style prefers a follow-through and not an impulse strike. Therefore, my training is more suitable to be used with a punching bag. But others, I think the makiwara is more suitable. So I think real pros and cons are the placement of the devices, not in their training. They are used for different goals, and I don't think it's appropriate to compare them, despite that sometimes, they have overlapping purposes (eg, conditioning).

Heavy bag doesn't damage permanently hands . I have experience with makiwara . I use right now heave bag .