Gallant Free Standing Boxing 5.5ft Punch Bag Stand Heavy Duty MMA Martial Arts Sparing Set

This will be a fairly lengthy review so here goes!First of all, this took BLOODY AGES to arrive. I ordered on the 14th of February, it finally arrived on the 3rd of March. I would have deducted another star, but this is a product review and not a service review (I left seller feedback on their GallantSports supplier page here on Amazon).What you really want to hear before buying are the negatives, and there is one glaring fault in this product (which is why I only gave four stars)...THE HOLE IS TOO SMALL!Filling this was a huge pain in the arse and took about two hours, thankfully I had a funnel that fit and various jugs for holding sand and water in. I crafted a funnel using an old plastic bottle but the hole was too small! Also, the plug leaks so I had to put tape over it.To fill: Assemble it fully (including bag), lean it against something so the hole is upwards and wedge a funnel in it. You may have to use tape to hold the funnel in place. I used 22.5kg of (supposedly) dried kiln sand from B&Q (cost just over a fiver), as I just hinted at this sand was in fact slightly damp and therefore clumpy. The clumpy-ness meant I had to use water to wash the sand down and into the base. I also used a screwdriver to help force it down (it wasn't completely necessary but made the process quicker).So I spent two hours filling the funnel with sand, then adding water on top to wash it down (and plunging any blockages with the screwdriver). I sang and repeated movie quotes to myself to stay sane, in hindsight I should have set up some music.After vacuuming the sand that went astray, I tested to see if it was heavy enough. Not even my hardest punch (I'm a fairly scrawny 19-year-old) could knock it right over. However, if I skillfully came in with a left-arm punch as it rocked back... it would surely tumble.It was still light enough that a helpful assistant and I could lift it together, I might add more water to it at some point. As I mentioned, I had to tape over the seal as the rocking caused water to dribble out.NOW, you also want to know if the product is as pictured. The answer in my case is NO, but also yes... I'll explain don't worry. The gloves look exactly like the image, but the punchbag is red on the bottom and black on the top. "Big deal" I hear you say, but wait! The version I got had numbered circles on it (bonus?) and something like "Gallant Boxing: Since 2013" towards the top. The reason is probably that it was the only one they had available.BE AWARE: This version is 5ft, I measured it. At the time of purchase this was listed at £65.99, now it has increased to £74.95 (at the time of writing). There is another listing with a 5ft 5in bag and gloves at the same price, so maybe you should go for that one! It might have also been described as 5.5ft originally (it says that in some windows, it's 5ft on this page) so be careful, I might have been swindled. It ALSO alludes to coming with sparring pads as well as gloves, IT DID NOT.Someone at Gallant Sports needs to review all these listings to make sure that they are accurate (including the images). Otherwise, this is all very confusing!Now for the meaty bit: Is it any good? Well, I have no prior experience of punch bags nor am I a professional boxer. However, I can punch the bag (with the gloves on) at ALMOST full power without hurting my precious wrists. Do not do what I did, which is to immediately punch it hard with your weaker arm without a glove on (it hurt). The bag and the gloves feel decent quality - I haven't come across any nasty creases, tears or discolourations so far... It's high enough for kicks and punches (I'm 5ft 11in), but for high kicks and head-level punches you might want to get the 5.5ft version (I don't want to encourage violence).So to conclude, hideously slow delivery (due to supply issues) and a ludicrously small filling hole. However, the bag and gloves themselves I cannot fault.Thanks for reading!

I'm a kickboxing coach - I spent a while looking for something to feed my urge to train when I cudn't make training and this does the job nicely.I filled the base up with 3 bags of building sand from B&Q (£3 each) - and it barely moves even with a full spinning side kick.I've been kicking the **** out of this bag for weeks and it's withstanded all of it:Highly recommend - u don't need the more expensive products !!

Good, did try filling with sand but found it quite pain staking as the entrance was to small even tried using a funnel. In the end filled it with water. It is pretty solid but tends to move a little when you really let rip. Worth the money though.

This was bought for my son. He loves it. Best to fill base with kiln dried 'paving' sand (easy to pour through funnel), it took me 3 bags and I think I could have got 4 in there. 3 is enough though. The whole came in two packages, the base and boxing gloves came first and the bag arrived 2 days later. It is a solid and of good quality.

This is a really good and is easy to move around. It works better you you put sand in it but you can also with no problem fill it with water.I use it in the garden, I like the fact that you can easily get out the sac and put in somewhere dry when it rains and is amazing for what I use it for.

Brilliant my grandson loves it and it helps him when he gets frustrated to vent his feelings, it s perfect outlet. Easy to fill with kiln dried sand the hole is about the size of a 10 pence but we had no problems filling it, used a £1 funnel from poundland.

Good product, however delivery cane in 2 boxes which I was not aware of when ordering as such my daughter had no boxing gloves or stand for the bag on xmas day as boxes did not arrive on some time.

My earlier review was submitted when the punch bag had been delivered.I had added that those in the know who had seen it had said that it was a good one. They were right. A recommended merchant to deal with