What does it mean when your martial arts club is free, open to the public, and meets at the park?  Well, it means no money and no permanent equipment installations. These constraints force a certain amount of creativity.

Note: Creativity and freedom are not as closely linked as most folks think. Restrictions are what drive innovation, the same way that predators drive the evolution of prey animals, the weight of soil shows seedlings which way to grow, and the way Blues music sprang out of dirt poor people’s need to express their situation with the instruments they could afford.   Examples abound. Think about it.

So I made these horizontally mounted double-end balls for striking practice.  Before I show you how to make them, here’s a video of me playing with one for the first time:

Anyway, here’s a photo gallery showing how I made the “sharpshooter” tennis ball one.  Follow the captions below the photos.  Once it’s done, all you have to do is anchor your ball to opposing surfaces or sturdy objects — hooks in walls, posts, pillars, or what-have-you — using bungee cords.

Be prepared though — these seem to be bit harder to hit that vertical double-end balls!